Georgia football vs Florida: The culture gap grows

Culture beats everything

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills because I write this every six months when it comes to Florida, but I’m going to say it again.

CULTURE BEATS EVERYTHING.

Building a winning football team is hard as hell, but this particular part is so obvious I cannot believe how the entire Florida fanbase seems to be missing what is staring them in the face. It’s not hard to see what a winning culture looks like in the modern age and it’s not what they have in Gainsville.

Look I get that it’s fun to poke the bear and make fun of other fanbases. I remember how great I thought it was when Quay Walker tossed the Tennessee hat and signed for Georgia.

However, I also remember reading afterward that Kirby Smart in a press conference making it clear that he did not condone that behavior.

Head coaches are the CEO’s of their football teams; they aren’t supposed to behave like fans. Florida fans are laughing now, but the reality is that this sort of behavior is hurting their football team in both the short and long run. Every day that it continues, they’re getting worse, not better.

Dan Mullen and the culture he is building in that football team is weak. Strong people and strong teams don’t ‘talk trash’ about other people. College football isn’t professional wrestling.

Teams get 20 hours a week with their players and every single second count. The best of the best don’t waste time trying to wind up their opponents, they focus on themselves and squeezing every ounce of potential out of what they have.

The rewards that could potentially come from trolling UGA are so incredibly minute that this exercise is utterly pointless. Don’t believe me?

There are two coaches who seem to have a knack for finding that one tiny detail that gives them the slight edge they need to win, and both have been extremely successful. You might have heard of them: Nick Saban and Bill Belichick.

Both of these guys push the envelope every week to find that edge, and neither of them ever engages in trash talk. Maybe that’s kind of a tell that this stuff doesn’t work.

Every week that goes by, Dan Mullen and Florida beat writers keep talking, and Kirby Smart and his team keep working. Deep down, everyone knows how this story ends; we’ve seen it far too many times.

I just hope that when that finally happens, Florida fans have the common sense to realize that they brought this on themselves when they encouraged this most recent ‘heel turn’ from their head coach.

Culture beats everything and right now, Georgia’s is thriving while the Gators are sinking further into a swamp that they don’t even want to escape from.