Is Foley's job on the line with Gators next hire?

Florida AD Jeremy Foley has gone 1 for 3 in his
football coaching choices. 

Blame it on Steve Spurrier in a complicated way, but could Jeremy Foley's next hire at Florida be his last? 

Foley got his job as Florida's athletic director in 1992. He did not hire Steve Spurrier, who moved the Gators from mediocre to national powerhouse status.

Spurrier made Foley's job easy in the 90s by winning SEC Championships and eventually a National Title. But Spurrier spoiled Florida football fans, who loved the high from his success. Before Spurrier, never had Gator fans seen so many wins, and such stature for the football program. When Foley was faced with the task of replacing Spurrier, a Gator legend, he did not do so well. Foley hired Ron Zook on the heels of Spurrier, who posted a 122-27 record.

There was a rumor that Foley instructed Spurrier to send him a resume when Spurrier expressed a little interest in coming back to Florida before Zook was hired. The word is Spurrier told Foley to “Go look at your trophy case if you want to see my resume.” Zook posted a 23-14 record was unceremoniously fired after three seasons.

Foley's next football hire was better. With Tim Tebow leading, Urban Meyer was able to win two an unbelievable two National Titles, going 65-15. But the stress of a head coaching job in the SEC was too much for Meyer, so he left for a more comfortable assignment at Ohio State. While Meyer was a home run hire for Foley, by any measure, replacing him with Will Muschamp was another failure.

Muschamp was fired Sunday with a 27-20 record. It has to be stated that Foley has done well with Florida's basketball team, hiring Billy Donovan, who has won two NCAA titles. And, to round out the Big Three sports, Gator baseball is very well respected.

But football in the SEC, and in the South, is king. And Florida fans demand to sit on that throne their share of the time. Because of Spurrier, they will not accept less. That is why Foley has very little margin for error in his next hire. He has gone one for three since spurrier left. Going one for four is only a 25 percent record of success. Muschamp's winning percentage was higher than that, and look what Foley did to him.