Florida head coach Will Muschamp slammed members of the media in his post-game press conference Saturday after false reports of a suspension of freshman defensive tackle Jay-nard Bostwick.
VIDEO: Will Muschamp furious with media outlet over suspension report
The Florida coach goes off on the media after false reports arise around a true freshman.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Muschamp called out the Gainesville Sun, Palm Beach Post, and GatorCountry.com as media outlets who had reported Bostwick was one of five players suspended for Florida’s opening matchup against Toledo. In truth, only four players were suspended for the game, with Bostwick not included in that group.
The Florida coach’s speech echoed Mike Gundy’s now infamous “I’m a man, I’m 40” press conference, as he asked members of the media to go after him, not his players.
“You guys can write whatever you want to say about me,” Muschamp said. “You can say I’m a bad football coach, you can say I’m a bad dad, I’m a bad husband, I’m a bad person, you really can say anything you want to say. That’s your opinion. You can talk about our offense, our defense, our special teams. You can talk about our coaching staff. You can talk about our administration. That’s your opinion, and you’re entitled to that, and that’s fair. When you take a shot at a kid and it’s inaccurate and it’s written inaccurately, I got a problem.”
Video via the Orlando Sentinel:
Here’s a full transcript of his statement:
”I am going to address something, you know we had four players that were suspended for today, and we had one player that, you know, very inaccurate information that the Gainesville Sun and the Palm Beach Post and Gators Country, you know, that was very irresponsible journalism, okay? And you know, you guys can write whatever you want to say about me. You can say I’m a bad football coach, you can say I’m a bad dad, I’m a bad husband, I’m a bad person, you really can say anything you want to say. That’s your opinion. You can talk about our offense, our defense, our special teams. You can talk about our coaching staff. You can talk about our administration. That’s your opinion, and you’re entitled to that, and that’s fair. When you take a shot at a kid and it’s inaccurate and it’s written inaccurately, I got a problem.
So I can be accused of a lot of things, of being overprotective of our players for accurate information. I’m really pissed off, and it’s wrong, and I dealt with it last night with a parent, and I had to deal with it this morning with another parent, alright? Because it was inaccurate, and it was wrong, and it was totally irresponsible.
Again, your opinion is fine. Take shots at me all day, [athletic director] Jeremy [Foley] pays me enough, I’ll take them all day. But to take a shot at a freshman, that’s done everything we’ve asked him to do since he’s been here. He is a great young man, he should have played today if we’d gotten in some situations to play him in, he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do, he’s a great teammate, he’s great in that locker room, and you take that shot, it’s wrong. It’s damn wrong.
And I can’t tell you, our trust is done, I can assure you that. And you know exactly who I’m talking to. I don’t know where the Gator Country guys are, but I’m going to tell you right now - we’re done. And that was completely wrong. You need to apologize to those parents, and you need to apologize to that kid. Because you won’t put your name behind something, why don’t you come up and tell me who your source was? That’s what I’d like to know. Who was your source? Church mice in here.
If you want to write something, stand up and stand behind it. That’s what I’m going to tell you. You took a shot at a kid and a family that’s done nothing wrong. And it’s really bad. And I’m going to meet with Mr. Foley to see if y’all are even going to be allowed to come back in here again. I’ll be honest with you, it was a low blow, for me, to deal in our opening ballgame at the University of Florida and I’m dealing with this. It’s bad journalism. But you know, ‘sources said’. I’ll open up for any of your questions.”
Gator Country has since apologized, while the Palm Beach Post has issued an updated story correcting the misinformation.
No. 10 Florida defeated Toledo 24-6 in their opener Saturday.
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