UNWELCOME DILEMMA FOR MUSCHAMP

Gator Gridiron
Roger Franklin Williams

Before Will Muschamp had a chance to unpack and comfortably settle into the Office of the Head Gator, he was confronted with a major dilemma---how to handle the recent arrest of All-SEC CB Janoris Jenkins for possession of marijuana. Jenkins was picked up in late January by GPD in a Gainesville night spot with a small stash of pot, according to published reports. Shortly before his arrest, Jenkins, a rising Senior, demonstrated his committment to the Gator program by choosing to forego early entry into the 2011 NFL draft where he was projected to be a sure-fire early round choice and a possible Number 1 pick. The issue is further complicated by Muschamp's earlier stated objective to drastically reduce the number of arrests of UF football players. (As we are reminded on a seemingly daily basis by the state and national sports media, over 30 football players were arrested during the Urban Meyer era.) During the home stretch of a challenging, uphill recruiting season. the newly minted Gator Leader was forced to deal with a discipline headache from one of his most valued veteran players.

What to do about Janoris Jenkins? This is a situation that cries out for perspective. First and foremost, Jenkins did break the law and his timing could not have been worse, unwittingly putting his new coach in a very difficult public situation. After Janoris' NFL playing career is over, one of the first things he will learn in the "real world" is that it is never wise to make your boss's job more difficult.

While discipline is called for, Gator Gridiron also feels strongly that Coach WM should resist the urge to respond to the more vocal elements of the sports media, state and national, which is (as we know) heavily populated with virulent Gator-Haters hiding behind a thin veneer of "objectivity". The "conventional media wisdom", not to meniton the desire of Vol's, 'Dogs, and 'Noles throughout the southeast, is that Muschamp needs to "throw the book" at young Janoris in the form of a lengthy suspension in order to "send a message" that future misbehavior will not be tolerated. Excuse me for being a real person, but it is hard for Gator Gridiron, as a former college student, in Gainesville no less, to become indignantly outraged over the crime of a college student getting caught with a small amount of marijuana.

Before leaving the topic, the Jenkins situation presents an opportunity for Gator Gridiron to address the issue of the "30+ arrests" of the Urban Meyer era that the Florida/national sports media loves to talk about so much. This is largely a situation of lack of perspective that is the result of today's hyper-sensationalist, 24-hour media coverage. A close examination of the "30+" arrests will reveal that the overwhelming majority, to the tune of at least 80%, were for traffic infractions or incidents involving alcohol. Once again, I must stress that it is hard for Gator Gridiron to become morally outraged over a 19 year old college student driving with an expired license (Dustin Doe) or college football players getting caught drinking beer.

Situations of assault, domestic violence, rape, burglary, robbery, etc. are serious offenses and should be penalized harshly. On the FEW occasions when serious crimes were committed by Gator football players, Coach Meyer and the university handled them accordingly by imposing serious penalties; just ask Cam Newton. But the fact of the "30+" arrests is that virtually all were minor infractions not even worth being reported by the media.

Janoris Jenkins, or Will Muschamp for that matter, should not be held hostage by inaccurate perceptions fueled by a largely anti-Gator media.

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