GAINESVILLE — As the seven SEC officials walked down the middle of the field during halftime of Saturday's Florida-Tennessee game, they were bombarded with opinions from the two head coaches.
To their left, Tennessee's Derek Dooley's face turned red and his head was shaking while he yelled. But Dooley's input seemed gentle compared to what Gators coach Will Muschamp was doing on the right side.
He was irate, presumably about his team being flagged for eight penalties in the first half. He jumped, shouted and pointed at the officials as they were leaving. He held up two fingers on one hand and waved it wildly.
He became so emphatic that a Florida staff member tried to intercede by pushing him back and trying to calm him.
"He just wants to make sure all the calls are right and make sure the game's played fair," Gators linebacker Jon Bostic said Monday.
That is a diplomatic way of assessing Muschamp's behavior. Another viewpoint would be that he is building a reputation for being brutal on officials, something that might hurt him in the future.
"No," Muschamp said when asked if he was concerned about that possibility.
He also said no one at Florida or the SEC mentioned anything to him about his actions. A spokesperson for the conference said Coordinator of Football Officials Steve Shaw has "open communication with all of our head coaches," but the spokesperson would not elaborate.
It is highly unlikely that any SEC coach would be fined or incur a public reprimand from the conference. The most realistic consequence would be a 15-yard personal foul penalty.
Asked if he thought Muschamp was close to drawing one of those against Tennessee, quarterback John Brantley laughed and said, "Who knows?"
No. 15 Florida went on to beat the Volunteers 33-23. Afterward, Muschamp declined to divulge what specifically angered him. Instead he said, "I was upset about a bunch of things at halftime."
In total, the Gators nearly set new school records with 16 penalties for 150 yards. They were called for five pass interference infractions and a defensive holding. Muschamp's post-game response was, "I have no comment."
"We were all pretty frustrated with the penalty calls, but the refs are just trying to do their job," linebacker Jelani Jenkins said. "They call it how they see it. If they said it was pass interference, it was pass interference."
TV cameras picked up many of Muschamp's tirades last week and likely will be trained on him when the Gators play at Kentucky Saturday.
In 15 seasons as an assistant, Muschamp was known for his sideline antics, but having never been a head coach prior to this year, this is his first opportunity to deal directly with the officiating crew. He has produced some furious and comedic displays.
In Week 2 against Alabama-Birmingham, Gators safety Matt Elam caused a fumble that was recovered by teammate Marcus Roberson. The officials stopped the game to review the play. During the break, Muschamp got down on his hands and knees in front of an official on the sideline. He took off his headset, folded it up and set it in front of himself on the grass, appearing to use it to represent the ball while he reenacted the play, yelling the entire time.
As much as his demonstrative interaction might irritate the refs, his players seem to find it endearing that he is so passionate on their behalf.
"It's crazy, man," guard Jon Halapio said last week. "It just shows how much he cares about his players for him to go out there and scream and yell at the officials like that."
