With college football—nay, SEC football— arriving this weekend, and without great expectations for the Gators, it's time for the Palm Beach Post to stoke our football interest by apprising us of blood feuds.


Today's blood feud features Alabama coach Nick Saban and new Florida coach Will Muschamp, who worked under Saban for the Miami Dolphins in 2005. Saban was the head coach (he split for the Bama job in 2007) while Muschamp was the assistant head coach for defense, a title that basically meant "defensive coordinator," except Saban called the defensive plays. Muschamp left to coordinate Auburn's defense after one year under Saban. Saban has since said he made mistakes handling Muschamp.

But Saban never said he erred handling Muschamp's parents, although it appears he did that too:

While Will Muschamp and his wife were on vacation in the Bahamas, his parents, Larry and Sally Muschamp, were babysitting their children in Coral Springs when an angry Saban called the house. He needed a particular document from Muschamp, and ordered Sally to fax it to him. Not finding a fax machine in her son's home, Sally drove to an office supply store to send it. Thirty minutes later, Saban had not received it and called again. He had given her the wrong number, Sally said. "Where's that fax?" Saban barked. "Get it to me now." Larry, by far the more easygoing of Muschamp's parents, was irate. "That son of a bitch," he said. "I'm surprised she didn't say, 'When it gets there, put it where the sun don't shine.' She didn't. But that's Saban."


It takes a lot for an elderly, retired lower school principal to say "son of a bitch." We assume he means it. Go get 'em, Gators.

2011 football preview: Florida Gators' Will Muschamp determined to turn it around in Gainesville [Palm Beach Post]