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What's wrong with UF?

Florida has lost its past two SEC games under coach Ron Zook to fall to 4-3 for the season and out of the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since 1990, Steve Spurrier's first year as Gators coach. Here's what former players and other alumni are saying:

"I'm like all the Gator Nation; my flag's at half-mast. ... It's tough when there's a coaching change. Plus, Zook is following a legend. (The players) have a tremendous lack of confidence. But if they can turn it around against Auburn and start to piece it together, maybe they can get a run going."

-- John Reaves (QB, 1969-71), commercial real estate agent; former Eagles, Bengals and USFL Bandits quarterback.

"People think of guys coming out of Florida, they think of us as being cocky, or whatever, coming out of Spurrier's system. But I don't see the swagger in those boys. They don't know how important that Swamp was. That Swamp was big. People feared the Swamp. ... It's not only the players; it's the coaches. I believe if Spurrier was there it would be a totally different team right now. He was so arrogant, so cocky, you couldn't be nothing but cocky yourself. And if you weren't, you wouldn't be playing."

-- Kenyatta Walker (OT, 1998-2000), Bucs tackle.

"Where's Steve Spurrier? Oh, wait. The Gators are 4-3; the Redskins are 2-3. So they're doing a little better than he is."

-- Carol Browner, former administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"I'm very sympathetic to Ron Zook and our players. It's clear they have had problems transitioning to a new system. ... I hope the fans will hang in there and not contribute to the problem."

-- Buddy MacKay, attorney, teacher, farmer; former governor and former lieutenant governor.

"I like Ron Zook. I think the ability is there and just with time hopefully it will turn around and they'll kind of get the thing back rolling in the right direction and deal with confidence."

-- Wayne Peace (QB, 1980-83), Lakeland insurance agent, former Bandits quarterback.

"Right now it looks like teams are physically beating us. ... I don't think there's a quick fix. It's a matter of replugging good players in and giving them experience. Sometimes you're going to have down times with major programs. I know Coach Zook and I think he's a quality coach, but Steve set the standard pretty high."

-- Brad Culpepper (DT, 1988-91), attorney, former Bucs defensive tackle.

"People down there expect a lot, and maybe they should, but I hate to start seeing them jump on a coach seven games into his first season. My goodness, give him a little bit of breathing room."

-- Don Chandler (P-K, 1954-55), former Giants and Packers placekicker.

"Any time you make a coaching change there's going to be some questions here and there. But I think they'll pull out of it. They've got good coaches; in my opinion it's just a matter of them all getting on the same page and executing. I think Zook will come through. He's a good coach. I have faith in him."

-- Mel Tillis, country music singer/actor.

"It's a new coach, new guys in the system. It's kind of rare for a team to go undefeated when they have a whole bunch of new guys. ... But right now they have to finish the season out on a good note and look forward to next year. ... I'll give them by next year to get the whole program turned around."

-- Buck Gurley (DT, 1997-2000), Bucs defensive tackle.

"When Coach Spurrier showed up he turned the program around so fast and the last five or six years he was considered one of the best coaches in college football. When you came to Florida you knew you were going to be part of something special. The confidence level's just not the same. I think some of the players are still looking to the past."

-- Kerwin Bell (QB, 1984-87), development director and football coach, Ocala Trinity Catholic High School; former Colts, WLAF Orlando Thunder and CFL Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback.

"I think they have to give (Zook) the time to see if he can do the job. The problem is, Spurrier was such a terrific coach and his reputation was so high that it would take an extraordinary man to match it, to live up to the same expectations."

-- Dr. Marshall Nirenberg, Nobel Prize winner for his work in breaking the DNA code; Chief of the Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics at the National Institutes of Health.

"I think it's growing pains more than anything else. I think they've tried to do too much too soon. ... (They should) get back to basics, be real good at a small package instead of half-a---- with the whole package. That's the only way."

-- Scot Brantley (LB, 1976-79), radio personality, WFLA-AM 1010; former Bucs linebacker.

-- Compiled by Bruce Lowitt and Roger Mills.

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