Tennessee football exits Swamp with hope. Florida has something more valuable | Toppmeyer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Year 1 of a coaching tenure is about hope.

Fans build hope that a new coach will be an improvement over the last coach, then look for reasons throughout that inaugural season to cling to that hope.

Tennessee can exit its 38-14 loss to No. 11 Florida on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with hope still in supply.

Nothing we saw makes it unreasonable for the Vols to hope they can succeed more under first-year coach Josh Heupel than they did in three seasons under his predecessor, Jeremy Pruitt, one of the worst coaches in program history.

Tennessee (2-2, 0-1 SEC) trailed 17-14 at halftime. By comparison, Florida (3-1, 1-1) outscored the Vols 60-10 during the first half in three meetings during the Pruitt era.

The Vols can still hope for a bowl bid, too, something neither Pruitt nor Butch Jones achieved in Year 1 at Tennessee. The Vols will have a critical game in that quest next week against Missouri (2-2).

But Florida exited the Swamp with something more tangible than hope. The Gators have a program that continues to flourish under fourth-year coach Dan Mullen.

That’s the difference between these teams.

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One program, Tennessee, is hoping for a brighter future under its fifth coach since Phillip Fulmer made the Vols a worthy foe against Florida in the 1990s and early 2000s.

By contrast, Florida is experiencing a bright present. The Gators remain in College Football Playoff contention after last week’s 31-29 loss to No. 1 Alabama.

That’s what a good coaching hire can do.

Four years ago, these programs weren’t that far apart.

The Gators needed a 63-yard Hail Mary to beat Tennessee 26-20 at the Swamp on Sept. 16, 2017.

The next month, Florida fired coach Jim McElwain amid a season that ended with a 4-7 record. Jones lasted until November before he was fired, and the Vols finished 4-8.

Then-Vols athletics director John Currie made Mullen his top target after Mullen had led Mississippi State to an unprecedented period of success.

Mullen and Currie enjoyed a cordial text exchange on Nov. 25, 2017. Also that day, Currie authorized Mullen’s agent to send his client a memorandum of understanding that could have made Mullen Tennessee’s next coach. Currie arranged to meet with Mullen the following morning.

The meeting never occurred. By then, Mullen was Florida’s coach.

Interestingly, Mullen was not Florida’s No. 1 choice. The Gators targeted Chip Kelly, but Kelly chose the UCLA job.

Gators AD Scott Stricklin pivoted to Scott Frost and Mullen. Frost wound up at Nebraska. Mullen wound up at Florida. Currie wound up fired.

Fans and state politicians rejected Currie’s second choice, Greg Schiano. Currie’s search continued but never reached the finish line.

Fulmer replaced Currie as AD, hired Pruitt and the Vols became mostly irrelevant the past three seasons while the Gators went to three straight New Year’s Six bowls.

On Saturday, Florida didn’t look like the same team throughout the first half that controlled the line of scrimmage against Alabama throughout the final three quarters last weekend.

Tennessee made a game of this for two quarters.

But good teams don’t flinch, and Florida won for the 16th time in the last 17 in the series.

The Gators outgained Tennessee 158-82 during a third quarter in which they outscored the Vols 14-0.

Mullen showed why he’s one of the nation’s cleverest play callers during that period.

Florida scored early in the third quarter when wide receiver Trent Whittemore caught a toss behind the line of scrimmage before completing a 13-yard touchdown to a wide-open Kemore Gamble.

Later, quarterback Emory Jones faked a pitch to Dameon Pierce heading off left tackle before rolling right and tossing a touchdown to Rick Wells.

Most coaches claim they adapt their offense to their personnel.

Mullen actually does it, though. Last season, he eschewed much semblance of a running game and let star quarterback Kyle Trask’s throwing arm do the work. This year, he’s adjusted his system to suit Jones, a dual threat who gashed Tennessee for 209 passing yards and 144 rushing yards.

Meanwhile, Tennessee is still searching for an identity under Heupel.

The Vols need discipline, too. They committed a pair of first-half personal fouls and had back-to-back false start penalties during the second quarter.

Tennessee accumulated 85 penalty yards after having 134 penalty yards two weeks ago in a loss to Pittsburgh.

The Vols are left to hope that the sign of life they showed in the first half develops into victories against inferior competition later this season.

The Gators left with a victory and a proven winner as their head coach.

That’s more valuable.

Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.