Swamp Kings inspires current Gators to ‘restore the order’

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The “Swamp Kings” documentary was personal for a few members of the Florida football program. One assistant coach and three more staffers were a part of the 2006-09 teams chronicled by the Untold Netflix series.

And there’s Florida transfer Teradja Mitchell. The former Ohio State linebacker spent five seasons with the Buckeyes, including his true freshman campaign in 2018 when he played for Urban Meyer in his final year at OSU.

Mitchell, who said that Meyer encouraged his transfer to UF, told Gators Online earlier this month that he couldn’t wait to check out Swamp Kings, which was released on Tuesday.

“Just watching the documentary Swamp Kings, it’s a pride to putting on the uniform,” Mitchell said. “There’s a standard that’s been set, and it’s important to us as current players to make sure we live up to that standard day in and day out.”

Gators Online learned that several players and staff members were anticipating the documentary coming out, with some coaches even trying to get early access to the four episodes.

It’s been the talk of team this week leading up to the first practice for game prep on Friday.

“I think the whole team has watched it,” Mitchell said. “It’s a very exciting documentary, just to see the history of Florida and all that’s been done here in this program. It’s important for us to restore the order and get back to that standard.

“The documentary has really just been motivating to the whole team. It’s like, we can go harder, we can go even harder. There’s another step to this thing. It’s really been motivating for the guys.”

Florida senior receiver Ricky Pearsall was among the players who tuned in to Swamp Kings this week. He concurred with Mitchell that the documentary served as motivation for the current team.

The behind-the-scenes footage from the mat drills and offseason workouts stood out to Pearsall.

“I didn’t know they were training that hard. It was crazy,” he said. “It just made me sit back and really think, it’s a blessing to be here at the University of Florida, all the history that comes with it and all the success that they had before. They set that standard. We’re trying to live up to that standard each and every day.

“I think the entire time I was watching it I had goosebumps, just watching that show and just seeing how they did it and the success they had with the ways they were doing it. We just want to build off of that. We can use that as motivation. They won the championship, so we want to do that, too, as well. Just take as much notes as possible.”

Swamp Kings on current Gators staff

Three former players from Meyer’s teams are now on Billy Napier’s staff at Florida. New student assistant coach Brandon Spikes and quality control strength coach Miguel Carodine were classmates and played for the Gators from 2006-10.

Napier’s latest staff hire is GatorMade director of professional development Stephen Alli (2009-12), who was a member of Meyer’s final two UF teams.

RELATED: Former Florida Gators WR Stephen Alli joins Billy Napier’s staff

Mitchell spoke with Spikes about Swamp Kings after it was released.

“I have. I always ask him. Being that we both played for Coach Meyer, we always have those talks. He’s been an inspiration to us and having him around every day has been an energy booster for us,” Mitchell said of Spikes.

“That’s what it comes down to at the end of the day. It’s all inspirational, just seeing the Florida greats, seeing a linebacker great like that, seeing what he does and knowing that you have an opportunity to one day do the same things he’s done. It’s all been inspirational for us.”

Billy Gonzales, now in his third stint as Florida’s receiver coach, first served in that role on Meyer’s staff from 2005-07. Pearsall got a kick out of seeing Gonzales in the documentary.

“It’s funny, when I was watching Swamp Kings, I saw young Coach Billy G, and I was like, ‘Oh, look at Coach’,” Pearsall said. “Right when I got here, I asked him who’s the best receiver you ever coached. … I’ve heard all about Percy [Harvin]. Each and every place I go, just because I wear No. 1, I’m hearing all kinds of things about him and just how talented he was.

“I actually saw a video of Urban Meyer saying he’s the best player he’s ever seen. I had to watch my Percy film, and I’ve heard a lot of stories about him, just how dangerous he is with the ball in his hands.”

Mitchell is well aware of Harvin, who’s from his hometown of Virginia Beach. He has a unique connection to the former five-star recruit in the 2006 class.

“I grew up watching Percy Harvin. My brother was his quarterback in high school, Terry Mitchell, Jr.,” Mitchell said. “I was a little kid. I don’t really remember much. I was like two or three years old.”