Sometimes it’s best to rip the Band-Aid off in one swift motion.

The Florida Gators and athletic director Jeremy Foley face a similar dilemma in how they handle their beleaguered head coach Will Muschamp.

It may hurt, it may sting, but the Gators have to do it. They need to fire Will Muschamp … and now.

No more faith in Muschamp

Coming off the Gators’ worst season since 1979, this was the season Muschamp had to get something done.

Muschamp and the Gators could excuse the 2013 season, a year that included a 4-8 record and a home loss to an FCS Georgia Southern team, due to the massive amount of injuries. Twenty-three different players missed games due to injury and 17 scholarship players suffered season-ending injuries. What head coach could overcome that?

The fans, the media and anyone else who cared gave Muschamp the benefit of the doubt.

This season, Muschamp and the Gators had to prove the program is heading in the right direction. Sadly for the orange-and-blue faithful, tonight’s game against Missouri overwhelmingly proved otherwise.

Now the team’s hopes of winning the SEC East are dashed. The fan base has given up on Muschamp, as evidenced by the crowd’s “Fire Muschamp” chant midway through the third quarter following yet another Missouri touchdown.

RELATED: UF crowd at The Swamp chants ‘Fire Muschamp’

Florida faced a similar situation one decade ago with Ron Zook. Zook, much like Muschamp, took Florida’s talent and moved backward. The team was 4-3 the year it fired Zook. In fact, Muschamp has benefitted from diminished expectations as Florida has given him a longer leash than it gave Zook.

It was a 2004 road matchup against Mississippi State that eventually sealed Zook’s fate as a “former” UF head coach. The Gators were favored by 24 points heading into that game and lost by eight points on the road. Florida fired Zook two days later, but allowed him to finish out the season.

The Mississippi State game fell a week before the Georgia matchup and Foley wasn’t afraid to fire Zook then. Foley faces nearly the same situation this weekend. Why should this time be any different?

What has Muschamp done?

The Gators have given Muschamp second and third chances, but he simply hasn’t gotten the job done.

  1. No continuity or progress on offense: The obvious offensive struggles and lack of continuity at offensive coordinator don’t look good for the head coach. When Muschamp hired Kurt Roper this offseason, it was the team’s third offensive coordinator in four years. The person in that job has changed, but Florida’s offense hasn’t gotten better. Charlie Weis (pass-oriented pro style), Brent Pease (run-oriented pro style) and Kurt Roper (up-tempo spread) all have tried and failed. At some point Muschamp gets the blame.
    • Florida has yet to finish higher than 10th in the SEC in total offense during Muschamp’s tenure.
    • Florida hasn’t averaged more 26.8 points against power conference opponents under Muschamp. It also has averaged less than 20 points per game in two separate season.
    • Florida averaged 177.6 passing yards per game against power conference opponents in 2013, the highest total in Muschamp’s tenure.
  2. Lack of player development: Muschamp deserves some credit for his ability to recruit. Aside from an 11-2 season in 2012, times have been tough in Gainesville, yet Muschamp has still hauled in three top-10 recruiting classes. Despite heralded recruiting classes, Florida hasn’t put a product on the field that makes fans proud. In 2012, Muschamp’s defense and a strong running game overshadowed a weak passing offense. The other seasons? Muschamp’s 14-17 record in three years speaks for itself.
  3. Regressing as a program: Urban Meyer left the cupboard bare thanks to a tumultuous 2010 season, but the Gators were still just a year removed from a Sugar Bowl win and two from a BCS National Championship. Fast forward to present day and the Gators are associated more closely with winning or losing ugly than with championship games. The team’s homefield advantage has vanished . What used to be The Swamp is now a place where opponents can come in, have their cake and eat it too. Saturday’s loss against Missouri marked the seventh at home in Muschamp’s three and a half years as coach. The Gators are a play clock controversy away from three SEC home losses this season alone. The Gators have lost their edge, and that falls on the head coach’s shoulders.

Current state of the program

On the surface, the 42-13 score in Florida’s game against Missouri isn’t as wide of a margin as other losses in Florida’s history, but it was clear that this team had mailed it in.

The Missouri Tigers, a team that suffered a home loss to Indiana earlier in the year and who was coming off a 34-0 drubbing of its own against Georgia a week ago, flat-out embarrassed the Gators on their home field during homecoming. There wasn’t any fight, there wasn’t any energy and there definitely wasn’t any hope from the fans that this program can turn things around.

Until now, everyone gave Muschamp the benefit of the doubt.

But that’s no more.

It took this kind of game for everyone in orange and blue to assign blame where it belongs — on the head coach.

Never has it been more evident that Florida needs change. Muschamp needs to be the first to go.