![Florida head coach Todd Golden celebrates his 100th win and beating Mississippi State 108-77 with Florida center Rueben Chinyelu (9) and the rest of the team after an NCAA mens basketball game at Steven C. O'Connell Center Exactek arena in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://statico.profootballnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/16135023/auto-draft-03-16-26-4-1920x1350.jpg "Todd Golden Denies Florida Gators Had Attitude Issues During 5–4 Start: ‘We Have Great Guys’")
Florida coach Todd Golden’s No. 1-seeded Gators were blown out, 91-74, by the No. 4-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament on Saturday. The Gators had been riding a 12-game-winning run that propelled them to the No. 1 seed in the South Region on Selection Sunday despite the lopsided SEC Tournament loss.
The Gators had a shaky start to the season after being crowned national champions in April 2025, going 5-4 before course-correcting and becoming one of the most in-form teams in the country.
Todd Golden Addresses Gators’ Poor Start to the Season
During Monday’s segment of the “Triple Option” podcast, Golden addressed the Gators’ poor start to the season while dismissing host Urban Meyer’s suggestion about the team having attitude issues after their national championship win.
“We didn’t have any attitude issues,” Golden said. “I think early on in the year we had a little bit of confidence issues, and I think that stemmed from us not knowing each other very well yet. Obviously, our frontcourt went from roleplaying buttkickers to now being the main guys in the rotation.”
“It took a little bit for us to find our footing that way. We have great guys. We had no in-fighting, we had no complaining, but we had to get our confidence level to where it needed to be.”
The national championship-winning Gators roster lost a huge chunk of their backcourt, including the talented Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard, and Alijah Martin to the NBA Draft, and Denzel Aberdeen to the Kentucky Wildcats via the transfer portal.
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Despite the losses, Golden recruited aggressively from the transfer portal, bringing in talented guards Boogie Fland from Arkansas and Xaivian Lee from Princeton.
During the interview, Golden further detailed the numerous teething problems that his Gators team had, coupled with a tough schedule that led to their struggles at the beginning of the season.
“I thought we had a really good team early on in the year,” Golden said. “We just played some tough opponents on some tough, neutral floors and came up a little short. I believe the maturity, the physical and mental toughness of our guys have shown up over this last couple of months, ’cause we’ve stayed together.”
“Especially now in the era of, ‘What have you done for me lately? I can go to any school I want.’ For a group to stay together after being 5-4 and to not point fingers, to not blame each other or the staff, we’re 21-2 in our last 23 games.”
The Gators are among the strongest contingent of No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament in recent memory, including the Michigan Wolverines, the Arizona Wildcats, and the Duke Blue Devils. Golden’s team will attempt to retain their national title, a feat last accomplished by the UConn Huskies in 2024.
