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'An Urban Meyer puff piece': Social media reacts to portrayal in 'Swamp Kings' documentary

Dan Rorabaugh, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida
·4 min read

The trailer for the third volume of Netflix's "Untold" documentary series ends with Urban Meyer, the head coach on the 2006 and 2008 national championship Florida Gators, issuing a promise for viewers.

"This is gonna be un-(expletive)-believable."

The previews for "Swamp Kings," the four-part documentary on the mid- to late 2000s Gators squads, had college football fans excited both in and outside Gainesville. The teams led by Meyer and Heisman-winning quarterback Tim Tebow brought on-field glory back to Florida football, while also including a long list of off-field drama from partying to criminal activity. And then there's the issue of Aaron Hernandez, the Gators tight end who was later convicted of murder (and who was the focus of another Netflix documentary).

Unfortunately (for some fans, at least), "Swamp Kings" focused mostly on the Gators' play. While the documentary series took viewers behind the scenes for some grueling workout clips, Hernandez is mentioned only once over 3 hours. The Pouncey twins, Percy Harvin, the Cam Newton laptop incident that led to the future Heisman winner being kicked off the team? Not much of a mention.

Perhaps worst of all in critics' eyes is how Meyer is featured. His training regimen doesn't get challenged much beyond a couple passing quotes, and his treatment of players was a big part of what led to his firing after less than a season as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars a decade later.

"An emotional Meyer talked about the death of Avery Atkins in 2007, a year after leaving the Gators, as the reason he wouldn’t kick players off the team," Joe Lucia wrote for Awful Announcing. "That’s just about all the coverage the negative aspects of the team get."

Social media reacts to Urban Meyer and "Swamp Kings"

Here's a rundown of some of the criticism on social media:

Twitter reacts to Netflix documentaries

Netflix wasn't immune from criticism after "Swamp Kings." Viewers pointed out the company's history of seemingly soft stories about their subjects.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida Gators Netflix documentary criticized over Urban Meyer