What is Untold: Swamp Kings about? Netflix true story explained

The latest episode of the sports documentary series Untold has dropped on Netflix – this is what Swamp Kings is all about.

The Untold sporting anthology series has been a huge hit for Netflix, so-much-so that the streamer is in the midst of launching Season 3.

This series has featured films about Jake Paul, Johnny Manziel (aka Johnny Football), and most recently the doping scandal that surrounded Victor Conte.

This week it’s the turn of Urban Meyer, and the University of Florida’s so-called “Swamp Kings,” which plays out on Netflix across four episodes.

What is Untold: Swamp Kings about? Netflix true story explained

Here’s the official synopsis for Swamp Kings: “After a blazing run in the ’90s under Coach Steve Spurrier, the University of Florida’s winning streak died out by 2005. Enter Urban Meyer, the Gators’ demanding new head coach whose take-no-prisoners style bred not only a string of legendary victories, but also unrelenting drama that rippled well beyond the locker room.

“In their own words through extensive sit-down interviews paired with archival footage, the four-part series profiles Meyer and the titans he coached (Brandon Siler, Tim Tebow, Brandon Spikes, Major Wright, and Ahmad Black, among many others). It gives viewers a bird’s-eye view of how they catapulted the Florida Gators from underdogs to winners of two BCS National Championships.”

The show is directed by Katherine English, who wanted the athletes to be candid when discussing the team’s on-field success, and off-field drama.

“We wanted the players to be front and center of this series,” English told Netflix. “The players’ stories are unfiltered, deeply personal, and often full of humor. They describe what it’s like to hear the roar of the crowd, to feel the sweat dripping down their backs, and to know they’re at the center of it all.”

The controversy surrounding coach Urban Meyer

Urban Meyer coached the Florida Gators from 2005 to 2010 to great success. But there was also trouble throughout his tenure, with 21 of his players arrested for a variety of offences during the period.

Untold: Swamp Things doesn’t shy away from the negative, and how Meyer’s players ended up there, as executive producer Louise Norman tells Netflix: “When people watch, they will probably have mixed feelings about [Meyer’s] coaching methods.

“I think that’s probably right, that people should debate whether or not it was too militaristic or too tough. But I think what we can say about him is that he was so incredibly honest throughout his interviews that he didn’t try to backtrack and say, ‘Well, that’s what I did then, but I wouldn’t do it now.’”

Why the Aaron Hernandez story isn’t told in Swamp Kings

In 2013, Florida Gators tight end Aaron Hernandez was convicted of killing a friend, and indicted for murdering two others. He died in jail by suicide after being acquitted for one of those murders.

Swamp Things doesn’t cover these events, as they fall outside the show’s timeline, as Louise Norman explains:

“There was a lot of concern from the players right at the very beginning… some of that was because of what they saw as the unfair reporting of the Hernandez story. But we didn’t decide not to cover it because of the sensitivities… it’s actually outside of our timeline.

“He played for the team during those years, and we had footage of him playing, and there’s no doubt he’s an extraordinary player, but what actually happened to him later was outside our timeline. There’s no doubt that the players want him to be remembered as the great player and teammate that he was.”

Where is Urban Meyer now?

After leaving the Florida Gators in 2012, Urban Meyer coached the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2012 to 2018, winning a national championship in 2014.

He retired from coaching after the Rose Bowl in 2019, though briefly cut that retirement short to coach the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021. That stint was a failure, however; one that ended after 13 games with Meyer being fired.

Away from the field, Meyer works for Fox Sports, appearing on the network’s weekly pre-game show Big Noon Kickoff.

Untold: Swamp Kings is currently streaming on Netflix, and you can check out some of our other documentaries coverage below:

The Lucie Blackman Case | The Isabella Nardoni Case | Where is Natalia Grace? | Who are the Duggars? | Victim/Suspect explained | Missing Dead or Alive explained | True story behind The Playing Card Killer | True story behind Take Care of Maya | HBO’s Burden of Proof explained | How to watch David Fuller: Monster in the Morgue | How to watch the Hart family murders documentary | True story of The Deepest Breath | True story of Last Call