Gator Country

It’s time to talk about players I’ve never seen who have never suited up in a Florida Gator uniform but will shape the future of Urban Meyer’s football team that has yet to be pieced together. Seems almost mythical, doesn’t it?

It’s called recruiting, which is a French word for choosing up sides in the parking lot.

Recruiting is the lifeblood of the sport, but it’s also not nearly as crucial as everybody makes it --- but has proven to be a lot more important that what Steve Spurrier thought it was.

I only say “not as crucial” to bring some sanity to the moment. I know people who put their life on hold this time of the year just to check up hourly on the status of their favorite five-star.

Clearly it is critically important, as Meyer has proven in his quest to land “the one percent of the one percent.” By all reports the Florida coach will stockpile another 20 or so players this year with a list of commitments that ESPN currently has judged No. 5 in the country.

This is the time of year when Gator football fans salivate over the four- and five-stars, all the while bemoaning the losses of players like Greg Reid and Nick Kasa who have gone --- or may be going --- elsewhere.

Sometimes, however, when Gator fans are slobbering over those four-and five-stars, they should stop and remember Jeffrey Demps, who many of the top 25 schools including our neighbors to the west passed on because he was considered “a track guy.” Would you like to rewind 2008 and play it without Demps?

Which brings up another important point: Walk-ons have played a very important part in the history of Gator football as well as Meyer’s teams at Utah and Bowling Green. Urban’s battlefield promotions --- offering scholarships and starting jobs on the spot to those who impress him in a practice --- are legend. He coaches from the bottom up.

The rich history of non-scholarship players at Florida includes an impressive list of Gainesville athletes: Former Cleveland Browns All-Pro defensive back Bernie Parrish; All-SEC, record-setting receiver Chris Doering; All-SEC receiver Lee McGriff; All-SEC quarterback Kerwin Bell; and All-America defensive back Louis Oliver. Those are just a few.

And then there are locals like the Jackson brothers --- Willie Jr. and Terry --- and Vernell Brown, who all three got the last scholarship.

In today’s competitive race --- and especially when an elite program like Florida wants to stay on top --- coaches cannot make a living on walk-ons. But they can make for a nice supplement.

It’s still all about the beef on the hoof.

So Florida’s class will be judged again by the beef experts as soon as all the results are final on National Signing Day, Feb. 4.

One wonders, however, why things have been so quiet lately about the final roster spots for the newbies. That is, of course, except for those prattlers who keep waffling back and forth between schools and attempting to orchestrate the music that only they are hearing.

Because the Gators lost or graduated so few players, the recruits realize they aren’t going to break into the lineup or necessarily log in a ton of playing time as freshmen. And some of them flatly don’t want to compete. So they waffle.

What I am hearing is that ultimatums have been issued to some of the “wafflers.” So if you hear some of these hotshots have suddenly announced they were no longer interested in the Gators it is because their scholarships may have been withdrawn.

Subsequently, I’m guessing that Meyer has pretty much a pat hand and may not be in the hunt for some of the people who have gone astray. If, indeed, that’s the case, we may not be hearing the names of many more five-stars called or see them in print under the named of “Florida.”

The Gators are still very much in the hunt for such stars of the ESPN Top Ten as cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick (No. 4) of Gadsden, Ala.; running back Trent Richardson (No. 6) of Pensacola Escambia; and outside linebacker Jelani Jenkins (No. 9) of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Wheaton, Md. Those kids are what are known as “plus ones” --- good enough that you find room for them if they choose Florida. You hold out hope with kids like that right up until the last minute and somehow you fit them in.

With or without them, however, it will be another bountiful year for Meyer either way. Not to be overlooked are such commitments as wide receiver Andre Debose (No. 17) of Class 6A state champion Seminole High of Sanford; defensive tackle Gary Brown (No. 23) of West Gadsden High in Greensboro; and offensive tackle Xavier Nixon (No. 51) of Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville, N.C.

What I am also hearing is that Florida has focused more on “character” and not “characters” this year. Meyer wants fewer problems off the field. He also wants more speed, so the mantra for all future Gators on signing day is “character and speed.”

So maybe Meyer’s class won’t be ranked No. 1, but that’s not the No. 1 he cares about --- it’s the one that comes at the end of the season.

Quick Jump Starts

1. If, indeed, the loss to South Carolina is going to be Billy Donovan’s “Ole Miss hiccup,” to use football parlance, then who is going to play the part of Tim Tebow?

2. Boy, if you thought this was a down year for SEC football teams, just take a look at the lack of good basketball teams.

3. Memo to the congressmen from Texas, Arkansas, Utah, etc.: Stop worrying about the BCS and spend a little more time in oversight on the distribution of TARP funds to the banks so we can get loans.

4. Good week for the Bates family.  James Bates’ brother Jeremy was hired as OC by Pete Carroll at USC and daddy Jim Bates got the DC job with the Tampa Bay Bucs.

5. Well, glory be --- somebody came to their senses and outlawed recruiting of seventh- and eighth-graders.

Buddy’s E-Mail Bag

None of the players from the two-way era would play both ways today, and they’d probably be lucky to play at all, or be on scholarship for that matter.  Players in the specialized era are better athletes, and Tim Tebow is probably the most famous glamour-position athlete ever. --- Jrod3542.

Buddy: Well, I get your point, but not so fast, my friend. Ask people who saw Rick Casares play --- few though they may be.

The Era of the Gator

With selective editing of dates, football fans can easily declare eras of dominance for their teams.

It is so because you say it is so.

For instance, if you go back to the beginning of time, Princeton was a national juggernaut. Michigan, Alabama, Notre Dame, USC, Ohio State, California, Army --- even Harvard --- all had eras.

Recently, ESPN released its “Prestige Ratings” for college football, taking into consideration the entire body of work by each school. No. 1 was Oklahoma, followed by USC, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Nebraska.

Florida was ranked No. 15 and was penalized as a Johnny-come-lately whose football program only began drawing national attention in the 1980s.

So I’m officially declaring the last 18 years as ‘”The Era of the Gator.” And I’m not even counting the two basketball national titles. Just the three in football.

Considering only titles awarded by the Associated Press or the BCS championship, since 1990 nobody else has won as many national football championships as Florida.

Miami, LSU, Nebraska and FSU have all won two. Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Michigan, Oklahoma, USC, Texas and Colorado all have one.

We could throw in some other trash talk, like Meyer as the only coach ever to win the BCS twice. And if we wanted to rub salt in the wounds to other conferences, we could also point out that four out of the last six BCS champions hail from the SEC.

But that would be gloating, and we are only here to edify football fans everywhere.

As Casey Stengel used to say, you could look it up.

AND GOOD MORNING …

… to Mike Hill and Jeremy Foley. Great news about the new 137-foot x 30-foot football LED scoreboards at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Now if you could only make them visible to us in the press box.

About the author

BuddyShow

Buddy Martin is the author of seven books, including Urban Meyer's authorized biography, and was a recipient of an Emmy while working for CBS Sports on "The NFL Today." The native son of Ocala and Florida-educated journalist is the former sports editor of the New York Daily News, Denver Post, St. Petersburg Times and Florida Today. He has won more than 165 state and national awards for writing and editing. "Urban's Way" (St. Martin's Press) is now out in paperback. It can be purchased at all major book stores or by writing Buddy at buddyshow@aol.com.

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