Three years ago they were freshmen, just trying to fit in with a veteran team whose leaders were quarterback Chris Leak and middle linebacker Brandon Siler. They were the understudies, the guys who would take the torch and carry on the tradition when Leak and Siler were gone. Like Leak and Siler, Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes have a national championship to show for their time at the University of Florida. Now they’re back to accomplish something Leak and Siler never had the chance to do, which is win a second straight national title.
Tebow and Spikes are Florida’s brave and fearless leaders, the two players who set the tone for everybody else on the team. Tebow won a Heisman Trophy as a sophomore and in the two games that counted most his junior year, he literally willed the Gators to victory in both the SEC and BCS National Championship games. On the other side of the ball, Spikes was the heart and soul of a Florida defense that put the brakes on Oklahoma’s point-a-minute offense, holding the high flying Sooners to only 14 points in the national championship game. What Tebow is to Florida’s offense, Spikes is to the defense. “As Spikes goes, so goes our defense,” defensive coordinator Charlie Strong said last year.
And now they are back for one final run, a chance to do what no Florida team has ever done — go unbeaten and win a second straight national championship. They are clearly motivated to further etch their names permanently in the Florida record books but they keep it all in perspective.
While admitting that a chance to go unbeaten and “re-write history” had plenty to do with him coming back for his senior year instead of leaving early for the National Football League, Spikes says the ultimate goal is the same one that’s been in place since he arrived from Shelby, North Carolina in the summer of 2006.
“Our goal is to get back to Atlanta [for the SEC Championship Game],” Spikes said Thursday morning after the Florida Gators had finished their first practice in preparation for the 2009 season. “Year in and year out that’s what we stress.”
They are both so driven to win that they are willing to put everything on the line to push, pull or prod their teammates to perform at their highest levels but it’s not just do as I say with these guys. Leadership, they understand, is more than simply talking about it. It’s also leading by example, setting the standard for hard work and determination.
Tebow’s put it all on the line moment happened after Florida lost to Ole Miss last year. First he apologized for losing and then he made his promise in front of rolling cameras to do whatever it would take to make the Gators work harder than any team in the country. A week later, after he played poorly against Arkansas, Spikes made a similar promise but this wasn’t caught on camera or nearly as well publicized. Like Tebow, Spikes began his promise with an apology for setting such a bad example to his teammates in the Arkansas game. Then he promised to never let his teammates down again and told them to climb on his back, that he would carry them.
Leadership like that is what separates the good teams from the great teams and with leadership like that returning for one more shot at a walk down Glory Road, it’s no wonder the Florida Gators are the team that everybody picks to make it two big trophies in a row in 2009.
The Gators have it all. They have their two most important players back in Tebow and Spikes. They have speed to burn, skill players who can make any and every play and big, mean and nasty offensive linemen. Over on defense, they have their top 22 players back and 32 of the 35 players that made the travel squad last year.
They also have chemistry. Talent plus coaching plus motivation is quite a formula but throw in chemistry that both Spikes and Tebow say is off the charts and you might have a team for the ages.
“For the first practice of the year, I think this is the best chemistry that we’ve had in all four years I’ve been here — guys coming out and caring about each other, working hard, not complaining, excited to get up and go to work,” Tebow said after Thursday’s practice.
“The best team,” Spikes said. “We still have things we have to get accomplished as far as the young guys that came in during the summer but we have great leadership from older guys who played a lot. The chemistry is here.”
The chemistry was there in 2006 when Leak and Siler were the leaders. It was there last season when Tebow and Spikes led the Gators to championships. The expectations are high for 2009 but expectations are always high at Florida.
‘We know the standards are high but that’s what we expect,” Spikes said.
During the summer, Spikes took it upon himself to be the maximum supreme leader for the defense. He led by example. Thinking he might be needed to help out with the pass rush, he bulked up to 258. After one day of practice he discovered the added weight wasn’t all that necessary, so he vowed to drop down into the 240s where he feels he will be more effective.
He also made it a point to let everybody know that good wasn’t good enough, that there was always something extra to give for the good of the team.
“My job is to make sure the guys don’t get satisfied,” he said. “We have to keep striving and push that rock back to the top of the hill.”
Tebow relentlessly pushed his offensive mates during the summer while working to improve his own footwork and mechanics so he can be a more effective passer in 2009. That probably isn’t the kind of news opponents wish to hear. He’s already accounted for 110 touchdowns in his career, 97 as a starter and 13 during his freshman year as Leak’s backup. He’s thrown 681 passes in his career for 67 of those 110 touchdowns. He’s only thrown the ball 11 times to the bad guys.
Tebow had the Pouncey Twins to push and prod the linemen this summer, freeing him to work with the skill players in the passing game.
“We came out here and trained,” Tebow said. “We threw, worked on routes, scramble drills and worked on every possible throw we’ll make with all of them. We spent time together and did a lot of things together. They see it [the ball] coming out of my hand and I know when they’re going to break.”
The time since they had black stripes on their helmets as Florida rookies has passed all too quickly. They are both aware that the clock started ticking for their final shot at a championship Thursday morning. They are unified in their desire to lead the Gators to one final title before they walk away, content that they’ve given their best to the University of Florida, their coaches and teammates.
They are the leaders of this team, able to transfer their own passion and energy on to teammates who will follow them anywhere. This is no more talented team in the entire country top to bottom of the roster and there is no team with better leadership.
With so much going for the Gators, is there a cap on how good this team can be?
“It depends on how much you want to win and what your passion is,” Tebow said. “I think for us and our team right now there are no limits. We want to do whatever it takes to win.”