Florida head football coach Urban Meyer knows preseasons like 2009 don’t come along often, that preseasons like this one for the 2010 campaign are more the norm.
Last year at this time, the Gators were coming off their second national championship in Meyer’s four years in Gainesville, and with quarterback Tim Tebow returning with a bunch of talented athletes on offense and virtually everyone returning in the defense’s two-deep, the coaching staff didn’t have to do too much teaching and too much motivating.
But now that three players – Tebow (Denver), cornerback Joe Haden (Cleveland) and center Maurkice Pouncey (Pittsburgh) – were first-round choices in last spring’s NFL Draft, six other players – middle linebacker Brandon Spikes (New England), defensive ends Jermaine Cunningham (New England) and Carlos Dunlap (Cincinnati), safety Major Wright (Chicago) and wide receiver Riley Cooper (Philadelphia) – were also drafted, and another three (WR David Nelson with Buffalo, KR/PR Brandon James with Indianapolis and LB Ryan Stamper with Detroit) signed on as free agents, and with a huge (27) and talented recruiting class now on campus, Meyer and his staff (which has two new members in Teryl Austin and D.J. Durkin and Stan Drayton rejoining the staff) are back to doing what they like – coaching and teaching.
“We have had so much transition in the last couple of years that we have taken a different approach,” said a rejuvenated Meyer, his health problems (at least to him) a thing of the past. “I always take the coaches on a getaway for a few days and this year we did nothing but evaluate drills. Last year we did not have to evaluate drills because it was the same group of guys that came back.
“If you hire a guy from a different system and he is used to drilling his players a certain way and it has nothing to do with what we do, then it slows down the development of the player. So it has been ridiculous, the amount of time and detail we have spent on each drill. I will watch every drill, I will stay up late tonight watching every drill – not so much the plays but the development of those guys, because there are a bunch of players that need to be developed.”
Some of the development began last March when 11 members of the Class of 2010 who had enrolled in January got to step onto the practice fields with the returning members of the Florida team that went undefeated until losing to eventual national champion Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and finished 13-1 with a lopsided victory in the Sugar Bowl.
That victory came a little more than a week after Meyer, who had experienced chest pains of an unknown origin that were bad enough to send him to the hospital on the evening of the team’s return from Atlanta, suddenly resigned. A day later, after convincing from strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti, offensive coordinator Steve Addazio and others on the staff, and Athletics Director Jeremy Foley plus some of his players, Meyer took back the resignation and promised to take a leave of absence, adding the interim head coach title to the others (offensive coordinator/offensive line coach) Addazio already owned.
Meyer got to spend time with his wife, Shelley, his three children and reassess his health and his fitness issues, eventually learning that his chest pains were caused by esophageal spasms. Fish oil, prescriptions and better eating habits have cleared up the problem. He made trips with his family following spring practice and he promises he will be doing that again following this season, which begins Sept. 4 in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium against Mid-American Conference member Miami of Ohio.
“I got a ridiculous amount of correspondence from people who said because of what I went through they went and got checked out,” said Meyer, who made it mandatory that his assistants undergo physicals.
“Other than ’07, this has been one of the newest (teams), but I will tell you what – there is a lot of talent running around on that field,” Meyer said. “I think you will be excited to see what that Florida team looks like. Not now – they are awful right now. But in a couple of weeks, they will be pretty good.”
Meyer then touched on a few topics:
Injuries: “Matt Patchan has a hairline fracture in his wrist. It is going to be about a 10-day to two-week injury, but his knee is fine and everything else is fine, we are just working with him on the sideline and being cautious with him. Chris Rainey missed a couple of practices because of a racing heartbeat. He had a little procedure done. He is out today, but will be ready to go tomorrow or the next day. Chris Dunkley has a chronic hamstring since the Muck Bowl last year and I was in the meeting room with him yesterday and it is just a 10-day injury, so they are going to watch him really closely on a certain program. Other than that, I think we are good.”
On the seriousness of Rainey’s health: “I asked the same question. It is an accelerated heartbeat. Our guys do a very thorough job here, so they took care of him and everything is fine.”
On special teams: “Chris Rainey is going to be involved in punt returning, Janoris Jenkins could be back there as well. Kickoff return will be Jeff Demps, also Chris Rainey. We have Deonte Thompson. That is about it right now, we are still trying out some of the young players like Chris Dunkley, but we will not know that until we scrimmage, I think this weekend. After the scrimmage, we will know exactly who will be back there. We will narrow it down to two-deep.”
On the kickers: “They had a good summer. Caleb Sturgis and Chas (Henry), I like those two and I am glad they are with us. The other guys, Chris Guido is handling the long snapper for us. He is doing a really good job.”
On Tim Tebow’s haircut: “I just saw it briefly and thought it looked awful. I did not tell him that, I just texted him to say, ‘We are behind you, keep going,’ but did he shave the rest of that stuff off, or is it…good. Tim creates a storyline wherever he is.”
On the excitement after the departure of Tim Tebow: “Yeah, there is a lot of excitement. I want to make it clear that we do miss him. We are not relieved he is gone, we are excited. I would not be as excited if the guy behind him taking snaps was not any good, but he is really good, so the excitement is about personnel, not that a player moved on. I am more excited because the guy who is going to take the snaps this year is a really good player.”
LAST COMICS STANDING: Linebackers Lorenzo Edwards and Brandon Hicks said the departed Brandon Spikes was the team’s biggest joker last season. Edwards added that Duke Lemmens and Mike Pouncey have assumed that role this year.
FRIENDS AND FOES: Redshirt freshman Jelani Jenkins said he and sophomore Jon Bostic, who are competing at middle linebacker, have become close friends. They watch tape together, play the NCAA Football video game against each other and basically shadow one another. Jenkins said he has grown so accustomed to Bostic being around that “when he’s on the field (with me), I can feel (where he is without looking).”
HEAD OF THE CLASS: Freshman defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd said his first goal after arriving on campus was to get ahead in his classes. The second? Getting his stripe removed. “You’re not a Gator until your stripe is off,” he said. He added that it is hot in his hometown of Philadelphia, but to get accustomed to the Florida heat, he has worn a hoodie practically everywhere he has gone this summer.
RECEIVER PRAISE: Cornerback Jeremy Brown on the Gator receivers: “Those receivers are very, very talented. Every day in practice, it’s so competitive. Even Adrian Coxson, who’s just an incoming freshman. … His ability is incredible.” Brown added that coach Urban Meyer singled out redshirt freshman receiver Andre Debose for praise following Tuesday morning’s practice. Brown said Debose made “a crazy catch that got oohs and aahs” and also went across the middle, took a big shot from linebacker A.J. Jones and held on to the ball.
John Patton contributed to this notebook.