It’s here… SEC Championship Game week! Tebow, Maurkice, and Haden talk about it and more…
Tim Tebow:
CHUCK DUNLAP: Can you just start us off by talking about what it’s been like being back in the championship game, this time as the starting quarterback?
TIM TEBOW: Absolutely. Well, number one, it’s an honor, and I’m very excited about it. Also getting a chance to play against Alabama, a great team, being coached by a great coach, and all the great players, it’s very exciting. This was our number one goal all year and all season was to get to the SEC Championship, so it means a lot now that we’re here.
Q. I know when you were recruited, Alabama was in there pretty high on your list. Was it pretty much Florida all the way along for you, or was that a tough decision between Florida and Alabama?
TIM TEBOW: No, it really was a tough decision. I really liked Coach Shula, I thought he was a great coach, and I loved Alabama, the passion they had for football, the passion the fans had, and just everything. I thought it was a great town, and I really enjoyed it there.
But in the end, I loved Coach Meyer and just being a Gator, I couldn’t pass it up.
Q. I know this season it’s been a little bit different for you as far as your stats and numbers and your role with some of the talent you’ve got around you this year. How has that been for you, and do you feel like you’ve had just as good a year this year or better than last year?
TIM TEBOW: I thought overall I had a better year as far as handling the offense and managing and just being a quarterback and leading my team to victories. I think the best way to judge it is by our win-loss column, and I think that was my number one focus was getting us to the SEC Championship. And being here, it means a lot. That’s the ultimate goal, so I’m satisfied now that we’ve done that. But not yet, we still have one more game to go.
Q. You’ve been to the Georgia Dome before. Is that going to elicit some special feelings when you walk in the door there?
TIM TEBOW: I think there will be some feelings of past times in there, and it’ll be a lot of fun. There will be a lot of emotion and a lot of adrenaline going in there, that’s for sure.
Q. Ever since you guys got on this roll maybe two or three weeks ago especially, all the so-called experts have been penciling you in for the National Championship game. If you were Alabama and undefeated and No. 1, would that bug you?
TIM TEBOW: Well, I think they’re pretty mature. I think they’ve got mature coaches. I don’t think they’ll let that bother them. I don’t think they worry about it, just like I don’t think we’d worry about it if we were in their position. I think they’re just going out there and trying to do their job like they have all year.
Q. I want to go back to the Ole Miss game, the statements you made after the game. I just wonder what you thought of that now, and how much of that was just post-game emotion, and how do you feel about it when basically everything you said has come true?
TIM TEBOW: Well, I feel good about it. I felt good about it at the time. I didn’t want to make any brash statements or anything just on emotion. That’s why I waited and thought about it in my locker for about an hour before I came out and addressed the media, and I really just tried to say heartfelt things and didn’t try to make any statements like we’re going to win the rest of our games or we’re going to go undefeated or anything like that. It was just that we were going to go out there and play with intensity, play with passion, character and love for the game. And that’s something that we could control and something I could control. I can’t control whether we win or lose, but I can control how we play. So that’s all I was really trying to say.
Q. In your heart of hearts, did you think at that point that you guys would be where you are right now?
TIM TEBOW: Well, I didn’t know then, but I knew the next day when we had a team meeting and some guys talked. When we went out there and practiced I knew it was going to be a different team because I knew it hurt a lot of guys more than it hurts most people when you lose, and I think that’s when you see the character of a team is how you bounce back from a defeat, and I think you could really see a lot about our team.
Q. What changed for you individually from the start of the year? I mean, offensively it was a slow start and it didn’t seem like you were yourself. Coach Meyer talked about how you put too much pressure on yourself. Did you do that, and did you feel a change after the Ole Miss game?
TIM TEBOW: I think for me I was probably wanting to be too perfect, like everything perfect, have a perfect season and everything, probably forcing it a little too much. After a few games I just started to relax and play, just go out there and have fun and be myself.
Q. So in essence, you stopped thinking so much and playing and having fun like you used to?
TIM TEBOW: Yep.
Q. I was wondering, what were your first impressions of Urban Meyer when you met him during the recruiting process?
TIM TEBOW: Well, first impression, I was just—watching him at Utah and everything, I had seen him coach, and I knew he was a great coach. I knew he was a very intense guy, but even when you meet him you can tell how passionate he is and how intense he is and how much love he brings to the table and how much he wants to win. That’s kind of the first thing that I saw when I met him, before I got to really get to know him that well, just how intense he is and how much he wants to win.
Q. He seems like a guy who pretty much demands perfection. Do you find you’re a personality match with him in that regard?
TIM TEBOW: I think we’re kind of similar in that way. We both want to do anything to win, and we’re both going to work extremely hard, and we’re going to put everything on the line.
Q. You’ve been pretty much in a fishbowl your entire career since you’ve been recruited here. How do you handle those pressures and expectations externally?
TIM TEBOW: Well, I think there’s different ways people handle them, but for me I just try to take it as a blessing. You’ve got your pros and cons with everything, and some people can handle it as a pro or con. I just tried to look at it as a pro, as if I get to have an opportunity to share what I believe and to share everything I do with others and be put on a platform so I can set a good example for others, and that’s really my ultimate goal.
Q. Coach said at one point he felt like maybe some of those external pressures were getting to you a little bit. What do you think changed during that period of time maybe earlier in the season?
TIM TEBOW: I don’t really think it was the external pressures. I’d say more probably pressure I put on myself because that’s always greater than anybody else could put on me. It was more going out there and playing and having fun rather than trying to be perfect.
Q. You mentioned earlier the meeting, the team meeting, the day after the Ole Miss game where other guys got up and said some stuff, too. Can you give me a little bit of the inner workings of that game, who said what, and how heated was it, or was it more just a clear-the-air type of thing?
TIM TEBOW: I think it was a little bit of all that. I think Coach did most of the speaking, and then he asked if anybody wanted to talk, and I did. So I got up and talked to the team. I don’t think anybody else talked right then. I think a few guys, once we got out and practiced, I think Spikes said a few things before we started or something. But that was really about it.
Q. Did you see any instance where maybe the team or individual guys did not, I guess, just buy into everything that you said after that meeting? Did you have to kind of prod the team the rest of the way, or was it just kind of like a flipping-a-switch type of thing?
TIM TEBOW: I really don’t think you had to prod or pull anybody. I think everybody bought in. I think everybody felt terrible about that game. I think everybody was determined not to let it happen again. A lot of guys after that came up to me and told me they appreciated it and they were all in, and they had the utmost confidence in our team and everything. I think it was great for me. I think everybody was kind of on that same page of we’re okay, we’re going to bounce back and we’re going to show everybody what we’re really made of.
Q. This was sort of asked a little bit earlier, but I want to ask you, are you surprised to see you guys as such heavy favorites, and do you worry that Alabama could use that as motivation against you guys a little bit?
TIM TEBOW: Well, I’m sure Alabama is going to use a lot of things as motivation, just as we will. I don’t think this will be too big of a deal. I didn’t even really know we were favorites until I just heard it a few minutes ago.
Q. Coach Meyer just a few minutes ago said that throughout your whole recruiting process that he thought he was behind Alabama the whole time.
TIM TEBOW: (Laughing.)
Q. And he really thought you were going to be going to Alabama, so I’m just wondering, how close were you to going there and what kind of changed at the end to make you come back to Florida?
TIM TEBOW: I was up in the air. I grew up being a huge Gator fan, loved Florida and loved everything about Florida. But then I made the best decision for me, what I felt was right, so I really tried to look with an open mind at all the schools, and I really liked Alabama, I liked Coach Shula, I liked what he stood for on and off the field, and I liked everything about their program and the passion that their fans have for football and how big it is there, because I’m very passionate about it, as well. I thought it was just a great fit, and I liked him, and I thought it would be great playing for him. So I really liked the school at Alabama.
But then at the end, I really just thought Florida was the best fit for me, playing for Coach Meyer and staying closer to home and staying in the state of Florida. I think those factors kind of were the biggest things for me.
Q. And Coach Shula, I think he’s with the Jaguars now. Do you still keep in touch with him at all?
TIM TEBOW: I do talk to him every now and then. We’ve talked a few times during the year. He’s a great guy. I’m sorry about what happened to him at Alabama, but I think he’s having a great time at Jacksonville, and I think he’s going to be a head coach eventually again, and he’ll do a great job. He’s a great guy.
Q. You’re being asked so much about the comments that you made after the Ole Miss game and the leadership that you’ve shown since then. Has that almost been more important than what you’ve done on the field this year?
TIM TEBOW: Oh, I don’t know. Being a leader, I guess being able to help manage guys off the field is very important. But also being a leader on the field and leading by example I think is probably more important, because guys, they’re going to listen to what you say but more so what you do and how you act and how you handle yourself. So all the talking is nice, but then going out there and backing it up with your work ethic on the practice field and in the games and your courage and your heart, I think those are more important.
Q. Coach Meyer yesterday, he pointed to the fourth quarter of the Arkansas game as kind of being a point that he really saw you start to turn around and play a lot better, I guess under a lot less pressure. What do you remember about that fourth quarter of the Arkansas game and in particular about what he was talking about?
TIM TEBOW: Well, you know, I think we just started to relax and go play and stop worrying about everything and making everything perfect; it was just going out there and having fun and playing, playing the same game I’ve played my whole life.
Q. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about the speed that you have in your backfield and if there’s any particularly interesting or funny anecdotes during the course of the year about people bragging about who’s fastest and just in general what difference those guys have made for your offense this year.
TIM TEBOW: Well, they make a big difference. We have a lot of guys who can go in there and be key contributors. Starting with Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey and Emmanuel Moody, all those guys can really step up and make some big plays for us, and they have. They’re always going to compete about who’s faster and who wins the races and everything, so that’s always funny to hear. But all those guys really step up and contribute in their own way, and they’re a big asset to this team.
Q. Can you just talk about Danny Wuerffel and just what he kind of means to you? Did he kind of set the tone for the type of quarterback you wanted to be when you got to Florida?
TIM TEBOW: Well, Danny Wuerffel was a great role model for me growing up and how he handled everything, the humility, and the way he handled success and failure and just his attitude on and off the field was something definitely to aspire to be like.
So for me that was a great role model definitely during the time when I needed good role models. So that was somebody I was really thankful for. I don’t think we really played much at all, but hopefully the way we handle ourselves is similar because he definitely tried to handle himself with a lot of humility and grace with people.
Q. Whenever you’ve gotten the chance to talk with him, is it more talking about off-the-field stuff than on-the-field?
TIM TEBOW: I think both. I think more off-the-field, just his ministry and what I want to get involved with when I’m done playing and how he handled himself and then just hanging out and getting to know each other.
Maurkice Pouncey
CHUCK DUNLAP: Could you start us off with just your general thoughts about the upcoming game with Alabama?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: I mean, we’re just excited that we’re there. We’re just happy that we made it and that we can go out there and represent the Southeastern Conference.
Q. I know that you guys are really just focused on the opponent and you don’t really care about this stuff, but you guys are playing undefeated No. 1 Alabama and you guys are coming in with all the ESPN hype and you guys are favored by ten points. What’s it like being in that situation?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: I didn’t even know until you just said that. I mean, I’m glad they’ve got us to win. We just want to go out there and play a great game, go out there and play hard and do what we do best.
Q. And for you, I mean, just talk about what it’s like going out there and playing after what you and your brother have been through in the past week?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: I mean, we just want to take it our way, we always do, try to look over what happened, the accident with my dad and everything. Just know that he’s in our hearts and just go out there and play a great game.
Q. Can you talk about going up against a guy that’s 375 pounds at least?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: I mean, he’s going to be a big guy to move in there. He’s a great player. We’ve watched him on film. You’ve just got to go out there and play hard and physical.
Q. What does it say about this freshman class that you guys brought in this year that they’ve had such a big impact, and here you are at 11 and 1 playing for an SEC Championship?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: Those guys came in very mature. We’ve got a lot of guys contributing to the team and I’m happy that their careers are starting off well for them, and I just hope they keep it up.
Q. I want to go back to the end of the Ole Miss game and just kind of Tim Tebow, his comments after that game and his leadership since then. We in the media have made a big deal about it. I was just wondering from someone who’s been there, how much did it really impact the way y’all have played this season?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: I mean, what Tim said was very emotional to everybody. He’s one of the big-time leaders on the team, and everybody looks up to him and just respects what he does. We just wanted to look past that loss, and now we’re just playing with great emotion and just love for the game now.
Q. You and Alabama both have just gotten off to great starts in each game this season, just put teams behind the 8-ball early. With that in mind, how important is it going to be for somebody to get off to a fast start, take an early lead Saturday?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: We just want to play all 60 minutes, go out there and play a hard, physical game.
Q. I know Joe Haden was talking about after the Ole Miss game, that’s when y’all really started to play better in the first quarter. Have you noticed that, as well, that y’all started getting off to better starts after that one loss you had this year?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: Yeah, it shows a lot, but we just want to go out there and play, like I said, just go out there and do what we love to do.
Q. How would you describe Urban Meyer’s coaching style if you had to?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: Coach Meyer loves the game. He’s a family guy, loves all of us to death and loves what he does, and just a great guy to be around.
Q. He seems like a fairly high-intensity kind of guy. Did that surprise you when you got there, or was that something you expected?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: I mean, some of that I expected. He’ll tell you in recruiting how it’s going to be and the way he runs the show, and he’s just a great guy.
Q. I just wonder, someone asked about Tim’s reaction after the Ole Miss game. I wonder what you thought of that after it happened, whether it was just a one-game thing, or you guys would actually be in this place? He basically said you weren’t going to lose a game the rest of the year.
MAURKICE POUNCEY: I mean, everybody was emotional. Tim is our big-time leader on the team, and what he said really touched everybody and made us want to go out there and play even harder and practice even harder and just go out there with a lot more emotion.
Q. In your heart of hearts, though, did you think you guys would be where you are right now after that?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: I can’t tell you, man. We just want to go out there and play 60 minutes.
Q. Have you played anybody like Cody this year, as wide as he is or as low to the ground as he is?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: Not that I can say, but we play great players every week, though.
Q. On film what do you see? When guys have success against him, what do they do?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: What did you say?
Q. When guys have success against Cody, what do they do?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: I don’t know, just go out there and play hard, get physical with him. He’s a great player, great athlete, and we’ve just got to go out there and play physical.
Q. Can you just talk about the workouts in the off-season this past year and what it was like being in that weight room with all those guys and how you guys got closer through that?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: I mean, all the way coming off the season before this one, it was just, we all wanted to go out there and just grind out there and be the best at what we do and just go out there and just take everything one game by one. We just love being around each other and the chemistry around the team, just got a great bond together, guys hanging out, and it just turned out well for us.
Q. Is that when you guys started to hang out more and got closer?
MAURKICE POUNCEY: Yeah, I mean, especially a lot during the summer.
Joe Haden:
CHUCK DUNLAP: We’ll start things off with Joe Haden. Joe, if you want to just start us off with some thoughts on the upcoming championship game against Alabama and then we’ll take a couple questions.
JOE HADEN: Basically I thought coming in with a real strong offensive line. That’s their main thing, and their running game. So our defensive line and linebackers will be up for the challenge. They have a really good passing game, too, with talented receivers, so defending that, we’ll have to come to play, also.
Q. Joe, you guys have been able to get off to unbelievably quick starts this year. Alabama has been the same way. How important do you think it is for this game?
JOE HADEN: It’s going to be real big to get off to a good start. That’s what we’ve been thriving on, just coming out and playing our hardest at the beginning of the game. That kind of sometimes takes the life out of the other team, so basically you want to come out and keep doing what we’ve been doing, executing, playing hard defense, getting the ball from the defense to the offense, just keep exploding, keep them from putting up points and scoring high like they do. So that’s going to be real key for us.
Q. Alabama is undefeated, No. 1 in the country, and it seems like for the last three weeks everybody has been saying you’re going to the national title game. If you were Alabama, would you use that as fuel to motivate you?
JOE HADEN: If I was Alabama I definitely would, all the talk about us being in the National Championship game. They’re still the undefeated team, still have not lost a game yet. If I was them, I would definitely use that as fuel.
Q. Can you just talk about the difference in this year’s defense compared to last year? I know last year you got beat up at the end of the year and gave up over 40 points to Georgia and then to Michigan. What has been the difference this year?
JOE HADEN: The difference this year is mainly in experience. Last year we had a lot of young players, but this year we still have a lot of young players, but just going through the spring, going through that whole season together, learning what’s going on and learning defenses, we’d be out there playing, knowing what’s really going on. That’s the main thing.
And then our team is just gelling together, like everybody wants to have one common goal. Last year we weren’t really as tight as we could be. This year basically it’s experience and having leadership like Spikes and myself and Major Wright, we’re just trying to be leaders for the younger players. Like I’m trying to teach them everything I know, and you see how that’s going. Everybody knows what’s going on with experience and everybody is trying to get to one common goal.
Q. What was the one difference in the Ole Miss game, because defense has been playing lights-out except for in that one game. What happened in that game that you were able to correct since then?
JOE HADEN: I think we came out a little lackadaisical. We didn’t come out as explosive as we should have, and we just didn’t really like put the pedal to the metal like we should have. We came out there a little lackadaisical. That’s the one thing we’re trying to do is come out the first quarter and just go as hard as we can and keep it going for the rest of the game. So that’s the main thing we’re going to do, coming out with intensity and starting the game off.
Q. You had talked a little bit about Alabama’s passing game and how they have a pretty good passing game as well as their rushing attack. I don’t know how much you’ve seen of them on film so far, but what sticks out about John Parker Wilson, their quarterback? What impresses you and what have you noticed?
JOE HADEN: The thing that impresses me the most is when he does get out of the pocket, he’ll stay behind the line of scrimmage and let his receivers just keep working around, and sometime the DBs will come up like he already passed the line of scrimmage and he’ll make plays like that. That’s one thing that I’ll really watch about him is he knows exactly where the line of scrimmage is and he waits until the last second to make a decision.