Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Gators football
One thing's for sure: He can talk the talk
By GARY SHELTON
Published December 8, 2004
GAINESVILLE - The first impressions are over, but still, there are many things you do not know about Urban Meyer, the new sheriff in town.
Later, we will find out if Meyer can recruit in Florida, win in the SEC and satisfy the bloodthirst of Gator Nation. Eventually, time will answer if Meyer is indeed the next great coach or merely the current hot one.
Say this much for Meyer, however: The guy knows how to say hello.
There is timber in his voice. There is command in his presence. There is a bearing, an awareness, a perspective. One step inside the door, and you would agree Meyer has a well-cut jib.
On his first day in town, Meyer had all the answers. He was bright, assured, humorous. He was open, direct, confident. For a day, at least, he looked, and he sounded, like the coach the Gators need for him to be.
No, Meyer didn't win any games on Tuesday. A great many hot young coaches have said the right things at the beginning of their journey, and time has buried them along the way. Wouldn't you have expected a feel-good, peaches-and-Urb kind of day?
That said, Meyer also showed glimpses of a presence that Florida football desperately needs. For the Gators, for Meyer, this was a great place to start.
As a program, Florida has needed someone to take the wheel. Potential recruits have been growing restless. The players on the roster have been uncertain. The alumni have splintered over the dismissal of Ron Zook and the escape of Steve Spurrier. On the edge of town, there remains a billboard calling for the firing of president Bernie Machan and AD Jeremy Foley.
Then came 3:19 p.m. on Tuesday, when a Dodge Durango pulled up to Gate 2 and Meyer stepped out. He walked onto Florida Field, and he looked around at the world he had to conquer, and he grinned.
In his opening act, Meyer looked like the perfect choice to heal all wounds and and move the Gators forward again. He is confident enough for the Spurrier lovers out there. He is family-oriented enough for the Bob Stoops fans. He is a hard-enough worker for the Zook loyalists. He is enthusiastic and organized and disciplined enough for any other criticism you might have. He seems undaunted by the expectations, the competition or the workload.
Will he win? We'll see.
Does he have a chance? You bet.
For Florida, it is a crucial time. At FSU, Bobby Bowden is aging, still. At Miami, Larry Coker has to show he can reload with his own recruits. If Meyer is the right guy, the Gators have a chance to take over as the prominent program in the state.
No one doubts Meyer is the best fixer-upper in America. He went to Bowling Green and he turned a 2-9 team into a 9-2 team. He went to Utah and turned a 5-6 team into one that will try to complete a 12-0 season in the Fiesta Bowl. At UF, however, they don't want him to repair the house; they want him to construct a mansion.
There are those who refer to the Mountain West and the Mid-America conferences as coaches leagues, as conferences where everyone pretty much has the same players and the coaches can make all the difference. The SEC is coach-driven, too, but recruiting helps separate good teams from great ones. For Meyer, recruiting here will be more crucial than anywhere.
So, Urban, are you a good recruiter?
Meyer does not flinch. His voice does not quake. His eyes do not blink.
"I have a lot of confidence in my recruiting ability," he said. "A lot of that is putting together a staff, because the assistants lay the groundwork and the head coach comes in at the end. But, yes, we will get that done. I'm not a good liar. If you have a product to sell, you can be a good recruiter. I get to recruit players to the University of Florida."
Try to imagine yourself as an 18-year-old linebacker. Yeah, the guy could recruit you.
Meyer gets it. He is aware he will be expected to win big, to win fast and to win often. Building a program? These days, that's what a coach does while he is winning, isn't it? Meyer knows people want him to compete for a championship his first season.
"I don't know if I have any choice," Meyer said. "In Gator Nation, that's kind of what is expected of you. That's what makes it an appealing place. There are a lot of places that expect it and don't give you everything you need to do it. Is that the expectation? I certainly didn't create it, but absolutely.
"That's the way it is. You have to win. I'm not going to tell you that in three years we won't have a different coach if I don't win. I accept that."
Still, Meyer says he considers Florida the premier job in America. He has no ambition to coach in the NFL. He says if he leaves another job in two years, someone will shoot him. Maybe the wound will be self-inflicted. If he is successful, he said, he sees himself at Florida for a long time.
He thinks a playoff is inevitable. He thinks the option play is invaluable. If you're asking, he thinks Steve Spurrier's time at Florida was incredible.
If you need an example of how Meyer hit every chord perfectly, that was it. Most new coaches probably would have dodged any questions about Spurrier. Not Meyer. Hey, he said, he loved Spurrier. He was a fan.
"That's the envy of college football," Meyer said. "When you have a program that walks different, talks different and wins in a classy way."
Meyer even liked the way Spurrier would tweak his rivals. Meyer isn't above that himself. At Bowling Green, he always referred to Toledo as "the team up north." At Utah, he referred to Brigham Young as "the team down south." Also, at Utah, there was the day the BYU stickers showed up on the Utah team's locker room urinals.
There is some mirth to the guy. Some passion, some intensity, some intelligence. Some perspective, some enthusiasm, some eagerness. He expects to bring a high-level, aggressive brand of football to Florida. He expects to succeed.
For openers, that will do.
[Last modified December 7, 2004, 23:47:14]
Share your thoughts on this story
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Letter to the editor
