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[Times photo: John Pendygraft] The Seminoles celebrated their second national title after a victory over Virginia Tech in the 2000 Sugar Bowl.

By BOB HARIG

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 30, 2001

The talent pool in the state of Florida is unrivaled. The Gators, Seminoles and Hurricanes corral most of it. The result? Unparalleled success.

The rankings come out, and we yawn. The polls are top-heavy with Florida teams, and we shrug. The prognostications suggest a national champion will come from within our borders, and we say, "So what?"

We're spoiled, of course. College football fans in the Sunshine State are so accustomed to seeing their teams ranked among the nation's elite, they become blind to the accomplishment.

For 15 years, Florida has ruled college football. During that period, Miami has won three national championships (with a fourth in 1983), Florida State has added two and Florida has one. The Big Three has been there at the beginning and end of the season. The teams don't win the title every year, but they play a role in deciding who is crowned champion.

[Times photo: Joseph Garnett Jr.] The Gators won their title by beating FSU in the 1997 Sugar Bowl.

What other state can boast of such prowess? None, really. And it doesn't figure to change any time soon.

"Talent. That's it. It's all about players," said Tom Lemming, editor of the Prep Football Report and a recruiting analyst for ESPN.com. "There's only three main schools and they get most of the talent. Those three have a much larger talent pool to recruit from than the schools, say, in Texas, where almost the entire Big 12 recruits. All of the Pac-10 schools recruit California. It's really the talent pool that separates them.

"The Florida programs all have good coaching staffs, but if they were in other states, they wouldn't have near the success because they have such a great talent pool in Florida."

The season is about to kick off, and again the rankings reflect respect: No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Miami, No. 6 Florida State.

College coaches and recruiting experts point to the same factors for such success: a huge population base, good weather to develop skills, spring football in high school, the state's strong emphasis on the game. And all that leads to a slew of talented players to build a program.

The results point it out. Going to 1987, at least two Florida schools have finished among the Top 10 in the final Associated Press poll every year but 1999, when FSU won the national title.

During that span, there have been just five years when another state had two schools finish in the Top 10, and none did it twice. Last year, it was Oregon State (fourth) and Oregon (seventh). Michigan and Michigan State did it in 1999; Kansas State and Kansas in 1995; Alabama and Auburn in 1994; and UCLA and USC in 1988.

You have to go to 1980-82, when Penn State and Pitt finished among the Top 10 in three straight seasons, to find a state outside of Florida with such a run.

In the past 14 seasons, UF, FSU and Miami have each finished among the Top 10 on four occasions: 1991, 1992, 1994 and 2000.

The last time that happened outside of Florida? How about 1967, when Indiana, Notre Dame and Purdue did it.

"People like to go where there is an opportunity to win a national championship," ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said. "History and tradition is on the side of those programs. Miami has had it going back to (Howard) Schnellenberger. Steve Spurrier started it (at Florida) in 1990. That's a long time now. Steve righted the ship and now the Gators have been dominant. What Bobby (Bowden) has done at Florida State is unbelievable. And that goes back to the 1970s."

"High school football in our state is very good," Spurrier said. "Football is very important here. It's a place where high school players want to play. They like to play in Florida. They like the idea of competing for a championship."

The competition for those players is set to get more intense, however. The Big Three is being joined by other programs that, in time, will compete for the abundance of talent. South Florida begins its fifth season under Jim Leavitt and is a Division I-A program. Central Florida also is Division I-A. Schools such as Jacksonville, Florida International and Florida Atlantic have or will start programs. Florida A&M & Bethune-Cookman, in Division I-AA, also compete for players.

Could the Big Three one day be threatened?

"I just think we've got so many kids in this state," Bowden said. "(Now) they go play somewhere else. So I think it's going to happen, where it becomes very competitive. . . . I'll bet you 10 years from now, we'll have six or seven schools playing I-A football and I think it will be very competitive."

"I think there's just so much talent to go around," said Leavitt, a St. Petersburg native who recruited here in his previous job as co-defensive coordinator at Kansas State. "When I was at Kansas State we had 16 players on our two-deep (roster) -- not on the team, on our two-deep -- from the state of Florida.

"I think they're there. I think there's enough players to support 10 (programs). . . . especially if Florida, Florida State and Miami keep (recruiting) a little bit out of state. They're such national programs and there's just so much talent out there."

[Times photo] The Hurricanes won their fourth national title by beating Nebraska in the 1992 Orange Bowl.

Indeed, new UM coach Larry Coker was surprised to learn when he looked a little closer that eight of his starters on offense last season were not from Florida. That says something about Miami's ability to recruit nationally.

It also may have been necessary due to the NCAA sanctions Miami faced soon after previous coach Butch Davis took the job. Local players shied away, forcing the Hurricanes to go elsewhere.

"There is a great recruiting base here, and there's been a lot of stability at Florida State and Florida," Coker said. "With us, it's a little bit more amazing the job the people have done. Coach (Lou) Saban, Coach Schnellenberger . . . down the line. We honestly haven't had the stability and hopefully I can give us some of that. But you think of the job some of the people have done here and it all goes back to recruiting talent."

Mark Richt has a unique perspective. Now the coach at Georgia, Richt plans to engage in some fierce battles to lure prospective talent north of the border. Before taking on his new job, Richt worked for 15 years as an assistant at FSU, seven as offensive coordinator. And he grew up in Florida before playing at Miami.

"There's plenty to go around," Richt said. "The bottom line is, there's always a certain percentage of kids who want to play for the Big Three. The bottom line is, all three should be, and probably will be, among the best in the country."

And likely for years to come.

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