By Jay Holgate
ATLANTA, GA- Urban Meyer’s back! It doesn’t surprise me one bit that Urban Meyer struck out at a Orlando Sentinel beat reporter. Meyer’s response was predictable. It was most likely calculated, and now that the dust is settling, it looks like Urban got the momentum back for his team.
Urban Meyer has been taking a beating in the press for several months. It started with the whipping by Alabama for the SEC Championship. No reason under the sun that the Gators should have been beaten 32-13. I saw it coming when Carlos Dunlap got pulled for a DUI the week of the big game. Coach Meyer didn’t see it coming because he was still on the Undefeated National Championship train. The huge loss took its toll on Meyer’s body and his pride.
The loss to Alabama was followed up with a resignation said to be spending more time with his family. Then a quick return without consulting his family and what could best be termed as emotional turmoil for a period of time. Meyer did the “staycation thing”, but he was getting ripped by journalists for his inconsistent behaviors.
Then came the Tebow evaluations. For over a month, every football analyst in the country had rated Tim Tebow and the consensus is that he wasn’t fully developed as a passing quarterback at Florida. No doubt, he can run on third and five all day long and get the yardage needed. He is a great leader and motivator.
But at the end of the day, he may not have what it takes to play quarterback in the NFL, and that points directly to Meyer. Tebow is the most teachable athlete in America. Why wasn’t Tebow taught better mechanics?
When beat writer Jeremy Fowler wrote his story which included the differences in quarterbacks, that gave Meyer his chance to draw a line in the sand and fire some shells into the enemy’s camp. The fact that it was videotaped was probably not anticipated.
There is one thing I know for sure about Coach Meyer. Urban Meyer cares most about winning. Winning games, winning recruits and winning messages. He is a momentum guy and who is constantly manipulating circumstances to get better results from his players. And he has had a lot of success with it.
By going after Fowler, Meyer put a big circle around the Swamp and let it be known to all the beat writers that if you write anything negative about the players, you will lose access. Every beat writer in Florida will take a big breath before quoting another Florida player. It basically guarantees positive headlines in Florida newspapers for recruits for awhile. Mission accomplished.
In the process, the Florida players felt like their coach was sticking up for them which served as a high energy team building exercise. Don’t forget, Meyer has his psychology degree, and everything is based on motivating his team. Once again, the Gators came together because of their head coach.
The event pulled the attention away from Tebow’s throwing motion, comparisons with Brantley, and stopped the bleeding on Gator football public relations. Sports writers across the country have commented on the episode but Meyer doesn’t care what they think. In the end, he’s fighting for his players and nobody can fault him for that.
Jay Holgate is an SEC Football writer and motivational speaker. Jay Talks SEC Football year round to companies, sports events and churches.
Below are the number of verbal commits through July 31, 2011 for the 2012 signing class:
1) South Carolina Gamecocks 18
2) Florida Gators 15
3) Kentucky Wildcats 13
4) Georgia Bulldogs 12
5) Vanderbilt Commodores 12
6) Tennessee Volunteers 12
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ESPN
GEORGIA
Isaiah Crowell, RB: He arrives in Athens with a ton of hype. Georgia has yet to find its feature back and Crowell has all the talent to be that player. Some think he could start by the midpoint of the season. He was the nation’s top running back and in 2010 he rushed for 1,721 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Malcolm Mitchell, WR: Mitchell played both sides of the ball in high school, but Georgia’s staff really likes what he could do at receiver. He’s a tremendous athlete and will get a chance to earn playing time for the fall, especially with some unproven receivers already on Georgia’s roster.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Jadeveon Clowney, DE: Clowney will enter preseason camp with a mound of expectations. He was the country’s top high school player last year, and even though there is a lot of talent on South Carolina’s defensive line, it will be hard to keep him off the field with his freakish ability. He recorded 162 tackles, including 29 tackles for loss, 29.5 sacks, 11 forced fumbles, six recovered fumbles and scored five touchdowns last fall.
GATOR SPORTS- Florida will have only 73 scholarship players on its roster when preseason camp opens in August — 12 below the NCAA allotment of 85. And that's if there is no further attrition between now and then.
Florida will have only eight scholarship seniors this fall.
Florida's junior class is not all that much deeper than the senior class. The Gators will have only 15 junior scholarship players this fall. Add that to the eight seniors, and UF will have a mere 23 upperclassmen on this year's team.
Rain stopped game Monday night, had to resume Tuesday at 11 am
Vandy plays North Carolina on Thursday---Winner plays Florida
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Jay,
Great comments and perspective, thanks for your knowledge and honesty. Praise Jesus !
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