Thanks, Steve.
What did he mean by this: >Some of the recruits that want to come to UF are encouraged to not commit publicly to lessen other schools' efforts to try to get them to change their mind.< UF wants them to keep it a secret so the other coaches will waste their time trying to recruit them? Helen On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 11:25 AM, Steve McKibben <[email protected]>wrote: > Charlie Strong was the guest speaker last night at the Brevard County > Gator Club's annual Gator Gathering. Here are some of the highlights (at > least the ones that I can remember): > > First he addressed the expectations for the upcoming season. He noted that > the Gators would likely be ranked #1 in a lot of polls, and that the > challenge was to not let the players get too full of themselves. The best > thing we have to combat that is the team leadership. After mentioning > leadership he talked at pretty good length about Tebow. Even though he > coaches on the other side of the ball, it was very obvious just how special > of a person and a player Charlie thinks Tim is. He offered that Brandon > Spikes was the leader of the defense the way Tebow is the offense. He > related the story of Spikes' apology to his fellow defenders after the > Arkansas game, and how it sort of mirrored the famous Tebow "promise" > speech. > > He had them play a video that showed scenes from before, during, and after > the BCS title game, the team's reception at the White House, and some other > behind the scenes footage from last season that demonstrated the quality of > leadership. > > Next he addressed how this team compared to last year's. He mentioned that > it would be hard to note a weakness on the "D" since the top 22 returned > intact. He said that Lawrence Marsh stepping up last year was huge, and that > the staff was dismayed when Munroe blew out his knee, and didn't know who > they'd be able to plug in at safety - until Ahmad Black had a season that in > Coach Strong's opinion, made him the team MVP on that side of the ball. > Mentioned the trust his teammates have in Ryan Stamper - said that Spikes > even wants Stamper to call the defensive signals when he's in the game. > > He talked about the maturity of the defense, and to illustrate that point > he told a story from the BCS game: Oklahoma had turned a second and long > into a third and short, but got to the line too quickly to allow UF to make > the substitutions they wanted to - to bring in the big bodies and go to a > four man front. He had to call a play (a run blitz) with who he had, and > Stamper made the play, and the next play was the blocked field goal attempt. > > He said one of the defenders came off and said "Coach, you know that we had > a three man front? - you can't call that play with a three man front!" > > He said that the year before they would likely have not even noticed that > the play was being called with an inappropriate package on the field. > > Moving to offense, he said that the QB position was, of course, in great > hands, that we have good RBs, are strong across the OL (even hinted at Robey > possibly being the starting center) and feels that David Nelson and Deonte > Thompson will be more than capable (along with AH - who is special) of > ensuring that TT has no shortage of targets to go to. > > Kicking game is solid with Henry, Phillips, and Sturgis, but they will miss > "Smitty". > > Before he ended his talk he took questions from the floor. In response to > some of those he had the following to say: > > > Jon Bostic has really impressed as a true freshman (and he pointed out that > Jon's uncle was in the room). > > Omar Hunter "needs to get stronger and then learn how to play". He said > that Omar will be fine, and that the expectations for him last year were way > overblown. > > The maturity of the team means that for the big games at least, the staff > has to do next to nothing on game day to get them ready to play. > > The best team leaders he's been around are Wuerffel, Tebow, Siler, Spikes, > and "L-Dog" (Lawrence Wright). > > He's not really for an early signing period, because, especially in light > of the new restrictions, it doesn't give the coaches enough time to really > get to know the players. > > Some of the recruits that want to come to UF are encouraged to not commit > publicly to lessen other schools' efforts to try to get them to change their > mind. > > One of the defense's goals is to limit all other teams to no more than 14 > points. > > We have a really good coaching staff. > > If the coaches go about their business professionally and don't get caught > up in the hype of this team, that attitude will filter down to the players. > And the coaches WILL NOT get caught up! > > There were more that I can't recall right now I'm sure. > > All in all it was a great event as usual. Be sure to make every effort to > support your local Gator club when they hold these things, even if a head > coach isn't on the docket. The payoff for all of this was realized when > seven local students were presented with scholarships to start at UF with > this coming fall, as well as a sizable amount that was donated to the > Florida Opportunity Scholars program. > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
