Yep! The NYT filter is not running on the Google groups! ;-) Randy (an inside joke that the rest of you won't understand)
----- Original Message ----- From: Arthur Polhill To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, August 16, 2009 1:33 PM Subject: [gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] All Eyes Are on the Quarterback Great international coverage for the Gators! Right, Randy? A. Leon Polhill, Gator ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Mark Thomas <[email protected]> To: GATORnews <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, August 16, 2009 12:15:25 PM Subject: [gatornews] All Eyes Are on the Quarterback Talk Turns to Gators, and All Eyes Are on the Quarterback By PETE THAMEL, The New York Times GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Backstage at the ESPYs award show this summer, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see one of his childhood heroes, Evander Holyfield, looming behind him. “Hey, Timmy,” Holyfield said. “Can I get a picture?” That snapshot, secured in Holyfield’s camera and Tebow’s cellphone, offers a high-definition portrait of Tebow and the Florida program. The biggest theme heading into this season will be the search for a team that can surprise the Gators with a haymaker. Florida is a near-unanimous choice for No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and a heavy favorite to win consecutive national titles. On the precipice of what could be a momentous season, Coach Urban Meyer succinctly described the feeling in the Gator football offices. “Urgency and paranoia,” he said, flashing the quickest of smiles in a recent interview. “There’s more urgency and paranoia around here now. Everyone knows it. This is a good team.” The Gators return 17 starters and a once-in-a-generation quarterback in Tebow, and they play a relatively soft schedule, at least by Southeastern Conference standards. Even in a year that promises to be studded with star players, with the top three vote-getters in the Heisman — Sam Bradford of Oklahoma, Colt McCoy of Texas and Tebow — all returning, the Gators appear destined to dominate the conversation. “As long as he’s there, they’ve got an opportunity to win them all,” the Oklahoma defensive coordinator, Brent Venables, said of Tebow. “They’re a good football team and there’s some other good teams out there, too, but they’re the defending champs. Everybody’s gunning for them.” Tebow has seemingly been on more magazine covers than Jon and Kate this summer, having played significant roles on two national titles teams and also won a Heisman Trophy. His on-field performances have entered him into the conversation about college football’s greats. His charity work, religious fervor and good looks have made him the rare college athlete who becomes part of popular culture. “Tim gets a lot of credit,” Meyer said. “He’s the face.” In a sport where hype and star power often skew the views of entire teams, Florida appears to have both a megawatt star and a deep and versatile team. The Gators return every defensive player on the two-deep roster from the team that shut down Oklahoma in the national title game last season. The defensive coordinator Charlie Strong will undoubtedly be a candidate for high-profile coaching openings this season. Florida’s special-teams unit, coached by Meyer, has been consistently dynamic and opportunistic. Kicker Jonathan Phillips and punter Chas Henry are considered among the best in the nation. The Gators are also aided by not having to play the SEC West powers Mississippi and Alabama in the regular season. “This is program building at its best,” said Kevin O’Malley, a sports media consultant who has worked in college football at the network level since 1973. “With Florida winning two titles already and being a favorite to win a third, that’s some accomplishment in this day and age.” Florida’s biggest question will come on offense, where it will attempt to replace the dynamic and versatile Percy Harvin, a first-round pick in the N.F.L. draft. He accounted for 1,303 combined rushing and receiving yards last season and scored 17 touchdowns. Expect Jeff Demps, a tailback whose 10.17-second 100-meter time makes him perhaps the fastest player in college football, to get more touches. “Tim knows as well as I do, it’s the defense and the kicking game and Jeff Demps,” Meyer said. “It’s a collection of who we have.” Tebow is optimistic about the offense this season, but along with losing Harvin and the star receiver Louis Murphy, it will have changes behind the scenes. The offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Dan Mullen took the head-coaching job at Mississippi State. Meyer immediately promoted the offensive line coach Steve Addazio to the coordinator job and hired Scot Loeffler, formerly of Michigan and the Detroit Lions, as quarterbacks coach. Addazio said not to expect any radical changes to the Gators’ hyperproductive spread offense, although he stressed that Meyer’s philosophy was to constantly tweak and evolve. One wrinkle will likely be a pro-style offensive package, which is a nod to Loeffler’s background and a byproduct of the Gators’ improved run game. Tebow served on the search committee that tabbed Loeffler, who had recruited Tebow at Michigan, and preferred him over a coach with a spread-offense background. “Tim made a point that to hire a guy just versed in our offense, what are we really gaining?” Meyer said. “He said, ‘Let’s hire a guy with a little different perspective.’ ” Tebow said that could result in some slightly different looks. “One of those adjustments and one of those packages will probably be a pro-style package,” Tebow said. “The No. 1 reason is that we have the offensive line and the running backs.” Florida has its strongest offensive line and the most tailback depth of Meyer’s five-year tenure. Tebow said the offense last year had a tendency to emphasize Harvin. He said to expect the Gators to look more the way they did in their victory over Alabama in the SEC title game last season, a game Harvin missed because of an injury. Tebow threw touchdown passes to three receivers — David Nelson, Riley Cooper and Carl Moore — and Demps ran for a touchdown. “You’re going to have different guys step up and have bigger games,” Tebow said. “It’s going to be better for us and for them. It will keep the defense off-balance.” While Tebow may spread the wealth, it will be more difficult to spread the attention. Right now in college football, he is the face of the champions. Even Evander Holyfield gets the picture. Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
