On to the Goal

Photo via Miami Herald

If you were to rank all the world’s social circles on factors such as propensity for irrational behavior and potential for swift, violent combustion, the blogosphere and SEC football would be near the top of the list. My guess is that they’d fall somewhere between illegal, underground cage fighting and the
Middle East.

When you combine the two in the form of blogs about SEC football… Well, sir, you’ve got yourself some madness of hyperbolic proportions. My goal for this blog is to keep things a bit more rational – not letting the highs get too high, the lows too low and so forth. I try my best to exude Gator fanboyism moderated by the firm, steady hand of reality. Laugh if you must, but that’s my dream.

Anyway, I bring this up because today I’ve let my guard down a bit. Normally, I’d be highly reticent to believe the hype, let alone embrace it. But after careful examination, I have come to the following highly logical conclusion about Florida’s prospects in 2009: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Now under normal circumstances this would be considered by some to be, “calling down the thunder.” And, under normal circumstances, I would be the individual levying this charge. But these are no ordinary times for the Florida football program.

The Gators are reigning champions and a virtual shoo-in at number one in every preseason poll. “Astronomical” doesn’t even begin to define the expectations. Fairly or not, anything less than a 14-0 championship season will be considered a disappointment by most in the proverbial Gator Nation.

History tells us that living up to these expectations is going to be incredibly difficult. In the past seven seasons, only USC in 2004 went wire-to-wire from preseason #1 to national champions. It’s even more difficult to win back-to-back national titles. According to the BCS and the two major polls (whatever they happened to be called at the time) a repeat has happened just six times in the past 50 years. All but one of those involved a “split” championship in at least one of the two seasons — Nebraska in 1994-95 is the lone exception (and even then one could make a fairly strong argument that Penn State got screwed in ’94). More recently, no school has ever won consecutive BCS Championships.

So thus is the setup for the Gators in 2009: Impossibly high expectations to pull off what to this date has been an impossible feat.

As I see it, there’s two ways to go about this as a fan. On the one hand, we could spend the offseason living in constant fear, always expecting the next Google Alert to bring news of a late-night arrest or torn ACL. In the fall, we could dread every Saturday, wondering if today will bring this year’s “31-30.”

Or we could simply enjoy it. We can embrace these moments and go along with this thing for however long it lasts. Gator football has never been as strong as it is on April 20, 2009. Even if this is the high-water mark, it’s been one hell of a ride. But it’s not as if there are warnings of an impending end-point popping up at every turn. Rather, everywhere you look there are reasons for optimism.

The Orange and Blue game was a rousing success, with numerous backups shining in the place of resting starters. Though injuries were many this spring, as of press time, almost nobody from the two-deep suffered a setback that will keep him off the field for any length of time in 2009. The coaches, along with players such as Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes, are determined to not let the Gators get too comfortable this summer. And just as a reminder, the Florida returns 18 true starters – all 11 on defense and seven on offense (I count the Pounceys, Carl Johnson, Riley Cooper, Aaron Hernandez, Tim Tebow and a running back, take your pick which one).

In short, all of the usual pratfalls that can turn a champion into an also-ran seem to not apply here. There has not been an unusual amount of attrition or injuries, no bouts of lawlessness, no sense of entitlement or complacency. There isn’t even an overly daunting schedule awaiting Florida on the other side of August. With the usual disclaimer that injuries can befell any football team at any time, it seems that Florida’s chief enemies are history and the law of averages.

Maybe that’s an overly optimistic assessment, but if there were ever a time for that kind of confidence, this is it.

Somehow, someway, Florida to field football team in 2009

The injuries keep on coming. Fullback Steve Wilks tore an ACL and is probably done for the year. If I type those last 10 words again between now and September 5 I might lose it. Carl Johnson has “a little issue with his shoulder.” Uhm, uh oh? But through it all, Urban Meyer is still committed to playing a spring game. It’s definitely nice to have a coach that cares about the fan experience, but the Gators might be better off going with an “offense vs. defense” format this year instead of a true split-squad scrimmage.

Not all injuries totally suck

Riley Cooper is apparently a heckuva baseball player, but he’s hitting just .247 for the Gator baseball team this year. Now, he suffered what appears to be a minor knee injury and will be out 7-10 days. With this latest setback, Cooper may not be selected high in the Major League Baseball draft, making him that much more likely to return to the football team this fall.

The depth-charty goodness you crave

Joe Goodman takes a stab at the 2009 depth chart, with sexy results on defense. The “33 stack” and “Joker” lineups would be just downright brutal to deal with as an OC.

We are dangerously thin at dangerously thin positions

One of the ongoing flamewars on Gator message boards seems to be the notion that Florida is “dangerously thin” at various positions. With the possible exception of tight end/H-back, this is a ridiculous notion for a team returning, like, everyone from a national championship season, but heavy is the head that wears the crown and all that jazz. Anyway, just in case you subscribe to the idea that the Gators have depth issues at some spots, take heart in Jeremy Fowler’s top-five most impressive players from spring, all of whom play at positions where Florida is thin. Relatively speaking, of course.

An assortment of odds and ends from the past few days of spring practice

Omar Hunter, heading for the mountains of Bussssssssssch

My money would have been on Matt Patchan, but Omar Hunter may have delivered this year’s outstanding installment of the Gainesville Sun’s Q&A series:

If you could have dinner with any three people, living or deceased, who’d be at the table with you?

Jay-Z, Martin Luther King and Lynyrd Skynyrd. I love all of them.

That’s kind of an odd mix. What is it about Lynyrd Skynyrd that you like?

“Simple Man” is my favorite song.

So if Hunter breaks out this fall and gets his own highlight video on YouTube, maybe instead of T-Pain he’ll get his own Busch commercial:

Who are we kidding? His highlight video will still feature T-Pain.

At least they’ll have fewer opportunities to tear an ACL

Add four more key players to the Florida M*A*S*H unit — Janoris Jenkins is out three-to-four weeks with a finger injury, Lawrence Marsh and Carlos Dunlap will miss time following likely abdominal surgeries and, perhaps most ominously, Maurkice Pouncey had surgery on Monday to repair a torn labrum and is out “at least” three months. As we know, it’s also never good to be an offensive lineman with a bum shoulder.

All four of those players are critical cogs in the Gator lineup, and when you add them to an already crowded injury list, things look pretty bad. But Meyer indicated that all will be back in plenty of time to begin fall practice as normal, so until further notice the only real consequence here is a boring spring game.

Ben Volin, crushing my dreams

In my excitement during yesterday’s offensive line bonanza, I missed the following three items from Ben Volin’s practice report:

1. The fullbacks have gone from “embarrassing” to “very functional” in Meyer’s eyes, as suspected.
2. Walk-on Charles Scott is pushing for playing time at either running back or fullback. That sounds a bit like the way Kestahn Moore was utilized last year and is another indication that “lead blocker” will be just fine.
3. Matt Patchan is “strictly an offensive tackle this year.”

Well, two out of three a’int bad. That could be a throwaway line, but Volin’s probably right, Patchan is going to be a tackle. I’m still going to hold out hope that he could be utilized in creative ways next year, despite obstacles such as “common sense” and “reality.”

Quickly

We’ve heard the heart-wrenching story of Brandon Spikes’ incarcerated older brother before, but Chris Low’s latest profile on ESPN.com indicates that Breyon Middlebrooks’ advice was instrumental in Spikes’ decision to return to Florida for his senior season … Carl Moore may be ready to step up and just in time, the Gators may need a big contribution out of the talented transfer … Carlos Dunlap is Freak 2.0, meaning Freak 3.0 will be 7-2, 380 pounds and run a 4.3 40 … Is the third-best quarterback in the SEC John Brantley? Let’s at least see Ryan Mallet first…

So sometimes a compliment really is just a compliment. A few hours ago, I wondered whether Sam Robey’s sudden emergence as a potential starter on the offensive line was serious or more of a motivational tactic by Meyer. Well, wonder no more, apparently:

Sam Robey is officially the Gators’ starting center. Barring injuries or ineffectiveness this August, your starting offensive line will be (L to R): Carl Johnson, Maurkice Pouncey, Sam Robey, Mike Pouncey and Marcus Gilbert. “Robey has been a great surprise this spring,” Addazio said. “He has really stepped up with maturity and toughness.”

Well then. Mea culpa. My initial skepticism was based on the assumption that both Johnson and Matt Patchan were too good to keep off the field. April lineups are very much subject to change, but so far, it looks as if Johnson is till a starter. Count me among those who believe he may be a better fit at guard than on the outside, but I could think of worse things than having a talent like CJ anywhere on the line.

Patchan’s case is a bit more interesting — we’ll cover that in a moment.

First, what is this thing you call a “Sam Robey“? Listed at 6′4″, 291, Robey is a redshirt freshman from Louisville, KY. He has an intriguing pedigree — his father, Rick, was an All-America basketball player at Kentucky and won an NBA title with the Celtics. From a recruiting standpoint, however, Robey was more of a “meh.” Robey was somewhat of an afterthought in the 2008 class that paid immediate dividends for Florida. Both major services had him ranked as a solid three-star player, Rivals as the #19 overall center and Scout, interestingly, as the #62 overall defensive end.

But as I mentioned previously, the Gators have had an impressive run of recent success developing merely “OK” or “good” linemen (from a recruiting perspective) into bigtime contributors. If Robey holds onto the center spot, he could be the latest success story. Because he’ll be just a redshirt freshman next season, he could be a big success story at that, but let’s just leave it at that for now.

So what does this mean for 2008’s heralded offensive line recruit, Patchan? Gilbert has more or less settled in at right tackle as of press time, so assuming Robey holds and Johnson stays on the outside (again, it’s April, folks), Patchan appears to be the odd man out. Of course, having the aforementioned starting lineup with Patchan, James Wilson and Maurice Hurt as backups would be a pretty good spot to be in.

But based on the superb athletic ability Patchan displayed last year as a backup defensive tackle, I find it hard to believe that he won’t contribute in some way next year. Patchan’s future is likely on offense, so a move back to the defensive line seems counter-productive.  But he quite literally hasn’t grown into the role of an everyday offensive lineman yet. He’s been stuck somewhere in the neighborhood of 270 pounds, mainly as a result of a bizarre string of ailments including a gunshot wound, mono and a scooter accident. But Patchan, ever the colorful interview, says he’s a “utility man” who will play wherever the team needs him. So let’s recap:

• Freakishly athletic blocker
• About a mid-sized toddler shy of 300 pounds
• Must play on offense
• Starting O-line may be set
• Willing to play anywhere

Oh, and one more thing: The Gators have a shortage of tight ends/H-backs. So, uh, are you thinking what Dan McCarney and I are thinking? Maybe “Matt Patchan: Tight end” is a bit of stretch at this point, but I’d love to at least see it, especially in short-yardage situations. And who knows? If he can catch the ball with any consistency, maybe we’re onto something here.

I freely admit that, despite a relatively out-of-context quote from a defensive assistant in early March, this is wild speculation on my part. But since I’ve missed out on most of this spring’s overly optimistic banter, humor me for a moment. If nothing else, the news of Robey’s asecndance and the potential depth chart issues it would raise is, again, a very good problem to have.

Perhaps more than any other profession, the job of “head football coach” is frequently likened to a wide variety of other jobs. One coach is “a teacher.” Another is a “CEO-style manager.” The guy who yells a lot? “General.”

But to me, the best modern college football coaches closely resemble PR guys.

It's Orwellian, bitch.

Every coach interacts with the media to a certain extent, but the best coaches are able to use the media with ninja-like precision to achieve a desired end. Spurrier used publicity to needle opponents. Pete Carroll leverages both traditional and social media to promote the dreamy SoCal lifestyle, brah. Lane Kiffin… well, he’s just a self-indulgent prick, actually.

But with Spurrier in decline in Columbia, Urban Meyer is now perhaps the greatest of the media Jedi masters. He plays mind tricks both with opponents and players on his own team and he does it without being incendiary or throwing out any “red meat” bulletin-board material. If anything, misinformation is his primary weapon. I like to call it the “Urban Meyer Ministry of Truth.” Case-in-point: Omar Hunter.

Around this time last year, Meyer was hyping Hunter as the “Tim Tebow” of the 2008 recruiting class. High praise indeed. Meyer made it publicly known that he expected Hunter to immediately help shore up the Gators’ glaring weakness at defensive tackle. Maybe he made those proclamations in earnest. Maybe he would have dominated from day one had injuries not limited his season to a few meaningless snaps against Hawaii. Gator fans can certainly hope that a healthy Hunter is some kind of super-human beast on the interior line. But one thing that is clear: By the time Hunter arrived, defensive tackle was no longer a weakness.

Between 2007 and 2008, Lawrence Marsh and Terron Sanders transformed from obscure backups to solid, occasionally spectacular starters. Their consistency and (for the most part) durability were a huge reason that the Gator defense made the leap from “certifiably terrible” to “AWESOME DEATH MACHINE” in just one calendar year.

This spring, I’ve read several quotes that indicate to me that Meyer is at it again. I’ll address a few of these in a moment, but first, two disclaimers:

#1 — I used to work in an athletic department and I fully understand the gap between outside perception and internal reality. These are my opinions and inferences based on published reports and prior knowledge.

#2 — I’m not mocking or questioning Meyer in any way. The man gets results and I’m not about to quarrel with his methods.

Now, on to four Urbanisms from this spring and the relative veracity of each:

The offensive line is so suspect, redshirt freshman Sam Robey may start at center

Quote: “Meyer said Robey has “really come on.” … “I’m not saying that’s happening (for sure),” Meyer said after Wednesday’s workout. “But we had a meeting about that (Tuesday). That’s a possibility.” — Florida Today, 4/9

Veracity: Completely unknown, but mildly dubious on the surface

Translation: It’s not inconceivable that a former three-star recruit such as Robey could turn out to be a surprise stalwart on the offensive line. The Gators have seen a number of three-star-or-lower guys made good recently, including Phil Trautwein, Jason Watkins, Jim Tartt, Steve Risler and Carlton Medder, to name five. But if Matt Patchan nails down a tackle spot, Carl Johnson seems likely to stay put at left guard, meaning that Robey would need to be awfully good to supplant CJ or one of the Pounceys inside. If Robey is that talented, this is a good problem to have. Even if he’s halfway decent it’s nice to have depth. But without any further proof, this one could be a motivational tactic.

Every tight end and fullback other than Aaron Hernandez sucks

Quote: “Des Parks right now has no idea which way right or left is and our fullbacks are struggling as well,” he said. “It’s not looking very good.” — Gainesville Sun, 3/31

Veracity: Dubious, at best

Translation: Aaron Hernandez is entrenched as a starter and potential All-America candidate at tight end, but behind him there is literally no lead-blocker/pass-catcher with significant experience. Though they may not be game-ready yet, I imagine that at least one productive player will emerge from the logjam of T.J. Pridemore, Rick Burgess, Steve Wilks and Desmond Parks emerges as a reliable “H-back” or whatever you want to call it. This seems like a textbook kick-in-the-pants tactic to me.

The I-formation is completely and totally dead

Quote: “I’m not sure how that I-package is going to be sticking around in here … We can run ‘I’ all you want, but if your players aren’t very good or they’re struggling or they’re young and inexperienced then we’re not going to run that ragged. We’ll go to five-wide and you’ve seen us do that before.” — Gainesville Sun, 3/31

Veracity: Highly likely

Translation: This one rings true. A young’un or two may step up to be a luxury at fullback/tight end, but that doesn’t mean that the Gators should devote precious hours of practice time to a package that requires such players. And I’m sure Tim Tebow can play under center, but for the purposes of winning games in 2009, uh, why make him? I’d take this one at face value.

The Gators are going hurry-up, Oklahoma-style

Quote: ”We’re working on our cadence and our tempo and no-huddle,” Meyer said. “We thought Oklahoma did a nice job of it so we messed around with some stuff.” — Miami Herald, 3/26

Veracity: Half-truth

Translation: The other half of the “grizzly bear/chainsaw” combo, the no-huddle is actually already part of Florida’s bag of tricks, so this isn’t a total ruse. However, a wholesale conversion to the breakneck philosophy employed by Oklahoma and (soon) Auburn seems unlikely. Even without Percy Harvin, the Gator offense should still score at a strong clip, and with the aforementioned deathsquad of a defense, the Gators might not want to extend games. But the mere threat that, at any moment, the Gators could shift into a no-huddle for more than a series or two is enough to give opposing defensive coordinators cold sweats at night. Ministry of Truth at its finest.

A grizzly bear with a chainsaw… Now THERE’s a killing machine!” — Homer J. Simpson

Two of the most interesting notes to come out of spring early on?

1) Florida is experimenting with a no-huddle, up-tempo offense.

2) Florida is experimenting with using the I-formation. (Item #11)

Let’s see, potent spread attack, run at a warp-speed pace and triggered by a Heisman winner, with the occasional I-formation brutalizing sprinkled in? That sort of reminds me of… the best statistical offense in history:

Yes, the same amazing offense that the Gators held to 14 points, but you’re lying if you say the Sooner offense didn’t scare you a little bit at times during the title game. The Florida defense was up to the task, but if a faster pace and a more diverse offense (formation-wise) will lead to point totals like Oklahoma put up in 2008, count me in. Grizzly bear, meet chainsaw.

Guest columnist Rep. Corinne Brown Photo via In Motion Magazine

Editors note: I promised a spring preview column in yesterday’s post, but a hectic 24 hours has intervened, leaving me little time to blog. As such, I’ve invited Representative Corinne Brown (D-FL) to provide On to the Goal’s list of the top five Gators to watch this spring.

Good morning blogger-spear and hello to everyone in Gator Nation! I write today to talk about the five Gator to watch in this year spring practice. But before I begin, I just want to gradulate all the Gator for being the 2008 N-C-Double-A B-S-B-C-S Champion Bowl Game Florida Gator. It is hard to believe that just one year ago the Gator was faced with many questions about how tough it is and if it can play defensive play. Gradulations to Corch Urban Meyers and all the Gator for proving it was no fluke. Go Gator.

Now, without further uhdo, here are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Gator who don’t take no jive this spring:

John Burntley, quorterback

Everyone knows that Tim Tebow had success under the most pressure he was under in major college football. But not everyone knows that Burntley might have a stronger arm. In fact, he was one of the top quorterback recruits at his position. If he can avoid being injure, I think he will have a big spring.

Donte Thomas, wide receiver

The Gator must replace Percey Harvey, who combined great talent with gusty play to win the game ball. Donte Thomas is very fast and proved last year that he could be a deep threats. I look for him to catch the ball many times this spring.

Marquise Bouncey, offense line

If there is one area where the Gator need to rebuild, it’s on the offense line. Who better to do that than Mr. Bouncey. He’s such a great player, sometimes I swear there’s two of him playing at once. Really, he’s that good. The Gator need a good leader at this young position.

Bubba Coldwell, wide receiver

Bubba was one of the best Gator in 2007, but I don’t remember him doing ANYTHING last year. Without Percey Harvey and Lewis Murphies, Florida needs guys who can catch that ball. Coldwell needs to regain his form.

Torrey Davies, defensive tackle

Davies has had many struggle at Florida, but he made one of the best deefense plays I have ever seen, proving that he is now a true Gator who will never, ever leave. The Gator must find backups at tackle, so I look for Davies to be one of the best.

That is all the time I have, but if these five Gator step it up, I truly believe that Florida can be B-S-B-C-S Champion yet again in 2009. GO GATOR!