On to the Goal

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!

I’ve been posting a lot about “Hated Rivals” lately, which is a pretty good indication that spring practice really, really needs to start. Mercifully, it begins tomorrow and will be accompanied by the requisite spring preview column.

But until that time, let’s just continue to sip on H (formerly known as Haterade). Today’s target: Da U, who is feeling spurned by Florida’s refusal to extend the series on a biennial basis after 2013. Try to act surprised.

But really, no, this is not a surprise. That’s not to say that it won’t illicit cries that the Gators are “ducking” the Hurricanes. The comments from Miami fans on the Herald story follow along in that vein, particularly commenter “Bkchero” who referred to the UF braintrust as, “Clown Prince Foley and his erotic lover Machen.” Most, if not all, are accepting this bit of news as incontrovertible proof that the ‘Canes are on the verge of something big. Recruiting aplomb aside, that is very much open for debate, but bonus points for enthusiasm.

Herr Swindle tackled the issue with the type of wit about which I can only dream, but (sadly) this isn’t even about Cock Sandwiches or badassmofo NED. To me, this is about two very obvious facts:

1) Florida doesn’t want to play Miami

2) Florida doesn’t need to play Miami

The reason behind the “want” part is easy to figure out — money. The Gators already have one permanent in-state rival, Florida State. Florida plays the ‘Noles in Gainesville in odd numbered years, when the Gators’ “home” conference game against Georgia is played in Jacksonville (assuming nobody screws that up). So in any given year, the Gators play only four out of nine permanent opponents at Ben Hill Griffin.

That leaves three remaining open slots on the schedule, and Florida doesn’t want to give up even one of them on a regular basis. The loss of revenue would be too great. So it may not be entertaining to watch the Gators thrash a I-AA school, but when the announced attendance is 90,374, it makes financial sense. And when something makes financial sense, it almost always happens.

And that leads us to the second point. Florida doesn’t need to play Miami. Arrogant though the point may be, Florida already plays annual games against FSU, Georgia, Tennessee and LSU, for starters. Even in fallow years, those names, along with those of rotating SEC opponents, carry enough cachet to give the appearance of playing a “strong” schedule. In good years, such a slate is a gauntlet of pain. Cyclical ups and downs aside, none of that is likely to change.

It’s not so much that Florida is “scared” to play Da U, though a loss to one of the ‘Canes more badassed outfits would be undeniably damaging. Rather, Florida doesn’t have much to gain from playing Miami in most years. The rest of the schedule is typically strong enough to withstand a regular-season loss (as evidenced by 1996, 2006 and 2008), and the losses both real (revenue) and potential (on-field) just don’t seem to justify it.

Football populists like The Wiz of Odds rail against the lack of quality non-conference matchups, and on some levels I agree with him. As a college football fan, I wish there were better games on every week. But as a Gator fan, I understand why there aren’t.

(And if none of that was very convincing, would you want to run the risk of bumping into this guy at a tailgate every four years? No? Thank you.)

Gator fans don’t need a reason to hate Georgia. The loathing is built in. It’s an intractable component of the state of nature. There’s absolutely no logic to it and, in many ways, that’s the point.

Need? No. Need is not the right word here.

It just… helps to have a flashpoint, a single issue that, when brought to mind, will cause a Gator fan to unleash 364 days of pent-up animosity in a constant torrent of expletives punctuated only by the occasional “Richt.”

Last year, that gnawing issue was “the endzone dance.” This year, it’s merely the worst idea ever: Moving the Cocktail Party to the Georgia Dome.

Gary Stokan, president of the Atlanta Sports Council, tells the Chronicle that in conversations with Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans and Coach Mark Richt, “both of them expressed a high level of interest.”

Oh really? You’re telling me that Georgia wants to play a neutral-site game in the Georgia Dome? I’m effing stunned.

Orson Swindle provides the litany of things that make this an unbelievably horrendous idea midway through today’s Curious Index, and I agree with every single one of them. I’d also add the following: If the two schools are really trying to end the annual ritual of reckless, alcohol-fueled behavior (and I hope they’re not), compressing a sprawling outdoor tailgate into the tight quarters of the CNN Center atrium is not a good way to do it. Not unless you plan on dividing the building into two sectors with lines of riot police in between, like a Scottish soccer game.

The bottom-line, however, is this:

1) This almost certainly will not happen because Florida would never, ever go for it.

2) It’s still a damn good reason to hate Georgia.

UPDATE: Hold off on the “never, ever” comment. Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post wrote a piece today that indicated the “home” team for each year’s game has its druthers about where a game is played. That makes sense since these are league games that the two teams must play. It’s not like Florida could say, “Fine, we’re not playing you at all” like I envisioned earlier. I sincerely hope that tradition wins out here.

In my line of work, I talk on the phone with people from all over the country. It never ceases to amaze me how many people don’t understand the concept of time zones.When explaining to someone that the East Coast is three hours ahead of the West Coast, I often wonder: Who the hell are these people? What do they do in their spare time? Are they always this dumb?

Well, today I learned the answer to all three questions. The common word in each? “Warchant.”

Here’s the link, but just in case they remove the thread, here’s an excerpt:

Fan #1: we play at 9:55 so thats 8:55 eastern

Fan #2: i think you are confused. Our game is at 9:55 eastern.

Fan #3: Yeah Boise is in the western time zone so it’s 9:55 eastern, 6:55 in Boise.

Fan #4: It absolutely AMAZES me how people do not understand the concept of time and time zones. Hell you learn that in SECOND GRADE!

Boise is in the MOUNTAIN TIME ZONE (not western, there is actually no western time zone). If it is at 9:55 in the East, it would be 8:55 in the Central, 7:55 in the Mountain, and 6:55 in the Pacific. This is elementary skills here people.

Well, at least one of them got it.

The award for “Most Bizarre Recruiting Story — 2009″ should not be thrown around lightly. Consider this was  a year in which:

• David Oku, the nation’s number one all-purpose back met a girl on a recruiting trip to Nebraska and subsequently moved to Lincoln to be close to her. Only, you know, he wasn’t really interested in playing for the Cornhuskers.
• Jamarkus McFarland, a top recruit at defensive tackle, was profiled in-depth in The New York Times and either totally did or totally didn’t write an English paper about Texas girls pulling their pants down at parties.
• Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin swiped a top-100 recruit away from our own Gators, bragged about it, erroneously accused Florida of cheating and was given the harshest rebuke I can ever recall a conference commissioner issuing to one of his own coaches.

No, 2009 was not  a year for any of your usual ticky-tack recruiting shennanigans. You had to bring it hard to top such high-quality ridiculousness, and no one brought more fire than Bryce Brown, the nation’s number-one running back recruit out of Wichita, KS.

Photo via InsidetheU.com

The speculation about where the talented runner would land finally ended today, when Brown signed with Tennessee. Brown initially “committed” to Miami but re-opened the bidding to everyone from Oregon to, uh, University of Phoenix? (Just for the record, Florida never really went after him.)

Even this far after signing day, none of that would be considered too unusual by contemporary. But those probably the most normal parts of this story.

Enter: Brian Butler, recruiting adviser.

The above link points to a fairly lengthy article by Pete Thamel and Thayer Evans (yes, him again) of The Times that is well worth reading if you haven’t already. If you’re in need of cliffnotes, the Good Doctor obliges, natch.

Overall, the Bryce Brown/Brian Butler saga is too much of a sprawling mess to get into here. I’m not getting paid by the word. Or at all. But here are some of the most absurd highlights:

• Butler, who essentially ran Brown’s recruiting, pleaded guilty in 1997 to a felony fraud charge
• He initially attempted to charge information seekers $9.99 a month for updates on Brown’s recruitment
• He suggested, in earnest, that Brown might skip college entirely to go to the CFL, “If they were talking about the right kind of money…” Nevermind that the CFL salary cap is $4.2 million per team and that running backs are of far less relative value in the pass-happy, 12-man-per-side league.
• He apparently fabricated offers out of thin air to drum up interest in other clients of his.
• He is already being investigated by the NCAA.

I’m serious when I say those are just highlights. There’s way more insane stuff that went on. But the end result is that Brown is a Vol. So what does that mean?

Most Tennessee fans, such as Clay Travis, who is anywhere from ecstatic to “three Heismans, God is a Vol, best running back in collegiate football history” (skip ahead to about the 5:50 mark). Of course, such bluster demands an immediate equal and opposite reaction from the Florida message boards, which all resonated with four consistent themes:

1. The Vols will still suck next year
2. Brown will arrive with baggage and leave with UT on probation
3. Kiffin is a dirty cheater and this proves it
4. GATORBAIT WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Points one and four are valid, at least for 2009. Unless Brown is literally the second-coming of Herschel Walker or is planning on playing quarterback, the Vols are still left to rely on Jonathan Crompton’s arm. And unless he makes some sort of unprecedented leap from a truly atrocious 2008, Tennessee is almost certainly doomed to another year of offensive mediocrity. And that could be putting it kindly. At least for the upcoming season, this doesn’t move the needle much in the SEC East.

But this signing has interesting implications over the long-term, and that’s where points two and three come in.

Brown certainly does arrive with baggage, particularly if Butler is planning lurking around Knoxville. It’s important to note, however, that most of the shenanigans related to Brown were occurring through a proxy — the kid himself so far hasn’t done anything too out of the ordinary. It’s never good to have the NCAA sniffing around before the letter of intent was even signed, but despite the unsavory overtones, we have no evidence that even suggests that Brown has done anything wrong. Ditto for Kiffin and the Tennessee staff. Not even remotely.

In fact, the only think that this tells us about Kiffykins is that he’s either extremely lucky or one hell of a recruiter. Based on his track record, I hate to say that I’m leaning toward the latter. Pete Carrol, the winningest active coach by percentage (.844 to Urban Meyer’s .814), did not make Kiffin his recruiting coordinator at USC for no reason. The addition of Brown makes Tennessee’s 2009 class a consensus top-10 haul, which is especially impressive considering a regime change took place in the middle of recruiting season.

Of course, none of this amounts to anything if Kiffin can’t coach, and rest assured the entire league will be gunning for him. Hard.

As for Brown, who knows. He could be great. He could end up being a total bust or, worse, a total bust who brings all sorts of NCAA heat down on Tennessee. Based on the absurd expectations that have already been placed on him, he’ll almost certainly be labeled as “disappointing” somewhere along the line.

Naturally, I’ll be rooting for a disaster of epic proportions, short of anything that lands anyone destitute or dead. But even if Brown never plays a down for the Vols, it appears that there may be more to Kiffin, et al. than mere bluster. If anything, their recruiting success just serves as another reminder that in the SEC, you can never afford to rest on your laurels.

Torrey Davis has apparently made his choice — the mercurial tackle, who was possibly the Gators’ most talented defensive lineman, has left the University of Florida football team:

UF spokesman Steve McClain confirmed Friday night that the troubled Davis has left the program. He is not expected to return.

No reason for his departure was given, but the decision to leave was his.

So that’s it. Official. Final. Close the books on the Torrey Davis era. The once heralded recruit’s on-field contributions are summed up thusly: 19 games, 15 tackles, two sacks and one very, very big play:

Are the Florida Gators your 2008 BCS Champions without Torrey Davis? I’ve watched that sequence of plays at least two dozen times since Jan. 9, and the thing that sticks out the most about the fourth down stop is that the Oklahoma right guard, Brandon Walker, didn’t really look ready for the ball to be snapped and was slow in getting out of his stance. With such poor weakside blocking, it’s possible any halfway decent defensive tackle makes that play. But I sure wouldn’t want to go back and find out.

Looking to the future, how this move turns out for both Davis and the Gator football team is very much up in the air.

Every published report I could find was consistent on at least one thing — we have absolutely no idea why he left. McClain gave no reason and brushed off a question about whether Davis failed a drug test (one prevalent rumor) by answering, “He left the team.” Urban Meyer amazingly could not be reached for comment. Even the Davis camp has been decidedly silent. The ever-enterprising Joseph Goodman stopped by Davis’ mother’s house, but apparently no one inside had any desire to answer the door.

Prior to the goal-line stand against Oklahoma, Davis made news mostly for his academic and off-field troubles. He played in just eight games in 2008 while dealing with his academic struggles, and he received two citations while in Gainesville, for alcohol possession and driving with knowledge a suspended license. It’s unclear whether Davis plans to transfer, and McClain said he did not know whether Davis was still enrolled at Florida. Regardless of his football future (which could still be promising if he gets things straightened out), I certainly hope that Davis will be a success in life.

As for the Gators, so much for having the entire defensive two-deep returning. The depth at defensive tackle behind entrenched starters Lawrence Marsh and Terron Sanders now looks like this:

• Sophomore Jaye Howard.

That’s it. Howard is the only healthy player listed at tackle who has ever played a down at Florida. Heading into spring ball, the Gators clearly have a depth issue at the position.

That’s remarkable because, as of a few weeks ago, Florida was slated to have no fewer than four five-star defensive tackles… ON THE BENCH.  You read that right — former mega-recruits Davis, Omar Hunter, John Brown and incoming freshman Gary Brown (no relation) weren’t even listed as starters. It would take forever to fully research this, but I can’t imagine that ever occurring before on any team. (Unless you count Florida in 2008, which I don’t because Matt Patchan was recruited as an offensive lineman and has since moved back to that side of the ball.)

Davis leaving, along with the near-certain departure of John Brown, means that Florida will be looking for more depth at tackle this spring, just has it has for all or part of the past two seasons. The Gators will almost certainly begin the 2009 season with at least one unproven commodity in the tackle rotation. Troy Epps and Brandon Antwine will miss spring while rehabilitating from knee injuries, and neither, particularly the oft-injured Antwine, are a lock to make any kind of impact in the fall. Howard is undersized for a tackle at 270 pounds and was just a three-star recruit as a defensive end to begin with.

The Gators are almost certainly anticipating that Edwin Herbert, a four-star junior college transfer from City College of San Francisco who is in for spring, will immediately join the rotation. But Florida would perhaps be in the best shape if one of the young guys is ready to contribute. Hunter was the prize of the Gators 2008 recruiting class but struggled with weight, injuring himself while lifting it and subsequently, uh, gaining a bunch of it. Brown was a consensus top-three recruit at his position, but won’t be able to test himself against the speed and power of SEC football until fall practice.

I think the best-case scenario is for Herbert to be a ready-made plugin as one top backup, with either Howard or Hunter making a significant leap at the other spot. Brown may also see a few meaningful snaps as needed, but anything from Antwine or Epps would be a bonus. Also, don’t forget that ends Justin Trattou, a run-stopper, and Carlos Dunlap, a fearsome pass-rusher, can and will slide into tackle at times, as we often saw in passing situations this past year.

No matter the outcome, this will be a position to watch in spring practice. Following the Gator basketball team’s faceplant Friday in Tampa, thank the football gods that it starts this week.

Photo via Reuters Pictures

Message board speculation has been rampant, but Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun is, to my knowledge, the first journa-type to come out and say it: Defensive tackle Torrey Davis may or may not be back with the Gators next season.

Before repeatedly mashing your fist against the panic button, note that nothing is official one way or the other. In fact, that’s the premise of Andreu’s blog post — the deafening silence surrounding Davis tells us that his status is up in the air.

Second, Andreu says the proverbial ball is in Davis’ proverbial court. He could potentially wash out. Or he could follow a path similar to that of former Florida defensive tackle Steven Harris, who battled back from some form of asshattery following the 2005 season to play in every game in 2006, including a start in the 2006 BCS title game. The choice, apparently, is Davis’ to make.

With the conference basketball tournaments in full swing and the NCAA’s just days away, football news has been scant of late, particularly for teams (like Florida) who have yet to begin spring practice. Thus, this edition of “Links” just barely warrants the plural form of the word. Here are the Morning Links. All two of them.

Jonathan Phillips gets his Buster Bluth on

The return of Phillips is by now old news, but Ben Volin provides a few more details about Phillips’ return to the Gators. The most interesting point, however, is that Phillips has already received his master’s degree in real estate. So what will he be doing in the classroom in the upcoming year? (Emphasis mine):

“Being granted an extra year and being able to play this year is just crazy,” Phillips said by e-mail. “I didn’t even expect to be playing last season and was planning on going to law school. Football at Florida for me after arriving on campus started off bleak, but has turned into a dream come true.”

“Plus, my mom is really happy I am going to get three degrees from UF.”

That’s right. Three degrees. Count ‘em. Jonathan Phillips: the Buster Bluth of UF.

Rivals 100 is out, Gators doing well so far

Ah, and you thought it was over for awhile didn’t you? Nonsense. Recruiting — and the inordinate amount of media attention devoted to it — never ends.

Face it: As a devoted college football fan, you are the virtual equivalent of the 30-something guy with a mustache and leather jacket who sits by himself at high school football games even though he doesn’t have a son and/or relative on the team. It’s OK,. Just accept it and move on.

Anyway, Rivals has released the first iteration of its Rivals100 list, and Gator recruits are well accounted for so far, with three players on the board having verbally committed to Florida:

• #5, athlete Matt Elam (West Palm Beach, FL — Dwyer)
• #47, defensive back Jonathan Dowling (Bradenton, FL — Southeast)
• #58, defensive back Victor Hampton (Charlotte, NC — Independence)

Elam, the top committed prospect so far, may project as a safety, so if by some miracle all three stay committed to the Gators until February of next year, that’s one hell of a defensive backfield shaping up. Just 21 players in the top 100 have given a verbal commitment to this point, and only Texas (six) has more commits than Florida, though none on the Longhorns’ board are rated higher than #48.

All of these “commitments” are subject to change (yes, even that of the steadfast Elam), but a good start is certainly preferable to a bad one.

No news is good news

It’s a bit of a slow news day in Gator-land, at least up to this point. After the chaos of the past few days, that might not be a bad thing. Also, no news is especially good news if you believe the Internet message board rumors about mercurial junior defensive tackle Torrey Davis (he of the possible championship-saving fourth down goal-line stop against Oklahoma). Of course, the last bit of official news we heard about Davis was that the coaching staff wasn’t giving up on the talented former five-star recruit. But then again, if the optimistic offseason chatter surrounding a player is, “We’re not giving up on him! He still might be on the team!”, you never know what you might find in your Google Alerts. We’ll stay tuned…

The competition is “wide” open… haha, get it?

So what, dear Gator fan, are you supposed to read on a (hopefully) slow news day? Would you be interested in… a preview column?!? GatorCountry has you covered with their breakdown of the competition at wide receiver, the best adjective for which is clearly “wide open.” I’ll be stuck using a lesser synonym when I inevitably resort to a preview of the receiving corps. One of the most interesting points of the article was the talk about depth at tight end, as the article speculated that redshirt freshman T.J. Pridemore (6-3, 240) could move over from fullback.

I plan on covering this issue in more detail soon, but I’m not certain there’s a huge distinction between the second tight end and a “fullback” in the Gator offense. The position, occupied by departed senior Tate Casey last season, is better described as “lead blocker.” In other words, if a guy like Pridemore does see the field, calling him a “tight end” versus a “fullback” may just be a difference of semantics. And that’s a role that any number of guys could fill, maybe even… Matt Patchan?

Whither Cam Newton?

What will become of former Gator quarterback Cam Newton now that he is at Blinn Community College in Texas. If you’re Scout-tastic and can get behind the paywall, I’d love to know.

Lane Kiffin needs to bring the heat

Joseph Goodman says the Tennessee coach is a disgrace to sleazy recruiting in the SEC. I couldn’t agree more. Where’s the paper bag full of 20’s and the no-show job at a tractor dealership?