The Meyer jinx?
In 2006, Urban Meyer was fired up about one freshman in particular and shared his excitement about Percy Harvin, starting on signing day and continuing into the early part of the season.
Then Harvin injured his ankle in the third game against Tennessee and was hampered for much of the remainder of the season.
A year later, Meyer had high praise for incoming freshmen defensive tackles Torrey Davis and John Brown. Neither are here. Davis had trouble off the field. Brown had trouble in the classroom and is now at Tennessee.
Last year, Meyer’s favorite recruit was defensive tackle Omar Hunter. He went so far as to say that Hunter was the Tim Tebow of the 2008 recruiting class. Hunter turned out to be no factor last season, facing a seemingly endless struggle with nagging injuries.
This past February, Meyer stood at the podium for his national signing day news conference and compared Andre Debose to Percy Harvin. He admitted he likely was putting too much pressure on Debose, but he couldn’t help making the comparison after seeing Debose do some of the same things Harvin did with the ball in his hands.
Debose is now out with an injured hamstring.
Meyer was asked earlier this week if there is a Meyer jinx at work here.
“I’m an emotional guy and I love recruiting and I love players, and I love when I get a monster,” he said. “Andre Debose will be fine. So is Omar Hunter. Is he a year behind? Yes, those kind of things happen. That’s called athletics.”
Meyer said he will not hesitate to heap praise on his top recruits in the future if he feels it’s warranted.
“Am I going to not act excited about a recruit when I come in here?” he said. “No, that’s not going to happen.”
Robbie Andreu has been The Sun’s college football beat writer since 1993. He covered every game of the Steve Spurrier coaching era. The only game he’s missed since he has been in Gainesville is the 2006 Florida State game in Tallahassee. He happily stayed home for that one because of the imminent birth of his second child. Before coming to The Sun in March of 1993, Andreu worked for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel for 10 years, covering a variety of sports, including the Miami Dolphins, the Miami Hurricanes, professional golf and baseball (playoffs and World Series). He also worked in Clearwater and Bradenton. He graduated from UF in 1977.
[...] coordinator Charlie Strong is trying to keep his unit grounded headed into the season.It seems when Urban Meyer heaps praise on a freshman, bad things happen. (Still no word on whether Andre Debose will have to undergo surgery on his [...]
by Florida News – 9/2/09 | MrSEC.com
Robbie, how’s Omar Hunter doing this year? Is he healthy? I know he’s lighter…is he going to be a factor?
by Coleman
No offense, but I really think you’re making way too much of this. Don’t create a “controversy” where none exists, please.
by George McFly
I dont think anything is wrong with debose..BTW How can Brown get into school at Tennesee and flunk out at Florida.. what kind of standard if any do they have in Knowville.
by MrBIOlife