It’s time to give a shout out to one such employee at UF — associate athletic director Mike Spiegler.

Spiegler
is the man behind the hiring of new women’s golf coach Jan Dowling on
Monday. Spiegs conducted the search, did all the leg work (and it was
considerable, I’m told), came up with a list of candidates and helped
set up the interview between athletic director Jeremy Foley and Dowling
last week. According to Foley, Dowling “knocked it out of the park”
during her interview. Less than a week later, she was hired.

Foley
thinks UF has uncovered a real gem here, someone who will elevate the
program to elite status in the nation. After listening to her on a
conference call Monday, I can see why Foley, Spiegler and everyone else
over at UAA is excited about the hire. She’s energetic, passionate
about this job and eager to start rebuilding the women’s golf program.
I have a feeling she’s going to be a dynamic recruiter and teacher in
the mold of Urban Meyer, Billy Donovan, Mary Wise, Tim Walton … and
every other coach at UF.

Foley said Monday that Spiegler deserves credit for the great work he did bringing Dowling to Florida.

So, here it is: Good job, Spiegs.

According to
figures reported by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal
earlier this week, UF’s overall athletic program generated $106
million, third most in the nation behind only Texas ($120 million) and
Ohio State ($117 million).

Five other SEC schools ranked in the
top 13 nationally — Auburn (7th, $89.31 million), Alabama (8th, $88.87
million), Tennessee (9th, $88.72 million), LSU (12th, $84.18 million)
and Georgia (13th, $84.02 million).

Football, of course, is the
big money-maker at Florida and the other SEC schools. The national
championship Gators generated $66.1 million, third most in the nation.
Although UF beat Georgia in football (again), the Bulldogs managed to
generate more revenue — $67.05 million. Texas’ football program led the
nation with $72.95 million.

Jenkins was arrested last week on
misdemeanor charges of affray and resisting arrest without violence
stemming from his involvement in a fight downtown. Jenkins was Tasered
by police during the incident.

After initially trying to run
from police, police said Jenkins was cooperative during the arrest.
Jenkins claims he was fighting in self-defense against someone who was
trying to steal his necklace. Jenkins was the only one arrested.

In a similar case involving UF linebacker Dustin Doe two years ago, the charges were dropped.

If
the charges against Jenkins are dropped, it is doubtful he would be
suspended from any games. But that decision would rest with the
university and UF coach Urban Meyer.

Would be surprised if a team other than Florida is ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason college football poll due out in mid-August.

Most preseason magazines worth a darn have the Gators No. 1.

The Sporting News preseason annual, always a keeper, has UF at No. 1, followed by Texas, Oklahoma, Southern Cal, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Oregon, LSU, Ohio State and Oklahoma State.

Athlon’s college football Web site has its own countdown, with its preseason top pick due out Thursday. Guess who No. 1 is?

Athlon’s list from No. 2 to No. 10: Oklahoma, Texas, USC, Ohio State, Alabama, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State and Ole Miss.

~ Arnold Feliciano

Phil Steele’s magazine doesn’t come out until next month, but Colin Cowherd of ESPN radio got an advance copy and was reading it on the air last Friday. Some tidbits:

Steele’s top 11
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Southern Cal
4. Oklahoma
5. Penn State
6. Ole Miss
7. Notre Dame
8. Alabama
9. California
10. Ohio State
11. Virginia Tech

Cowherd said he agreed with all of the rankings except for ‘Bama, which he said was too high.

Steele has Ole Miss winning the SEC West and “Florida barely beating Georgia for the East.”

]]> http://andreu.blogs.gatorsports.com/10007/phil-steele-florida-no-1/feed/ 0 http://andreu.blogs.gatorsports.com/10008/ut-uf-kick-off-at-330-pm/ http://andreu.blogs.gatorsports.com/10008/ut-uf-kick-off-at-330-pm/#comments Thu, 28 May 2009 16:49:41 +0000 admin http://randreu.gainesville.com/default.asp?item=2382696

Yeah, I know Gator Nation has already circled Sept. 19 on their calendars since early February, the date coach Lane Kiffin and his Tennessee Volunteers play against the Gators at The Swamp.

Add this to that date, kick off is set for 3:30 p.m. and it will be televised by CBS.

Disliked?

Pearl doesn’t see it.

“Maybe he’s misunderstood,” Pearl said of the controversial new UT football coach. “He’s not disliked.”

Pearl said that whatever/however Kiffin is doing things, it’s obviously working.

“You
guys are asking me about Lane and about Tennessee football,” Pearl
said. “I’m on PTI (Pardon The Interruption on ESPN) during March
Madness and they’re talking about Lane. He’s playing you guys perfectly.

“He’s
excited, he understands the challenge. Look at the staff he’s put
together. I know from taking over at Tennessee four years ago, one of
the biggest problems was they (the fans) didn’t believe, the kids
didn’t believe. I’m not saying that’s the case at all. What I’m saying
is your coach better believe. He certainly is believing in his guys. My
line when I came to Tennessee was it was my goal to be the least
popular coach in the SEC. I managed to do it in a year. He managed to
do it in a week.”

Pearl said he was a huge fan of Phillip
Fulmer, but that UT athletic director Mike Hamilton made a bold and
positive move when hired Kiffin.

“I hated to see Coach Fulmer
go,” Pearl said. “Mike Hamilton made a change. I commend Mike for the
change he’s made in the sense that he’s brought something in that’s
different. (Kiffin) is setting the ball extremely high.

“You
look at who they’ve recruited. I think you have to do that with a
certain confidence, a certain swagger. I don’t know how long it’s going
to take for those results to be in place on the field. I go back to my
first here at Tennessee. If you don’t believe in your kids, who will?
He absolutely does, and he’s not afraid to say it. He’s probably said
some things that other people thought weren’t right to say. But I
really believe he’s misunderstood. There’s nothing to dislike about
him.”

Pearl said Kiffin’s presence likely will have an impact on the UF-UT rivalry.

“Florida-Tennessee is a great rivalry,” he said. “Maybe it’s just gotten better.”

Here are some of the highlights:

* Marotti said the attitude has been good and that the leadership of Tim Tebow, Brandon Spikes and some other seniors has made a huge difference. Marotti said the Gators are working out five times a week, lifting weights four days and running three days. He said the running has been linear speed training.

“(The leadership of Tebow and Spikes) is second to none,” Marotti said. “It’s every strength coach’s dream at this level to have guys like that. I told one of my assistants the other day, this is the way it’s supposed to be. They’re coaching each other up.

“They know what they have to do. That’s kind of been the theme so far. They don’t have to have the fake juice from me jumping up and down and hollering. They’re self-motivated. I guarantee you every team in the country is doing something (during the offseason) for the University of Florida.”

Marotti said he and his staff have changed up the workout regimen to keep the players fresh and give them a chance to have what he described as “fun.”

“I don’t know if that makes sense,” Marotti said. “We just do our best to keep them fresh.”

As far as making the workouts the hardest ever, Marotti said, “It’s all about accountability, where you have your foot on the line, specific weights, being on time. You really grind that stuff now. Plus the physical part. I don’t know how much more physically challenging it’s going to be, but it’s going to be challenging.

“You know what these players can do on the field. Last year, it was easy, they had a chip on their shoulder. This year is different. That’s what I’ve been impressed with so far, the fact they know what they have to do.”

* One of the more interesting things Marotti talked about was the breakfast/lunch club. This is for players who need to gain weight. They have to eat at the training table every day and their meals are closely monitored. One player who seems to be resisting is 175-pound tailback Chris Rainey.

“He doesn’t like food,” Marotti said. “It’s hard to gain weight when you don’t like food. He’s eating because he has to. He doesn’t eat because he likes food. He’s just starting to drink the (nutritional) shakes (that contain 365 calories). He didn’t like the shakes. How are you going to gain weight if you don’t take in calories? I always tell him, ‘I watch football every Sunday and I don’t see anyone who looks like you playing at the next level. If that’s your goal, maybe you’ve got to change.’ “

Marotti said defensive end Jermaine Cunningham is a guy who is no longer in the breakfast club. He was 205 when he arrived at UF four years ago. Now, he’s up to 255. Some other players in the breakfast club this summer are defensive end William Green, outside linebacker Brandon Hicks, offensive tackle Matt Patchan and redshirt freshman wide receiver Frankie Hammond.

“Brandon Hicks doesn’t like to eat,” Marotti said. “William Green likes to eat, that’s why he’s up to 235 pounds. And he’s going to get bigger, because he likes to eat and he’s a great kid.”

Marotti said Patchan has put on some weight since the spring, but would not say how much. “I’m not going to throw out any numbers. Some times they get skewered. He might read it and get (mad). He needs to get bigger.”

* Marotti said the player on the team with the most brute strength is senior defensive tackle Troy Epps. “Because of his build. He’s just so muscular, so strong,” Marotti said.

Marotti said the player with the most “crazy” strength is defensive end Carlos Dunlap.

“It’s like picking up a car that’s overturned if he’s mad enough,” Marotti said when asked to describe crazy strength.

Marotti said Dunlap is a player he has to stay on all the time to keep him motivated and working hard.

“I’ve got to kick him up and down,” Marotti said. “You have to be on him like stink on poop. He needs to be pushed. I tell him, ‘The good Lord brought you down here as a personal challenge to me.’ He was so immature when he got here. I love the kid. He’s really starting to learn how to go hard.”

* Marotti had high praise for true freshman middle linebacker Jon Bostic, who participated in the spring.

“I love Jon Bostic,” he said. “I love him not so much for his build, 6-foot-2, 235 pounds, but for his coachability, his work and his attentiveness. He’s all business. Tebow said something about him today. He said, ‘I like this guy, and not just because of football.’ ”

* Meyer drew a huge ovation
from the crowd of about 350 with his closing remarks about the state of
the program and his love (and commitment) to the University of Florida.

“Someone
did a fine story and made a comment about our coaching staff,” Meyer
said. “I can tell you for the first time in our coaching careers, it
feels like home. I love Florida. This is a hell of a place and this is
a hell of a team. We’re going to enjoy the moment and learn form the
moment. Is this a good program? No, it’s a great program. We have our
foot squarely on peoples’ necks, and we’re not going to take it off.
Right now, everyone is trying to catch the Gators. We will not let that
happen.

“We stick together through all kinds of weather.
Support your football team and the players under those helmets. They’re
as good young men as we’ve ever had at the University of Florida.”

*
Meyer said that despite all the depth at safety, and the emergence of
Will Hill and the return of Dorian Munroe, Ahmad Black will remain the
starter at strong safety.

“He’s a starter,” Meyer said. “No question.”

*
Meyer said the UF program is now similar to Southern Cal’s in the fact
there are so many highly rated athletes competing at every position. It
is the result of consistently good recruiting.

“I’ve studied
USC a little bit,” Meyer said. “They had the cornerstone on developing
depth and developing competition in practice, where if you have a bad
day you’re out and someone else goes in. It’s life in the big city, and
at good programs. Right now, we’re a good program.”

* Meyer
said he expects true freshman wide receiver Andre Debose and true
freshmen linebackers Jon Bostic and Jelani Jenkins to be major
contributors this season. Bostic was an early enrollee who impressed
the coaches backing up middle linebacker Brandon Spikes.

“(Debose)
is a phenomenal player,” Meyer said. “I have a strong, strong feeling
that Jelani Jenkins will be in the rotation at linebacker. I like
Bostic. I thought he’d be really good, but I didn’t think he’d be
challenging for a starting job. He’s earned it. He had a hell of a
spring.”

Many are comparing the expectations for Debose to
those of true freshman defensive tackle Omar Hunter a year ago. Much of
those expectations are a result of glowing comments from Meyer. A year
ago, he called Hunter the Tim Tebow of the 2008 recruiting class.

“It’s
one of my faults,” Meyer said. “I like to hang it out there over their
heads a little. I get excited. I get jacked. I think Omar Hunter is
going to be a phenomenal player. But we all want yesterday instead of
tomorrow.”

* Although the Gators are in the running for a
handful of top prospects in California this year, Meyer said the
coaching staff is not targeting the state.

“No,” he said.
“(Tight ends coach) Brian White has a background out there. We’re not
recruiting California. We might try to cherry pick a couple.”

Is Tim Tebow an NFL quarterback?

The
talking heads have already begun batting this back and forth among
themselves, and this is an argument that will go on and on and on over
the next 12 months.

In my mind, there is no doubt, there is no
debate. Tim Tebow is going to be a very good NFL quarterback. And he’s
going to be a first-round draft pick a year from now. No question.

Mel Kiper says he doesn’t get it. He doesn’t see Tebow as an NFL quarterback. He sees him as a possible H-back. Is he blind?

Here’s
the most obvious reason why Tebow makes it in the NFL as a quarterback:
He’s a great football player, a great leader, a winner, he has a strong
arm, he is driven, he’s very coachable and he seems to be able to will
himself to do special things. If he wants to be an NFL quarterback, and
he does, he will become a very good one.

With a little
tweaking, a little grooming (and he’s getting some right now from new
UF quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler), Tebow will be NFL-ready following
his senior season.

Those who question whether Tebow can make it
in the NFL as a quarterback should just take a look around the league
at some of the mediocre players playing the position right now.

If
you’re a Tampa Bay fan, who would you rather have as your quarterback?
Brian Griese or Tim Tebow? Byron Leftwich or Tim Tebow? Luke McCown or
Tim Tebow? Exactly. Tebow would be your guy.

In a league where
Shaun Hill and Marc Bulger and Tavaris Jackson and Chad Pennington are
starting quarterbacks, and where Brock Berlin is on a roster, don’t try
and tell me Tim Tebow isn’t good enough to play the position.

It’s absurd, this argument that Tebow won’t be an NFL quarterback.