Is there a better recruiter out there than Urban Meyer?

The two best recruiting head coaches in Florida football history are Charley Pell and Urban Meyer, two men with a systematic approach to fill the roster with quality players from top to bottom. When Charley got fired three games into the 1984 season, the Gators fielded an NFL roster on both sides of the football and the two and three-deep was brimming with exceptional talent just waiting for its chance to see the field. I see the same thing out of Urban Meyer, who understands that the only way you can overcome injuries, attrition and graduation is to fill the roster with quality, capable kids hungry for a chance to show what they can do.

Take a look at that 1984 team, just on the offensive side of the ball:

QB: Kerwin Bell (played in the NFL, MVP in the CFL)

TB: Neal Anderson (#1 draft pick of the Bears in 1986) and Lorenzo Hampton (#1 draft pick of the Dolphins in 1985)

FB: John L Williams (#1 draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 1986)

WR: Ricky Nattiel (#1 draft pick of the Denver Broncos in 1987)

WR: Gary Rolle (played in the NFL)

WR: Frankie Neal (played in the NFL although he transferred out of UF)

OT: Lomas Brown (#1 draft pick of the Detroit Lions, will make the NFL Hall of Fame someday)

OT: Crawford Ker (third round draft pick who played several years in the NFL)

OT: Scott Trimble (played in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers)

OG: Jeff Zimmerman (drafted, played several years in the NFL)

OG: Billy Hinson  (drafted, played three years in the NFL)

And those are just the guys who played!

Now fast forward to the past five years of Urban Meyer and take a look at what you see. The three-deep at nearly every position is manned by quality players who everyone in the country was recruiting. Oh, there’s an occasional sleeper in the bunch but for the most part, these guys are prime time players and the guys who start understand fully well that if they don’t come to practice every day with their chin straps buckled and their jock straps tightened that some young kid who’s hungry and wants it so bad he can taste it is ready to step in and get the job done.

So many kids these days want guaranteed playing time as if simply getting on the field is the ticket to the future.  Urban doesn’t promise playing time but he does promise kids that if they come to Florida determined to compete and do whatever they have to do to get onto the playing field that they will get better and when their playing careers are over, they’ll most likely have a chance to play in the NFL.

On more than a couple of occasions, Urban has recollected recruiting Percy Harvin, Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes, who came to UF together in the recruiting class of 2006. None of them were promised a chance to start, but as Meyer happily points out, they never once asked for a guarantee of playing time --- they simply wanted to have a fair chance to show what they could do.

I guess it’s safe to say that Percy, Tim and BSpikes all proved themselves during their Florida careers.

The great ones, you see, never ask about playing time. They only ask for a chance to compete because they know the only way they’ll get better is if they have to prove themselves every day in practice.

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The Meyer Recruiting Machine is cranked up and ready to hit high gear after Monday’s commitments of offensive tackle Tommy Jordan (6-5, 285, Ridgefield, CT) and linebacker Ryan Shazier (6-2, 202, Plantation, FL).  Expect at least four, possibly five more commitments before Friday Night Lights in July. This might not end up the number one class in the country, but it will finish in the top five for sure.

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Is there a better recruiter out there than Urban Meyer? I don't think so.

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Florida’s baseball team went 0-2 in Omaha, certainly not where they expected to finish, but there’s no reason for them to hang their heads. The program is flourishing under Kevin O’Sullivan and this trip to Omaha is just the next step on an inevitable path toward a national championship. With almost the entire team returning next year, the Gators are going to be loaded and should begin the 2011 season with a top three or four ranking.

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It’s been quite a year for Florida sports with two national championships and a bunch of top ten finishes. If there is one thing that stands out in Florida’s outstanding sports program it is the quality of the coaching and for that you have to give props to athletic director Jeremy Foley. I’ve said for a long time that when it comes to understanding the bottom line in college sports there is no one better. I can also say with a reasonable degree of certainty that he’s probably the best in the business at finding coaches who are the right fit for the Florida athletic programs.

I know there are people out there who think that just because it’s Florida that anyone could succeed here, but that’s simply not true. What separates the Gators from everybody else is the quality of the coaches that Foley hires.

Back in the spring, someone told me that Foley puts an enormous amount of pressure on coaches to win. I replied that Foley doesn’t have to. When coaches come here they simply take a look at the amount of success everyone is having in all the other sports and they put the pressure on themselves. Foley doesn’t have to put the squeeze on anybody.  I think the coaches simply look around, see what everyone else is doing and then figure out they better match the time, commitment and effort they’re seeing out of everyone else.

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I don’t know about you, but I’m already psyched about 2010-11. I think it’s going to be a remarkable year for Florida athletics.