Urban Meyer met with the media before addressing the crowd at the Jacksonville Gator Gathering.
Here's a rundown of what he had to say:
The team isn't working out yet. They start on May 11th. Meyer said he has seen the program Mickey Marotti will be putting the team through. He said that UF has the best conditioning staff. He said they don't want to burn the players out or get them injured. He said it's more mental training than anything. Every school in the nation is going to be doing bench presses and doing 110-yard sprints, but the key is to make the off-season workouts so mentally taxing that the players don't have time to worry about what is in the preseason football yearbooks.
On the injury front Meyer said that Mike Pouncey is about ready to roll, while Maurkice Pouncey is not. Jeffrey Demps and Chris Rainey are back. He said the only player who isn't going to be ready is Steven Wilks (knee) who will miss half a season (called him Wilksie).
Meyer said it makes the offense much more difficult to defend when you have a guy who can run routes, but also run with the ball. They didn't have that at Utah.
He was asked about being on the Omar Hunter watch last year and how he said he has to stop doing that - putting so much on a freshman. When asked why he is doing it with players this year, Meyer replied that when he gets asked about them, he gets excited. He gets jacked up. He said he still thinks Hunter will be a phenomenal player.
When it comes to expectations, he said we all want it yesterday (we don't want to wait). Meyer said look at Janoris Jenkins, he thought he would be good, but nothing like he turned out to be. He said that Jeremy Brown was ahead of Jenkins until he hurt his back.
Meyer said he thinks Jelani Jenkins will be in the linebacker rotation this fall.
He said that he thought Jon Bostic would be really good, but he didn't think he would be challenging for a starting spot already. Meyer said Bostic had a hell of a spring.
Meyer said he thinks Sam Robey surprised him more than anybody this spring. Robey has the respect of the older players.
When asked if he still thinks of Robey in the middle with a Pouncey on each side at guard, Meyer said a lot of that depends on how James Wilson and Matt Patchan progresses. Meyer said that if Patchan progresses, they can put Carl Johnson back at LG and Maurkice can stay at center (which can be read as they think the best lineup is with the experienced Pouncey at C if either Patchan or Wilson afford them that opportunity).
He talked about having options along the line this year and compared it to his first year when UF basically just had the five starters and that was it.
Meyer was asked if Ahmad Black still had a spot despite his lack of size and speed and Meyer said he does, because he is a heady player. But now, because of the players UF has at the position, if he has a bad day, it could cut into his playing time. Meyer singled out Southern Cal as a program with great depth and competition. He said that's the way it is in the NFL and with good college programs, not teams, programs, and right now UF is a good program.
Jeffrey Demps will be tried at the Percy Position, but Chris Rainey won't. Meyer said Rainey can't handle all of that so he and Emmanuel Moody will be trained as tailbacks. Demps will be a tailback and the 3 spot.
Meyer said that when he first came to UF they had to be very creative in recruiting because they didn't have anything to sell. The best thing they could sell is that they were in the Outback Bowl. He said the team was in a mess GPA wise and was dealing with all kinds of other issues. So when they went out on the road, they had nothing to sell. They were selling an offense that no one believed in, a defense that wasn't very good and facilities that were inadequate. Now the Gators can sell the 100% graduation rate from last year, the most receivers drafted by the NFL over the last four years, facilities, etc...
When asked about recruiting California kids, he was asked if he felt good about (getting) them, Meyer replied no. He said new TE coach Brian White has a background out there, but UF isn't going to be recruiting California, they may try to cherry pick a couple out there.
He loves the football staff of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He visited that coaching staff today. Meyer reported that the Jaguars are high on Drew Miller and Derrick Harvey. He talked to Reggie Nelson today. Meyer likes Jaguar coach Jack Del Rio. He likes guys who work. Who do their research on players.
Incoming signee Mike Gillislee will train as a tailback. Demps, Brandon James and Andre Debose will practice at the 3 spot (Percy Position).
Note: I didn't quote Meyer because there was way too much background noise on my tape recorder to be able to hear him word for word.
This post was edited on 5/7 12:04 AM by Mark Wheeler
Here's a rundown of what he had to say:
The team isn't working out yet. They start on May 11th. Meyer said he has seen the program Mickey Marotti will be putting the team through. He said that UF has the best conditioning staff. He said they don't want to burn the players out or get them injured. He said it's more mental training than anything. Every school in the nation is going to be doing bench presses and doing 110-yard sprints, but the key is to make the off-season workouts so mentally taxing that the players don't have time to worry about what is in the preseason football yearbooks.
On the injury front Meyer said that Mike Pouncey is about ready to roll, while Maurkice Pouncey is not. Jeffrey Demps and Chris Rainey are back. He said the only player who isn't going to be ready is Steven Wilks (knee) who will miss half a season (called him Wilksie).
Meyer said it makes the offense much more difficult to defend when you have a guy who can run routes, but also run with the ball. They didn't have that at Utah.
He was asked about being on the Omar Hunter watch last year and how he said he has to stop doing that - putting so much on a freshman. When asked why he is doing it with players this year, Meyer replied that when he gets asked about them, he gets excited. He gets jacked up. He said he still thinks Hunter will be a phenomenal player.
When it comes to expectations, he said we all want it yesterday (we don't want to wait). Meyer said look at Janoris Jenkins, he thought he would be good, but nothing like he turned out to be. He said that Jeremy Brown was ahead of Jenkins until he hurt his back.
Meyer said he thinks Jelani Jenkins will be in the linebacker rotation this fall.
He said that he thought Jon Bostic would be really good, but he didn't think he would be challenging for a starting spot already. Meyer said Bostic had a hell of a spring.
Meyer said he thinks Sam Robey surprised him more than anybody this spring. Robey has the respect of the older players.
When asked if he still thinks of Robey in the middle with a Pouncey on each side at guard, Meyer said a lot of that depends on how James Wilson and Matt Patchan progresses. Meyer said that if Patchan progresses, they can put Carl Johnson back at LG and Maurkice can stay at center (which can be read as they think the best lineup is with the experienced Pouncey at C if either Patchan or Wilson afford them that opportunity).
He talked about having options along the line this year and compared it to his first year when UF basically just had the five starters and that was it.
Meyer was asked if Ahmad Black still had a spot despite his lack of size and speed and Meyer said he does, because he is a heady player. But now, because of the players UF has at the position, if he has a bad day, it could cut into his playing time. Meyer singled out Southern Cal as a program with great depth and competition. He said that's the way it is in the NFL and with good college programs, not teams, programs, and right now UF is a good program.
Jeffrey Demps will be tried at the Percy Position, but Chris Rainey won't. Meyer said Rainey can't handle all of that so he and Emmanuel Moody will be trained as tailbacks. Demps will be a tailback and the 3 spot.
Meyer said that when he first came to UF they had to be very creative in recruiting because they didn't have anything to sell. The best thing they could sell is that they were in the Outback Bowl. He said the team was in a mess GPA wise and was dealing with all kinds of other issues. So when they went out on the road, they had nothing to sell. They were selling an offense that no one believed in, a defense that wasn't very good and facilities that were inadequate. Now the Gators can sell the 100% graduation rate from last year, the most receivers drafted by the NFL over the last four years, facilities, etc...
When asked about recruiting California kids, he was asked if he felt good about (getting) them, Meyer replied no. He said new TE coach Brian White has a background out there, but UF isn't going to be recruiting California, they may try to cherry pick a couple out there.
He loves the football staff of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He visited that coaching staff today. Meyer reported that the Jaguars are high on Drew Miller and Derrick Harvey. He talked to Reggie Nelson today. Meyer likes Jaguar coach Jack Del Rio. He likes guys who work. Who do their research on players.
Incoming signee Mike Gillislee will train as a tailback. Demps, Brandon James and Andre Debose will practice at the 3 spot (Percy Position).
Note: I didn't quote Meyer because there was way too much background noise on my tape recorder to be able to hear him word for word.
This post was edited on 5/7 12:04 AM by Mark Wheeler
