Meyer
1
SUMMER 2005 UF TODAY 39 The buzz is always there. Through good times and bad, wins and losses, the buzz can be deafening or comparable to a night full of crickets. But it’s always there. Florida football comes with a buzz, 24/7 and 365 days a year. Somewhere, someone is always talking Gator football. But this buzz is different. This one can’t be turned down to one on the volume scale. Urban Meyer just cleared his throat. The buzz was supposed to peak at the spring game, that glori- fied scrimmage where every good play is also a bad one and every touchdown scored is one given up by the defense. When 58,500 showed up, it wasn’t as much to watch as to show the support the Gator Nation wants to offer the new coach. But the buzz stays loud. Gator Gatherings are bulging, standing-room only testaments to how much Florida fans want to return to the good old days and how strongly they feel Meyer is the guy to wake the echoes. It is at these meetings that Meyer has shown his wit and his desire to gig the opponents. He has embraced so much of that part of the Steve Spurrier philosophy that it has helped heal the flesh wound that UF fans suffered when Spurrier (BSPE ’81) went to South Carolina. And so the buzz gets louder. Tickets were easier to sell this off-season, so much so that some fans were rejected, both home and away, their money returned. By Pat Dooley (BSJ ’76) The First impressions… “Any time you have a coaching change, there is a lot of attendance at our gatherings. But this time there is a sense of excitement rather than the sense of curiosity that accompanied Coach (Ron) Zook. It’s the most excitement we’ve had around our program for a long time. There is a palpable sense of energy and excitement among our alumni that we didn’t see with Coach Zook or at the end of the Spurrier era.” — Jason Johnson (BSA ’94), Central Florida Gator Club ® , Orlando Students were asked to learn the fight song and fraternities were visited not with the clenched fist but the olive branch. And — woo-hoo — the bleachers are back at the practice field, allowing fans who are fanatic enough to take the time to sit while they watch. There are battles worth fighting, Meyer said after he was introduced as Florida’s coach, and this clearly was not one of them. Everything Meyer has done has been planned meticulously, from the Champions Club dinners for players who do the right things to the discipline they will incur when they don’t. The Gator Nation buzzes with anticipation. Their coach may be zero-and-zero, but they like what they see. What they can expect to see in the fall, when all of the tactics Meyer has put into place will either succeed or succumb, is a more disciplined team. Penalties will not be shrugged off. The bench will be a great motivator again. They can expect to see a coach with imagination and an at- tention to detail. They have a coach who has brought the swagger back to the Gators, even if it’s wearing a coat and tie. When Ron Zook took this job in January 2002, the Gator Nation was split and athletic director Jeremy Foley must have felt like he needed Kevlar at home games. Now, it’s different. Now, the buzz has never been louder. Pat Dooley is a sports columnist for The Gainesville Sun. He’s covered Gator football for 28 years. Buzz “In all the years I’ve been with this club, I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like the national championship buzz except even stronger. He’s the total package. We had calls for our Gathering from [as far as] Georgia. It has been incredible up here. We can’t wait for the season.” — Kathy Mizereck (BAE ’73), Capital Area Gator Club ® , Tallahassee “SouthWest Florida Gators are on board with the Gator Nation. We haven’t seen this much excitement leading up to one of our Gator Gatherings in years. Local Gators think Coach Meyer is on the ball. They love his coaching philosophy and can’t wait until Sept. 3rd.” — Stefanie Cutshall (BSR ’94), SouthWest Florida Gator Club ® , Fort Myers FALL 2005 38 Photography by Jim Burgess (BEE ’63) SPORTS UF TODAY 39
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The buzz is always there. But the buzz stays loud. But this buzz is different. By Pat Dooley (BSJ ’76) Through good times and bad, wins and losses, the buzz can be deafening or comparable to a night full of crickets. But it’s always there. Florida football comes with a buzz, 24/7 and 365 days a year. Somewhere, someone is always talking Gator football. FALL 2005 38 Pat Dooley is a sports columnist for The Gainesville Sun. He’s covered Gator football for 28 years. UF TODAY 39
Transcript of Meyer
SUMMER 200538 UF TODAY 3938
The buzz is always there. Through good times and bad, wins and losses, the buzz
can be deafening or comparable to a night full of crickets. But it’s always there.
Florida football comes with a buzz, 24/7 and 365 days a year. Somewhere, someone is always talking Gator football.
But this buzz is different. This one can’t be turned down to one on the volume scale.
Urban Meyer just cleared his throat.The buzz was supposed to peak at the spring game, that glori-
fied scrimmage where every good play is also a bad one and every touchdown scored is one given up by the defense. When 58,500 showed up, it wasn’t as much to watch as to show the support the Gator Nation wants to offer the new coach.
But the buzz stays loud.Gator Gatherings are bulging, standing-room only testaments
to how much Florida fans want to return to the good old days and how strongly they feel Meyer is the guy to wake the echoes.
It is at these meetings that Meyer has shown his wit and his desire to gig the opponents. He has embraced so much of that part of the Steve Spurrier philosophy that it has helped heal the flesh wound that UF fans suffered when Spurrier (BSPE ’81) went to South Carolina.
And so the buzz gets louder.Tickets were easier to sell this off-season, so much so that some
fans were rejected, both home and away, their money returned.
By P
at D
oole
y (B
SJ ’7
6) The
First impressions…
“Any time you have a coaching change, there is a lot of attendance at our gatherings. But this time there is a sense of excitement rather than the sense of curiosity that accompanied Coach (Ron) Zook. It’s the most excitement we’ve had around our program for a long time. There is a palpable sense of energy and excitement among our alumni that we didn’t see with Coach Zook or at the end of the Spurrier era.”
— Jason Johnson (BSA ’94), Central Florida Gator Club®, Orlando
Students were asked to learn the fight song and fraternities were visited not with the clenched fist but the olive branch.
And — woo-hoo — the bleachers are back at the practice field, allowing fans who are fanatic enough to take the time to sit while they watch. There are battles worth fighting, Meyer said after he was introduced as Florida’s coach, and this clearly was not one of them.
Everything Meyer has done has been planned meticulously, from the Champions Club dinners for players who do the right things to the discipline they will incur when they don’t.
The Gator Nation buzzes with anticipation.Their coach may be zero-and-zero, but they like what they see.What they can expect to see in the fall, when all of the tactics
Meyer has put into place will either succeed or succumb, is a more disciplined team.
Penalties will not be shrugged off. The bench will be a great motivator again.
They can expect to see a coach with imagination and an at-tention to detail. They have a coach who has brought the swagger back to the Gators, even if it’s wearing a coat and tie.
When Ron Zook took this job in January 2002, the Gator Nation was split and athletic director Jeremy Foley must have felt like he needed Kevlar at home games. Now, it’s different.
Now, the buzz has never been louder.
Pat Dooley is a sports columnist for The Gainesville Sun. He’s covered Gator football for 28 years.
Buzz
“In all the years I’ve been with this club, I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like the national championship buzz except even stronger. He’s the total package. We had calls for our Gathering from [as far as] Georgia. It has been incredible up here. We can’t wait for the season.”
— Kathy Mizereck (BAE ’73), Capital Area Gator Club®, Tallahassee
“SouthWest Florida Gators are on board with the Gator Nation. We haven’t seen this much excitement leading up to one of our Gator Gatherings in years. Local Gators think Coach Meyer is on the ball. They love his coaching philosophy and can’t wait until Sept. 3rd.”
— Stefanie Cutshall (BSR ’94), SouthWest Florida Gator Club®, Fort MyersFALL 200538
Phot
ogra
phy
by Ji
m B
urge
ss (B
EE ’6
3)
SP
OR
TS
UF TODAY 39
