Former Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer and Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Tim Tebow were both interviewed Tuesday, by Rich Eisen of NFL.com and sports talk radio host Dan Patrick, respectively. Below are choice quotes from each interview. Links to the complete audio can be found at the end of the post.
Meyer on if he will ever coach in the NFL: “I think we’ll cross that bridge somewhere down the road. I’ve always loved the NFL and growing up that was always a dream.”
Meyer on his current plans: “I’m going to go out to ESPN to work on the BCS National Championship. Those are great folks out there. I’m going to try that for a little while and then see where I’m headed.”
Meyer on if the opportunity to coach Tebow in Denver is appealing: “Somewhere maybe way down the road. Not now. Absolutely not. Not now.”
Meyer on Tebow’s potential for success in the NFL: “He’s going to be a winner if given the right opportunity.”
Meyer on New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick: “He is the most in-depth person I have ever been around. He comes down [to Gainesville, FL], he meets with every one of our prospects, he works them out himself and he’ll go spend up to an hour on each player with me and our coaches finding out what we think of them. That’s why they rarely make mistakes.”
Meyer on if his conversations with Belichick appear on the field: “Oh yeah, no question. He told me from way back how he was going to utilize Brandon Spikes and how he was going to utilize Aaron Hernandez.”
Meyer on having a one-on-one conversation with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell: “I reached out to him at first. Ever since then we’ve been fairly good friends. There’s a lot of great things going on right now in professional and college football. But there are also some things headed in a very destructive direction.”
Meyer on what should be done to fix the problems: “It’s the same thing since the beginning of civilization. If you set a law, you have to have a punishment for it.”
Meyer on if college football should have playoffs: “The system is pretty good for an imperfect system. […] When I was at Utah, I was a big fan of the playoff system. But when you get to a place like Florida, if you had to play one more game after we played Oklahoma, I’m not sure we could have lined up. […] I don’t know if they could ever do a playoff.”
Meyer on if he will ever coach again: “I’m not sure. I’m not ready to answer that yet. I’m anxious to move on with the next chapter.”
Tebow on the weirdest thing he’s been asked to sign: “I have signed a baby – more than once. The forehead’s been asked a few times. It kind of reminds me of Will Ferrell, but it’s pretty funny”
Tebow on Meyer leaving the Gators: “I just congratulated him because I knew it was the right decision for him and his family. I really believe that.”
Tebow on if Meyer will ever coach again: “Give me three years and then ask me again.”
Tebow on if he could see Meyer coaching in the NFL: “No I could not. He likes investing in young men.”
Meyer’s NFL.com interview (at 27:30) | Tebow’s Dan Patrick Show interview
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Great stuff Adam!
The further Urban is removed from UF the more I get the feeling he left because of Gator Nations unreal expectations and bitterness when things are not going perfect.
Just some of his comments etc… give me the impression that he is not done with coaching just done with UF.
cline- I don’t disagree with your comment.
Wouldn’t surprise me to see him land at The OSU about the
time Nate starts college (5 yrs) assuming tressel lasts that
long…
I just get the eerie feeling that a certain sect of Gator
Nation ran him out of town and I had those same feelings when
Spurrier left.
I don’t think they ran him out of town. He prides himself on being a tough ass coach, some critics will always be around. With the support he had here and the money he was making, I don’t think that was it. If he ever thinks about the NFL he better have thicker skin than that. i agree he may be done with UF and like you said cline, the farther out we get, the farther he seems to be from UF. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him coaching in 1 year much less 3 years.
maybe ran out of town wasn’t the right words to use then. I
didn’t mean he was forced to leave. I was getting at more along the
lines of he just had enough with all the BS and second guessing his
coaching staff and scheme, which was done on quite a regular basis
even when we won games. Sometimes enough is enough.
The gator nations expectations are not unreal. The coach makes 4-mil/yr, assistantts are some of the highest paid, recruiting classes are in the top five year in and year out. This all adds up to expectations of playing in the sec & national championships year in and year out. You get one off year before the wolf is at your door. If you can’t handle those expectations and produce those results then go somewhere like Illinois where 8-4 and the weed-eater bowl is a great season
ncgator; everything you said above essentially proves my point. Unrealistic expectations. The SEC is too competitive now to have those expectations year in and year out, mix that with the exodus of underclassmen to the NFL and you have bad seasons. you just have to deal with it.
cline; I disgaree! Expectations are clear and achievable. Contend for the sec and national championship or hit the road. Once Spurrier got past probation he recruited like crazy and built the program into a perennial national contender. After ten years of the pressure cooker that is Florida football he’d had enough. Can’t blame him. Enter Zook, a good recruiter but a miserable failure as a HC. 3-years of mediocrity and gone. Next, Urban Meyer, great system, great recruiting, tireless work and ” tada”, expectations met. As opposed to Spurrier, 6 years was enough for Meyer. Health, Family, ESPN, whatever! He’d had enough coaching the gators. Again, this is a tough job, can’t blame him. Muschamp has 3-yrs or else! Your conspiracy theory of some unknown powerbrokers running off Spurrier and Meyer is ludicrus.
In every conference you have the elite, the mediocre and the losers and it rarely changes. The SEC is no different, albeit, we have more elite than loser. Spurrier, Meyer and this administartion have created an elite program that can not be allowed to decline in relevance like FSU, Michigan and Notre Dame.
7-5, 8-4, 10-2 is not acceptable . My guess is it’s not acceptable at Alabama & LSU either. Coach’s Muschamp, Weiss and Quinn…..the clock is ticking
mcgator: all due respect but the following conclusion “Your
conspiracy theory of some unknown powerbrokers running off Spurrier
and Meyer is ludicrus.” is incorrect. My sentiment is that both
Spurrier and Urban had enough of the elitist mentality that you
echo’d in all of your statements. I understand the SEC is tough but
you will have down years regardless of the “tada” type
expectations. Everyone is entitled to their opinions so I respect
yours. Your pressure cooker comment also illustrates my point
perfectly.
Cline: and I respect yours. Nuff said
Go Gators.