FOUR BITS: Florida Field, Bullard, Pease, Donovan

By Adam Silverstein
August 1, 2012

1 » With renovations to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium almost consistently occurring since 2003, it was only a matter of time before the University of Florida also decided to make some changes inside the bowl. In June the Florida Gators completely removed the playing surface and installed a new field of Celebration Bermuda grass, a renovation that takes place once every 7-10 years, according to Florida’s senior associate athletics director of internal affairs Chip Howard. OGGOA learned late Tuesday evening that what is being painted on that new grass will also be changing. According to information obtained by this website, the Gators will be removing the block “F” from midfield and replacing it with a Gator Head, the school’s primary athletic logo. Additionally, Florida will replace the Gator Head logos that were previously found on the 35-yard lines with the slanted “F” that is steadily being used more and more including in the end zones.

UF has also begun the process of changing the font adorning The Swamp‘s famous orange walls (see the picture above from July 27). It is believed that all four will retain their respective sayings – “This is…The Swamp,” “This is…Gator Country,” “Home of the Florida Gators” – in the new lettering. Making adjustments to the walls and field are not new for the Gators. The block “F” at midfield at one time replaced the intertwined “UF” that is still used occasionally by the baseball team. The walls were previously painted blue with orange letters in a different font prior to being repainted orange with the lettering that many have grown used to over the last few decades. One of the walls also used to read “This is…Florida Field” before former head coach Steve Spurrier coined the term “The Swamp” in the 1990s and the school decided to make a change.

Read three more BITS of Gators news…after the break!

2 » After a long summer in which he was forced to stay home instead of enroll at UF like he had originally planned, five-star defensive end Jonathan Bullard (Shelby, NC) is on his way to Gainesville, FL to join the Florida football team, multiple sources told InsidetheGators.com this week. Bullard was scheduled to receive his official academic clearance from the NCAA on Tuesday so he could join the team immediately and work with the Gators during the first day of practice on Friday. The second-highest rated member of Florida’s 2012 recruiting class, Bullard plays a position in which the Gators are looking to build depth and find explosive talent. He could contribute right away if he is able to pick-up the defense quick enough.

3 » As the most prominent addition to Florida’s coaching staff, offensive coordinator Brent Pease has understandably received plenty of press this offseason – from former teammate and accomplished quarterback Warren Moon having plenty of kind things to say about him to the school’s website covering his recent African adventure. In the end what matters is whether or not Pease can coach offense at a top-tier Southeastern Conference program; that is something he tried to convey at a recent talk he had with members of the Titletown Gator Club. Among some of the tidbits he told those in attendance, Pease explained his decision to call plays from upstairs rather than on the field. “I want a sterile environment where I can really focus and see things,” he said.

4 » Gators head basketball coach Billy Donovan sat down with Andy Katz last week for a one-on-one interview about the turnaround his program has had over the last two seasons. Below is a portion of that interview, which aired late Friday nigth on ESPN.

17 Comments

  1. Jackson says:

    AWFUL decision to replace the block ‘F’ with the Gatorhead at midfield! We’re on our way to becoming The University of Gators.

  2. j. says:

    Well the way Scott is slashing state funds that may not be a bad idea.

  3. Chris says:

    Love the Gator logo at midfield! Change is good. And yes Scott is ruining our state. Next thing that needs change is our jerseys they need a little updating. New stripes or something.

  4. Jacob says:

    The changes will look good, maybe eventually we can switch up that helmet for some different ones…maybe a white one.

  5. G8rphan19 says:

    Love the new look for the field, gator head is going to look great

  6. Tractorr says:

    I kind of liked the white helmet with the all blue uniforms.

  7. Gatormatic says:

    Nooooooooooo….I hope we never change the jerseys! They are classic. Some things should never be changed. If we want to do a throwback uni and a Nike Pro Combat uni every year I’m okay with that, but I wouldn’t want the primary uniforms/helmets to be changed drastically. They’re beautiful and they define the University of Florida.

  8. Tractorr says:

    While I don’t agree that we shouldn’t change the uniforms, I will say if we do change them let’s change to something simple that will last. I do not want to be like Oregon with different uniforms every game. This is football not a fashion show. That being said I don’t have a problem with changing them as there have been many through the years

  9. G2 says:

    We have one of the worst looking helmets in D1. Like the throwback package (white helmets, blue uni’s) they used once (vs Bama or Lsu?), even like the nike combat stuff. What we have is very outdated and tired….something new please! Football is a fashion show to some degree, generates the buzz.

  10. Philip says:

    I think our current uniforms are awesome. They’re not old & boring like Penn State or Alabama, but they’re not trying too hard to be fashionable like Oregon, Texas Tech, Northwestern’s new unis, etc. They’re the perfect blend of tradition and style all in one! Gotta love the script Gators helmets!

  11. Joe says:

    With the exception of revising uni dimensions, if you change your style every time a stylistic language becomes hip then you’ll always be reinventing yourself to keep up with the times. By staying true to a design, you will inevitably fall into the cycle of style revival, like Members only jackets, leggings, and asymmetrical haircuts.

    This is both funny (a joke) and true (even though it is a joke).

  12. Kyle says:

    I love the orange helmets- distinctive… Maybe the font or something can change but I like the helmets and te gator logo

  13. Gator Boys says:

    We have great helmets. White helmets are lame.

  14. Can't Smell Charlie Pell says:

    You can thank ole Charlie Pell for our Gator Script helmets. They look lame.

    Let’s go with the helmets Spurrier wore.

  15. G2 says:

    Exactly, the current helmets look like something out of the 70’s, which they are. Spurrier changed things up with the uni’s but didn’t change the helmets. Way overdue for a new logo. What if we had white on the road and orange hats at home? The old “F” looks better than the current look.

  16. Kevin says:

    Im probably the only one out here that likes this idea but i’d like to see the orange jersey with the helmet reversed and have it be blue with orange lettering. And I also like the change of the logo at mid field.

  17. coop says:

    Please god give us a uniform update….. I know this is an old thread but I thought I’d comment because it’s time…….

Join The
Discussion

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top
WordPress Appliance - Powered by TurnKey Linux