OGGOA Presents: Florida Gators All-Decade Team

By Adam Silverstein
December 31, 2009

The 2000s were quite a decade for University of Florida athletics. Florida Gators football and basketball were especially exceptional, combining for four National Championships (five appearances) and five Southeastern Conference Championships (six appearances) while earning five BCS bowl game and eight NCAA Tournament berths, respectively, over the last ten years. To end this decade of champions, OGGOA has compiled our own Gators All-Decade Team for each sport.


FOOTBALL

OFFENSE

QB: Tim Tebow (2006-Present)
Honorable mention: Rex Grossman (1999-2002), Chris Leak (2003-06)

HB/FB: Billy Latsko (2002-06)
Honorable mention: Eric Rutledge (2004-07)

RB: Earnest Graham (1999-2002)
Honorable mention: Ciatrick Fason (2002-04)

WR1: Percy Harvin (2006-08)
WR2: Jabar Gaffney (1999-01)
Honorable mention: Andre Caldwell (2003-07), Taylor Jacobs (1999-2002)

TE: Aaron Hernandez (2007-Present)
Honorable mention: Cornelius Ingram (2004-08), Ben Troupe (2000-03)

OT1: Max Starks (2000-03)
OT2: Mike Pearson (1998-2001)
Honorable mention: Phil Trautwein (2004-08)

OG1: Shannon Snell (2000-03)
OG2: Drew Miller (2004-07)
Honorable mention: Mike Pouncey (2007-Present)

C: Mike Degory (2001-05)
Honorable mention: Maurkice Pouncey (2007-Present)

DEFENSE

DE1: Alex Brown (1997-2001)
DE2: Derrick Harvey (2004-07)
Honorable mention: Jarvis Moss (2003-06)

DT1: Marcus Thomas (2003-06)
DT2: Ray McDonald (2002-06)
Honorable mention: Ian Scott (2000-02)

LB: Brandon Spikes (2006-Present)
LB: Channing Crowder (2002-04)
LB: Brandon Siler (2004-06)
Honorable mention: Earl Everett (2003-06)

CB1: Joe Haden (2007-Present)
CB2: Keiwan Ratliff (2000-03)
Honorable mention: Lito Sheppard (1999-2001)

S1: Reggie Nelson (2005-06)
S2: Todd Johnson (1998-2002)
Honorable mention: Major Wright (2007-Present), Ahmad Black (2007-Present)

SPECIAL TEAMS

PK: Jeff Chandler (1997-2001)

P: Chas Henry (2007-Present) / Eric Wilbur (2003-06)

LS: James Smith (2004-08)

KR Brandon James (2006-Present)

PR: Lito Sheppard (1999-2001)

COACHING

Head Coach: Urban Meyer (2005-Present)
Offensive Coordinator: Dan Mullen (2005-08)
Defensive Coordinator: Charlie Strong (2002-09)



BASKETBALL

G: Anthony Roberson (2002/03-04/05)
G/F: Corey Brewer (2004/05-06/07)
F: Matt Bonner (1999/2000-02/03)
F: Joakim Noah (2004/05-06/07)
F: Al Horford (2004/05-06/07)
6th: David Lee (2001/02-2004/05)

COACHING:

Head Coach: Billy Donovan (1996-Present)
Assistant Coach: Anthony Grant (1996-2006)
Assistant Coach: Larry Shyatt (2004-Present)



Note: Selected players must have played at Florida for at least two seasons in the 2000s.

4 Comments

  1. Ceez says:

    Cornelius was still better for us than Hernandez… though it is close. But definitely Lito over Keiwan. And Chad Jackson? Definitely over Taylor Jacobs… and if 2009 is the end of the decade you can throw in Jevon Kearse (drafted in 1999).

  2. Adam Silverstein says:

    To each his/her own. The great thing about lists like these is that it is all opinion and perspective, so they are great to debate! I think you are taking more of a single-season perspective where the point is more the players that played the best and made the most impact in their careers. CJ doesn’t deserve to be ahead of Jacobs in my mind, and C4 would be ahead of Graham if I did it your way. It is something I considered at the time of creation. However, Ingram certainly did not have a better career than Hernandez. As far as Kearse, if you look at the note at the bottom of the article, anyone selected had to play for a minimum of 2 seasons in the 2000s, which started with the 2000-01 season. He does not qualify. Thank you for your comments – I hope the debate rages on.

    The toughest decisions I made were:

    – Drew Miller vs. Mike Pouncey as the second guard.
    – Putting Marcus Thomas as one of the top DT over Ian Scott.
    – Keiwan Ratliff vs. Lito Sheppard for the second CB.

    Everything else for me fell in line pretty easily.

  3. no way jose says:

    Your basketball picks are missing Larry Shyaat as assistant. He is our “defensive coordinator” and was an integral part of the back-to-back championships. To leave him off must have been an oversight.

    Also, excellent call on Matt Bonner. He might be the Gator all academic player of the decade.

  4. NWJ – You are 100% right – complete oversight. And I have now added him. Things like that happen at 2:30 a.m. 😀

Join The
Discussion

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

Top
WordPress Appliance - Powered by TurnKey Linux