Bruce Black, the father of Florida Gators junior strong safety Ahmad Black, has told the Gainesville Sun that the chances his son will declare for the 2010 NFL Draft are 90 percent. Why? Black says head coach Urban Meyer does not respect his son.

“I would let Ahmad stay if they would show him some respect,” he said. “I don’t think coach Urban Meyer respects my son. If he did, Ahmad would have started the first game instead of Will Hill. Coach Meyer favors certain players, and Ahmad isn’t one of them.”

Black also gave his thoughts about some of the other third-year players from Lakeland High School and what their plans are for 2010. “The Pounceys are definitely going to the NFL,” he said. “Chris Rainey says he’s coming out, but I’ve advised him to stay. He’s a little too small right now, but he wants to come out.”

Florida Gators defensive coordinator Charlie Strong has been announced as the 21st head coach of the Louisville Cardinals. Strong was named the front-runner to replace former head coach Steve Kragthrope by Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich after the regular season concluded, though Jurich waited to speak to Strong and Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley until after the Gators competed in the 2009 SEC Championship. The two first met Sunday evening in Gainesville, FL, and spoke about the job throughout the week as Jurich waited for the University of Louisville‘s Athletic Association Board of Directors to approve the hiring of Strong. That endorsement came Wednesday afternoon, and a school press conference scheduled for 4 p.m. confirmed Strong’s future with the Cardinals.

“I’ve done a lot of homework with this hire, and I was amazed how well-respected and revered Charlie Strong is throughout the country ,” Jurich said at the press conference. “He commands a lot of respect from people within the game, including ex-players and coaches around college football. However, after meeting him in person, I was even more impressed. Tony Dungy had a huge impact on me with this hire. He was passionate about Charlie as a coach and as person. I respect the opinions of Urban Meyer, who was part of our staff at Colorado State, and Jeremy Foley, who is one of the most respected athletic directors in the country. They both raved about Charlie as a football coach and his great character.”

During his first address to the Louisville faithful, Strong first paused and then cried when asked by a reporter if he thought he would ever get the chance to be a head coach. “Because you just never knew if it would happen,” he said. Strong also described the meeting when Jurich offered him the job as “very emotional” for his family. “Coaching is taking young men and making an impact and influence on their lives to make them better people,” Strong said. “I want them to know that their sole purpose here is to get a degree and to go win football games.”

Strong got his start as a graduate assistant at Florida from 1983-84 and has spent the majority of his 27-year coaching career with the Gators. He returned to the team in 1988 as outside linebackers coach for two seasons before leaving and coming back in 1991 under head coach Steve Spurrier as assistant head coach/defensive tackles coach. In 1999, he became the first African-American coordinator in Southeastern Conference history when he was hired by Lou Holtz of the South Carolina Gamecocks to coach the defense. His most recent stint with Florida began in 2002 as defensive coordinator under then-head coach Ron Zook. Strong survived the transition of the team to current head coach Urban Meyer, who eventually gave him complete control of the defense and the additional title of assistant head coach. He also served as the Gators’ interim coach (effectively the second African-American head coach in SEC history) in Florida’s 2004 Peach Bowl loss to the Miami Hurricanes.

Throughout his career, Strong has been known as a terrific recruiter who is able to connect on a personal level with his players. He has coached in 19 bowl games, including 12 in January, due in part to his installation of an aggressive, attacking scheme that puts pressure on the quarterback and forces turnovers. Strong has developed six first-round NFL Draft picks and 15 players who were drafted in the third round or higher (prior to the 2010 draft). Since 2003, Florida’s defense under Strong has intercepted 132 passes, good for No. 3 in the nation and best in the SEC. No SEC defense has forced more turnovers (139) or interceptions (95) than the Gators since 2005, and only one other school in the nation (Boston College) has picked off more passes. Florida’s defense has also paced the SEC in total rushing yards allowed and rushing yards per game allowed since 2005 while remaining at the top of the league in red zone scoring defense over the last two seasons (second in the nation – East Carolina).

Because of the recent success of the Gators under Meyer, the coach has lost a number of his assistants to promotions. Doc Holliday was with Florida from 2005-2007 as associate head coach/safeties coach/recruiting coordinator before leaving to become the West Virginia Mountaineers associate head coach while also coaching tight ends, fullbacks and running the team’s recruiting. Co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach Greg Mattison left after the 2007 season to coach linebackers for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens (he is now the team’s defensive coordinator). And most recently, former offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Dan Mullen was hired as the head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs before the 2009 BCS National Championship. Mullen took tight ends/assistant offensive line coach John Hevesy with him as his assistant coach/offensive line coach/running game coordinator.

Strong was bombarded by phone calls from assistants around the country looking to earn a spot on his Louisville staff before he was even officially interviewed for the position. Rumors are swirling that he may tap either Florida wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Billy Gonzales or running backs coach Kenny Carter to become his offensive coordinator. (Gonzales has since denied these rumors, though it is believed that Meyer has already spoken with Notre Dame Fighting Irish running backs coach Tony Alford about replacing Carter should Strong bring him along.) Some are also speculating that Strong could ask assistant head coach/defense/defensive line coach Dan McCarney or assistant defensive coordinator/safeties coach Chuck Heater to join him as his defensive coordinator. Either McCartney or Heater is expected to be named the Gators’ defensive coordinator in succession of Strong.

The Cardinals told Strong that he could stay with the Gators to coach in the 2010 Sugar Bowl, and according to a statement he gave the St. Petersburg Times, he will do so.

High school sports reporter Jason Lieser over at the Palm Beach Post was able to pull a plethora of information from five-star Florida Gators safety commitment Matt Elam on Tuesday night at the 2009 Lou Groza Award banquet regarding his status with the school and future in college football. (He won the award for the second consecutive season.) Elam, who committed to the Gators in October 2008, has wavered the last two months about whether or not he would actually attend Florida when he enrolls early after this semester. It is a widely held belief that Elam is doing this simply for the buzz and attention as his high school career comes to a close, though some Gators fans are legitimately concerned that he could bolt for another program before officially signing.

Scheduled for an official visit to Gainesville, FL, this weekend, Elam has already signed his enrollment forms for Florida. They will be processed after he graduates from Dwyer High School in December (a semester early) so he can begin participating in spring practices in January…as long as he does not change his mind. “I’m committed to Florida,” Elam told the Post. “I’m still doing some thinking. I’ll do my official visit this weekend and I’ll make my decision after.”

Tennessee Volunteers head coach Lane Kiffin met with Elam at his school in October (OGGOA Exclusive) and returned for a second visit Tuesday. “I could go to Tennessee, but, no, I’m committed to Florida,” Elam said at the banquet.

Also visiting him on Tuesday was new Florida State Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher. If any team could pry Elam away from the Gators at this point, he says it would be Seminoles. Gaining the commitment of four-star linebacker Jeff Luc (Port St. Lucie, FL) last week, FSU has peaked Elam’s interest. “That got my attention,” he said.

The NCAA is conducting a “wide-ranging investigation” into the recruiting practices of the Tennessee Volunteers football program, according to an article published by The New York Times. The NCAA has interviewed recruits, their families, head coaches and school administrators about some methods the Volunteers have utilized while recruiting – most prominently the use of “recruiting hostesses.”

N.C.A.A. officials have visited four prospects and are scheduled to visit two others this week in an investigation covering at least three states. The inquiry is unusual in its scope and its timing. It is rare that the N.C.A.A. looks at this wide a swath of one university’s recruits before the players have signed with a program in February.

As the Times defines them, recruiting hostesses are “students who are part of a formal group at the university that hosts all manner of prospective students at campus visits.” Apparently, the NCAA has proof that these students were not only used on campus, but some even traveled to South Carolina (and perhaps other locations) to visit five-star running back Marcus Lattimore (Duncan, SC) at one of his games with signs reading: “Come to Tennessee.” Because these students represent the university, their recruiting of players off-campus would be a violation of NCAA rules.

Tennessee is also allegedly using recruiting hostesses to recruit players through social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, according to the Times. And on impressionable young athletes, the influence of beautiful women can be quite appealing. “You don’t want to go to a college where they ain’t pretty,” Lattimore said.

More relevant to the Florida Gators, one of the prospects visited by the NCAA was four-star wide receiver recruit Chris Dunkley (Pahokee, FL), considered by some to be a heavy Florida lean. Dunkley told the Times that the NCAA did indeed interview him but did not comment any further.

It is not common for the NCAA to hold this type of investigation before National Signing Day, though the Times speculates that head coach Lane Kiffin’s numerous secondary violations may have triggered a closer look into these allegations. For more on the story, please read the Times article linked above.

Florida Gators senior quarterback Tim Tebow was awarded the 2009 William V. Campbell Trophy, also known as the “Academic Heisman Trophy,” by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame on Tuesday. The trophy is awarded annually to a college graduate for their outstanding ability on the field, work in the classroom (minimum 3.2 GPA) and strong leadership. The honor comes with a bronze trophy and $25,000 postgraduate scholarship.

“This award means so much because it’s not just how you play on the field, it’s not just what you do in the classroom, but it’s what you do as a leader and someone who is going to serve your community,” Tebow said. “That’s what’s most important about this award, because all these guys are great players and they’re extremely intelligent, but more importantly, they’re good people. They help their community and they make a difference in this world. The National Football Foundation has done such a good job of taking us in, putting us together and letting us build relationships with each other. With so many of the members, it has been a blessing to get to know all these guys, great guys who you see on the field, but then when you really meet them, you get to know them as people, you get to build those relationships. I think that’s what’s so special about things like this.”

One of only four schools to have multiple winners of the trophy, previous Gators recipients include defensive tackle Brad Culpepper (1991) and quarterback Danny Wuerffel (1996). Center Mike Degory (2005) and long snapper James Smith (2008) were semifinalists for the Campbell Trophy, while quarterback Chris Leak was a finalist in 2006. Florida has the most recipients of any school in the award’s 20-year existence.

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Prized five-star Gators safety commitment Matt Elam received two prestigious honors over the last few days. On Thursday, Elam was named the 2009 Gatorade Football Player of the Year for the state of Florida while on Tuesday he was honored as 2009 Lou Groza Award winner for Outstanding High School Football Player. Elam is the first back-to-back winner of the award (2008).

1 » According to The Orlando Sentinel, the talks between Florida Gators defensive coordinator Charlie Strong and Louisville Cardinals athletic director Tom Jurich are ongoing. Jurich told the Sentinel that things are “proceeding great,” and the conversation between the two will continue Tuesday afternoon.

2 » On the subject of Strong, the University of Louisville announced that the school’s Personnel Committee of the Athletic Association Board of Directors will be meeting Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. FanHouse reports that the meeting has been scheduled to gain approval for Strong to be hired as the school’s next head football coach.

3 » The Gators have offered a football scholarship to highly touted 2011 inside linebacker recruit Anthony Wallace (Dallas, TX) according to ESPN. Florida’s offer is already Wallace’s 13th.

4 » KC Joyner, aka “The Football Scientist,” evaluated senior quarterback Tim Tebow in his ESPN Insider column on Tuesday. Joyner believes Tebow’s “intangibles are off the charts,” but his “metrics leave much to be desired.” Characteristics working against Tebow are his elongated throwing motion and tendency to lock onto receivers; he also does not read blitzes or pass-rushing tricks well, will not step forward on play-action fakes and is uncomfortable working in the pocket. “Tebow’s charisma and ticket-selling abilities may cause some team to draft him higher than his current skill set says he should be taken,” Joyner concludes.

Nine Florida Gators football players were named to the 2009 All-SEC team as voted by the league’s head coaches. Senior quarterback Tim Tebow was Florida’s only unanimous selection. Joining him on the first-team offense are juniors tight end Aaron Hernandez, offensive guard Mike Pouncey and center Maurkice Pouncey. For the defense, senior middle linebacker Brandon Spikes and juniors cornerback Joe Haden and Carlos Dunlap received first-team honors. Seniors DE Jermaine Cunningham and LB Ryan Stamper earned spots on the second team. The Gators tied the Alabama Crimson Tide who also had a league-high nine All-SEC selections.

Florida Gators senior quarterback Tim Tebow arrived in New York on Tuesday for this weekend’s 2009 Heisman Trophy ceremony. TMZ tried to coax Tebow, who was on his way out of the airport, into talking about his team’s loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide, his advice to Tiger Woods on the golfer’s trials and tribulations, his sex life, his favorite bible verses and his thoughts on Judiasm. Classic Tebow responses. See video below:

If you cannot see the video above, click here.

Tebow was also interviewed on ESPN just a few hours ago about his legacy: