1 » Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer sat down for a question-and-answer session with CBSSports.com’s Jeremy Fowler (believe it or not) that was published on Friday. In the piece, he mentions the Florida Gators on a few occasions, the highlights of which are below. Check out the other topics by clicking here.

On why ‘no question’ he would still be at Florida if health issues never surfaced
“I realized not too long after [around February 2011]. I called Jeremy [Foley] and said, ‘I made a mistake.’ Once I felt like everything was under control, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what did I do?’ I just told Jeremy as a friend in conversation. The talk was more about one day getting back into it. He was very supportive. Then I started at ESPN and had a ball with that, but is that enough? Is that what I was called to do? I planned to take more than a year [off] though.”

On regrets for the way his Florida tenure ended
“I didn’t at first. I thought we did a good job. We did our best. I look back now, the way it ended was certainly a regret. Does that mean it haunts me? Not at all. I’ve always felt our job is to do a good job and do it the right way, do it ethically and for the best interest of the student-athlete — check, check, check. I’ll always be associated with the school, and my great friends are there and all that. Absolutely none with that. It just wasn’t a normal way to move on. There would have been if I would have stayed out. I was worried about survival for a little bit.”

2 » Florida brought back a huge name in Gators tennis on Friday when the school announced that Mark Merklein has returned to the program as an assistant coach with the men’s team. Merklein, a two-time national champion (doubles in 1993, singles in 1994) and the 1994 SEC Player of the Year, earned four All-American nominations and three All-SEC nods while at Florida and was inducted into the UF Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005. Considered by many to be the best men’s tennis player in school history, Merklein wound up competing as a professional for 12 years and even serving as a volunteer assistant for the Gators from 1998-2002 while he was on the tour. He was the head coach of the USTA Player Development Center for six seasons (2006-11) before being hired by Michigan as an assistant coach for the past two years (2012-13). “When I left I even said to everyone, including Mr. [Jeremy] Foley, that it was a goal of mine to one day come back and coach and win national championships,” Merklein said in a school release. “I’ve said it so much now, it’s time to actually do it and put the work in. I’m excited to do that alongside [head coach Bryan Shelton].”

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Tags: All-American, All-SEC, Bryan Shelton, Jeremy Foley, Mark Merklein, Miami Hurricanes, National Championship, NFL, Ohio State Buckeyes, Percy Harvin, Player of the Year, Seattle Seahawks, SEC, Sun Life Stadium, tennis, Urban Meyer

Former Florida Gators quarterback and 1996 Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2013 on Dec. 10 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, NY.

Wuerffel, who was first up for induction in 2012 but not chosen on his first ballot, is the seventh Florida player and 10th representative of the Gators (three coaches) to earn induction into the prestigious group. He joins defensive end Dale Van Sickel (1975), QB Steve Spurrier (1986), DE Jack Youngblood (1992), running back Emmitt Smith (2006), linebacker Wilber Marshall (2008) and wide receiver Carlos Alvarez (2011) as players in the career-defining club. Coaches Charlie Bachman (1978), Ray Graves (1990) and Doug Dickey (2003) are also members.

“This is a great honor and I’m very thankful to the Foundation for giving me this award,” said Wuerffel. “But I want to also thank my teammates and Gator fans at the University of Florida who were a big part of the great years I had there.”

Continue Reading » Florida quarterback, Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel named to College Football Hall of Fame

Tags: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, College Football Hall of Fame, Danny Wuerffel, Heisman Trophy, Jeremy Foley, Ring of Honor, SEC

By Andrew Olson – OGGOA Contributor

The Southeastern Conference and ESPN jointly announced on Thursday the creation of the multi-platform SEC Network, which is set to launch on Aug. 6, 2014 as part of a 20-year media rights extension between the conference and World Wide Leader in Sports that will take relationship through 2034.

Termed the “longest agreement in all of sports” by ESPN president John Skipper, the deal not only locks up the SEC with ESPN as its primary rights holder but also ensures that 1,000 league games will be aired each year including 450 live on television. The other 550 contests will be distributed digitally across a variety of platforms.

“The SEC Network will provide an unparalleled fan experience of top quality SEC content presented across the television network and its accompanying digital platforms,” SEC commissioner Mike Slive said. “We will increase exposure of SEC athletics programs at all 14 member institutions, as we showcase the incredible student-athletes in our league. The agreement for a network streamlines and completes an overall media rights package that will continue the SEC’s leadership for the foreseeable future.”

College football, the only sport with all 14 schools’ coaches in attendance on Thursday, will obviously be featured prominently on the new channel. The SEC Network will televise 45 league football games each year, including three every Saturday of the 13-week season. CBS will continue to have first pick of each week’s SEC football games but will no longer have exclusivity to air an SEC game in the middle of the afternoon.

Continue Reading » SEC, ESPN officially announce SEC Network

Tags: Amanda Butler, Bernie Machen, ESPN, Jeremy Foley, Mary Wise, Mike Slive, SEC, SEC Network, Will Muschamp

1 » No. 1 Florida Gators gymnastics did not conclude its incredible weekend on Saturday after it won the 2013 NCAA Championship, the first NCAA title in program history. Instead, Florida was right back at it on Sunday as its gymnasts competed in individual events with the hopes of bringing additional championships back to Gainesville, FL. Freshman Bridget Sloan, who captured the 2013 NCAA Championship in the all-around on Friday, doubled up with a title in the balance beam (9.900) on Sunday. She actually would have won three individual championships had it not been for junior teammate Alaina Johnson, who edged Sloan 9.9125 to 9.900 in the uneven parallel bars to win a title of her own.

2 » Florida’s national championship-winning gymnastics team will be honored at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center during a special celebration on Monday at 7 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. and access to the event is free. The celebration will be the first held inside the O’Dome for a Gators championship-winning program since basketball won its second of back-to-back titles in 2007. GatorVision.tv will have a live stream of the event for fans outside of Gainesville. OGGOA will tweet a link at 7 p.m.

The Florida school website on Monday posted a terrific feature on head coach Rhonda Faehn, who has been nothing short of spectacular since joining the program in 2002. Though the national title had been elusive for Faehn, she knew that the Gators could be one of the top programs in the country when she took the job. “It was a gold mine just waiting for success,” she told senior writer Scott Carter about Florida. “I felt there was so much potential. Who wouldn’t want to go there? It was undiscovered almost and people needed to see how amazing it was. That’s what I felt for years when I was coaching at other places, that Florida was just incredible.” Added athletic director Jeremy Foley about Fahen: “She built our program. When we hired her, the goal was we wanted to be like Alabama, we wanted to be like Georgia, we wanted to be like Utah, we didn’t understand why we couldn’t be like them. We wanted to be a factor. Look at what she has done. I feel great for her, her staff, and obviously these kids.”

Check out four more Florida Gators news BITS…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: gymnastics, Floyd, Kansas, Parsons

Tags: Big 12, Chandler Parsons, Draft, Eli Carter, gymnastics, Houston Rockets, Jeremy Foley, Kansas Jayhawks, NBA, NCAA, NCAA Championship, NFL, Playoffs, Rhonda Faehn, Sharrif Floyd

After serving two years as assistant defensive line coach for the Florida Gators, former 14-year NFL veteran Bryant Young has decided to resign from his post with the team.

Florida announced Young’s resignation on Wednesday afternoon, noting that he is stepping away from the program “for non-football reasons.”

“After heavy consideration and giving over two decades to the game of football, I have made a personal decision to resign from my position at the University of Florida in order to pursue more time with my family,” Young said in a school release.

“I am humbled by and grateful for the opportunity I have had to positively influence the hardworking student-athletes and young men whom I will surely miss,” he continued.

“However, I have come to the realization that it is time to invest more in my family during this fleeting season in life. I have truly loved my time being a Gator, enjoyed a great working relationship with Coach [Will] Muschamp and will also miss the dedicated staff at this University. I am extremely thankful for the opportunity and support I have received from Coach Muschamp, Jeremy Foley and the entire athletic department.”

Young was a member of Muschamp’s original coaching staff and served as a defensive line coach (specializing on defensive tackles) alongside then-defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. Quinn left to become defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks after the 2012 season and now Young has decided to move on as well.

“We are very thankful for Coach Young’s contributions to the program and I respect his decision. This is strictly a personal decision and has nothing to do with NCAA compliance, but just an opportunity to evaluate his future path,” Muschamp said. “I always have, and will continue to be very supportive of Coach Young and his family. Our entire staff will be there for him to provide any assistance and guidance in the future. We wish he and his family nothing but the best.”

Young spent all 14 of his NFL seasons with the San Francisco 49ers where he was coached by Quinn. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection, four-time NFL All-Pro, Super Bowl XXIX champion and the league’s Comeback Player of the Year in 1999.

It is unlikely that the Gators hire a replacement for Young as Muschamp brought in Brad Lawing as the team’s new assistant head coach and defensive line coach in January. However, Florida does now have a coaching spot open on the roster. Muschamp could hire someone to coordinate special teams as those duties are currently being handled by the coaching staff as a whole.

Tags: Bryant Young, Dan Quinn, Jeremy Foley, NFL, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Will Muschamp

1 » Though nothing at all is finalized, the City of Jacksonville is working towards holding the Navy-Marine Corps Classic for a second-straight season and hopes to reach a deal with the U.S. Navy to do so at some point over the next few months. “The City of Jacksonville would like to continue the game and is working on a proposal to the Navy that includes several options for the 2013 Navy-Marine Corps Classic,” executive director Alan Verlander told OGGOA last Thursday. The proposal set to be delivered to the Navy includes contingencies and/or solutions to avoid the condensation issue that ended the 2012 game at halftime last year. The City of Jacksonville has also had “very preliminary” talks with programs about potentially participating in the game (with the Florida Gators being an obvious preference as the local team) but is waiting until the conclusion of March Madness before continuing to gauge interest from said teams.

2 » Grantland’s Zach Lowe sat down with Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal for a wide-ranging interview about his rookie season. In the question-and-answer session, Beal discusses his ankle injuries, playing with John Wall, watching Florida in the postseason, playing in the NBA and where he feels most comfortable on the court.

CLICK TO EXPAND and read two more BITS in this post.

Tags: Billy Donovan, Bradley Beal, Jeremy Foley, Navy-Marine Corps Classic, NBA, NFL, Percy Harvin, Seattle Seahawks, Washington Wizards

Fans that attended Wednesday’s Florida Gators basketball game may have noticed that the team’s cheerleaders were stunting on the court for the first time since school administration banned stunts and tumbling on Nov. 11 as “a proactive stance to protect the cheerleaders, who represent the University of Florida with enthusiasm and class.”

According to a source close to the cheerleading program, this change of heart is relatively minimal on Florida’s end and only occurred after athletic director Jeremy Foley reviewed a proposal created by the cheerleaders that outlined a number of stunts that contained “zero risk” and were maneuvers that even amateurs could accomplish.

The stunts contained in the proposal were “of elementary and junior high school level” but even with that being the case, approximately “90 percent did not get approved” by Foley and others involved in the decision-making process.

Stunts that Gators cheerleaders are now allowed to perform include shoulder sits, chairs and back handsprings. The cheerleaders are also optimistic that they can “hopefully prove there is zero risk to these stunts and [the administration] will eventually consider adding” to their repertoire.

Overall, the cheerleaders are excited for the minor victory but did hope to physically demonstrate other maneuvers they felt were equally safe rather than rely on a presentation to try and convince the administration.

Though they were not provided with that opportunity to showcase safe maneuvers, the cheerleaders are pleased with the minor changes and already felt less awkward performing in front of fans now that some athleticism is involved in their routines.

“Overall the team is very happy about the stunts, naturally,” the source said. “We would love to show our talent and athleticism to the fans but this is definitely a step in the right direction and we are just happy Mr. Foley gave us any chance at all to explain stunts.”

Tags: cheerleaders, Jeremy Foley

Florida Gators defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has left the team to take the same position with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.

Just hours after former Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley was named the new head coach in Jacksonville on Thursday, Seattle head coach Pete Carroll tabbed Quinn as his replacement.

Quinn undoubtedly saw a fantastic opportunity to coach arguably the NFL’s best defense, one which surrendered the fewest points in the league this past season. Before joining the Gators, he coached the Seahawks’ defensive line from 2009-10.

His name also popped up as a candidate for the Jacksonville, Cleveland and Philadelphia defensive coordinator openings. Quinn turned down an opportunity to leave Florida and join Tampa Bay following the 2011 season.

“My wife Stacey and I loved our time in Gainesville,” Quinn said in a school release. “The last two years have been an awesome experience, working for Will [Muschamp] and Mr. [Jeremy] Foley and with a bunch of talented, great players and coaches. Even though we’ll be in Seattle, we look forward to keeping track of the Gators in the future.”

After serving as a collegiate defensive line coach from 1994-2000, Quinn spent 10-straight years in the NFL coaching the same position for San Francisco, Miami, the New York Jets and Seattle. Deciding to return to college was not a decision he took lightly.

“There was [trepidation] on my end because when you’ve done one thing for 10 years and you’re kind of settled, I certainly enjoyed [Seattle] and had a great time working with Pete Carroll and John Schneider, the GM there,” he said on Nov. 7, 2012.

“There was hesitancy, not from coming back to college or coming here or working with Will, but I enjoyed what I was doing there and was happy. I thought the opportunity was too unique to pass up and that’s why I wanted to come do it, and I’m certainly glad that I did.”

He continued, “I had been a defensive line coach for 10 years. For me the chance to, as a play caller and coordinator, lead a bigger group of people, that was one [reason] for me. And then at a place like this, I thought, ‘Where else would you rather do it?’”

Continue Reading » Dan Quinn leaves Florida for Seattle Seahawks

Tags: Bryant Young, D.J. Durkin, Dan Quinn, Jeremy Foley, NFL, Seattle Seahawks, Will Muschamp