1 » With just over two days to go until the start of the 2010 NFL Draft, 17 eligible players have already accepted invitations to join the league for the event at Radio City Music Hall in New York, NY. The 18th slot is seemingly reserved for former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow, who continues to keep the NFL in limbo in regards to whether or not he will attend. Tebow was supposed to make a decision last Friday but has yet to choose one way or another.

2 » Perhaps one of the reasons Tebow is going back-and-forth on his draft day decision is because he has been keeping busy with speaking engagement and private workouts/interviews. A contingent from the Denver Broncos – including head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Brian Xanders – visited Tebow in Gainesville, FL, Monday in what is believed to be his last meeting of the kind before the big day.

3 » And while Tebow is the subject, who better to give him a ringing endorsement than…ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale? Vitale points out that teams “shouldn’t overlook [Tebow’s] heart and desire” because “people don’t understand what is in the heart of a competitor.” Read the rest of his musings for yourself.

4 » One former Florida football player who will be in attendance at the draft Thursday is cornerback Joe Haden – expected to be a top-15 pick. As Haden moves on to the NFL, his younger brother Josh Haden is still a topic of conversation with Gators fans who hope he chooses UF as his transfer destination out of Boston College. Expect a decision to made shortly after the draft as the attention moves away from Joe. Josh will pick between Florida, Louisville (head coach Charlie Strong) and other undisclosed schools.

5 » Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah has been the star of the 2010 NBA Playoffs…that is if special recognition was given to players’ mouths. Noah has been running his plenty recently, calling Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett a “dirty player” and saying quite simply that “Cleveland sucks.” (Noah’s Bulls are playing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs.) Garnett’s response? “Tell Joakim Noah to keep it in Cleveland and worry about Shaq,” he said. Noahdid back up his tough talk Monday, grabbing a double-double while leading his team in points (25) and rebounds (13). The effort fell short as Chicago is now down two games to none to Cleveland after losing game two 112-102.

6 » Special congratulations to offensive coordinator Steve Addazio, whose son and tight end recruit Louie Addazio announced his commitment to Syracuse to play college football. Louie also had an offer from South Florida but decided to become the Orange’s first commitment of the 2011 recruiting cycle instead.

Tags: Boston Celtics, Brian Xanders, Charlie Strong, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Broncos, Draft, Joakim Noah, Joe Haden, Josh Haden, Josh McDaniels, Kevin Garnett, Louie Addazio, Louisville Cardinals, NBA, NFL, Playoffs, Steve Addazio, Syracuse Orange, Tim Tebow

The University of Florida has raided the NFL for a defensive coordinator for the second time since Charlie Strong left to become head coach of the Louisville Cardinals in January. After hiring George Edwards from the Miami Dolphins only to lose him to the Buffalo Bills 27 days later, the Florida Gators have agreed to name Arizona Cardinals defensive backs coach Teryl Austin as their new defensive coordinator.

Coaching since 1991, Austin has experience on both the collegiate and professional levels. Tutored by names like Joe Paterno, Dick MacPherson, Lloyd Carr and Mike Holmgren after playing four years of college football at Pittsburgh from 1984-87, the 44-year-old has yet to hold a defensive coordinator position at either level. Both of his stops in the NFL, the Seattle Seahawks and the Cardinals, reached the Super Bowl while he was leading their respective secondaries.

Though he has not previously worked with head coach Urban Meyer, Austin has connections to interim head coach and offensive coordinator Steve Addazio and quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler. During Addazio’s tenure as offensive line and tight ends coach with the Syracuse Orange from 1995-98, Austin was on the staff as a defensive assistant (1996-98). Loeffler knows him through his time with the Michigan Wolverines, where the former worked as a graduate assistant (1998-99) and QB coach (2002-07) while the latter served as a defensive assistant (1999-2002).

“I am pleased to have Teryl join our staff,” Meyer said in a UF release. “Coach Addazio did a great job coordinating our efforts with Chuck Heater and Dan McCarney to hire Teryl. It was important that we had some familiarity with Teryl as both Coach Addazio and Coach Loeffler had worked with him before. He also comes highly recommended from my close friend Bill Davis, the defensive coordinator of the Cardinals. It was also important that we hire a coach who is a great teacher, a great mentor and has the ability to be a great recruiter. Coach Austin has all of those qualities and beyond that is a good family man.”

“I’m excited to join the Gator coaching staff,” said Austin in the release. “I’ve watched from afar what this program is about – winning championships with dynamic players and doing things the right way. Now, I’m honored to be a part of the program and a part of The Gator Nation. I look forward to getting to work with an outstanding group of players and a great coaching staff.”

Co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Chuck Heater, a 33-year coaching veteran and one of Florida’s strongest recruiters, is expected to retain his new title and position. Heater has worked with Meyer on-and-off since 1986 when he coached the secondary for the Ohio State Buckeyes while Meyer was a graduate assistant. Since joining the Gators, Heater has coached cornerbacks and safeties, served as recruiting coordinator from 2005-07 and assistant defensive coordinator from 2008-09.

Florida Gators (Projected) 2010 Coaching Staff …after the jump!
Continue Reading » Teryl Austin hired as Gators’ defensive boss

Tags: Arizona Cardinals, Charlie Strong, Chuck Heater, George Edwards, Michigan Wolverines, NFL, Scot Loeffler, Steve Addazio, Syracuse Orange, Teryl Austin, University of Florida, Urban Meyer

Former Florida Gators running backs coach Stan Drayton has been rehired to his former job according to three sources close to the team. Drayton, who spent last season in the same position with the Syracuse Orange, left the Gators in a lateral move to the Tennessee Volunteers before the 2008 season. Florida’s running backs coach position opened after current assistant Kenny Carter decided to accept the same job with head coach Charlie Strong and the Louisville Cardinals.

Drayton, a member of the Gators coaching staff for three seasons from 2005-07, left in 2008 after he attempted to leverage a job with Tennessee to increase his salary and responsibilities at Florida. Head coach Urban Meyer did not fire Drayton but instead suggested he take the position made available to him. “I can’t go into too much detail, but it was a little rough, a little rocky,” Drayton said at the time. “He had a coach that was getting ready to entertain a situation at his rival school. I understood that completely.”

Other stops Drayton has made include Mississippi State (2004), the NFL’s Green Bay Packers (2001-03), Bowling Green (2000) and Villanova (1996-2000). While with Green Bay, Drayton was the offensive quality control and assistant special teams coach.

Upon departing Gainesville, FL, Drayton slighted the Gators while propping up Meyer to the Nashville Tennessean, saying that Florida was not a program that nurtured running backs. “The offense that we were running at Florida didn’t have much involvement from the running back,” Drayton said. “There was some frustration there, to be honest with you. But you’re in a community that’s very supportive of Florida. Florida’s been good to me for three years. It was a very comfortable situation, it really was. Urban Meyer made it a very comfortable situation for me.”

Gators running back Anthony Gay spoke to the Sporting News in January 2008 about the rocky relationship between the two coaches. “They ain’t like this,” Gay said while holding up crossed fingers. “They’re not even really tight. A lot of days, I’ve seen Coach Drayton shed tears before. Not in front of [Meyer], but right after practice because of how he acknowledged him, because of how he belittled him.”

In a release from the University of Florida, Meyer welcomed Drayton and new linebackers/special teams coach D.J. Durkin to the staff. “Coach Addazio and I worked together on this and are excited to have D.J. and Stan join our coaching staff,” Meyer said. “Both guys are familiar with the plan we have for our program, our coaches and our student-athletes. It will be a smooth transition and they both bring a high level of expertise to the table and have proven to be good recruiters.”

UPDATE: Pat Dooley of this Gainesville Sun wrote the via his twitter account Tuesday evening – “I hear Urban Meyer apologized for cutting [Drayton] loose [two] years ago.”

Tags: Anthony Gay, Charlie Strong, D.J. Durkin, Kenny Carter, Stan Drayton, Syracuse Orange, Tennessee Volunteers, University of Florida, Urban Meyer

From time to time, OGGOA will come across a plethora of news and notes that we wish to share with our readers. In those instances, we present a special post: Gator Bites. Enjoy.

» A rumor making its way around the Web over the last few days states that former Florida Gators running backs coach Stan Drayton may return to the program if Kenny Carter bolts for the Louisville Cardinals. This is the same Drayton that left Florida for the Tennessee Volunteers and took this shot at the Gators and head coach Urban Meyer on his way out the door: “If you’re going to be a running backs coach, you want to be part of a system that involves the running back.” Not gonna happen.

» Another option at running backs coach could very well be former Florida RB Terry Jackson. A Gator great who was a member of the 1996 National Championship team and played seven years in the NFL, Jackson was named Director of Player and Community Relations at UF in March 2008. Jackson, whose father Willie Sr. and brother Willie Jr. also played at Florida, has thought about getting into coaching since finishing his pro career. Hiring Jackson could be a very smooth transition for the Gators.

» Speaking of Carter, four-star RB commit Mack Brown (Lithonia, GA) made news last night when he told two reporters that Carter was leaving the program for Louisville. However, Jeremy Fowler of the Orlando Sentinel also spoke with Brown, who told him that Carter did not say he was leaving and that he “didn’t talk to him about it.” Perhaps Brown said something he wasn’t supposed to and is now being sush-ed about it?

» UPDATE: Brown provided more information about his feelings on Carter’s switch to Rivals Monday night. “I understand he had to do what he had to do,” he said. “I know he has a good relationship with coach Strong and he’s going to have a better position with more money coming in for his family. I’m still committed to Florida. I’m going to wait it out and see what happens. I’m confused. You’re supposed to commit to a school, but you get to know the coaches and they feel like family. All the coaches that I got to know over the last year, that I dealt with over the summer, they’re all leaving. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m going to have to talk about it with my family.”

» Brady Ackerman is reporting that Gators assistant defensive coordinator and safeties coach Chuck Heater turned down an offer from new Marshall Thundering Herd head coach Doc Holliday to be his team’s defensive coordinator. Heater wants the UF job badly. OGGOA continues to project him as the team’s next defensive coordinator.

» Ackerman also confirmed an OGGOA report that assistant head coach and defensive line coach Dan McCarney would only leave Florida if he was offered a head coaching position – presumably with the South Florida Bulls. Jim Leavitt has not been removed from his position there, and McCarney told reporters last week that he is not interested in the Gators’ defensive coordinator position.

» Five-star safety recruit Matt Elam (West Palm Beach, FL), a former Gators commit who spurned the team for the Florida State Seminoles, ignored two phone calls placed from Meyer last week. However, Elam finally picked up recently and said Meyer attempted to sway him back to UF. “He tried, but it didn’t work,” Elam said. Elam is expected to make his announcement at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Saturday.

» OGGOA has heard a rumor from two very different sources that Meyer was either offered a contract or spoken to by ESPN about working for the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” should he eventually decide not to return to coaching. Not a shocker.

» Think Florida losing to the South Alabama Jaguars last week was a tough pill to swallow? Try being the No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels who fell Monday night to the College of Charleston Cougars.

Tags: All-American, Army, Chuck Heater, Dan McCarney, Doc Holliday, Florida State Seminoles, Jim Leavitt, Kenny Carter, Louisville Cardinals, Mack Brown, Marshall Thundering Herd, Matt Elam, NFL, South Alabama Jaguars, South Florida Bulls, Stan Drayton, Syracuse Orange, Terry Jackson, Urban Meyer, Willie Jackson

1 » Amid speculation that he was considering entry into the 2010 NFL Draft, Florida Gators redshirt sophomore running back Chris Rainey told the Orlando Sentinel that he will stay in Gainesville, FL, for “at least another year.” With Rainey, sophomore Jeff Demps and redshirt junior transfer Emmanuel Moody all coming back next season, the Gators’ running back unit may be the deepest it has been in years. Also on the roster will be sophomore Mike Gillislee, redshirt junior walk-on Christopher Scott and four-star 2010 commitment Mack Brown (Lithonia, GA).

2 » After starting the 2009 campaign 8-0 including wins over the Florida State Seminoles and then-No. 2 Michigan State Spartans, the Florida basketball team rose to No. 10/11 in the AP and USA Today/ESPN Top 25 polls, respectively. Consecutive losses to the No. 5/5 Syracuse Orange and unranked Richmond Spiders (both at neutral sites) have since dropped the Gators down to a No. 18 ranking in both polls. Florida has returned home to the Stephen C. O’Connell Center and will take on the South Alabama Jaguars Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Tags: Chris Rainey, Christopher Scott, Draft, Emmanuel Moody, Florida State Seminoles, Jeff Demps, Mack Brown, Michigan State Spartans, Mike Gillislee, NFL, O'Connell Center, Richmond Spiders, South Alabama Jaguars, Syracuse Orange

Though the No. 10 Florida Gators took down the then-No. 2 Michigan State Spartans just a few weeks ago, their toughest test of the young 2009 season came Thursday night against the No. 7 Syracuse Orange. Florida (8-1) lost their first game of the season 85-73 to Syracuse (9-0) at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL, as part of the SEC/Big East Invitational in a match that was much closer than the score indicates.

Down six at the end of the first half, the Gators came back to take the lead with 10:31 remaining in the game; however, they held it for less than a minute as the Orange would grab it back and pull away over the final few minutes of the contest.

Freshman guard Kenny Boynton led Florida in minutes (36), points (20) and assists (7), though he only shot 7-for-17 from the field, 5-for-14 from three-point range and 1-for-4 from the free throw line. Coming off the bench, senior forward Chandler Parsons was the most efficient Gator on Thursday, playing 35 minutes and recording 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting (3-of-5 from three). Sophomore point guard Erving Walker added 14 points and was 4-for-9 from beyond the arc. Junior power forward Alex Tyus led the Gators with 10 rebounds, though he missed a number of shots in the waning minutes of the game to finish 4-for-11.

Three Syracuse forwards achieved double-doubles against Florida, including Rick Jackson (19 points, 11 rebounds), Wesley Johnson (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Kris Joseph (12 points, 10 rebounds). As a team, they out-shot the Gators 52.5 percent to 43.5 percent from the field, though Florida won the three-point battle 40 percent to 23.1 percent. The Gators were +4 in turnover margin, but they committed eight more fouls and allowed the Orange to get into the bonus early. Syracuse won the battle on the glass 39-28, out-stole Florida 13-4 and finished the game on a 12-4 run.

The Gators will play their third consecutive road game next Saturday, Dec. 19 in the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic against the Richmond Spiders in Sunrise, FL, at the BankAtlantic Center. The game will be aired live on Sun Sports at 6:30 p.m.

Tags: Alex Tyus, Big East, Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Kris Joseph, Rick Jackson, SEC, SEC/Big East Invitational, St. Pete Times Forum, Syracuse Orange, Wesley Johnson

Event: SEC/Big East Invitational
Location: St. Pete Times Forum – Tampa, FL [Capacity: 20,500]
Time: 9:00 p.m. (EST)

TV: ESPN / ESPNHD
Online: ESPN360
Sirius: 214; XM: 199

Odds: Syracuse -3, O/U 146
Head-to-Head Stats: ESPN Insider Pick Center

KEEP AN EYE ON…
- Senior forward Dan Werner…who has struggled with his career from three-point range but is hitting a team-high 51.9 percent from beyond the arc in 2009.
- Five-star freshman guard Kenny Boynton…who has a 15:1 assist-to-turnover ratio combined in the last two games.
- Head coach Billy Donovan…who is coaching his 500th career game on Thursday.
- Redshirt junior transfer center Vernon Macklin…who has hit 12 consecutive free throws and is shooting 73.7 percent from the line after hitting just over 30 percent during his time with the Georgetown Hoyas.
- Senior F Chandler Parsons…who comes off the bench as Florida’s sixth man, is fourth on the team in scoring and leads them in rebounding with averages of 11.1 PPG and 6.4 RPG. He is averaging a career-high 27.1 minutes per game.

STREAKS:
- The Gators are 8-0 for the first time since 2005 and just the third time in school history.
- Florida is 4-2 all-time at the St. Pete Times Forum.
- The Gators are 43-30 (.589) all-time against the Big East, 15-7 under Donovan and 2-1 all-time against the Orange.
- This is Florida’s first appearance in the SEC/Big East Invitational.
- The Gators have allowed only two opponents to score 60 points or more in 2009.
- Florida has come up with 49 steals in the last five games, reaching double-digits in steals three times over that stretch.
- Since 2005, the Gators are 24-3 in the month of December.
- Florida has the best winning percentage in the SEC against ranked opponents during the last nine seasons (42-29, .592).

Read OGGOA’s Florida Gators vs. Syracuse Orange preview after the jump!
Continue Reading » No. 10 Florida Gators vs. No. 7 Syracuse Orange

Tags: Alex Tyus, Big East, Billy Donovan, CBE Classic, Chandler Parsons, Dan Werner, Erving Walker, Jim Boeheim, Kenny Boynton, SEC, SEC/Big East Invitational, St. Pete Times Forum, Syracuse Orange, Vernon Macklin

1 » Louisville Cardinals athletic director Tom Jurich spoke with the Louisville Courier-Journal on Monday about his continuing talks with Florida Gators defensive coordinator Charlie Strong to become his school’s next head football coach. Jurich he is “further along today than I was yesterday, so that’s good,” but that he would have another conversation with Strong on Tuesday. “I don’t really have a status update, it’s on-going,” Jurich said. “I tell you what though, he’s very impressive, a very impressive guy, he’d be great for our community.” An official contract offer has not yet been made, and the Gators are expected to make Strong a counter offer to stay on board.

2 » Two days after their heartbreaking loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2009 SEC Championship, Florida players put the blame on themselves for not playing like they practiced throughout the week. “We thought we would have won the game with the way we practiced,” senior linebacker Ryan Stamper said. “It was just like any other practice — probably one of our better practices. We had juice in the locker room; we had juice when we went out on the field. We just couldn’t get the job done.”

3 » Gators head basketball coach Billy Donovan told reporters on Monday that the team may be without sophomores guard/forward Ray Shipman (mid-foot sprain) and sophomore center Kenny Kadji (lower back) for Thursday’s game against the No. 7 Syracuse Orange (8-0) in the SEC/Big East Invitational from the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL. Both players received MRIs and are considered questionable for the game. “We’re down to eight right now,” Donovan said. Speaking of Florida basketball, the team moved up to No. 10 and No. 11, respectively, in this week’s AP Top 25 and ESPN/USA Today coaches’ polls. Beginning the season unranked, the Gators are an undefeated 8-0 including a win over the then-No. 2 Michigan State Spartans.

4 » Shortstop recruit Casey Turgeon (Dunedin, FL), one of the best players in the state, committed to the Florida baseball program before his junior high school season.

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, baseball, Casey Turgeon, Charlie Strong, Kenny Kadji, Louisville Cardinals, Michigan State Spartans, Ray Shipman, Ryan Stamper, SEC Championship, SEC/Big East Invitational, St. Pete Times Forum, Syracuse Orange, Tom Jurich