1 » A common thought among Florida Gators players returning for their first practice since UF’s devastating loss in the 2009 SEC Championship game was expressed quite well by senior quarterback Tim Tebow on Tuesday. “I don’t think you’re over a loss,” he said. “It’s probably going to hurt a while. I guess we’re over the point where we’re feeling sorry for ourselves.” Tebow also spoke to the media about the elation that his crying brought to non-Gators fans. “I don’t think I’ve really been irritated by it too much, except for when people give my family a hard time or when they’re saying stuff to my mom,” he said. “I’m used to hearing everything from fans, and so you know what, if they enjoy seeing me cry, I have bigger things to worry about.”

2 » Running backs coach Kenny Carter shot down rumors that he has plans to join former defensive coordinator Charlie Strong’s staff at the Louisville Cardinals. “I’m not looking for anything and have not been approached with anything,” Carter said. He then pulled a line from cornerbacks coach Vance Bedford’s book, saying: “I’m a Gator.” He continued, “The good thing about it is if you’re doing your job, there are going to be rumors. If you didn’t have the rumors then you’d be worried.”

3 » Carter also denied any talk that redshirt sophomore running back Chris Rainey would be declaring for the 2010 NFL Draft, calling it a “non-issue.” Bruce Black, the father of junior strong safety Ahmad Black, speculated that his son, Rainey and the Pouncey twins would all declare after the 2010 Sugar Bowl. “When [Rainey] exhausts his eligibility, then he can think about it,” he said. “I know when he and I had that conversation, we weren’t thinking about anything else but playing and next year.”

4 » Head coach Urban Meyer missed his team’s first practice in more than a week as he is across the country doing recruiting work in the state of California. Likely visiting five-star defensive end Ronald Powell (Moreno Valley, CA) and four-star wide receiver Kenny Stills (Carlsbad, CA), Meyer hopes to return to Gainesville, FL, with their commitments or at least increased interest in the Gators.

Tags: Ahmad Black, Bruce Black, Charlie Strong, Chris Rainey, Draft, Kenny Carter, Kenny Stills, Louisville Cardinals, NFL, Ronald Powell, SEC Championship, Sugar Bowl, Tim Tebow, Urban Meyer, Vance Bedford

Speaking with Jeremy Fowler of The Orlando Sentinel on Monday, Florida Gators cornerbacks coach Vance Bedford said he was staying put in Gainesville, FL, and concentrating on recruiting the incoming 2010 class. “I’m a Gator,” Bedford said when asked if new Louisville Cardinals head coach Charlie Strong had contacted him to be a member of his new staff. “I’m trying to do everything I can to recruit well. I’m trying to get to Dade County.”

Bedford, a former defensive coordinator with the Oklahoma State Cowboys from 2005-06 and defensive backs coach with the Chicago Bears from 1999-2004, said he has neither been contacted by Strong nor any other coach about a promotion and has only been working on recruiting over the past two weeks. When asked if he was under consideration to replace Strong at Florida, Bedford said he “could be talking about [the job] in the near future” with head coach Urban Meyer, though he admitted the Gators’ No. 1 priority right now is recruiting.

Tags: Charlie Strong, Chicago Bears, Louisville Cardinals, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Urban Meyer, Vance Bedford

1 » Florida Gators cornerbacks coach Vance Bedford visited the home of four-star CB recruit Cody Riggs (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Thursday night and earned the St. Thomas Aquinas High School product’s commitment, according to a report from Rivals. Bedford still taking visits and bringing back commitments is a strong indication that he may not leave the Gators as was previously reported by other sources.

2 » Former Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Brian Kelly, who has now accepted the same job with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, will not coach his former team in the 2010 Sugar Bowl against Florida, according to university administrators. In the few hours since Kelly’s announcement, Cincinnati players have already begun bashing him in the press. “I didn’t want to hear it,” star wide receiver Mardy Gilyard said. “I’m fairly disgusted with the situation – him letting it last this long. Hopefully he’ll pack his things up and get to South Bend in a hurry.”

3 » Gators players, including redshirt junior left guard Carl Johnson, are making sure the team is up and ready for the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. “Winning [22] straight games in a row is not much of a letdown,” he said. “We had the nation’s [longest] win streak there for a while. We’ve still got a BCS bowl game. We’ve still got another opponent. It’s not much of a letdown.”

4 » Golfer Greg Norman will host a 12-team golf tournament on Friday at the Tiburon Golf Club and two of the main competitors in the contest are former Florida players. Mark Calcavecchia and Brian Gay will pair together in the $3 million tournament.

Tags: Brian Gay, Brian Kelly, Carl Johnson, Cincinnati Bearcats, Cody Riggs, golf, Greg Norman, Mardy Gilyard, Mark Calcavecchia, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, St. Thomas Aquinas, Sugar Bowl, Tiburon Golf Club, Vance Bedford

1 » Speaking with the Florida Times-Union, Florida Gators defensive backs coach Vance Bedford went as far as to compare sophomore cornerback Janoris Jenkins to another player he once coached while with the Michigan Wolverines – Heisman Trophy winning CB Charles Woodson. “Janoris makes more plays than most field corners ever make,” Bedford said. “Except I had one guy – Charles Woodson – was that way.” The duo of Jenkins and junior Joe Haden are one of the main reasons the Gators’ defense is so stout. Holding opponents to 138.8 passing yards per game (primarily to tight ends and running backs), the Florida defensive backfield features two corners who will certainly be playing on Sundays in the near future.

2 » Considering we are already talking about Bedford, OGGOA points you to this article by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald, who spoke with Bedford about the difficulties in recruiting out of Miami-Dade County, one of the most talent-rich counties in the nation. Miami-Dade is Bedford’s assigned territory, and he has already made strides. “[The players are] tied to Miami, which I understand,” Bedford said. “Miami is the local flavor and we totally understand that, but there are enough players to go around. There are a lot of young men down there who have strong interest in Florida, so we’re trying to get in there and recruit and say, ‘We’re here. We’re going to win.’ We’re going to keep working and hopefully get one or two this year and see what happens.”

3 » Florida’s defensive ends may have gotten off to a slow start – combining for just three sacks in the team’s first five games – but junior Carlos Dunlap and senior Jermaine Cunningham have rebounded for four each in the past three outings.

4 » Gators senior quarterback Tim Tebow helps sick kids. He is a religious man. He does mission work. He signs autographs after practice. He does plenty of good things with his life. But is there anything you can think of that would brighten up a 10-year-old’s day more than randomly catching passes from his idol who just happens to be the Heisman Trophy-winning leader of the No. 1 team in the country? Didn’t think so.

Tags: Carlos Dunlap, Charles Woodson, Heisman Trophy, Janoris Jenkins, Jermaine Cunningham, Joe Haden, Michigan Wolverines, Tim Tebow, Vance Bedford