FOUR BITS: Meyer, Shyatt, Pouncey, Loeffler

By Adam Silverstein
August 26, 2010

1 » In a piece published Thursday by FOX Sports, reporter Thayer Evans dives further into Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer’s attempts to regain his health and control of his football team. Among other notes, Evans reports that Meyer now uses his “lunch hour” each day to run and life weights. “It’s the first time he’s regularly exercised in years, but he’s so committed that he rescheduled his weekly media sessions during this season to 11:15 a.m. instead of noon like previous seasons,” the article states. There is plenty more (some of which you likely already know) on Meyer’s delegation techniques and other changes he is making to take care of himself.

2 » CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish had an opportunity to sit in on a two-day coaching clinic run by Florida assistant basketball coach Larry Shyatt, which featured a number of high-profile coaches and assistants “talking about a variety of subjects, exchanging ideas, discussing, debating,” etc. “This clinic is different,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said. “It’s just an exchange of ideas – coaches passing knowledge back and forth and trying to help each other, and I think that’s what’s great. This is what you get in it for, to coach and have fun and get better and help other guys get better.”

Three more BITS on Pouncey, Loeffler and Demps…after the break.

3 » From day one, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie center/guard Maurkice Pouncey made quite an impression with head coach Mike Tomlin and the rest of his new team. Put in at starting right guard almost immediately, Pouncey has slowly been moving over to his left and gaining ground on veteran starting C Justin Hartwig. So much so, in fact, that Pouncey took all of the first-team reps at practice Wednesday and will be starting the team’s third preseason game on Saturday. “It put a big smile on me,” Pouncey said after learning this. “I ain’t going to lie, but I just need to go out there and practice every day. I want to stay humble. I’m happy about it. I just want to stay humble and keep working at it.” Tomlin believes it is time to let him shine. “Maurkice Pouncey has done a nice job with every opportunity we have given him thus far. We continue to give him more opportunities. We recognize that Jamal Williams, who plays nose guard for the Denver Broncos, is a perennial Pro Bowl-caliber player. It’s going to be an awesome opportunity to measure where he is against a guy that caliber. That’s what it’s all about more than anything else.”

4 » Now-Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen was the perfect quarterback coach for former Gators star Tim Tebow. As much as that is true, Florida QB coach Scot Loeffler could not be any better for redshirt junior starter John Brantley’s development. In addition to raising Brantley’s arm angle to relieve chronic pain he was experiencing in his elbow, Loeffler has really helped refine Brantley’s game over the last two years. “It’s not much, but it’s enough to make a difference,” his father John Brantley III told the Palm Beach Post. “Scot changed a little bit in his throwing motion – basically used his ass and his legs to throw the football and take the pressure off his elbow. Since Scot’s gotten there, I have not heard one complaint about his elbow bothering him. […] We’re extremely happy with Scot Loeffler. He’s perfect for Johnny. We couldn’t hand pick anybody better than Scot Loeffler. He’s great at teaching what he knows.”

Extra BIT » Gators junior running back Jeff Demps was named to the 2010 Doak Walker Award preseason watch list on Wednesday, an award presented annually to the nation’s top RB. The award, which also requires its candidates to post good academics, also listed Demps as someone to watch in 2009.

Photo Credit: Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

One Comment

  1. RSeegobin says:

    “…basically used his ass and his legs to throw the football and take the pressure off his elbow.” Last time I used my ass to throw a football, the results were pretty…crappy! Couldn’t resist! haha

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