O-town Gator
Gator Fan
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- "When Florida coach Urban Meyer walked out of his office around noon Wednesday, he saw starting guard Maurkice Pouncey wearing a sling on his right arm.
Down the hall, promising sophomore fullback Steven Wilks was standing on crutches, having torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in practice two days earlier.
"It's the worst part of coaching," Meyer said.
Urban Meyer already has seen how fragile a team's championship hopes can be.
The best part of coaching came a few months ago. When 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow announced Jan. 11 that he was returning to Florida for his senior season, the Gators once again became the team to beat.
Other than Wilks' knee injury, most of Florida's injuries haven't been catastrophic. Most players will return for voluntary offseason workouts, and nearly all are expected back before the start of preseason camp late this summer.
But Meyer doesn't like that his team hasn't been able to hit and scrimmage during spring practice as much as he had hoped. On Wednesday, the Gators practiced in shorts and helmets even though they could have worn pads under NCAA rules.
"There are three things that can derail a really good, experienced team," Meyer said. "The first is getting soft and losing your edge. [Florida basketball coach] Billy Donovan talked about it all the time with his teams, how they never lost their edge and were always hungry. Discipline is the second thing that can hurt you. If we have discipline issues and guys aren't here, that can really hurt you. The third thing is injuries. If we can eliminate those things, we'll be pretty good."
Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=4076238
Down the hall, promising sophomore fullback Steven Wilks was standing on crutches, having torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in practice two days earlier.
"It's the worst part of coaching," Meyer said.
Urban Meyer already has seen how fragile a team's championship hopes can be.
The best part of coaching came a few months ago. When 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow announced Jan. 11 that he was returning to Florida for his senior season, the Gators once again became the team to beat.
Other than Wilks' knee injury, most of Florida's injuries haven't been catastrophic. Most players will return for voluntary offseason workouts, and nearly all are expected back before the start of preseason camp late this summer.
But Meyer doesn't like that his team hasn't been able to hit and scrimmage during spring practice as much as he had hoped. On Wednesday, the Gators practiced in shorts and helmets even though they could have worn pads under NCAA rules.
"There are three things that can derail a really good, experienced team," Meyer said. "The first is getting soft and losing your edge. [Florida basketball coach] Billy Donovan talked about it all the time with his teams, how they never lost their edge and were always hungry. Discipline is the second thing that can hurt you. If we have discipline issues and guys aren't here, that can really hurt you. The third thing is injuries. If we can eliminate those things, we'll be pretty good."
Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=4076238
