Wednesdays With Dr. Football is a weekly feature to help you get through the summer until the real football kicks off.
1. I have known Chris Leak since I went to his home in Charlotte, N.C, and sat with him and his dad for hours before his freshman season. So I hope this move that Florida made will not backfire. I understand that we are less than four weeks from SEC Media Days and it would be difficult to go out and get a wide receivers coach this late and I understand that Leak at least has been around the program and has been learning the offense. And I have heard from some people that Leak has done a great job at camps. But it’s time for the receivers on this team to break through. It has been too long since Florida has had a great receiver. In some ways, there is a lot of pressure on leak. But you can also look at it this way — he has nothing to lose. If Florida’s receivers play well, it’s going to be a big boost for his fledgling coaching career. If they don’t, well, what did anyone expect?
2. This Joker Phillips thing is another example of Will Muschamp being infected by what I call Zookluck. Ron Zook couldn’t catch a break and neither can Muschamp. You could make the argument that he has hired poorly with coaches like Brent Pease, Charlie Weis, Aubrey Hill, Phillips and Bryant Young. But there wasn’t one of those hires that didn’t seem like a good idea at the time. Every head coach makes mistakes in hiring guys who just don’t fit in or go rogue. Muschamp finally had the staff he really wanted at Florida before the Phillips incident. And then that goes kablooey.
3. Sporting News came out with its bowl predictions for this season and they are, of course, meaningless. But we still look out of curiosity. SN has Florida in the Liberty Bowl against TCU. I’ll take it. After spending five days in Memphis for basketball, I’d love to go back. I think Florida will be better than the Liberty. The online magazine has an interesting Gator Bowl matchup — South Carolina vs. Miami. That would be interesting. The Sporting News has Oregon and Oklahoma playing for the title after dispatching Alabama and FSU in the first-ever playoff. And it has UCF in the Orange Bowl but picks them to be only No. 25 in the preseason poll.
4. Urban Meyer recently told a group that he thought his 2008 team was the best ever. I think he was overstating it a bit as he tends to do because I’m not sure you could say it was the best Florida team ever. You can make the argument that it was the best collection of talent in the history of college football. There were 25 players who suited up for the BCS National Championship Game who went on to play in the NFL and 15 who are still playing (it would be 17 of not for the off-the-field issues of Aaron Hernandez and Will Hill). But best team ever? Those Gators lost a game.
5. LSU made a smart move when it scheduled a season-opening game against Wisconsin in Reliant Stadium in Houston. I didn’t know this but Houston has the largest out-of-state collection of LSU season ticket holders. LSU has sold 30,000 tickets and figures to sell about 4,000 more. Wisconsin received 10,000. Welcome to your neutral site, Bucky Badger.
