Gainesville Spin City for the Urban Myth…

The Palm Beach post ran a story this morning on Urban Meyer, regarding all the off-the-field nonsense the dirty Florida Gators have been getting themselves into as of late.

The same Gators who so moronically love to chastise the Miami Hurricanes with their ‘Thug U’ and unclever ‘scUM’ type razzings, even with the shoe on the other foot for years now.

According to the piece, a whopping SIXTEEN Gators football players have been involved in off-the-field incidents since Meyer took over in 2005.

Meyer’s excuse for the players’ actions? NCAA rules prohibiting him from getting to know players well enough during the recruiting process.

Teflon Urban went on to say, “The NCAA is pulling us off the recruiting process. I’m not allowed to go out and I’m not allowed to text message, but I’m trying to find out (about players) the best I can.”

Ahh, yes, what better way to get to know potential talent than through the impersonal art of text messaging early morning messages like, “it’s a great day to be a Florida Gator.” I’m sure a player’s response would be, “That’s right, coach. Can’t wait to get to town and tear your program to shreds with my thuggish behavior.”

Amazing, all of these off-the-field incidents could’ve been avoided if Meyer could text away and keep recruits in his Fab Five.

Meyer boldly strutted into Florida boasting he’d only take the “top 1% of the 1%”. If those 16 troublemakers represent the 1% of 1%, I’d hate to see what UiF would have on their roster if Meyer wasn’t such a stellar judge of character.

All Meyer has done this past decade is prove he’s a “win at all costs” type of guy, climbing that ladder and looking for the next big gig. Two years at Bowling Green before the Utah gig opened up and two years at Utah before Florida lured him away.

Meyer was offered the Notre Dame gig that Charlie Weis eventually took – which is where he’d have gone if he were really about the “1% of the 1%”. I’m no Irish backer, but safe to say academic standards will prevent UND from taking kids that would easily find their way onto the Gators’ roster.

Meyer spent 1995-2000 coaching wide receivers at Notre Dame and it should’ve been a dream opp for a former Irish coach, but not for The Myth, who was obviously familiar with their inability to recruit the same types of players some of the other football factories are able to.

Let’s also remember Meyer’s desire to discipline by convenience as his ‘win at all costs’ approach was proven in the fall of 2006, en route to Florida’s second school championship.

Jarvis Moss failed a drug test before Florida’s annual showdown with South Carolina, but he’d serve that suspension a week later against I-AA Western Carolina. The Gators beat the Cocks, 17-16, in a showdown where Moss blocked an extra point and a potential game-winning field goal.

Last season, Tony Joiner was another veteran Gator and important cog in the system that was allowed to play when he should’ve rode the pine. Joiner broke into a tow yard to retrieve his girlfriend’s car the week Florida was headed to Baton Rouge to take on the LSU Tigers.

Meyer vowed Joiner wouldn’t practice with the team until, “I find out everything” yet days later was suiting up for Florida’s biggest game of 2007. Amazing how a busy coach preparing for a huge game had time to wear the hat of investigative journalist and solve the Joiner case before the weekend – not to mention Florida law enforcement officials working tirelessly to get felony charges dropped.

Jamar Hornsby is the reason Meyer and the Gators are again under fire. Hornsby has been booted off the team after stealing the credit card and using it for six months. The owner of the card, a co-ed who was killed in a motorcycle accident last fall with a Gator walk-on laying down the bike and killing himself as well. Hornsby admitted to copping the card when helping the girl’s family empty out her apartment.

Florida faithful applaud Meyer for cracking the whip, but let’s be honest – who the hell was Hornsby in the grand scheme of things? A back up safety with five total tackles last season? We’re not exactly talking about a seasoned vet like Moss or Joiner. The kid was highly touted coming out of high school, but you can cut ‘potential’. It’s tougher to get rid of a proven vet – something Meyer would never do.

A few other 1%-ers who’ve tainted Meyer’s legacy since 2005? Ronnie Wilson (Battery, discharging a firearm), Avery Atkins (assault on a woman, drugs), Marcus Thomas (kicked off team for drug use), Brandon James (drug possession), Dorian Monroe (felony removal of parking boot) and Dustin Doe (arrested for assault), to name a few.

Lest not forget Dee Webb, Andre Caldwell and Reggie Lewis tooling around in an SUV loaded with $60,000 in cash as well as AKs and machine guns.

Florida isn’t the only program dealing with these issues. Welcome to College Football 2008 and the sense of entitlement that many young NCAA athletes feel is deserved.

What’s garbage here is Meyer’s attempt at shifting the blame and acting like he’s something other than he is. The Myth can talk a good game and give his “1% of the 1%” quotes all day long, but what is done to back that up – other than kicking a back up safety or a few other non-factors off the squad? Where was that ‘tough love’ when it was time to handle Moss or Joiner the same way – and moreso, why does the national media continue to give the slimeball a free pass?

Sitting a guy for a quarter, making him run laps or stripping the captain’s “C” off his chest for a few weeks isn’t going to teach a kid right from wrong. Maybe in 1958, but not these days when you’re dealing with players with character issues.

Meyer is an egomaniac, a job hopper and a user that will tell a kid anything to sell him on coming to Florida. Most Gator fans don’t want to hear that right now, as he brought home a title 2 seasons ago – but the truth will surface, in due time. I don’t think there are any folk out there who believe Meyer is going to be a Gator lifer. That NFL will come-a-callin’ soon enough and 3 or 4-loss seasons aren’t going to cut it in Gainesville after winning a ring year two.

A lack of text messaging and getting to know recruits doesn’t seem to be the case with a slew of other programs. How many issues has Randy Shannon had since taking over at Miami and following the rules? Conversely, how many kids have gotten the boot and had scholarships revoked for not being character guys, part of the Larry Coker regime and not welcome when it became Shannon’s show?

James Bryant, DajLeon Farr, Rhyan Anderson, Chris Perry, Doug Wiggins and Andrew Johnson, to name a few. Guys detrimental to the team’s future and with their own set of issues – they got the boot – even if the Canes were lacking depth at certain positions. Shannon has proven he’s a no-nonsense type of guy and that character is more important than winning. There is a way to win with character. Give Shannon time and he’ll prove it.

In the interim, keep your eye on the debacle in Gainesville as that circus show plays out and the media chooses to focus on the lone good kid – Tim Tebow, a.k.a. Mr. Everything Right With College Athletics – and will refuse to focus on the 16 troublemakers who have run amok on Meyer’s watch.

And for the Gators who love to drop the ‘Thug U’ crap on Canes fans, make note that these days you can’t spell scU.M. without ‘Urban Meyer’….

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