Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow Press Conference
Monday, November 2, 2009 | Football
On Monday, football head coach Urban Meyer and senior quarterback Tim Tebow (Jacksonville, Fla.) addressed the media at their weekly press conferences, discussing last week's 41-17 win over Georgia and the upcoming home game against Vanderbilt. Below are excerpts from their comments.
Head Coach Urban Meyer (Watch Full Press Conference)
On the pressure this season:
“You can coach somewhere else if you want to go chill. As a player, there are plenty of places you can go where win, lose or draw you can chill in front of a half-empty stadium. At Florida you have to play at a very high level, and that started back in the '90s. That stadium out there is a pretty imposing place. To walk in here at Florida, you have to be good and be on edge. I think Billy Donovan said it best when he said, 'You are not a good team, you are not a good athlete the minute you lose your edge.' So we are all on edge. The real ones love that.”
On Vanderbilt kick returner Warren Norman:
“This is the year of kickoff returners in the SEC. It's hard to believe this guy is a freshman. He's got great speed and is clearly an athlete.”
On the defensive performance vs. Georgia:
“We've played pretty good defense all year. If you ask Coach [Charlie] Strong, we didn't play our best defensive game. We created four turnovers and played great field position, and that allowed the defense to play at that level. The team felt they could have played much better. That's what is great about coaching them. Think about that for a moment.”
On going to Atlanta:
“I told the guys, 'The only thing good about going 8-0, is the chance to go 9-0.'”
Senior quarterback Tim Tebow (Watch Full Press Conference)
On Coach Meyer motivating the team:
“I think he's done a great job and for me being here the last four years, he's done a great job every year. All of the things that we've gone through make us the team that we are. Without that, I don't think that we'd be as close, I don't think that we'd be as determined, I don't think that we'd be as passionate about it. … Without that, without the bad times, you wouldn't be able to celebrate the good times and they wouldn't be as special, and without that you wouldn't be as close. If everything came easy, then you wouldn't have to depend on one another, but when times are tough and you have to lean on your brother more, then that makes you close as a team.”
On the pressure of playing for Florida:
“That's why you come to Florida. You know being at Florida that there's going to be a lot of pressure. I mean, that's Florida. It's going to have as much or more pressure as anywhere in the country, any school in the country. Yeah, you could be hyped, you could be number one, you could be up for this or that, but it really doesn't add or subtract any pressure because you're at Florida. The fans and everybody are going to expect you to win every week, and they're going to expect high things. And that's great because they should. This is the University of Florida. There is a lot of pride here and a lot of people take pride in what we do, and that's what makes this place so special.”
On if a team could lose focus clinching the division with several games to go:
“I think that would be an option. I don't think it's an option for this team, though. I think our team is focused. I think we'll have a great week at practice. I think we're determined. I think we know that every game we're going to get that team's best, that team is going to play well, we're going to have to go compete and we're going to have to fight to win just like we have pretty much every game this year, and we're ready for that. We're not going to be complacent these last few games because every team we play is going to come in here ready to play. We know that it's college football and anything can happen on any Saturday, and we know that and we're going to be prepared for it.”
On maintaining the team's edge:
“We're 8-0. We're excited about that and having the opportunity to go 9-0. We're getting better, and I think that will keep us motivated. If you can't be motivated and focused when you're 8-0 and everything you want is right there in front of you and is a possibility, I would be shocked. If anyone on the team is not focused on our next four games, I would be very disappointed.”
