Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow Press Conference
Monday, November 9, 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 27-3 win over Vanderbilt and the upcoming game at South Carolina. Below are excerpts from their comments.
Football Head Coach Urban Meyer (Watch Press Conference)
On the performance of the special teams units:
“We did not allow a punt return yard until the ninth game, and that was because Chas Henry out-kicked our coverage a little bit, but we allow him to do that once and a while. We're one of the top schools, second-best in the nation with 13 punt return yards for the year. With that said, I want to recognize a couple of names, too, because their families need to see their names, and we love these guys. A big part of the program is player development, too, and that's from Reggie Nelson to Louis Murphy to whoever. They all get developed, and they start on kicking game. Joe Haden, who is one of the best players in the country, he's still on three special teams phases, but Dee Finley has done a tremendous job. Mike Gillislee, although he didn't play [against Vanderbilt], he was begging to the play during the game. His quote was, 'I can't lose my spot on kickoff.” That's an unselfish guy and a great player for us. Omarius Hines got his first opportunity to start on kickoff and did a great job. Adrian Bushell got special teams player of the week this past week, and he's on three units. He played by far his best game as a Gator. Jon Bostic got the most significant time he's had, started on kickoff and punt for the first time and had two tackles on punt. Will Hill does a great job for us on kickoff and Justin Williams, Janoris Jenkins, Joe Haden and obviously one of our 'count-on' guys is Cade Holliday, who does a great job. I just wanted to mention those guys' names. They know in here how we feel about them, but I don't do a good job of letting everyone else know how we feel about them. The correlation between that and winning games can't get any stronger.”
On what makes the kickoff coverage of this team so different and good:
“It's just the energy level. First of all, it's personnel. Why is a team good offensively or defensively on the kicking game? There's no guru status – it's the personnel, it's character it's guys believing in this [the program]. Every time I speak to the team we have a field-position chart. It has the plan to win, and we talk about that endlessly. And we also reward them. One of my great friends always talks about alignment of a program. If the strength coach is aligned with the team, that's good. If the assistant coaches are also preaching special teams… For Omarius Hines, that's his world right now, and that's because as our wide receivers coach [Billy Gonzales] preaches the same thing. You walk into this meeting room, there's a plan to win and there's a field-position chart, and we understand that. Why is Michael Gillislee in tears on the sideline? Because he wanted to get in there so badly, because they believe in that stuff and because our running back coach [Kenny Carter] is aligned with the program. I think it's number one, personnel, and then it's alignment and everyone understanding that that's how you win a football game. And it's proven, over and over and over again.”
On his favorite phase of special teams:
“I like to coach punt team. I hate to punt, but I love punt-team guys, the fire in the players' eyes. They understand that if you want to win a game, you better be really good at that phase. Ninety percent of the time, if you find a way to get a hand on the ball, you win. Our guys understand that. Look who is on the unit: Joe Haden, Major Wright and Will Hill. Terron Sanders has turned out to be one of the best players we have ever had in the middle. You have to be an accountable guy. If you have issues, you won't be on it. If I don't trust you, you're not going near that team. You're not even allowed in this room, and our guys understand that.”
On Chas Henry's role in allowing so few punt return yards:
“He could drive that thing, but we would rather not see a 55-yard punt, not against the athletes we face. I like when Brandon James has a chance to run with it. We don't want that [for our opponent]. We want a 45-yard, five-second hang-time punt. He works extremely hard at it and understands that. He has a strong enough leg to whack the ball on a line drive. We look at net punt at the end of the day.”
Senior quarterback Tim Tebow (Watch Press Conference)
On the pressure of being No. 1:
“It is pretty hard, but that's college football. Every game you go out there, you're going to get every team's best shot because you're Florida. It's going to be hard, and every game you have to compete. I think that's why it is so rewarding to win those games and get back in the locker room with your teammates. That's why it's so special.”
On having to persevere each week:
“Getting through, there have been frustrations. We are very competitive and want to score every time we get the ball. Not being able to do that or clicking as much as we'd like to has been a little frustrating. At the same time, we haven't had to deal with a loss, and I'd much rather have to deal with kicking a field goal than a loss. In that manner, it's been easier.”
On the last few games of his collegiate career:
“It has been sinking in, but more importantly my games in The Swamp and only having two more of those. I only have a few more opportunities to go out there and play. The next two will be special.”
On whether his third- down mindset is to look for holes or try to run over people:
“Yes, I do look for holes. If there are not as many people [somewhere], I will probably run there. I try to make it a little bit easier on myself. It's something you just try to work on and get better at. 'Just get the first down' is my mindset.”
