Gators quarterback Chris Leak celebrates the program's second national title to cap the 2006 season. (File photo)
Trail To Glendale: Gator Tales Miniseries Takes You on Ride with 2006 National Champions
Friday, July 24, 2020 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The drama of the search was over. Urban Meyer was the University of Florida's new football coach.
On Dec. 7, 2004, it was finally time for the Gators to unveil the man with the it factor at an introductory press conference at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Forget that Meyer still had a Fiesta Bowl game as Utah's head coach.
This day was about the Gators. Their future. And a nod to the past.
Following three seasons on a roller coaster ride with Ron Zook, Gators fans yearned for a return to glory. They wanted what the Head Ball Coach had built at Florida and then left behind for a crack at the NFL. They wanted to win, win big and win a lot.
It didn't take long for Meyer to touch on former Gators Heisman winner and head coach Steve Spurrier on that sunny Gainesville afternoon.
"There was an aura about Florida football,'' Meyer said of the Spurrier era. "I fell in love with the way they played, the way they walked, the way they talked, the way they took the field, the way they came off the field, the way they scored points. When Coach Spurrier had this thing cranked up, everybody stopped what they were doing to watch Florida play."
Soon, they began doing the same for Meyer's Gators teams as he attracted some of the best players in school history. What a trip it was.
It doesn't seem possible, but the calendar confirms that in a few months, it will have been 16 years since Meyer took a tour of Florida Field that December afternoon as photographers snapped photos and writers tapped their keyboards in a quest to capture the moment.
Meyer changed the culture of the program instantly.
He called Florida State "the team out west." He promoted the Champions Club and the program's past and urged the Gators to learn about those who came before them. He spoke about the Circle of Trust and told his players they would sing the alma mater and the Florida fight song after each game. He even brought the UF band into the Swamp after a Gators practice so they could practice singing with the band playing. He created the Gator Walk.
And he answered masterfully when asked if the Gators would compete for a title in his first season.
"That's not really my choice,'' he said. "The Gator Nation expects it."
It all started that day.
Meyer's first season ended 9-3 and without a championship, but by the end of Meyer's second season in 2006, the Gators were back on top. Back on top of the SEC East. Back on top in Atlanta with a win over Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game. And finally, back at No. 1 with a dismantling of Ohio State in the 2007 BCS National Championship.
A laser-focused son of Ohio, a Buckeyes fan at heart and their future head coach, Meyer had reached the pinnacle of his profession by beating down his home state's signature program.
Yes, what a trip it was. And how did it all come together so fast on the way to that memorable night in the Arizona desert?
In our first podcast miniseries featuring Gators football, Gator Tales host Adam Schick debuts the "Trail to Glendale" with the opening episode exploring how Meyer quickly turned the Gators from a good team into a great one in only his second season.
The first episode is titled, appropriately, "Urban Renewal."
In this episode, Schick revisits the early days of the Meyer era in 2005 and the overall push to change the culture of the program, featuring interviews with Meyer, then-offensive coordinator and current Gators head coach Dan Mullen, co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, quarterback Chris Leak, linebacker Brandon Siler, receiver David Nelson, former UF athletic director Jeremy Foley and "The Voice of the Gators" Mick Hubert.
We hope you enjoy.
On Dec. 7, 2004, it was finally time for the Gators to unveil the man with the it factor at an introductory press conference at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Forget that Meyer still had a Fiesta Bowl game as Utah's head coach.
This day was about the Gators. Their future. And a nod to the past.
Following three seasons on a roller coaster ride with Ron Zook, Gators fans yearned for a return to glory. They wanted what the Head Ball Coach had built at Florida and then left behind for a crack at the NFL. They wanted to win, win big and win a lot.
It didn't take long for Meyer to touch on former Gators Heisman winner and head coach Steve Spurrier on that sunny Gainesville afternoon.
"There was an aura about Florida football,'' Meyer said of the Spurrier era. "I fell in love with the way they played, the way they walked, the way they talked, the way they took the field, the way they came off the field, the way they scored points. When Coach Spurrier had this thing cranked up, everybody stopped what they were doing to watch Florida play."
Soon, they began doing the same for Meyer's Gators teams as he attracted some of the best players in school history. What a trip it was.
It doesn't seem possible, but the calendar confirms that in a few months, it will have been 16 years since Meyer took a tour of Florida Field that December afternoon as photographers snapped photos and writers tapped their keyboards in a quest to capture the moment.
Meyer changed the culture of the program instantly.
He called Florida State "the team out west." He promoted the Champions Club and the program's past and urged the Gators to learn about those who came before them. He spoke about the Circle of Trust and told his players they would sing the alma mater and the Florida fight song after each game. He even brought the UF band into the Swamp after a Gators practice so they could practice singing with the band playing. He created the Gator Walk.
And he answered masterfully when asked if the Gators would compete for a title in his first season.
"That's not really my choice,'' he said. "The Gator Nation expects it."
It all started that day.
Meyer's first season ended 9-3 and without a championship, but by the end of Meyer's second season in 2006, the Gators were back on top. Back on top of the SEC East. Back on top in Atlanta with a win over Arkansas in the SEC Championship Game. And finally, back at No. 1 with a dismantling of Ohio State in the 2007 BCS National Championship.
A laser-focused son of Ohio, a Buckeyes fan at heart and their future head coach, Meyer had reached the pinnacle of his profession by beating down his home state's signature program.
Yes, what a trip it was. And how did it all come together so fast on the way to that memorable night in the Arizona desert?
In our first podcast miniseries featuring Gators football, Gator Tales host Adam Schick debuts the "Trail to Glendale" with the opening episode exploring how Meyer quickly turned the Gators from a good team into a great one in only his second season.
The first episode is titled, appropriately, "Urban Renewal."
In this episode, Schick revisits the early days of the Meyer era in 2005 and the overall push to change the culture of the program, featuring interviews with Meyer, then-offensive coordinator and current Gators head coach Dan Mullen, co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, quarterback Chris Leak, linebacker Brandon Siler, receiver David Nelson, former UF athletic director Jeremy Foley and "The Voice of the Gators" Mick Hubert.
We hope you enjoy.
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Wednesday, October 15
