Has it really been two full days since our last Florida recruiting Photoshop post? Sorry about that:
Florida Qb's have the drive and desire #TheStandard @jeffdriskel @TylerMurphy10 #buildingchampions http://t.co/K1fTWQViDS—
Brent Pease (@CoachPease) April 24, 2013
Our only quibble: They couldn’t work “Ben Hill Gryffindor” in up there at the top left corner? Or are Gators, by their reptilian nature, natural Slytherins?
The greatest beauty and cruelty of college football is the brevity. The short seasons are here and gone before we feel we’ve fully grasped their import, and, at most, we are granted only a few years to appreciate the players we most admire before they’re shipped off to be homogenized into the NFL. It’s only natural, then, that draft season is the bleakest time of year for us. We wish all departing players well, but it always chokes us up a bit.
Jarvis Jones (right) and a chicken-salad bust of Jarvis Jones (left) at a Manhattan Subway. #DraftWeek!!! http://t.co/t8hzrRuvN9—
Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) April 23, 2013
Never does this hit home harder than when Subway gets ahold of promising draft prospects. Was it just a few short months ago that we were marveling at Jarvis Jones’ Cocktail Party performance? He was an apex predator, an eater of Gators, and now he’s chicken salad. So wags the weary world away.
We asked for this. Just one week ago, we beseeched the football gods, “Please let this practice continue and spread until all of D-I is being wooed with shoddily animated lightning bolts,” and now Florida’s homegrown graphics fever has infected Gators running backs coach Brian White, with added trompe-l’œil capabilities:
#RiseNGrind #GatorNation Just landed in LA for recruiting-4hrs delayed ! Can't wait to… instagram.com/p/YZyCyICvnf/—
Brian White (@Coach_BWhite) April 22, 2013
Michigan led the nation last season by averaging 112,252 fans per home game. (Scott W. Grau/Icon SMI)
By Zac Ellis
Michigan’s home-field advantage was the best in college football in 2012, according to at least one list of rankings. Michigan Stadium, also known as “The Big House,” topped StadiumJourney.com’s rundown of the best college stadiums from last season. The Wolverines led the nation in average attendance with an astounding 112,252 fans per game while finishing 6-0 and outscoring visiting opponents 231-96 at home.
The outlet determined its rankings based on several factors, including a team’s win/loss record, average attendance, attendance as a percentage of capacity and points scored/allowed at home. Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium finished second, while Ohio State’s Ohio Stadium, Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium and South Carolina’s Williams-Brice Stadium rounded out the top five.
You can find the complete rankings here, but here is the rest of the top 10:
Energetic traveler Jeff Choate, doing a little leisurely web-slinging. (Stanley Brewster/Zumapress.com)
Following a one-season gig on Mike Leach’s staff, Washington State linebackers coach Jeff Choate left Pullman in January to join up with Sean Kugler in El Paso to serve as UTEP’s defensive coordinator. At the time, Kugler called Choate an “Energizer bunny” and praised his constant motor.
That motor, it turns out, is still running, and it’s taking Choate on another big geographic hop: Florida announced this morning that Choate has been added to Will Muschamp’s Gators staff, where he’ll serve as special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach. In a school release, Muschamp praised Choate’s “high energy.”
A cursory examination of a world map suggests that if Choate’s current energetic travel patterns continue, he’ll be coaching American football somewhere in the vicinity of Caracas come 2014. We wish Choate the very best of luck with his world tour.
Ominous news out of Gainesville, where whatever image-manipulation fever Joker Phillips has appears to have been transmitted to Brent Pease:
Searching for ALL types of Top Guns. #AllPositions #GatorFootball #TheStandard http://t.co/X88zEUZSgr—
Brent Pease (@CoachPease) April 15, 2013
Every time you go up in the air, you’re dangerous, if last season’s Sugar Bowl is any indication.
By Zac Ellis
With spring practice in full swing, here’s a glance at some of the nation’s most noteworthy recent developments:
• Nebraska: The feel-good story of the week came out of Nebraska’s spring game. Seven-year-old cancer patient Jack Hoffman, a lifelong Huskers fan, took a handoff from quarterback Taylor Martinez in the waning moments of the scrimmage and scampered 69 yards to the end zone (video above). Huskers players mobbed Hoffman as more than 60,000 fans cheered for the youngster, who befriended running back Rex Burkhead last year while battling brain cancer. What was Hoffman thinking as he took the field? In his words: “Scoring a touchdown.”
• Florida: The Gators limped into their spring game on Saturday with a banged-up group of offensive linemen. The unit was so injury depleted (four linemen were out), in fact, that Will Muschamp changed the format from a traditional spring game to an open practice with scrimmage-type situations. But some good news came out of Gainesville: Quarterback Jeff Driskel, who is aiming to improve his decision-making in his second year as the starter, showed significant signs of development.
• Florida State: Following the departure of E.J. Manuel, the Seminoles’ quarterback situation features plenty of new faces. And while it’s looking like Clint Trickett has the slight edge to become the Seminoles’ man under center, Jacob Coker and Jameis Winston are giving Trickett a run for his money. Still, Trickett is showing the experience that comes with having played in Jimbo Fisher’s system the longest.
IT'S TIME TO COME PLAY WR FOR THE JOKER! #ComePlayWRForTheJoker #GatorNation #SpreadTheWord http://t.co/jPTkKEX0rF—
Joker Phillips (@jokerphillips) March 27, 2013
#WannaKnowHowJokerPhillipsGotTheseScars?
#SpoilerAlertItWasMuschamp
#HeGetsBiteyWhenFedAfterMidnight
Fantastic Gators tattoo http://t.co/yPa8JfsDIL—
Janie C. (@itsjaniec) March 17, 2013
Yes, that is a Florida Gators helmet prominently featured on this extensively tattooed Ultra Music Festival attendee’s person. RELATED: We are kinda mad not to be at Ultra right now.
Gators coach Will Muschamp: "Y'all know me. Spring is about experimenting."—
Jason Lieser (@PBPjasonlieser) March 12, 2013
The year was 1992. The place, Panama City Beach. They said a raccoon couldn’t be taught to water ski, much less enter the Spring Break Ramp Races, but Will Muschamp was a kid with a dream and an eye for wildlife talent.
Powered by WordPress.com VIP
