Urban decay? Sporting News examines a ‘broken’ Florida
The former Florida head ball coach has been taken to task by Matt Hayes. (AP photo)
The Georgia Bulldogs haven’t had the sunniest of offseasons — and there’s still a whole summer to go! — but Matt Hayes of Sporting News offers a bit of reading guaranteed to warm the Red & Black heart. It’s about Urban Meyer and Florida, and if you happen to hate the Gators this will serve as the feel-good story of the spring.
It commences with a killer anecdotal lead (or lede, as we say in the trade): The Urban Crier, who’s now coaching Ohio State, tells the family of recruit Stephon Diggs he wouldn’t let his son go to Florida because of “character issues in the locker room.”
Writes Hayes: “[Those] character issues … we now know were fueled by a culture Meyer created.”
And then Hayes has at it, detailing — mostly via unnamed sources, we should note — just how the Urbanator created a two-tier system in Gainesville: Either you were a star and a member of his “Circle of Trust,” or you weren’t. (Meyer to Hayes: “I’ve never heard of Circle of Trust before in my life.”)
Hayes reports that Meyer pushed aside an injured player to clear scholarship room and that Florida covered up one-game suspensions for failed drug tests by having stars — Percy Harvin and that Georgia fan favorite Brandon Spikes among them — feign injury. The charming Harvin, Hayes recounts, once threw receivers coach Billy Gonzales to the ground. (Meyer to Hayes: “Something did happen and something was handled. I don’t think it’s fair to Percy Harvin or Billy Gonzales to talk about it.”)
Enough with the teasers. (I’m sorry. Here’s just one more: A former player calls Meyer a “great coach” but “a bad person.”) Just go read the story. It’s a dandy.
By Mark Bradley
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306 comments Add your comment
Cobb Dawg
April 10th, 2012
11:13 am
So now after all this time I discover that this guy had every bit of character that I thought he had — which is to say none. OSU will either wind up with the same culture, and the same results, or they won’t win with Meyer as coach — he does it this way because he’s seen that it works (at least on the field, at least for a while) so I don’t look for him to change. And that business about having learned to control his stress — I wouldn’t buy that either. This guy is just a piece of work.
Auburn Fan
April 10th, 2012
11:13 am
I’ve been wondering how long it will take President Obama to blame Cam Newton for the bad economy.
Auburn Fan
April 10th, 2012
11:14 am
Hey Dawg fans, before you go and call Meyer names etc, remember that Jim Donnan is going to go to federal prison. I’m not dissing UGA in any way. I’m just saying that all schools have their faults when it comes to coaching.
Cobb Dawg
April 10th, 2012
11:15 am
@Wet Willie: Maybe instead of comparing arrest records between UF and UGA, we should be comparing the coaches’ respective records when it comes to showing those kids the door. My guess is CMR comes out way ahead on that score.
doug dawg
April 10th, 2012
11:25 am
yes, GT, tech has room for only 14 signees. they do stay for 4 years because. . . NO ONE WANTS THEM, CERTAINLY NOT THE NFL.
GTBob
April 10th, 2012
11:25 am
Urban Meyer, Saban, UGA’s continued problems, Bobby Petrino, Miles shadiness, Houston Nutt signing like 35 players a year. Man, the SEC is a classy football conference.
Auburn Fan
April 10th, 2012
11:29 am
“Man, the SEC is a classy football conference.”
Isn’t GT on probation right now?
Auburn Fan
April 10th, 2012
11:29 am
“CERTAINLY NOT THE NFL.”
Calvin Johnson.
gdawginkalamazoo
April 10th, 2012
11:36 am
It is the SEC a neighborhood full of glass mansions. Some just have better window cleaners than others.
GTBob
April 10th, 2012
11:36 am
Isn’t GT on probation right now?
Yes, because our athletic director told someone something that he wasn’t supposed to. You equate that with the problems the SEC has?
PMC
April 10th, 2012
11:42 am
On Donnan going to prison, man he was a good recruiter huh.
Auburn Fan
April 10th, 2012
11:48 am
“You equate that with the problems the SEC has?’
Nope, just throwing your own insults back at you. You claimed that the SEC was this corrupt organization and I simply pointed out that GT is on probation.
SR CITIZEN DAWG
April 10th, 2012
11:48 am
Get a life ! What nonsensical gibberish and it does not add anything of value. Thankfully, the game is bigger than its “supposed” supporters.
GreenDawg
April 10th, 2012
11:56 am
Urban Meyer left because the October schedule. He tried to leave the year before his October schedule hit the first time. He took an October beating and left.
Will didn’t fare any better in October than Meyer did, with the exception of losing to Georgia.
Florida had 2 tough Octobers in a row, back to back, that’s all this ever was.
Not about talent, Meyer left plenty. Not about coaching, Muschamp had a good staff.
Was about:
1) schedule
2) 1st year for many coaches at UF last year
Not entitlement.
GTBob
April 10th, 2012
11:57 am
You claimed that the SEC was this corrupt organization
I didn’t say corrupt, I said classy. Two very different things. Although the SEC is probably pretty corrupt as well.
War Dang Dawg
April 10th, 2012
11:59 am
I said it before, and I’ll say it now: 13-0 or 0-12, they’re still Gators. They’re still the only school in the SEC that came within a hair of the NCAA death penalty for major recruiting violations. They’re still the school that had what would have been their first SEC title stripped for cheating, the same school that went 59 years without even an SEC title (which makes their current lack of humility so amusing to those of us who are older than 20), and they are still the school of Urban Meyer, Percy Harvin and Brandon Spikes.
Even the guy who came in and changed the losing and cheating culture – Spurrier – is not himself a classy person, but a whining crybaby who gloats when he wins and makes excuses when he loses.
A Gator is a Gator is a Gator. Their downfall was inevitable. It took 20 years, but Florida is finally settling back to its rightful, historical, mid-tier place in the SEC. Let’s hope it’s a long stay. Chomp chomp.
TheTruth
April 10th, 2012
12:05 pm
Seriously????????????? So because THUGA and the richter can’t win anything especially a NC…you people at the urinal and constipation write about ex football coaches of your rivals who you can’t beat on the field to make yourselves feel (somehow) better about yourselves when you’ll be missing more than half your defense next year because of drugs and thugs in your own program??????
That’s rich!!
Two Bits
April 10th, 2012
12:12 pm
@ GreenDawg – like most things in life, the answers are more complicated. There have been stories about entitlement issues for the past couple of seasons (many incoming guys who were born on third base and thought they hit a triple). I think that has been a significant issue for Muschamp. The talent question is tougher. Meyer left talent for the system that he ran. But that talent isn’t necessarily well suited for what Muschamp wants to do. So Muschamp is left with something of a square peg / round hole problem until his recruiting classes fill more of the roster.
Taxi Smith
April 10th, 2012
12:14 pm
Meyer should be right at home with the legacy of Woody Hayes.
DIT
April 10th, 2012
12:34 pm
This article has me in stitches. The story is mostly on heresay AND if you think Florida is going to fall into mediocrity you’re only fooling yourself. The state of Florida has too much HS talent. Hate em or love them UF has built a reputation for winning.
I’m a Dawg through and through, but I don’t think for a second that the gators should be over looked. They will be back into the thick of things in the SEC east this coming year.
My only complaint about Urban is that he said that he quit to spend time with family. One year later he’s back into coaching. Obviously that was a lie right there. One of my customers in JAX, whom is a booster, told me that he was caught messing around with another boosters wife and he did not want the story to get out so he quit. Family my eye.
Pete Go Blue
April 10th, 2012
12:49 pm
Ohio really should join the SEC, as their ethical standards would be the same — none. In Meyer, Ohio acquired the perfect coach for a program that relies on bending and breaking the rules in order to succeed — and has for years. In fact, I can almost imagine the interview process whereby Gordon “I hope the coach doesn’t fire me” Gee and Gene “It was all Tressel’s fault” Smith asked probing questions to make sure that Meyer would be willing to sink to the level that Ohio needs to reach to keep its win at all costs culture intact.
Marty Graw
April 10th, 2012
12:54 pm
The charge by Hayes that Meyer “pushed aside an injured player to clear scholarship room” was written to provoke an emotional response but in the real world of college football it’s not necessarily an evil action, depending on details we don’t know about. Mark Richt made a big deal about sticking with recruit Brent Benedict a couple of years ago after Benedict suffered a knee injury his senior year in high school. Back then Saint Mark was hailed for doing “the right thing”. Later when no one was looking, he forced the kid out because the knee never came around. Who’s the bigger jerk, Meyer or Richt? In fact, since Richt experienced what a hot seat felt like he began a systematic purge of unproductive players to the point he now has 30 scholarships to give and hopefully cool down his seat. I’m not condemning Richt. When his naïve belief that the Lord would take care of everything while he went on auto-pilot was found to be a recipe for disaster, he decided to grow a pair and run his operation like the business it is, even if feelings get hurt. Changes in a person have always been grist for writers, and if the great moralizers Bradley and Schultz were alive today, they may have observed what’s happening and wrote a column about how Richt was actually a situational saint, not a man for all seasons. The moral? If you want to sling mud at somebody, the dirt is always there. You just have to want to find it hard enough.
Urban Liar
April 10th, 2012
12:56 pm
He also had his daughter hold a press conference to “sign” to play volleyball at Tech when she did not have an offer. It forced GTAA to offer her a full scholarship or risk a bad publicity fiasco.
DawginLex
April 10th, 2012
1:00 pm
Richt did not force Benedict out. Benedict had a run-in with Joe T about how the rehab was being done.
He is now at VT trying to win a job and is being called “stiff and unathletic”, “having problems with d-linemen that can move”.
Maybe he should have listened to his coaches and not tried to tell people who have been doing this for a long time how to do their jobs just because his knee wasn’t getting healed quick enough to his liking.
Master of Domain
April 10th, 2012
1:01 pm
This is too funny.
You know Auburn fans really know that the “payoff” actually happened when they use the “proof” card for their argument. One has to really hand it to the Auburn Machine for getting away with paying a preacher, handing out grades to players for not attending classes, allowing known drug pushers to play, allowing 3 time offenders of battery to continue playing until their 4th charge was made. Professors turning in other professors for allowing “independent study” courses to be used like butter on a hot roll. 3 players arrested for robbery, and a former bank executive ( who is still under FDIC investigation, and FBI investigation, and being sued by his former employees) to run the universities athletic department like he was an NFL owner( which was the way it was run). Hiring a head coach who by all accounts is not a very good head coach in his one previous attempt. Now we see that No.1 or No. 2 or No.3 recruiting class( depending on whose service you believe) has now lost almost a third of its players due to transfer, arrest, conviction, academics, and or injury. You can add to that the grades that were changed( and caught by the NCAA clearing house) prior to the latest arrested former Auburn player Nick Fairley, who had to go to JC and return to Auburn. And anyone who thinks Urban Meyer wanted Sir Cameron Newton to leave Florida is mistaken. Sir Cameron was told to leave by the university for theft by conversion, not attending class, cheating and various motor vehicle violations while he had his short stay in Gainesville. Urban wanted that young man but Urban could not get past the student-faculty review board after Sir Cameron’s third hearing. Sir Cameron was a great player at Auburn, he single handily gave Auburn its BCS title. He deserves that statue. We all know that The Chiz will be out the door in a couple of years after his 2nd and 3rd pitiful season in a row…2013- or 2014 the Auburn Fambly will have had enough and let him go, it is inevitable. Auburn is disfunctional and even with a good coach like VG the program still fails due to the fact that student athletes on the football team do not graduate, commit major crimes and the one or two assistant coaches are known NCAA cheaters and their former employers have noted it over a period of time.
Urban is a flawed man who wants to improve his tarnished image. If UF had won last year he would have said he brought all those players in and Muschamp won with his players, but he knew he left a team full of flawed players.. His last season on UF’s campus he had a bunch of true Freshmen bow up on the upper classmen and Urban had to baby them all to keep the team together and they still stunk it up on the field and in the police blotter.
Urban will screw up at OSU and he will blame an assistant or a booster and say he is innocent. That is how he rolls.
aprilglaspie
April 10th, 2012
1:02 pm
For those holier than thou Tech players stay four years commenters, how ’bout them Bobby Cremins rent-a-guards? Cremins virtually invented that nonsense in hoops, where it is rampant and far more crooked than football.
WhoCares?
April 10th, 2012
1:09 pm
Please everyone try to recognize now that these kinds of problems dealing with 18, 19 and 20 year olds is not unique to UGA of FL or anywhere else. It comes with the territory, and if you aren’t reading about it at your favorite school you’re either not reading the right stuff or it’s being covered up. This is what happens in college, whether you’re a player or not. And of course it not everyone; but the ones who toe the line don’t get the headlines. Stop throwing acid on one school or the other — everybody’s dealing with this.
GreenDawg
April 10th, 2012
1:22 pm
Come on Mark Bradley.
Mark Richt had just as many arrests as Urban Meyer.
And Mark Richt plays favorites WORSE than Meyer ever did.
The culture of entitlement at UGA is epic. Who else plays Cox & Murray after they combine for 30 interceptions and never get benched or called out in the press by coaches?
Remember when Murray was caught with alcohol possession in a photo at the FSU game, and Richt didn’t do anything because he was his favorite player?
Remember when Ealey, Mett, Gray, Thomas all transferred because they wern’t getting more playing time, even though they earned it?
Realistic fan
April 10th, 2012
1:24 pm
To GT, GTBob and all you other holier than thou Tech fans, have you looked at the going ons in your own program. Better review it before you throw stones. Like probation TWICE in the last 5 years for Cheating and academic fraud and now lying to the NCAA. A baseball player OD’s on drugs, Like football player selling pot, charged with rape, beating their girl friend, asst Tennis coach rape and cocane problem, then Joe Hamilton, Jarvis Crittenden and on and on. And you want to criticize another program for problems with drinking and driving. You can’t see the forest for the trees
GreenDawg
April 10th, 2012
1:34 pm
Saban went 6-7 his first year at Alabama. Turned out ok. This sportswriter totally missed the bus on this one. OF COURSE Will Muschamp and his staff struggled implementing their systems in the FIRST YEAR. OF COURSE Will Muschamp struggled with the toughest October schedule in the nation. Nick Saban went 6-7 in his first year at Alabama. It’s normal.
GreenDawg
April 10th, 2012
1:36 pm
Mark Richt has NEVER ADDRESSED Aaron Murray’s photo of Aaron Murray in alcohol possession at AGE 20, at the FSU game.
Why? Murray is Richt’s favorite. It happens at all schools.
GreenDawg
April 10th, 2012
1:39 pm
I don’t recall any other program in the SEC where the #1 Spring performer at QB and running back, all transfer, 2 years in a row.
Ealey was top back in 2010, he left. Thomas in 2011, he left.
Mett won Spring in 2010, he left, Gray in 2011, he left.
No one else has that happen.
It’s because Richt has BRED a CULTURE OF ENTITLEMENT LIKE NO OTHER IN THE SEC.
It’s not a MERITOCRACY at UGA, it’s about who Richt likes.
PURE ENTITLEMENT.
WDE
April 10th, 2012
1:41 pm
@GreenDawg would you like some cheese with that whine??? Boo hoo someone said something bad about CUM oh the horror..
Gatorhater
April 10th, 2012
1:42 pm
Urban=Liar, cheat, scumbag, fake.
Even as a hater I truly wish better things for Florida.
What is the over/under for his tenure at OSU? Three years? Four?
OSU fans can plan on another NCAA investigation and then Urban is off to the NFL.
gdawginkalamazoo
April 10th, 2012
1:54 pm
GreenDawg is clueless.
Ealey was in the doghouse and getting in trouble. With Crowell coming in he saw the writing on the wall and decided to take a hike instead of competing.
Thomas was suspended and didn’t want to compete behind Crowell and new #1 recruit this year Keith Marshall. He took a hike.
Mett. Don’t even go there. That kid got caught and pleaded guilty to “lesser” charges. Only a good lawyer kept him out of jail. Anyway the alledged attack on the girl didn’t sit well with Richt who practically watched the kid grow up (Mett’s mom is longtime admin assist. in the athletic dept). I know you didn’t know any of that or you wouldn’t have posted your ridiculous post.
Logan Gray was a damn good dog. Murray came in and won the starting position so Gary who had already graduated and had 1 yr of eligibility left. He decided to transfer to Colorado to play on the same team as his brother and pursue an advanced degree that UGA did not offer.
GTBob
April 10th, 2012
1:55 pm
And you want to criticize another program for problems with drinking and driving. You can’t see the forest for the trees
I was just talking about the players on the football team. If you wan’t to start including coaches, and players on other teams and players who have been out of school for a while then go ahead. It is only going to make UGA look worse. It isn’t really relative to the low class football culture created by the SEC and UGA though.
Columbus
April 10th, 2012
1:57 pm
Meyer high-tailed it out of Gainsville for one reason and one reason only: HE was about to lose. His offense worked for a couple of years in the SEC but the other teams had figured it out BUT there was Tebow to overcome that. He was amazing in college. tebow graduated and it was time for meyer to prove he could still do it without Tebow and the writing was on the wall. He knew what most astute fans and defensive coaches in the SEC knew, game over. So he used his health as a way to save face for leaving. He made it even feel better for Florida by suddenly retiring but THEN coming back and they were so happy and loved him so much for the love he had for them! Then he realized for sure that the days of his offense were over in the SEC and promptly retired again. Then he sits around and waits for the PERFECT oppurtunity. A team that is loaded with talent, can recruit well, has a huge fan base and LOTS of money and in a conference that will be dazzled by his offense and defensive coaches that will need 5 years to catch up to it. I agree that Meyer is ALL about Meyer unless you are a Tebow. I thought Tebow had rubbed off on him and i am sure he did but there is so much more rubbing that is needed before Meyer is a good man. He will do very well at OSU but may the SEC remember how to beat his offense every year he makes it to the NC and that will likely be more than once in the next 5 years. I personally hope Michigan takes care of him and they just might…..
GTBob
April 10th, 2012
1:58 pm
It comes with the territory, and if you aren’t reading about it at your favorite school you’re either not reading the right stuff or it’s being covered up.
So every college student is a pot smoking drunk driving criminal and UGA and Florida are the only schools in the nation that don’t cover it up. That sounds logical.
bucket
April 10th, 2012
2:10 pm
@ GreenDawg – how many times was Ealey suspended? How many times was Carlton Thomas suspended? Why did “Mett” transfer? Good Lord dude! You can’t find better examples to prove your point?
Hide Your Eyes
April 10th, 2012
2:20 pm
The article just confirms what most of us (Dawg and Gator fans included) already knew. Meyer is sleazy. The author doesn’t even mention the most brazen incidents, like Meyer suspending a member of his “Circle of Trust” for only half a game after he was caught trying to eye gouge a Georgia player. As proof that the players were actually running the program, Spikes overruled Meyer and, to quiet things down, suspended himself for a full game.
Look In The Mirror
April 10th, 2012
2:26 pm
Arrest, Drug Usage, Inconsistent Play in Big Games. A coach who is not a disciplinarian…
Sounds like UGA and Mark Richt to me..
Tim
April 10th, 2012
2:42 pm
Mark… I would not pay too much attention to anything Matt Hayes writes. He’s the same writer who called Mark Richt one of college football’s “greatest play-callers” a few seasons ago. While I’m a UGA fan, Richt is anything but a great play-caller. Hayes really does not know his butt from a hole in the ground. I well recall your column a few years ago, too, saying Richt needed to relinquish the play-calling. Meyer is still a Gator to me, but I doubt he’s as bad as Hayes is trying to portray him to be.
DawgST
April 10th, 2012
2:52 pm
With muschamp and a bad roster, fla will be down for years! Mark this down–Ga will win the SEC east again with ease and beat alabama for the title!!! The Dawgs—own the SEC east!
W.W.
April 10th, 2012
2:57 pm
Wait! Are you telling me that organized collegiate football,a sport that not only glamorizes but richly rewards awful,criminal behavior is the culprit of ……COVERUP??
This is hypocrisy at its most glaring form-UGA is sleaze central.
lied and hid behind his kids
April 10th, 2012
2:58 pm
Anyone who was paying attention knew this guy was a total fraud. He kept throwing it out there that he had health concerns but would never explain and hid behind his children citing them as the reason why he didn’t want to explain further. Then he goes and gets a job at ESPN soon after and gets back into coaching within a year. He’s a liar and a coward.
SSI Dawg
April 10th, 2012
3:03 pm
@ DawgST – Muschamp’s first year didn’t mean anything. He’s recruiting well down there, and now he’s the guy in charge after a transition season. If his record doesn’t improve significantly in the next 2 years, he’ll be gone and they’ll go throw a bunch of money at a proven coach. I’m sorry, but I just don’t see the 1970’s coming back anytime soon.
DawginLex
April 10th, 2012
3:12 pm
greendawg
you are a disgrace to your blog handle
you are no DAWG
You are an idiot
Defending Ealey?
Defending Mett?
Mett transferred? Not quite Einstein.
I hope you don’t ever sit near me during a game
Talk about being shot by his own troops……………….
Galen Pell
April 10th, 2012
3:22 pm
Florida, like Tennessee, is returning to the station God intended … consistently decent, but nothing special.
meyer--lied
April 10th, 2012
3:40 pm
meyer lied about his health problems when he knew his roster was going to have big problems–then he took the osu job and made up some phony excuse about his family, etc. He’s corrupt.
Ray Goof
April 10th, 2012
3:45 pm
Let’s see: Flagship university in the state with the best high school talent with the third largest athletic budget in the country. Yep. I’ll bet that UF is just going to drop off the college football map, never to be heard from again.