Meyer doesn’t See UF vs. Spurrier This Week

Florida coach Urban Meyer had his weekly stint on the SEC Teleconference Wednesday and as you might expect the topic of Steve Spurrier just happened to come up among other things.

Here are some excerpts:

Has the idea of Florida against Spurrier gone away?

“I don’t think it’s gone away. There’s no animosity. I think people were trying to create something that’s not there other than great respect by the Gator Nation and the current coaching staff and current players. I think it’s still there and that’s always going to be there. Just go walk out in the stadium and look up at the side of the wall at a bunch of great stuff that coach has done.”

About Charlie Strong’s goal of becoming a head coach:

“Charlie is more than a coach. We’re very close friends and our families are very close. We’ve been that way since the mid nineties when we were together at Notre Dame. We love Charlie and he’s obviously a tremendous coach. I did talk to him more in the summer, but we had a brief conversation (recently). The great thing is he even mentioned to me that his focus is (on this team) through December when the season’s over.”

Do “race” issues matter in Charlie getting an opportunity?

“I would like to think it wouldn’t. I just keep my head down and coach as hard as I can and have great respect for whoever (is on the other side). Obviously he’s one of my closest friends. I would hope not, but I don’t live that. I know it plays no part at the University of Florida.”

On how he handles things within his staff:

“Every year we go away on a retreat as a coaching staff and I always talk about because when you’re at Florida that’s part of the deal. However your loyalty is to this football team, these players and the program. Once the season is over let’s handle this professionally. The interviews and phone calls and other stuff, people call them, I’m sure our guys aren’t doing that (but) I’ve lost five in two years.”

On the South Carolina defense:

“They are very well coached and have very good personnel. They’ve recruited fantastic athletes and we think (Eric) Norwood is a candidate for defensive player of the year in the conference. The personnel on that defensive team since we’ve coached against them has been top five in our league and this is no exception. In fact I’d probably put them higher.”

On settling for more field goals because of Sturgis and defense:

“If you’re not playing good defense you need to score all the points you can. (But) If you play good defense it’s about (taking care of) possessions. I have a lot of confidence in our kicker and when he hits it that thing is a rocket shot.”