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Meyer's Players Getting It

By David Bloom

It was late last year that the foundation was put in place that in order for goals to be achieved they would have to do it as a team.

Brown, Mincey and Herring wanted to leave the University of Florida as winners. They knew they couldn't do it alone and they made impassioned pleas to convince their teammates to put aside all the petty arguments, to stop all the finger-pointing and end all the selfish behavior. Meyer saw a team come together that November night in The Swamp when FSU was destroyed and he saw the team continue to build upon that success the entire month of December when they practiced for the Outback Bowl.

The momentum of those final two games carried over into winter workouts and the just-concluded spring drills. Meyer spent as much time team-building as he did taking the Gators through the paces on the practice field. He got a boost along the way from Coach Billy Donovan and his national championship basketball team. Meyer took the time Wednesday night to praise Coach Billy Donovan and his team for "doing it the right way" and mentioned that the football team can take a few lessons in unselfishness and caring about each other from their basketball brethren.

Coach Meyer has noticed the difference this year as the players have continued with the team based approach. Put simply, Coach Meyer has his delivered a team

"Last year the problem was guys who were not playmakers saying they should be getting the football," Meyer said. "I haven't had one issue with that this year. Not one player has been in my office asking why (they aren't getting enough touches).

"Either they are starting to believe in the team concept or they are not asking me. It has been a lot of fun to coach this team so far."