Florida football coach Urban Meyer was in Tampa on Thursday night for the annual Gator Gathering sponsored by the Tampa Gator Club. Here are some highlights of Meyer's speech and his interview with the media earlier in the day:
Theme of the day
Take nothing for granted or it will be taken from you. Meyer reminded the crowd Florida has won just two national titles in 101 years, saying everyone associated with the program needs to be more appreciative of its success and how hard it is to achieve. "Not at Florida anymore are we ever going to take that for granted. No chance."
Cooper's new role
Junior receiver Riley Cooper, the Clearwater native who joined the Gator baseball team in the spring, will continue playing this summer — in Virginia, Meyer believes. "That was part of the deal when we recruited him, he's a guy that could have a future in baseball or football,'' Meyer said. "He had an injury to his hand, then he had an injury to his feet, so we've just got to get him healthy. But I think he has a chance to be a real good player."
Davis in limbo
Sophomore DL Torrey Davis continues to have academic issues, but Meyer said he believes the former Armwood standout has a good shot of being eligible when fall practice begins: "Torrey we're still waiting on. It's just eligibility-dependent, which really means summer school. He has to do well in summer school."
Wilson's return?
Former OG Ronnie Wilson is attending school and could earn his way back onto the team. The operative word is "could." Wilson was dismissed after he was charged with two misdemeanors for firing a semi-automatic weapon into the air during an argument with another man. He received deferred prosecution.
"One thing we always have done is give a guy a chance," Meyer said. "He's not on scholarship, he has nothing to do with the football program. … If you can get yourself right and everything else, I'll evaluate that at the right time with the leadership team. The right time is not yet (for Wilson). From what I understand, (co-defensive coordinator) Charlie Strong is dealing with him right now. But he is certainly not part of the program. He has nothing to do with the team.''
Antonya English, Times staff writer
Best line
"We have a (video) here to show you some of the great things going on at Florida. Can you imagine some people have to go support their school, and they're awful. Some people wake up in a bad area, have bad jobs, go to a bad school and they have a bad team. But they feel obligated. We don't have that."
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