Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Florida No. 1 in preseason baseball poll

Florida was picked No. 1 in Baseball America's preseason Top 25 rankings released on Tuesday for the second year in a row and the second time in school history.

Miami was selected at No. 18, Florida State was 20th and UCF is No. 21.

Last season, UF was 53-19, finished second at the NCAA College World Series for the second time and established a school record for victories. Florida made the trip to Omaha in consecutive seasons for the first time and reached the CWS for the seventh time in school history (1988, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2010, 2011).

Stanford is ranked second, while South Carolina begins its quest for a third-straight national championship with a No. 3 ranking. Fellow CWS participants Texas A&M (7), North Carolina (9), Vanderbilt (10) and Texas (13) also earned spots in the preseason rankings.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Gator football player settles legal issue

Florida redshirt freshman defensive tackle Leon Orr of Tampa has reached a deferral agreement with the State Attorney Office over an arrest in early January in which he allegedly had drug paraphernalia taken from his dorm room.

Gainesville State Attorney Bill Cervone told FLORIDA TODAY on Monday that the case has been settled. Orr had no prior record other than minor traffic tickets.

"A deferral agreement and a second chance is the usual resolution for a first offender with a charge of this nature,'' Cervone told FLORIDA TODAY. "And hopefully he learns a lesson from it, as there won't be a third chance.''

Orr, who faced misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana under 20 grams, saw limited action this past season with 10 tackles and one sack.

He originally had a Feb. 8 court date but the deferral was reached when he agreed to conditions of $50 cost of prosecution and to either pay a $150 fine or do 12 1/2 hours of community service.

The 6-foot-5, 310-pound former New Port Richey Gulf stand out was ranked the No. 8 defensive tackle recruit in the nation by Rivals.com and signed with Florida in 2010.

He was also selected to the Top 150 Dream Team by PrepStar Magazine.


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Friday, January 13, 2012

Gator senior football players in all-star events

Florida quarterback John Brantley is among several Gators senior football players who will compete in all-star games in the next few weeks. He has been picked to play in the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 21 at 4 p.m.

The game will be televised by the NFL Network.

The "Battle of Florida'' is also on Jan. 21 in Boca Raton at 8 p.m. on Fox College Sports. Florida defensive end William Green, wide out Deonte Thompson and offensive lineman Dan Wenger will be in that contest.

Florida defensive lineman Jaye Howard and running back Chris Rainey will be in the Jan. 28 Senior Bowl, at 4 p.m. on the NFL Network from Mobile.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

UF officially announces Pease hiring

Florida announced today that Brent Pease has been hired as the new offensive coordinator, replacing Charlie Weis after he departed for the head coaching job at Kansas.

A 21-year coaching veteran at five different schools, Pease spent the previous six seasons at Boise State. He has served 11 seasons as an offensive coordinator and has coached at his alma mater, Montana (1991-98), as well as Northern Arizona (1999-2000), Kentucky (2001-02) and Baylor (2003-05).

"I'm excited to join the University of Florida football family and The Gator Nation,'' Pease said in a statement released by the school. "I’ve always had the utmost respect for Coach Muschamp and the UF program and I’m honored to have the opportunity to work at one of the premier institutions in the nation.

"I look forward to working with a tremendous coaching staff and, from what I hear, a great group of eager, young football players. Coach (Will) Muschamp and I share a lot of the same philosophies so this was a perfect fit. I want to be multiple in our offensive formations and have a balanced attack with tempo. I firmly believe in being fundamentally sound and red-zone efficient. I want to develop our players in a pro-style offense that can help them at the next level.''

Pease coached in a bowl game in each of his six seasons at Boise State, including a pair of Fiesta Bowl victories. He has reached the postseason 13 times in his career, highlighted by a national championship in 1995 at Montana. During his tenure at Boise State, Pease and the Broncos posted a 73-6 (.924) record, four conference championships and ranked in the top five of the final Associated Press Poll twice.

He served as BSU’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks’ coach in 2011 after spending the previous five seasons as the team’s wide receivers coach and four as the assistant head coach. The Broncos averaged 44.2 points and 481.3 yards per game en route to a 12-1 overall record and a 56-24 victory in the Las Vegas Bowl over Arizona State.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Gator basketball team banged up

Florida's basketball team is dealing with some health issues heading in Saturday's SEC opener at 11 a.m. at Tennessee on ESPN2.

Forward Erik Murphy had a cut over his eye that required stitches after taking a hit from center Patric Young in Thursday's practice while guard Mike Rosario is hurting from an ankle problem and forward Casey Prather is dealing with sickness.

"It was one of those things where they both went up for a rebound, yeah, and Pat kind of came down,'' UF coach Billy Donovan said of Murphy's injury. "They both were going for it and Pat’s elbow came down on top of his eye. I think he got it right across the bone (brow bone). He probably needs three or four stitches. He’ll probably be back in practice (Friday).

"I think the biggest thing you worry about in those situations, and I say that anytime a guy gets hit there, are there any concussion-like symptoms? And he’s not having that right now. So provided he doesn’t have that, the cut is not going to prevent him from being out of practice (Friday) and, or the game. I think it’s the right eye. He had a towel over his face because he was bleeding so bad. But I don’t know.''

Prather returned to practice on Thursday.

"He had some stomach issues, wasn't feeling well and obviously he didn't make the trip to Rutgers and I still think he's getting over that,'' Donovan said. "Rosario was no go today in practice. He's still dealing with his ankle sprain right now. I'm not sure when we'll get him back or what kind of availability he'll have (Friday) in practice. Obviously if he doesn't practice (Friday) he's not going to play. But we're trying to maybe get him looked at by a doctor, take an X-ray and MRI to see if there's any more to it than what we think it is.''

Florida (12-3) beat Tennessee (7-7) three times last season, including the SEC Tournament meeting, a school first. The Vols return just one starter from a year ago.






ERIK MURPHY’S INJURY:

Happened in today’s practice
He had stiches and missed part of practice . I don’t think he’ll miss practice tomorrow and I don’t think he’ll be out for the game.

WAS IT YOUNG?
Well it was one of those things where they both went up for a rebound, yeah, and Pat kind of came down. They both were going for it and Pat’s elbow came down on top of his eye. I think he got it right across the bone (brow bone). He probably needs three or four stiches. He’ll probably be back in practice tomorrow. I think the biggest thing you worry about in those situations, and I say that anytime a guy gets hit there, are there any concussion-like symptoms? And he’s not having that right now. So provided he doesn’t have that, the cut is not going to prevent him from being out of practice tomorrow and/or the game.
I think it’s the right eye. He had a towel over his face because he was bleeding so bad. But I don’t know.


ON ROSARIO AND PRATHER
PRATHER should be good to go, he practiced today. He had some stomach issues, wasn't feeling well and obviously he didn't make the trip to Rutgers and I still think he's getting over that. Rosario was no go today in practice. He's still dealign with his ankle sprain right now. I'm not sure when we'll get him back or what kind of availibility he'll have tomorrow in practice. Obviously if he doesn't practice tomorrow he's not going to play. But we're trying to maybe get him looked at by a doctor, take an X-ray and MRI to see if there's any more to it than what we think it is.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It happened in the Yale game. We had one day (between games) and he wasn't able to go on Friday, then didn't play obviously on Saturday. And he's just still being ailed by it. So un

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Gator assistant strength coach headed to Kansas

Scott Holsopple, assistant director of strength and conditioning at Florida, has been named the director of strength and conditioning for Football at Kansas, where Gators offensive coordinator Charlie Weis takes over as the new head coach.

Holsopple joined the Florida staff in May 2007, after spending the 2006-07 season with the Kentucky men's basketball team.

Rainey, Howard picked for Senior Bowl

Running back Chris Rainey and defensive tackle Jaye Howard were selected to play in the Jan. 28 Senior Bowl.

Rainey ran for 861 yards and had another 381 in receiving for the Gators in his senior season. He also blocked a punt in the Gator Bowl to give him an SEC record six blocked kicks in his career.

Howard was an honorable mention All-SEC selection by the Associated Press, finished fourth on the team in tackles this season with 65, including 10 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, two pass breakups and two fumble recoveries—one of which he returned for a touchdown. He also tallied 1.5 sacks in the Gators’ bowl victory over Ohio State and was a part of a defensive unit that totaled six sacks in the game.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Dillman new strength coach at Florida

Jeff Dillman, the head of physical conditioning at IMG Performance Institute in Bradenton, has been hired as the new director of strength and conditioning at Florida.

He replaces Mickey Marotti, who has joined Urban Meyer at Ohio State.

Dillman spent the last couple of years at IMG largely focusing on getting former college stars ready for college all-star games and the NFL combine. Several players he worked with set bench press records at the combine in the past.

Prior to going to IMG he oversaw back-to-back national titles as the head strength and conditioning coach at Appalachian State in 2006 and 2007 and also served on the staff at LSU for its SEC and BCS Championships in 2003.

"I'm excited to have Jeff join our staff. He is a perfect fit for what we were looking for,'' UF football coach Will Muschamp said in a statement. "He has trained athletes at the highest caliber on every level _ from high school, to college to the NFL. Jeff knows what physical and mental tools are needed to be successful and has a developmental plan to make every player better. He has a championship pedigree and his results speak for themselves. He will be the catalyst for kick-starting our off-season program with the number one goal of making our football program a tougher program. We will be a blue-collar program built with toughness and Jeff is the man to lead that charge.''

"I'm honored to be joining the prestigious University of Florida athletic department and look forward to working in concert with the strength and conditioning staff and the student athletes for all 21 sports,'' said Dillman. "I'm excited to reunite with Coach Muschamp as he continues to build a championship program in Gainesville. We share many basic philosophies _ starting with mental and physical toughness.

"I'm a big believer in doing the little things right. Every day we will calculate the right attitude for training. Nothing gets in the way of our goal to be the best that we can be. We will always fight and finish strong _ on the field, in the weight room, in the classroom and in life. Hard work beats talent when talent's not working.''

A native of Rockingham, N.C., Dillman was a football letterman at Elon College before he transferred to Appalachian State University, where he completed his football eligibility. He earned a bachelor's degree in Exercise Science.

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Florida loses lineman for Gator Bowl

Florida will be without offensive tackle Matt Patchan in Monday's Gator Bowl game against Ohio State after being hurt in practice this week.

“He had a lat injury. It’s on his back, a re-aggravation of something during the season. We had a physical bowl practice and preparation for what we’re trying to do to improve our football team and get ready for the game. It’s an unfortunate injury,'' UF coach Will Muschamp said on Saturday.

Chaz Green and Xavier Nixon will be the starters.

“And Nick Alajajian will play tackle as well. Kyle Koehne will be the fourth,'' Muschamp said.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Howard making an NFL push?

Florida senior defensive tackle Jaye Howard is one of the few Gator players who probably did a lot of good for his NFL future this season.

He'll play his final college game on Monday against Ohio State in the Gator Bowl.

"I thought Jaye played well,'' Gators coach Will Muschamp said. "Jaye’s played himself into a decent situation there for April. He really has. He’s played well, he blocks well. You talk to a lot of people that have played us and they all compliment how he’s played and how much better he’s played, his pad level, his hustle to the ball and finishing plays. He’s done a nice job.''

April is the NFL Draft.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Gators' Hunter won't look into early NFL chances

Gators junior defensive tackle Omar Hunter won't petition the NFL to find out his draft status.

"I’m coming back just because I talked to my coaches and I know they’ve got the best interests for me, and they told me, 'Omar, we think you should stick around,''' Hunter said on Wednesday after practice at Jacksonville University for the Jan. 2 Gator Bowl. "I’m going to stick around. I trust them 110 percent and I know they’re going to develop me the right way and the right way I need to be developed and I’m looking forward. I wouldn’t even think about (finding out his draft status). If they tell me that’d be the best thing for me, that’s the best thing for me.''

There are some others who could pondering checking on draft status, however. Linebacker Jelani Jenkins, a third-year sophomore got a little testy when asked if he would petition the NFL.

He snapped that his team's focus was on Ohio State.

2012 SEC football schedule team by team

The SEC released its 2012 football schedules today, with Missouri (in the East) and Texas A&M (in the West) joining the league next fall. Below are league games only for each school:



ALABAMA

Sept. 15 at Arkansas

Sept. 29 OLE MISS

Oct. 13 at Missouri

Oct. 20 at Tennessee

Oct. 27 MISSISSIPPI STATE

Nov. 3 at LSU

Nov. 10 TEXAS A&M

Nov. 24 AUBURN



ARKANSAS

Sept. 15 ALABAMA

Sept. 29 vs. Texas A&M

Oct. 6 at Auburn

Oct. 13 KENTUCKY

Oct. 27 OLE MISS

Nov. 10 at South Carolina

Nov. 17 at Mississippi State

Nov. 24 LSU



AUBURN

Sept. 8 at Mississippi State

Sept. 22 LSU

Oct. 6 ARKANSAS

Oct. 13 at Ole Miss

Oct. 20 at Vanderbilt

Oct. 27 TEXAS A&M

Nov. 10 GEORGIA

Nov. 24 at Alabama



FLORIDA

Sept. 8 at Texas A&M

Sept. 15 at Tennessee

Sept. 22 KENTUCKY

Oct. 6 LSU

Oct. 13 at Vanderbilt

Oct. 20 SOUTH CAROLINA

Oct. 27 vs. Georgia (Jacksonville)

Nov. 3 MISSOURI



GEORGIA

Sept. 8 at Missouri

Sept. 22 VANDERBILT

Sept. 29 TENNESSEE

Oct. 6 at South Carolina

Oct. 20 at Kentucky

Oct. 27 vs. Florida (Jacksonville)

Nov. 3 OLE MISS

Nov. 10 at Auburn



KENTUCKY

Sept. 22 at Florida

Sept. 29 SOUTH CAROLINA

Oct. 6 MISSISSIPPI STATE

Oct. 13 at Arkansas

Oct. 20 GEORGIA

Oct. 27 at Missouri

Nov. 3 VANDERBILT

Nov. 24 at Tennessee



LSU

Sept. 22 at Auburn

Oct. 6 at Florida

Oct. 13 SOUTH CAROLINA

Oct. 20 at Texas A&M

Nov. 3 ALABAMA

Nov. 10 MISSISSIPPI STATE

Nov. 17 OLE MISS

Nov. 24 at Arkansas



OLE MISS

Sept. 29 at Alabama

Oct. 6 TEXAS A&M

Oct. 13 AUBURN

Oct. 27 at Arkansas

Nov. 3 at Georgia

Nov. 10 VANDERBILT

Nov. 17 at LSU

Nov. 24 MISSISSIPPI STATE



MISSISSIPPI STATE

Sept. 8 AUBURN

Oct. 6 at Kentucky

Oct. 13 TENNESSEE

Oct. 27 at Alabama

Nov. 3 TEXAS A&M

Nov. 10 at LSU

Nov. 17 ARKANSAS

Nov. 24 at Ole Miss



MISSOURI

Sept. 8 GEORGIA

Sept. 22 at South Carolina

Oct. 6 VANDERBILT

Oct. 13 ALABAMA

Oct. 27 KENTUCKY

Nov. 3 at Florida

Nov. 10 at Tennessee

Nov. 24 at Texas A&M





SOUTH CAROLINA

Aug. 30 at Vanderbilt

Sept. 22 MISSOURI

Sept. 29 at Kentucky

Oct. 6 GEORGIA

Oct. 13 at LSU

Oct. 20 at Florida

Oct. 27 TENNESSEE

Nov. 10 ARKANSAS



TENNESSEE

Sept. 15 FLORIDA

Sept. 29 at Georgia

Oct. 13 at Mississippi State

Oct. 20 ALABAMA

Oct. 27 at South Carolina

Nov. 10 MISSOURI

Nov. 17 at Vanderbilt

Nov. 24 KENTUCKY



TEXAS A&M

Sept. 8 FLORIDA

Sept. 29 vs. Arkansas

Oct. 6 at Ole Miss

Oct. 20 LSU

Oct. 27 at Auburn

Nov. 3 at Mississippi State

Nov. 10 at Alabama

Nov. 24 MISSOURI



VANDERBILT

Aug. 30 SOUTH CAROLINA

Sept. 22 at Georgia

Oct. 6 at Missouri

Oct. 13 FLORIDA

Oct. 20 AUBURN

Nov. 3 at Kentucky

Nov. 10 at Ole Miss

Nov. 17 TENNESSEE