--I have two thoughts about this article and neither of them are good.
First, if things really happened as was told, this is a ridiculous violation. If I am the young recruit, I would have asked the same thing. In fact, if anyone of you ever happens to be talking to Tim Tebow, I too wish him well and I hope he does get another chance at the NFL.
Second, how could Tim Tebow be criticized here? He is having a meal with his former coach and he hands him the telephone. Did he even know it was a recruit?
Sometimes I want to forget Bianchi is a Gator.
Jerry
From: gatornews@googlegroups.com [mailto:gatornews@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of John Vega
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2014 12:16 PM
To: GatorNews
Subject: [gatornews] Bianchi Column: Gators not happy about Urban Meyer turning Tim Tebow into Ohio State recruiting tool
Mike BianchiSPORTS COMMENTARY
7:18 p.m. EST, March 1, 2014
Tried to tell everybody about Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, but nobody would listen.
Not even Tim Tebow.
I said it a year ago and I'll say it again now: When it comes to landing a recruit, Meyer doesn't care what it takes — even if it means selling out Tebow to Gators fans in the process.
· Mike Bianchi
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"I love Coach Meyer, and he's like a father figure to me," Tebow told me about a year-and-half ago when reports first began to surface that Meyer was trying to turn Tebow into a surrogate Buckeye. "He would never ask me to help him recruit for Ohio State."
Photos: Sports Illustrated swimsuit models
Timmy, Timmy, Timmy.
So pure. So innocent. So naïve.
And now so embarrassed.
How insulting and unfair that Tebow had to stomach these headlines earlier this week:
"Meyer, Tebow violate NCAA rule."
"Tim Tebow call to recruit results in Ohio State NCAA violation."
"Tim Tebow, Urban Meyer's former player, to blame for NCAA violation."
That's right, Meyer — the renowned recruiting glutton — dragged Timmy Terrific's name through the mud because he couldn't resist using his relationship with Tebow to try to impress a stud prospect.
According to a report in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Meyer was on vacation a year ago and eating lunch with Tebow and other friends and family members when he got a call from blue-chip linebacker Clifton Garrett. According to the story, Meyer reportedly handed Tebow the phone when Garrett asked if he could wish Tebow good luck in his future NFL endeavors. Meyer claimed he wasn't using Tebow for recruiting purposes … and that it was an unintentional violation of NCAA rules … and the conversation between Tebow and Garrett lasted only eight seconds.
My question: Did Meyer actually have a stopwatch on hand to time the conversation? Otherwise, how did he know it was 8 seconds instead of 10 seconds or 15 seconds … or 30 seconds? And how ridiculous is it for Meyer to claim it was an unintentional violation? I spoke to a college administrator on Friday who said every coach knows that celebrities (or former players) who aren't employed by the university are forbidden from being involved in the recruiting process.
"That is NCAA Compliance 101," the administrator said.
The violation became public when Garrett, who eventually committed to LSU, tweeted out this dispatch to his Twitter followers: "I just called Coach Meyer just ta see whats up and next thing you know I was talking on the phone to TIM TEBOW!!! #InShockRightNow #Insane!"
Granted, in the grand scheme of NCAA rule-breaking this is no big deal and is considered a minor violation, but it shows once again why University of Florida fans have such disdain for Meyer even though he won two national titles at the school.
Meyer and his Ohio State underlings are the same people who turned in UF coach Will Muschamp's staff for a couple of ticky-tack violations that turned out to be non-violations.
Meyer is also the same coach who when he first got to Ohio State actually had the audacity to negatively recruit against the program he left behind at UF. According to a Sporting News report at the time, Meyer relentlessly pursued Maryland prep All-American wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who'd narrowed his choices to Ohio State, Florida and Maryland. In the midst of the recruiting process, Meyer "told the Diggs family that he wouldn't let his son go to Florida because of significant character issues in the locker room."
Does it get any more ruthless than that? Meyer used the discipline and characters problems he left behind in Florida to try to lure recruits to Ohio State. And now he has tried to use the Gators' No. 1 character guy of all time — Tebow — to also lure recruits to Ohio State.
I've said this before and I'll say it again: Meyer should know better than to drag Tebow — the ultimate Gator — into his dysfunctional relationship with UF and its fans. Many Florida fans, coaches and administrators don't trust Meyer, not only because of how he left UF but because of some of the questionable things he's done on the recruiting trail since departing.
Turning Tebow into an honorary Buckeye just doesn't sit well with many Gator faithful, especially after the article last year in the Plain Dealer in which Tebow talked about how he has become a big Ohio State fan and Meyer said he was going to "push for" Tebow to come to Columbus and tutor quarterback Braxton Miller. After the article came out, I contacted Tebow and he wanted to assure UF fans he is not a Gator traitor.
"My parents are Gators, I was born a Gator, I played for the Gators, I gave my heart to the University of Florida and I'll always be a Gator," Tebow told me after the Plain Dealer article ruffled UF feathers.
The latest incident in which Meyer put Tebow on the phone with a potential Ohio State recruit has caused even more raised eyebrows in UF's athletic department and and added to the Gator Nation consternation.
Let's hear it for Urban Meyer — the only man in America who could turn Tim Tebow into an NCAA rule-breaker.
This may be his most unbelievable coaching accomplishment yet.
mbianchi@tribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at BianchiWrites. Listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on 740-AM.
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
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Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
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