Just like several other Florida commits, Gerald Christian said that he was shocked when he heard about the news that Urban Meyer was taking an indefinite leave of absence due to health reasons.

But just like those same propsetcs, the West Palm Beach (Fla.) Dwyer Tight End, has stuck to his word, and will join the University of Florida. Christian said that he will not be looking anywhere else.

After the news broke out that wide receivers coach Billy Gonzalez leaving to go coach at LSU and defensive coordinator Charlie Strong was leaving to take the head coaching job at Louisville, worries started to form.

“It looked like it might be going downhill,” Christian said.

The Gators seemed able to keep balance and as well as their recruiting class. His teammate at Dwyer, Robert Clark, rumored to be looking around at other schools Christian said, but he will start at Florida soon. Matt Elam who everybody thought was a for sure Gator, is a teammate of Christian and Clark. Elam decommitted from Florida and is now a Seminole, but it doesn’t stop Christian from changing his mind. Christian said he is excited with his future in Gainesville with Clark expected to be there as well.

“He’s going to the University of Florida,” Christian said. “He starts school (soon). That will be helpful knowing I have a teammate going.”

With the decision from Aaron Hernandez to leave early for the NFL draft, Christian may get a golden opportunity to play tight end as a freshman for the Gators.

(Quotes/info gathered by Adam Gorney from GatorBait.)

In Tim Tebow’s final game as a Gator in the Sugar Bowl, he was at this best. He threw for Touchdowns, he ran for another. He carved up the University of Cincinnati’s defense like a Holiday Turkey. It was vintage Tebow.

The Gators defense was stifling as well. They held UC’s undefeated, high powered offense to 3 measly points in the first half. When UF went to the locker room at halftime up 30-3, it was all over but the curtain calls.

How is this one of UF’s most impressive wins? After all, the Gators have won three national titles. In winning those games, the Gators beat three #1 ranked teams all by double digits. How do you rank this game among those? You have to put this win in perspective, right? Sure you do. Let’s look at the big picture here.

Before this game, the Gators played in a battle for all the marbles with Alabama. It was two unbeaten teams going at it for the SEC Title and a trip to the BCS Title Game. The loser would end up with nothing but a consolation trip to the Sugar Bowl. There would be no rings for the loser. That team despite a perfect regular season would go away empty handed. They would then have to regroup and play an unbeaten team in the Sugar Bowl. Wait, where have we heard this before? Oh yeah. Last year.

Last year, was a blocked extra point away from being the exact same scenario. The SEC Championship Game was a winner take all, National Semi Final Game. The loser would be sent to New Orleans. Florida was the winner, who went on to win the BCS Championship. Alabama was the loser. The devastated Tide trudged off to the Big Easy and got hammered by a hungry unbeaten Utah team. It was hard to blame them. How do you bounce back from losing everything, the SEC, The BCS, the perfect season, to play Utah? Predictably the Tide was out.

This year, that shoe was on the Gators’ foot. Then add to all that, the drama of Urban Meyer’s health related resignation/leave of absence drama the week before the game. This had the makings of a disaster. I admit, I thought the Gators would get beat. Who could blame them? Not me. But the Gators showed exactly why they are the premiere program in college football today. They went out an dismantled the Bearcats. They won’t win any championships this year, but the college football world watched that game. They know. I guarantee there were some Texas fans glad it’s not Tim Tebow they will have to beat on Thursday. I bet there were some Bammers thanking their lucky stars for Carlos Dunlap’s bartender too.

Winning games with titles on the line is one thing. But when you can go out and beat down an unbeaten conference champ with seemingly nothing going right for you, that’s what makes you elite. It’s a shame the 2009 Gators won’t be commemorated on the facade at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. After that game, they deserve to be.

By: James Folsom

he craziness of this past weekend has left the Florida football program with a lot of unanswered questions. This has the potential to be a train wreck if not handled properly. The Gators run the risk of a mass exodus by this year’s junior class, defections in this year’s recruiting class, and possible long term recruiting ills that may be tough to recover from. When Billy Donovan made his infamous flip flop, we know that it AT LEAST cost him Patrick Patterson. We can only guess at who else may have passed on UF because of it.

Questions that need answers include:

1. What happens if a year goes by and Meyer’s health has not improved? Does Addazio keep the job as head coach? Do we go after another coach for 2011?

2. What do we do about a new offensive and defensive coordinator? Do we promote from within and hire young assistants to take lower level jobs, or go after an up and coming coach for those positions? When Meyer comes back, what then happens to Addazio?

3. What if Meyer decides 2010 is too soon but would like to come back in 2011? What if 2010 turns out to be an awful season? Can we fire Addazio?

4. What if recruits start bailing? Does Meyer try to come back too soon?

5. Can Meyer learn to take it easier when he does come back so as not to have these health issues again?

6. If he does learn to take it easier, will he be as effective at his job. Is the reason he is among the best football coaches in the game BECAUSE he is so intense and will a more mild Urban be less effective?

7. What does Foley do if the more mellow Meyer isn’t as successful as the previous version? Can you really fire a guy for putting his priorities in order? How do you explain to the fans and boosters that Meyer’s health and family life are more important than winning the SEC?

There is a lot at stake in the coming months for the Gator football program. And it seems that a lot of it is out of the control of Foley and Meyer. But it will keep UF in the news. So it will be interesting.

By: James Folsom

Even after Coach Meyer decided to take a leave of absence, Joshua Shaw, a committed recruit to the Gators will stay loyal to his word.

Shaw is a defensive back from Palmdale High School in California. He is ranked by Scouts.com to be the third best DB in the nation and a four star recruit. With his great size, blue chip speed and strength, and great agility, Coach Meyer perceived Shaw as a necessity to his team. Meyer recruited Shaw strongly and formed a “father-son relationship” with him.

When the news broke of Urban Meyer resigning as the head coach, Shaw, shocked, stated, “I didn’t believe it.” Shaw knew that his health issue must be serious for him to leave his wonder job. Shaw was immediately concerned with the health of Meyer and at once emailed the coach, and then followed up with a phone call. Shaw said that, “My main thing was just making sure he was OK.” His main priority was to ensure that Meyer was all right. He was not concerned with his own situation, but with Coach Meyer’s.

Shaw and Meyer spoke on the phone and he insured Shaw that he was not going anywhere. He discussed with Meyer and they both agreed that he would not commit nor speak to other schools. Shaw stated at this point that, “I just left it in God’s hands.” The two spoke on the phone again before Coach Meyer’s press conference on Sunday and Meyer basically stated that he was staying actively involved at Florida so therefore, it was safe for Shaw to remain committed to the Gators. This was a positive message for the recruit.

Shaw stated that, all of this worked out great because after the Under Armour game and he was headed up to Gainesville to get situated after orientation on January 4th. Shaw said that, “I just left it in God’s hands and it all worked out and I am 100 percent Gator.”

All in all, Joshua Shaw will remain a Gator even though Urban Meyer is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team. We can expect Shaw to be on the Gator practice field come this spring.

(Info gathered by both scout.com and JC Shurburtt from ESPN)

By: Justin Rectenwald