Are You Ready To Rock?

Sunday, day two of the Florida Media Days for college football coaches, was the day of the rock star.

Urban Meyer's appearance at the Caribe Royale resort in Orlando was a must for local media. Every columnist, TV guy, and radio reporter within five area codes showed up. David Steele, the Orlando Magic play by play announcer who spent several years as the radio voice of the Gators, used this morning to meet Meyer for the first time.

Backstory: I have known David for a long time. He is a neighbor of mine, and a co-worker at Sun Sports. I know his kids, I know his wife. He is a friend, as well as a professional mentor, whether he knows that or not. In his time as a talking head, he has seen it all, and is not given to hyperbole. David is my professional voice of reason. I was keenly interested to see how he would react to Meyer, and all that goes with him.

Sun Sports had scheduled a one-on-one interview with Meyer before he took the podium to address the media. Since I interviewed Meyer for our "Under The Lights" special and introduced him at an Orlando Gator club gathering at Church Street this summer, we decided that I should conduct the interview and moderate his talk with the press - trying to keep him comfortable, I suppose. I was heartened to hear his first comment to me when he sat down: "That 'Under The Lights' thing came out pretty good, didn't it?"

Yes, coach, it did.

"Some of our assistants took a copy of that show on the road during recruiting trips."

Really? Sweet. I told him that we at Sun Sports had received tremendously positive feedback on that show. He said that the folks in Gainesville had heard the same. I innocently suggested that we should package that show into a DVD and sell it. His eyes got wide.

"Are they going to do that?" he asked. Clearly, he found that to be a terrific idea.

I told him that it wasn't likely, but I thought it would work if we did it. The wheels were obviously turning in his mind.

Once we finished our interview - standard preseason stuff, most of which you will see on future episodes of Chevy Tailgate Saturday - Meyer was introduced to David for the first time.

Steve McClain, the UF Assistant AD who serves as the sports information contact for football and never leaves Meyer's side, explained to Meyer that David is the Sun Sports play-by-play announcer for "Breakfast with the Gators," our exclusive replay of every UF football game. Mild interest from Meyer.

Then, Steve explained that David was once the radio guy for UF, before Mick, and had worked with Charley Pell and Galen Hall. Once again, Meyer's eyes lit up.

Urban Meyer appreciates history, especially as it pertains to Florida football. Once he understood who David was, and made the connection to Gator football history, he wouldn't leave it alone. The two men talked like old friends for half an hour. David entertained all of us with hysterical stories of Pell and Hall, and Meyer ate it up. It was wonderful to watch.

Once they were finished, and Meyer had completed his tour of the media in the lobby of the hotel, I asked David - my muse as a TV guy - what he thought.

"He's amazing. Controls the room. Now, I get it."

You had to be there, friends. You had to be there.

One other note from day two of the Media Weekend: Steve Gilbert, the personable head coach at Jacksonville University, had the unfortunate draw of following Meyer at the podium. This is something close to being Maroon 5 following Bruce Springsteen at a free concert in Central Park.

But give Gilbert tons of credit - he got there early, to hear Meyer speak, and stayed there late, to hear George O'Leary of UCF. He was committed to learning. The same was true on Saturday for Webber head coach Rod Shafer, who arrived several hours in advance of his scheduled time in order to hear Coker and Bowden speak.

Small college football is alive and well in Florida, and the coaches involved get it. There is no ego here, just open minds. They know where they want to be someday, and they know how to get there. It's just a matter of listening.

Bethune-Cookman legend Alvin Wyatt arrived in plenty of time to hear new FAMU head coach Rubin Carter speak to the media. They greeted each other as old friends, more so than Wyatt and Billy Joe ever did. There is much respect between the two men who lead Florida's most prestigious HBC's. You get the sense that Wyatt is rooting for Carter to succeed. A good program at FAMU benefits Bethune-Cookman, and vice versa. They both know it.

Interesting also to hear from representatives of Florida Citrus Sports when I posed the question of why the Florida Classic isn't televised live every year on Sun Sports. 73,000 fans filling the Citrus Bowl - outdrawing anything that UCF can put out there, outdrawing the Citrus Bowl itself - and these two can't figure out a way to get it on TV?

Well, yes, I was told. The two schools are worried that putting the game on TV, especially on a network like Sun Sports, which is available on basic cable, would hurt the gate. They want bodies in the seats, not in their living rooms. Point well taken, but I still think that the Classic would kill on live television, without changing the paid admission. But what do I know.

George O'Leary had to be the most chipper 0-11 coach in college football history. He was in a terrific mood. His SID told me that O'Leary had held a staff party at his home the night before, and the morale was high on campus. They honestly believe that they are bowl contenders this year in Conference USA. Write that down somewhere.

O'Leary looked at me funny when we sat down for our one-on-one interview, and then asked, "are you the guy who hosts all the studio shows on Sun Sports?"

Yes, Coach, I am.

He laughed. "I thought you were taller. Who's that little bald guy who's on those shows with you? You look like you're huge compared to him."

Uhh, that would be Mike Bianchi, coach, and I promise you that I will let him know we had this talk. Of course, seeing as how O'Leary spent fifteen minutes telling me about a fishing trip he took out of Port Canaveral, he may have been thinking of Rick Murphy. Both bald and shorter than me. Either way, I'm a giant.

A good day all the way around. See you on TV.