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No safeties in numbers
By Michael DiRocco, The Times-Union
Jul 18, 2008
TAMPA - Florida football coach Urban Meyer still isn't sure how he'll offset the loss of two safeties to injury, but he's much more secure about the status of two other key players.
The Gators must shuffle personnel to replace junior Dorian Munroe and fifth-year senior John Curtis, who suffered torn anterior cruciate ligaments early this month and will miss the 2008 season after undergoing surgery. That might mean more playing time for converted walk-on wide receiver Cade Holliday and a potential starting spot for super recruit Will Hill.
Meyer is buoyed by junior wide receiver Percy Harvin's rehabilitation from heel surgery and freshman defensive tackle Matt Patchan's return from a shooting and a strained pectoral muscle. Harvin's progress is especially encouraging, Meyer said, because the potential Heisman Trophy candidate is ahead of schedule and could be available during two-a-days.
But the secondary remains Meyer's most pressing concern as the Gators prepare to begin fall practice the week of Aug. 4-8.
"We have to do some shifting back there," Meyer said at the Florida Sports Writers Association College Football Media Days. "I'm going to visit with coach [Charlie] Strong [UF's defensive coordinator] when I get back. We've already talked on the phone. I just want to do right by the team and the individuals."
Meyer and Strong already have made one move. Holliday, a redshirt junior from Gainesville, was switched from wide receiver to safety. Holliday - the son of former UF associate head coach Doc Holliday, who's now at West Virginia - has played in 26 games in his Gators career, mainly on special teams. He appeared at wide receiver against Western Kentucky and Tennessee last season.
Holliday joins sophomore Ahmad Black, who played in seven games at cornerback last season, and redshirt sophomore Bryan Thomas, who played in 10 games on special teams last season and is recovering from surgery to remove a cyst from his knee, as inexperienced backups.
Sophomore Major Wright, who played in every game and started seven at free safety last season, is the only other UF scholarship safety with game experience.
Meyer said freshman cornerback Janoris Jenkins, a Parade All-American who led Pahokee High School to back-to-back Class 2B state titles, could be moved to safety. It's likely that Hill, another Parade All-American and Rivals.com's top-rated athlete of 2008, will be given every chance to win a starting job, but Meyer said he didn't want to speculate on how much playing time Hill will receive.
UF also won't have Dee Finley, a highly regarded recruit from Auburn, Ala., because he failed to qualify and has enrolled in a prep school in New York.
Munroe (right knee), who played in every game and was a key special-teams performer last season, will return next season. Curtis' career might be over because he has had three surgeries on his left knee.
There's much better news regarding Harvin. Meyer said the wide receiver is ahead of schedule in his return from surgery on his right heel to correct a problem with the bone. It's an injury that Harvin first noticed in high school, and it really began to bother him during the 2007 summer, according to Meyer.
Doctors diagnosed Harvin's injury as tendinitis, and he played the entire 2007 season with it, rushing for 764 yards and six touchdowns and catching a team-high 59 passes for 858 yards and four more scores.
Harvin was re-examined this spring because he was having pain in his right knee and right hip, and that's when doctors found out it was more than tendinitis, Meyer said. The hip problem was related to the heel injury, and Meyer said that won't be an issue once Harvin completely recovers.
"He's tremendous. He's running full speed," Meyer said. "What happens with skilled athletes - and you see all the time, especially with the race-horse-type guys - if they hurt a certain part of their body, another part of their body takes over, and then you start have the hip flexors, hamstring issues, quad issues. So we're being very cautious.
"He's opened it up. He's starting to run full speed. Attitude-wise, strength-wise, he's 199 or 200 pounds, and he's as strong as he's ever been. It's been a very good summer for Percy."
Patchan was shot in the upper left shoulder at a Tampa-area park on May 9, but Meyer said the defensive tackle is expected to make a full recovery. Patchan subsequently suffered a strained pectoral muscle but, according to Meyer, should be ready for the start of practice.
"He's out of the sling," Meyer said. "He's not allowed to bench-press for a while, but he's running, he's moving, and he should be ready to go."
michael.dirocco@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4500
SEVEN AN UNLUCKY NUMBER FOR GATORS
Since the 2007 season, Florida has lost seven safeties for the 2008 season and beyond.
Player/Reason he's out
Kyle Jackson/Graduation
Tony Joiner /Graduation
Jerimy Finch /Transfer
Dorian Munroe/Torn right ACL
John Curtis/Torn left ACL
Dee Finley/Didn't academically qualify
Jamar Hornsby/Dismissed from the team
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