No Pressure on Gators for Championship Repeat?

Pressure to perform at a very high level while fulfilling lofty expectations can weigh extremely heavy. Pressure itself cannot be seen. It’s intangible. Though we can’t touch it, it’s there.

If you have any role in the Florida Gators football program you would have a hard time not feeling the bulky burden of pressure placed upon the team this fall. Coming off of a national championship last year, their second in three years, the Gators are prohibitive favorites to repeat this year. Pressure is having to fulfill the expectations of so-called media experts, college football pollsters, a fanatical base of alumni and boosters, as well as the casual Saturday afternoon couch potato fan—and to do so on a national stage.

Week in and week out, beginning Sept. 5^th, Florida will play with a giant target on their back. Gator opponents will play David going against the Goliath Gators. In order for the Gators to satisfy all of the above, anything short of another BCS title will be construed as a failure.

There’s a commonly employed response that pops out when athletes or coaches are asked about dealing with pressure, regardless of the source or nature. “There’s no greater pressure than that which we put on ourselves to be successful.” That’s a standard line from the class, “Intro on How to Speak to the Media.”

But if you are a Gator, given Tim Tebow, a senior quarterback who was the 2007 Heisman Trophy Award winner, and a defense that returns intact from last year’s national championship team, the assumption in the college football atmosphere for a Gator repeat is as thick as hot, humid July afternoon in Gainesville.

After an extremely brief respite last January the Gators were hard back at it in the weight room and early morning conditioning workouts. The other Division I programs were, too. But the other 116 teams were not carrying around the already established weight that Florida had on their collective shoulders—another championship.

The athletic calendar moved into spring and the Gators worked their way through their 15 allowed spring practices. They adjusted to two new offensive coaches and a returning coach got acclimated to being the offensive coordinator/play-caller, not just the line coach. Soon spring became summer. Strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti was charged with continuing to keep the hammer down and demand more than the Gators had ever given. With great veteran team leaders showing the way, the summer was deemed successful.

In an article published in the New York Times, Coach Urban Meyer was asked to comment on the mood around the football offices. He was quoted as saying, “There’s more urgency and paranoia around here now. Everyone knows it. This is a good team.”

Whether it’s a player or a coach—when there is that kind of pressure, it is ubiquitous. It is all around, all the time, and it cannot be escaped. It’s at the grocery store while they stand in line to check out. It’s at the gas station as they try to just look at the numbers rolling along on the pump rather than make eye contact with on-lookers. It’s at the local casual dining restaurant when all they want to do is enjoy a peaceful meal with family or friends.

You can be assured that now, with just about two weeks until kickoff, Florida players and coaches are anxious to explode onto the field and begin to pursue another dream season. It’s been a long off-season, approximately eight months, between their last game when they hoisted the national title trophy in Miami and when they will soon kick it off against Charleston Southern.

Woe poor Charleston Southern. You have no idea how much pent up energy and excitement will be unleashed—not due to anything you have ever done to deserve this, but simply because you are the first step along another possible special journey for Florida. Pressure, what pressure? As coach/athlete-speak says, “There’s no greater pressure than that which we put on ourselves.”

Don’t believe it.