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Credited Source: jacksonville.com 1/20/07
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Florida Gators
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Price: $12.95
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Price: $19.95
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"This isn't just a paycheck for me," Holloway said. "I'm a Gator. I graduated from this university. It bleeds deep for me. If
we struggle as a team, whether it's men's track and field, women's track and field, football, basketball, baseball, that cuts me deep.
"I'm truly invested in this situation, so [is there] pressure? Not from anybody else. I put pressure on myself every day. I
wake up in the morning, I've got breath in my body, I'm going to find a way to get it done."
One Gators coach who might be feeling pressure is Carolyn Peck, who's in the fifth year of a six-year contract she
signed in 2002. Her women's basketball team is 6-13 (0-4 Southeastern Conference) after its sixth loss in a row, and Peck's career record in Gainesville is just two games over .500 (69-67).
Florida has made three consecutive postseason appearances (NCAA Tournament in 2004 and 2006, WNIT in 2005)
during Peck's four seasons, but won just one game.
"Our expectations here at the university are to go out and to compete," said Peck, who won an NCAA championship at
Purdue in 1999. "We have a goal of getting to the NCAA Tournament. I think that's no different [than the men's team].
"Every team at the beginning of the year, you put in the mind-set that you want to put yourself into position to get in the
tournament, because once you get in the tournament, anything could happen. You could put yourself into the position, just like our men did, and get yourself a national championship."
Traditionally, Florida's other sports have been successful, and athletic director Jeremy Foley places an emphasis on the
Gators' finish in the SEC All-Sports Trophy and the U.S Sports Academy Directors' Cup - annual rankings of athletic programs in the conference and nation, respectively. Each awards points based on how the teams finish their seasons.
Florida has failed to win the SEC All-Sports Trophy only once (2006) since Foley became AD in 1991 and never been
below seventh in the Directors' Cup.
"The one thing about athletics, it's easy to judge," Meyer said after the Gators won the football title. "He [Foley] creates
an atmosphere [of success]." |
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"I don't think it's fair to me [and] it's not fair to Billy or Urban," Gators
men's track and field coach Mike Holloway said. "Billy and Urban won one, now everybody else has to win also? I don't think Billy and Urban think that way. They were hired, like I was, to win championships, and that's what they did. It's helpful [in terms of recruiting and national exposure], but I don't think there's any pressure."
Holloway and gymnastics coach Rhonda Faehn - who led Florida to a
sixth-place finish in the Super Six NCAA championship meet last season, its best since 1998 (second) - said any outside pressure can't equal the amount they put on themselves.
"If we were floundering around for three or so years ... we'd really have to
take a hard look at what was really going on," said Faehn, whose team is ranked No. 1 in the latest GymInfo rankings. "Sometimes there are some years you can't help, due to injury or not having key players or athletes on the team. But I'm a perfectionist myself, and so I definitely always strive to be at the highest level. If I weren't able to do that, I probably would look elsewhere and remove myself."
Holloway said his internal drive comes from his loyalty to the school, and
that creates an intense desire to make sure his program is among the best. |
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Gator Sports - 1/20/07
Football, men's basketball titles don't up ante at UF
Other Gators coaches claim there isn't pressure to add championships of
their own.
Florida's football and men's basketball teams have a good game of tag
going right now.
Before the football team played Ohio State in the Jan. 8 BCS national title
game, forward Joakim Noah - who helped lead the Gators to the 2006 NCAA men's basketball crown last April - told wide receiver Dallas Baker not to come back without a championship.
After winning it, the football team returned home with a message for the
men's basketball team: Your turn now.
Those squads might have been compelled to equal or outdo each other in
national championships, but the coaches of Florida's other athletic teams say they don't feel any pressure to live up to the titles that Urban Meyer and Billy Donovan won. |