Former Gators Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow Relive Recruitment, 2008 Florida Team

The former Gators head coach, Urban Meyer and quarterback Tim Tebow recently took to Fox CFB's 'Ring Chronicles' to discuss their history together and one of the greatest college football teams of all time, 2008 Florida.

The time of reflection is at an all-time high with the world experiencing one of the most difficult events in recent history, due to the ongoing global pandemic caused by the coronavirus.

In a recent appearance on Fox College Football's 'Ring Chronicles', hosted by Fox Sports' Rob Stone, former Gators head coach Urban Meyer and Gator Great quarterback Tim Tebow did reflect on a host of topics, but primarily their time together during the Gators' incredible 2008 National Championship run and the initial recruitment, what ultimately made Tebow choose the Gators.

The history of Tebow in Gainesville (Fla.) is well-documented, and so is much of his recruitment history, Tebow was rated as the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the nation in 2006, and the 21st overall player in the country, his decision would ultimately, however, come down to the SEC's Florida or Alabama.

When he first arrived as the head football coach in 2004, Meyer's Gators initially wasn't necessarily planning to recruit Tebow, even as he received persistent pleads by fans, onlookers and folks within the program itself. It wasn't until he saw Tebow play baseball, he says when he decided "it was over."

"I've never seen an athlete, command a field - I don't care what field, basketball, baseball, football - as he did, and the number one trait of a quarterback is a competitor. And he's the most competitive person I've ever met in my life," Meyer told Stone.

Meyer and his team recruited Tebow that year, and it wasn't all smooth sailing ahead. While Tebow and his family were die-hard Gators fans, that was never going, ultimately, going to be why the Jacksonville (Fla.) native chose the program he did, he wanted to be coached by someone he could trust, respect and believe in.

"Where I really came to that realization is when I knew I was believing in Florida for the people that were there, and specifically for Coach Meyer, more than the University of Florida," Tebow recalled to Stone. "And at the last second, 4:30, 30 minutes for a win on stage, I'm trying to go back and forth."

After consulting with his father, Robert, Tebow decided that who he truly and honestly believed in was coach Meyer, "because when he says something I believe it."

"And when he says, 'Hey if you come here, you're gonna have a chance to win championships and a Heisman', I believe he's telling the truth because he believes it, and it's real and it's authentic, and he's willing to put in what it takes to get there."

The rest is history, even while Tebow went back and forth, from crying over a phone call with then-Alabama head coach Mike Shula to his call being dropped just when he was set to inform Meyer that he was in fact heading to Florida. A rollercoaster ride ended and Tebow would become a Gator.

One of the most storied seasons in Gators history would come in 2008, the year that the program took to the 'big stage' and defeated Oklahoma 24-14 in the BCS National Championship game. While it was an overly successful season for the Gators, it wasn't without its own bump in the road, which would come in the form of an early-season loss to Ole Miss.

Following the loss, Tebow gave a speech that has been shared and will likely continue to be shared for a lifetime, a speech that was, in a way, retroactively celebrated, a speech Meyer was disappointed about at the time.

The Gators head coach didn't hate the speech because of the content, or the message Tebow wanted to pour out, but ultimately because he knew if the team hadn't won the National Championship or competed at the level they had, it would have been ridiculed, mocked and ultimately discarded as an emotional football player, giving a rah-rah speech again. 

"I see the evolution of the media and social media and it wasn't like when I first started coaching, I mean, it's vile," Meyer told Stone on why he was disappointed in the speech.

"There's media members out there that the way they get paid is to destroy people. That's what they do. And I still see it. And I thought, 'My gosh, this is like my son. He just laid his heart out there'. If we lose a game if he stumbles, he throws an interception, you have these human beings that that's their whole sole purpose is to take people down."

What is now known as 'The Promise", as it is such forever enshrined in a plaque at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, was a promise and an apology, Tebow said. He never intended to promise to win a national championship that year, nor did he ever say those words, he did, however, promise to work harder than anyone and not let himself or his teammates and Gators fans down again.

"A lot of people say, 'Oh, it's amazing. You promise you're going [to the] national championship!', no I didn't. No, I didn't," said Tebow. "I promised what I believed I could control, that we are going to be the hardest working team and I was going to be the hardest working player and you were never going to see anyone work as hard as I was gonna for the rest of the season."

Ultimately, the Gators would go on to win their final eight games of the season by a combined 317 points.

Another storyline from that 2008-09 Gators season was the 'Bloody Jersey Game', the game in which Tebow ended with a red-stained jersey that could only be described as something out of a Zach Snyder film. The Gators went into Tallahassee (Fla.) and defeated the Seminoles 45-15. He does, in fact, still have the jersey.

As Meyer recalls, current Gators head coach Dan Mullen, then the team's offensive coordinator, made sure to keep the same gameplan they had going into the game, regardless of the weather. The weather at Doak Campbell Stadium that day was akin to a monsoon.

"I called Dan over and Tim, and I said 'hey, let's get our rain plan together'. And this is about an hour and a half before the game," Mullen recalled. "And usually whether it be snow, rain, whatever you develop a game plan in case it's bad conditions. And Dan and Tim look at me like I was out of my mind. I said 'hey, put a plan together'. And Dan looks at me and goes 'we're going with our game plan'. He goes, 'this guy can do whatever we asked him Do I don't worry about the rain'."

That mentality epitomizes the success that the Gators had in 2008, a hardworking team that believed in themselves, believed in each other.  

"I'm very biased, but that's arguably one of the greatest teams. I know, people rank them all the time. And I've been lucky to be around some great teams. That was a great, great, great team."

The 2008 Gators team not only included Tebow, but included several Gator legends such as linebacker Brandon Spikes, safety Ahmad Black, receiver Percy Harvin, cornerback Joe Haden, offensive linemen Mike and Maurkice Pouncey, defensive end Carlos Dunlap and so many more. All players listed have gone on to have careers in the NFL, too.

Tebow, however, is hesitant to put the 2008 Gators as one of the greatest college football teams of all time, because, well, they lost a game.

"I don't know that you can put us up there, because we lost the game," said Tebow. "You know, there's a lot of undefeated seasons. But, I do think you could make the argument that at the end of the year, we were really hot. And we peaked at the right time."

Watch the full interview hosted by Fox Sports' Rob Stone featuring Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer by clicking here.