Keith,
I am not worried at all. I don't remember enough about Eckdahl to know really how good he was. I want to address Doug Johnson. I want to begin with SOS as a coach. Spurrier recruited several highly rated quarterbacks. Only three turned out to be able to handle his coaching-Shane, Danny, and Rex. Doug Johnson was simply unable to respond the way Shane, Danny, and Rex could. John Brantley has an incredible supporting cast surrounding him. One would argue that he has a better QB coach than Spurrier-certainly if you look at the success his QBs have had in the pros vs. those of SOS. Even though we will probably have to play Alabama twice this year, I expect that, barring injury to the QB or more than one of our offensive line starters, Florida will simply be unstoppable this year on offense. Again barring injury to more than one of our defensive line, Florida's defense will be able to give the offense enough slack to be able to outscore anyone, including Alabama! In short, I am expecting this team to be another championship team. Even though it is a little early for our annual season football contest, I am claiming the first person to predict a perfect storybook season. For the tie-breaker, I am estimating that Florida will average 35 points per game. Jerry From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2010 9:25 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [gatortalk] RE: [gatornews] [SUN]: 5/21 16:00 --- Brantley not the first to replace a Gator QB icon [Andreu] Regarding Doug Johnson - back then I was more worried about whether I should switch to light beer Regarding Brantley - I had eliminated all negative thoughts - until this article -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [gatortalk] RE: [gatornews] [SUN]: 5/21 16:00 --- Brantley not the first to replace a Gator QB icon [Andreu] From: [email protected] Date: Sun, May 23, 2010 8:52 am To: "Gator Talk" <[email protected]> Now, tell the truth. Were you really confident Doug Johnson was going to come and replace Danny? On the other hand we have John Brantley who filled in for Tebow at Ky and slaughtered them...off the bench! Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry _____ From: <[email protected]> Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 03:14:05 -0700 To: gatortalk googlegroups<[email protected]> Subject: [gatortalk] RE: [gatornews] [SUN]: 5/21 16:00 --- Brantley not the first to replace a Gator QB icon [Andreu] I was feeling good about next year - until I read this ... -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: 5/21 16:00 --- Brantley not the first to replace a Gator QB icon [Andreu] From: "Shane Ford" <[email protected]> Date: Sat, May 22, 2010 10:05 pm To: "GATORNEWS" <[email protected]> Brantley not the first to replace a Gator QB icon By Robbie Andreu <mailto:[email protected]> Gainesville SUN Staff writer Published: Friday, May 21, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. Last Modified: Friday, May 21, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. It's your Daily Football Fix! Gainesville Sun staff writers are here to help get you through the long, hot summer with a daily dose of college football. The series runs every day until the start of fall practice. Enjoy! John Brantley faces the daunting task of replacing a legendary Florida football player and former Heisman-winning quarterback this fall. He is not the first to go through this. Two other Florida quarterbacks faced the same challenge - Jackie Eckdahl in 1967 and Doug Johnson in in 1997. Here's a look at how those two fared: Eckdahl was a highly rated quarterback prospect coming out of Gainesville High in 1966 - and the heir apparent to Steve Spurrier, who won the Heisman during Eckdahl's freshman season in 1966. Many were hopeful that the Gators would not miss a beat with Eckdahl taking over at quarterback in 1967, and he had a solid first start in a victory over Illinois to open the season. But it was a struggle the rest of the way for Eckdahl. He broke his leg during a scrimmage and missed the second half of his sophomore season. In 1968, his junior year, Eckdahl ended up being the backup to Larry Rentz, a former safety. By the time John Reaves and the Super Sophs came along in 1969, Eckdahl had moved to defense, where he was playing strong safety. In 1997, it was Doug Johnson's turn to replace a legend - Danny Wuerffel. The former Gainesville Buchholz star got off to a promising start, but faltered in an upset loss at LSU in the sixth game of the season, then was suspended for a game (Auburn) for a violation of team rules the Thursday night before the LSU game. Johnson was an on-again, off-again starter the rest of his UF career, starting 16 more games over his last two-and-a-half seasons. Still, Johnson managed to throw for 7,114 yards and 62 touchdowns in a solid Gator career. Brantley, of course, is the next in line to replace a UF quarterback legend - <http://www.gainesville.com/section/TOPIC0102/> Tim Tebow. To say the least, it will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next two seasons. -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us <http://www.gatornet.us/> -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
