Tebow spent his entire high school career and his first three years with the Gators taking snaps only in shotgun formation. He had plenty of success from there, winning a state title in high school and helping Florida win two national championships.
Nonetheless, coach Urban Meyer wanted Tebow under center in hopes of getting the most out of what he feels is Florida's best group of running backs in recent years.
"We want him to play some under center," Meyer said Thursday. "He never did it in high school, he just was not comfortable with it and we didn't spend a lot of time teaching it. But we have three tailbacks we feel can play for the first time since I've been here."
Tebow welcomed the change, knowing it will only help him when he makes the jump to the NFL next year.
"It's getting easier for me," said Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner who's accounted for 110 touchdowns (67 passing, 43 rushing) in three seasons. "The more reps, the easier it's going to get. I'm really feeling a lot more comfortable. It's just something that we've never done and now we're doing it.
"I don't think it's tough. It's just muscle memory. It's just going out there and doing it and doing it and getting it down."
Tebow has had some help.
After losing offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Dan Mullen to Mississippi State, the Gators hired former Michigan quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler to guide Tebow through his senior season. Loeffler tutored Tom Brady, Brian Griese and Chad Henne during his six years (2002-07) with the Wolverines.
Loeffler has helped Tebow get comfortable under center while tweaking his mechanics.
"We've tightened up his throwing motion even a little bit better and you can see the difference on the field," Meyer said. "There's a lot of areas he can improve. The competitiveness, the intelligence, the toughness, those are all ... I don't want to say he's maxed out, but obviously he's as good as there is. But fundamentally, he's improved."
-- ALABAMA: The Crimson Tide will play its spring game Saturday without running back Mark Ingram. Ingram, the son of former NFL receiver Mark Ingram, ran 143 times for 728 yards and 12 touchdowns as a freshman last season. He's expected to do even more this fall with the loss of starter Glen Coffee, who left school after his junior season to enter the NFL.
Ingram has missed parts of spring practice with a hamstring injury. Fellow running back Roy Upchurch (neck) and receiver Earl Alexander (shoulder) also won't play.
"Those guys have been able to practice some, but we won't play them in the game," coach Nick Saban said.
-- ARKANSAS: The Razorbacks' running game last season was pretty much a one-man show, with Michael Smith carrying the ball 207 times in 10 games and averaging more touches than anyone else in the Southeastern Conference.
But coach Bobby Petrino believes the 5-foot-7, 176-pound Smith can do more by working less, and Arkansas' upgraded backfield could help ease the load.
Freshman Knile Davis, transfer Broderick Green and returners Dennis Johnson, Brandon Barnett and De'Anthony Curtis should give the Razorbacks added depth behind Smith.
"I do believe that you need two or three guys at that position because they're the ones that take all the hits," Petrino said. "It's nice to have two or three different styles and some change of pace. It's a long season and the running backs have to stay healthy and full speed. To do that, you have to be able to play a number of them."
-- AUBURN: Gene Chizik, one of three new coaches in the SEC, said he had to be sold on hiring former Arkansas and Tulsa offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn. Malzahn has just three years of college experience after spending 14 seasons as high school coach in Arkansas.
"I called a lot of people, and a lot of people had to sell me on Gus," Chizik said. "When you do your homework and dig deep on people right now, you find out who they are and what they're about. There's nothing I heard that I didn't like or I wouldn't have hired him."
-- GEORGIA: Could the Bulldogs be better off without quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno? It might sound ludicrous since Georgia's two offensive stars are expected to be first-round picks in next weekend's NFL draft. But it might not be a farfetched notion.
"The media, whether we liked it or not, wanted to portray Stafford and Moreno as the team," coach Mark Richt said. "You couldn't talk about Georgia without talking about Matthew. You couldn't talk about Georgia without talking about Moreno. They were great players and they garnered that attention through the production that they had.
"Now that those guys are gone, the media doesn't have any names to hang onto and it's much more of a team situation here. I think that's very, very important. Because those two guys are gone, everybody is in agreement that the only chance Georgia has is to play together and I think that's real healthy for our team."
-- KENTUCKY: The Wildcats may have surprised opponents with their defense last year, especially early in the season. No one should underestimate them this fall, especially with the return of cornerback Trevard Lindley, linebacker Micah Johnson and defensive end Jeremy Jarmon. The trio put off the NFL and opted to return for their senior seasons, hoping to lead Kentucky to a fourth consecutive bowl berth.
"They take us from what would have been a very difficult transition year to one that should be less painful and puts us in position to have another outstanding defensive team," coach Rich Brooks said.
-- LSU: Coach Les Miles might be a little behind when it comes to Twitter, but he's planning to catch up. With Georgia coach Mark Richt and Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin among the conference coaches already using the increasingly popular microblogging site to reach out to recruits and fans, Miles plans to follow their lead.
"Those things are hilarious," Miles said. "To be very honest, I have not Twittered yet. We enjoy the opportunities it gives our players and we want to share, show, demonstrate our football program effectively.
"I think 'old school' is something people would call me. They would also say I need and have the want to be on the fast edge when it comes to communicating with our prospects, our supporters, our fan base. So yeah, I'm going to try to Twit. What a great name for communications, huh?"
-- MISSISSIPPI: Coach Houston Nutt has made it clear to his players that all of last year's success - the Rebels shocked eventual national champion Florida 31-30 in Gainesville, thumped Texas Tech 47-34 in the Cotton Bowl and won their final six games to finish 9-4 - means nothing this spring.
He also wants them to be prepared for all those preseason predictions that probably will have the Rebels vying with Alabama to win the SEC West.
"I said the same experts picked you last or toward the bottom, and you were no where on the radar screen, are now picking you high," Nutt told his team. "So really all those things mean nothing. It's about your work ethic, it's about your attitude, it's about how you attack the weight room, spring practice, fundamentals, the whole bit. We tried to put a real emphasis on it's about getting better."
-- MISSISSIPPI STATE: The Bulldogs opened spring practice with few receivers on the roster. Not ideal for coach Dan Mullen's spread-option offense. But Mullen said he will make it work - mostly with tight ends - during the team's spring game Saturday.
"Here's the key to the spread offense: It's about making sure the defense defend the entire field and try to create individual matchups and take advantage of matchups against the defense," Mullen said. "You don't always have to do that with five receivers. You can do it with running backs, tight ends.
"We didn't come in with many receivers, then we got a couple of guys dinged up and got a couple of running backs banged up. People in the spring game are going to see a bunch of tight ends."
-- SOUTH CAROLINA: Quarterback Stephen Garcia made it through spring practice without an arrest or a suspension - a big accomplishment for a guy who missed the last two springs because of run-ins with the law.
Now, it looks like he'll be coach Steve Spurrier's starter this fall.
"Stephen has made some progress," Spurrier said. "He's still got a ways to go. He's never been here in a summer yet, so he's looking forward to his first summer of working out with the team and all that.
"Hopefully, he'll be much, much better prepared to play this coming season. Stephen does has a lot of ability. He's got to learn how to use it and learn how to make good decisions back there. He definitely looks like he's going to be our quarterback and hopefully can take us a long ways."
-- TENNESSEE: New coach Lane Kiffin created quite a stir in his first few months on the job. He may have irked a few recruits and some fellow coaches, but he also generated a buzz around Tennessee. And that was his plan from Day 1.
Kiffin said he needed to get the attention of three groups: the program's fan base, current players and recruits. He wanted fans to be excited about the direction of the program, wanted players to know coaches had confidence in them and wanted recruits to be familiar than ever with the program and the new staff.
Kiffin believes he's accomplished all three.
"Obviously, when you come into a job like this you have a plan of how you need to go about getting things done, and those were our three big priorities and the three things I was hired for," he said.
-- VANDERBILT: Coming off their first winning record since 1982 and their first bowl victory in 53 years, coach Bobby Johnson believes the Commodores can keep it going.
"We have some opportunities to say, 'Hey, we can do this again if we work at it and work hard and fill the holes that have been created by graduation and try to keep this program at a higher level than it's ever been.'" Johnson said. "I think everybody's more motivated. When they're motivated, they practice better, and when they practice better, you get better."
_p3.jpg)
Tim Tebow runs away from Tennessee defenders in the Gators win in Knoxville last season.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2009/4/219648