Buddy Martin Blog: When You See A Portrait of Greatness: Frame It. Salute It. Commemorate It.
"That photo of coaches Meyer-Spurrier-Mullen should hang in a special place amidst the indoor pools, cabana, outdoor basketball court, recording studio, rehab facility, barbershop, lavish dining facility, rehydration room, etc..."
It is a photo for the ages. A portrait of greatness for all Gators. The three all-time best football coaches in Florida history, standing together on the field like three regular guys, talking ball, swapping lies, dropping knowledge, sharing the moment on what’s called Pro Day, under at the roof of the UF Indoor Practice Facility, the name of which we seem to forget. Maybe that building should be called the Meyer-Spurrier-Mullen Facility of Champions. You know, like back in the day when they named things after people in their honor, instead of just the people with the biggest checkbooks. Meaning no disrespect to James W. “Bill” Heavener, of course.
I don’t know why that photo Wednesday at Pro Day resonated so powerfully with me, as if I’d never seen a picture of all three in one shot. Perhaps it embodied their collective body of work as tangible evidence of greatness that is hard to define, unless you see it.
I know they say it’s all about the players, but sometimes it’s about the coaches. If you’re a Gator fan, you swell with pride when you sum up that body of work: 216 wins, multiple SEC East and SEC titles, three national championships – almost within the three decades. Keeping in mind that Mullen hasn’t yet coached his best team in optimum conditions and assuming his crowning achievement is yet to come – which I do -- it looks like an Orange and Blue Field of Dreams.
Legacy matters more in college football than most any sport. Spurrier, Meyer – and now Mullen. I thought back to the snapshot of the three former First Ladies of Florida Football – Megan Mullen, Shelley Meyer and Jerri Spurrier, arm-in-arm, singing “We Are The Boys” at the top of their lungs in press box before the 2018 Florida-Miami game at Camping World Stadium. Snapped by Steve Spurrier himself, it evoked such a wave of nostalgia and pride – just like the one of the three coaches.
One day soon when the spectacular new facility opens (maybe next spring), that photo of coaches Meyer-Spurrier-Mullen should hang in a special place amidst the indoor pools, cabana, outdoor basketball court, recording studio, rehab facility, barbershop, lavish dining facility, rehydration room, etc. as a reminder of who help build all those trappings.
Which brings up the three statues and what they represent – Spurrier, Wuerffel and Tebow. We can use just last names here, can’t we? They are beloved, iconic, classically sculpted as symbols of greatness. The problem is they dwarf the accomplishments of so many others and are, largely, an honor that appears reserved for quarterbacks only. There have been some QBs, however, who have had a brush with statue greatness: Chris Leak, Shane Matthews, Rex Grossman, Kerwin Bell, John Reaves and maybe one or two others.
In my mind, there ought to be a proper way to honor these other quarterbacks – and players – besides statutes, with visibility around Steve Spurrier-Florida Florida. Something akin to Hollywood Stars Walk of Fame perhaps? Some schools name streets after the players and coaches. Stars like Kyle Pitts, unanimous All-American, Mackey Award winner and likely Top Five draft pick, get their own brick laid in front of SSFF. And, of course, there’s the Ring of Honor, which no doubt awaits Urban Meyer.
When it comes to matter of statues, I mention the “runners-up” who should be duly noted. One of them was on the field at Pro Day. You might say Kyle Trask was a serious statue contender for a while in 2020, but even though he fell short, there is still an honor I’d like to see bestowed on him. There needs to be a Kyle Trask Next Man Up Award to commemorate his exemplary patience and faithful commitment.
The Kyle Trask story, like the Meyer-Spurrier-Triumvirate photograph, enhances the legacy of Gator football. A guy who wouldn’t transfer when everything pointed to reasons why he should. Whose battlefield promotion that night in Lexington was earned because of his remarkable preparation. He practiced like was a No. 1 though he hadn’t started since ninth grade. Ready when called upon.
After his Pro Day workout, I asked Trask what he remembered about Sept. 14, 2019 when he stepped in and Wally Pipped his friend Feleipe Franks.
“I just remember that being such a crazy 20 minutes after Feleipe [Franks] went down,” he said. “It was just very quiet on the sideline. You could hear a pen drop. Obviously, we’re sitting there in a very hostile environment with a game to win. I just tried to do my best to step up as a leader and pick everyone up and get everyone back focused. We just went out there and took it one play at a time and just executed whenever we had to.”
Oddly enough, in Trask’s remarkable debut and that 29-21 Florida win, he never threw a touchdown pass but did have a key touchdown on an option keeper. From there he never let up, leading his team to the SEC Championship game, challenging maybe Alabama’s best team ever to within six points. Unfortunately, external forces prohibited him from finishing the season strong. However, when others opted out vs. Oklahoma, when he had nothing to play for but his team, he played anyway – to his detriment.
I asked him how he found the patience to wait so long before finally getting on the field in 2019. “Obviously, it wasn’t the easiest of times to just sit there,” he said. “I mean, no one wants to just sit and watch on game days, so that was tough. It was motivation for me to keep pushing. I had complete trust in my coaches and belief in what they were saying as far as preparing like a starter. That’s what I did every single game, because you never know what can happen on a Saturday or a Saturday night. Whenever I went in, I just went in and took advantage of my opportunity back in 2019 and I just tried to take it from there.”
The joy in it for Kyle Trask was playing the game he loves with people he cares about when it looked like he may never be rescued from the bench; and then completing the task in style during a year when a mystery illness threatened our very existence. This, in my mind, makes Kyle Trask the poster boy for the best of what team sports has to offer.
Indeed, you never know what’s going to happen on an SEC Saturday or Saturday night – or during a football season. Which is why lightning must be captured in a bottle and when you recognize greatness, it must be framed, saluted and commemorated. I don’t care if it’s on a Wheaties box top or on the wall of the James W. “Bill” Heavener Football Training Center. In the case of Kyle Trask, it needs to be on the Next Man Up trophy.
GREAT COLUMN ON THE 3 BEST BY THE BEST ! Randy