The best there ever was: How Tebow nearly picked Alabama

The best there ever was. In the opinion of the Associated Press, which earlier in the week named its all-time college football All-America team, that is Tim Tebow, who was picked as the quarterback for this elite team. There was no second team selected, just a first team.

There have been so many great college quarterbacks, but Tebow is the only one who won a Heisman Trophy and finished in the top five of the Heisman voting two other seasons. He played an important role as the backup to Chris Leak on Florida’s 2006 national championship team, then won the national championship as the starter for UF in 2008. As the starting quarterback at Florida, Tebow was 35-6. In the 55 games he played, the Gators went 48-7.

The career numbers are 661-995 passing (66.4 percent) for 9,285 yards (9.3 per attempt) and 88 touchdowns (just 16 interceptions). He ran for 2,947 yards and 57 touchdowns. Florida hasn’t won a national or Southeastern Conference football championship since Tebow’s junior year in 2008, the year the Gators beat Oklahoma for the national title.

Most fans don’t realize just how close the best there ever was came to choosing Alabama. Ranked the No. 1 dual threat quarterback in the country in 2005, Tebow was a 5-star who was the subject of one of the most intense recruiting battles of this century and it wasn’t until the day he made his college commitment that even he knew for sure where he was going to sign.

Here is a timeline of how Tim Tebow came to be a Florida Gator.

October 1, 2005: Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Bryant-Denny Stadium was rocking an hour before kickoff. It was unbeaten No. 5 Florida against unbeaten No. 15 Alabama. Urban Meyer, who had yet to convince Paul Finebaum that he could win big in the SEC with what he called a gimmick offense, and Mike Shula, needing a big season to save his job after a 6-6 record in 2004.

What had the Bama crowd juiced was official visitor Tim Tebow, subject of scorching hot  recruiting battle between Florida, Alabama, Southern Cal, LSU and Michigan. Nobody thought it would be LSU or Michigan. They were in the mix, but nobody really thought Tim would ever go to either one of those places. Southern Cal was a concern because Pete Carroll had produced two Heisman quarterbacks (Carson Palmer and Matt Leinhart), plus had the best player in college football in Reggie Bush. Carroll’s lead recruiter was Lane Kiffin.

All eyes were focused on Florida and Alabama. Since Florida already had a commitment from Jevan Snead, a 5-star quarterback from Stephenville, Texas, Alabama believed it was the front runner for Tebow, particularly when the Crimson Tide jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and went on to a 31-3 hosing of the Gators. By the time the fourth quarter arrived, Bryant-Denny was a zoo and the decibels were eardrum shattering. Under the stadium in a makeshift press room, Meyer tried to explain what had happened to the Gators. Bama fans were still roaring and chanting “Tebow! Tebow!”

When Tebow left Tuscaloosa that weekend, Alabama was clearly in the lead.

November 26, 2005: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

Alabama would go on to a 9-2 record in the regular season. Florida salvaged 8-3 with a 34-7 Thanksgiving weekend win over Florida State, a game that pretty much signaled the end of the road for Bobby Bowden. In the Florida locker room after the game, a recruiting tsunami began for Meyer and the Gators, after which a recruiting tsunami began for Meyer.

Future All-American Brandon James committed to the Gators as did 4-star corner Jacques Rickerson, 4-star wide Jarred Fayson and 4-star safety Bryan Thomas. Suddenly, the Gators had momentum on the recruiting trail.  

December 12, 2005: At the Tebow family farm, West Jacksonville

Early morning Mike Shula and defensive line coach Buddy Wyatt showed up at the Tebow home in West Jacksonville. They would stay for 12 hours, departing for the short flight back to Tuscaloosa convinced they had their quarterback of the future.

Tebow really loved Mike Shula, loved Alabama’s history winning championships, the passion of the fans and how they had chanted his name for what seemed like the entire fourth quarter of the game back in October. When Shula showed up that day, he was embraced by the entire Tebow family. They, too, thought Tim would be in good hands if Mike Shula were the head coach.

Reflecting about his decision the day before the 2008 SEC Championship game, won by the Gators 31-20 thanks to an incredible fourth quarter by Tebow, Tim said, “I really liked Coach Shula. I liked what he stood for on and off the field. I liked everything about their program and the passion that their fans have for football and how big it is there because I’m very passionate about it as well. I thought it was just a great fit and I liked him and I thought it would be great playing for him.”

December 12, 2005: On a Pennsylvania airfield awaiting takeoff

Urban Meyer and co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison were on a recruiting trip in Pennsylvania to land Plan B quarterback Pat Devlin, who would eventually sign with Penn State. Knowing how Meyer had actively recruited Tebow, Jevan Snead de-committed a few weeks earlier. The quarterback situation seemed Tebow or bust and the fact Mike Shula had been at the Tebow farm all day left Meyer in a dour mood. All day long, Meyer was in touch with Tebow’s high school coach Craig Howard let him know exactly how long Shula had stayed at the Tebow farm.

Twelve hours. Simply calling Meyer nervous would be an understatement. Meyer’s mood went further south while sitting on a private jet with co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison while waiting to take off in the late night darkness. The conversation turned to Tebow.  

“I had convinced myself that if we lose him we’ll be all right,” Meyer said in Atlanta in December of 2008. “Then Greg Mattison looked at me and it’s about five degrees out. We’re sitting there and I’m freezing. He [Mattison] said, ‘You realize that if we don’t get him that will set the program back ten years.’

“I said shut up and he said, ‘Ten years!’ I got so upset with him I grabbed a blanket and didn’t talk to him the rest of the night.”

December 13, 2005: A little after midnight in West Jacksonville

Tim dialed up his close friend Larry Fedora, formerly Ron Zook’s offensive coordinator at UF. Fedora had been the lead recruiter for Tebow, but after Zook was fired, Fedora took the offensive coordinator job for Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State. Although he was coaching at a school that wasn’t involved in Tebow’s recruitment, Fedora stayed close to Tim.

On the phone for a couple of hours, Fedora let Tebow talk about Shula and everything he loved about Alabama. When Tebow asked Fedora about the decision he was about to make, Fedora asked him where the entire Tebow family had gone to school, what was on the mailbox at the Tebow farm and the name of Tim’s dog.

The answers: Florida, Gator and Gator.

Then came the question that stuck with Tim up until shortly before he made his announcement at the Nease High School auditorium in the afternoon.

“Whose poster is on your bedroom wall?” Fedora asked. The answer: Danny Wuerffel. Then he followed with “Where’s your heart? Where has your heart always been?”

December 13, 2005: Nease High School Auditorium

The Nease Auditorium was packed with fans and media. Tebow’s announcement was broadcast live on ESPN. While waiting for the announcement, Tebow’s high school coach Craig Howard was leading Tebow cheers. It was a mostly Florida crowd in the auditorium, but there was a noticeable presence of Bama fans. This was probably the biggest recruiting announcement in the history of the network. Just prior to the Tebow announcement, ESPN showed a documentary entitled “The Chosen One” about the already legendary high school career of Tim Tebow.

Bob Redman and I were there in Ponte Vedra Beach to cover the announcement. On the drive over from Gainesville we felt Florida would be the call when Tim took to the podium. The Gator in us couldn’t imagine Tim in Alabama colors, but neither one of us were 100 percent convinced. That Mike Shula had been in the Tebow home for 12 hours had both of us feeling nervous about the impending announcement.  

Throughout the drive over, Bob was on the phone with a producer at the Paul Finebaum Show along with a member of the Tebow family. Finebaum had a massive audience waiting an answer. Bama fans thought Tim would pick the Crimson Tide, but they were every bit as nervous as those from Florida. At Nease High School, a Florida fan who recognized me told he was so nervous he thought he might puke if Tim picked Alabama.

Perhaps five minutes before Tebow announced, Bob got the call from the family friend that Tebow was going to pick Florida. Bob made the call to Finebaum to tell him Tim Tebow would pick Florida.

I looked at Bob and Bob looked at me, both of us happy, but still nervous.

“What if he changes his mind?” I asked pessimistically. Bob answered emphatically, “Don’t even think about it.”

Meanwhile, over in Gainesville Urban Meyer was pulling into the driveway of his Haile Plantation home when the phone rang. It was Tim Tebow, who told him, “I’ve made a decision to go …”

The battery on Tim Tebow’s phone went dead. Silence.

Frantically, Meyer tried to call Bob Tebow. No answer. He called Craig Howard. Again, no answer. Meyer rushed into the house where Shelley and the kids were watching ESPN, waiting the announcement. Urban was too nervous to watch. He went out past the pool to the back yard near the batting cage that had been constructed for son Nate.

He had no clue what Tebow was going to do. He hoped and prayed Florida, but the way the phone call had ended left his stomach churning.  

Introduced as the guest of honor in Ponte Vedra, Tim proceeded to offer thanks to Lloyd Carr (Michigan), Les Miles (LSU) and Pete Carroll for recruiting him. That left Florida and Alabama.

“This is a big day in my life,” Tebow said. “This is the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make.”

Everybody in the auditorium held their breath for what was next. The choice was Florida. Did anyone hear Tebow speak glowingly of Alabama while thanking Mike Shula?

Gator fans never heard. They erupted. In Gainesville, Urban Meyer heard his wife and kids scream. He didn’t know if it was because Tebow was a Gator or going to Alabama. He rushed into the house where he knew for the first time that he had his quarterback.

In the aftermath of the Tebow announcement …

A day later, 4-star defensive end Jermaine Cunningham committed to the Gators.  Three days later, 4-star wide receiver Riley Cooper committed to UF. On December 20, the No. 1 player in the country, Percy Harvin, sent Seminole fans into apoplexy when he announced for the Gators. This was a mind-altering moment for those remaining who thought the Seminole Dynasty was still alive and kicking.

Three weeks At the Army All-American game in San Antonio, Percy told Bob Redman and me that his decision to choose Florida was sealed when Tebow picked Florida.  Also there in San Antonio was 5-star linebacker Brandon Spikes, who would announce at halftime of the game. Three or four days before the game Spikes told me that he would be a Gator, that he and Tebow agreed to go to school together. There in San Antonio was Sam Young, a 5-star tackle from St. Thomas Aquinas. Young picked Notre Dame but his STA  teammate Marcus Gilbert picked Florida. Young never played for a championship at Notre Dame while Gilbert played for two at Florida. Young was a sixth round draft pick and a career NFL backup. Gilbert spent 10 years in the league as a starting tackle.

Florida wound up with the No. 2 recruiting class in the country.  

The long term Tebow effect

A couple of years ago, Tebow was a guest on the Paul Finebaum Show. The two work weekends together on the SEC Network version of Game Day so they’re quite friendly.

During this particular, episode, Finebaum said, “You know what’s so interesting? And not to make you larger than life, although you are. Had you decided to come to the University of Alabama, Nick Saban wouldn’t be here because Mike Shula would have done much better than he did, Alabama at some point — Saban would have eventually gone somewhere else. So, Bama fans, don’t begrudge Tim Tebow anything. Thank him for Nick Saban. This is the man that brought Nick Saban to Alabama.”