Blink and everything changes…

It’s been two weeks since watching Coach Meyer trotted out the winningest class in the history of the SEC for the last time, bringing with it names that have been repetitively ground into our collective minds here in Gainesville. Tebow.  Hernandez. Dunlap. Wright.  Actually, more than you may have thought.

How do you make an entire team of winners disappear?  Well, you simply sit back and watch them go, one by one, to the NFL, to graduation, to anonymity, and you’re suddenly left with one question:  Will anyone still have a relevant jersey come August?

With the announcement that junior center Maurkice Pouncey has declared his eligibility for the draft, he is joining 7 defensive and 4offensive starters who have already said buh-bye to the Swamp (is that why it’sbeen so cold lately?  A climactic response to the loss of the hottest thing in the SEC since sliced jalapenos?).  No more Tebow to Cooper.  No more Haden interceptions.  No more Dunlap stop light slumber parties.  Perhaps no more Coach Meyer (though he has admitted to being in his office every day since returning fromthe Sugar Bowl…).

Just exactly whose name will I hear chanted and screamed in the stands next year?  Will we be screaming for Mike Pouncey to give good protection?

It almost makes you wish that you could force these kids not only to stay the full four years, but find some loophole that would make them stay even longer, but we’re already starting to watch the glory of the past four years fade into “you should have seen” and “I was there” stories. 

Being a college town, Gainesville sports is built on its ability to adapt, as the lineup will never be the same year to year no matter which sport you follow.  Hard as it is, college towns spend most of their time wondering who they’re going to get next year, who’s going to step up and fill the gaps left behind at the end of eachand every season.  Here in Gainesville,we were spoiled this season by watching 11 of 12 defensive starters return from the season before and had an offense that really only took a hit in the receivers department (though Andre Debose would have been a huge help had hemanaged to avoid injury in the preseason).

Next year, John Brantley will take Adazzio’s new offense (the T-gun offense of the last 3-4 years won’t work without the big “T”) and try and make it work with a whole new gamut of young men ready to prove themselves and put their names up for consideration against the titans that came before them.

Meanwhile, the defense will be hard pressed to equal what we saw this season and will likely be a stranger to us entirely.  We’re having a hell of a recruiting boon here in the offseason (surprising considering Meyer’s “will I stay or will I go now”health issues) and look, on paper, to be having the best all-around group of young players of any team in the NCAA, but that’s on paper.  Ronald Powell, Dominique Easley, Shariff  Floyd; strangers, every single one of them and yet they represent the bright future of our organization on the defensive side of the ball.  Factor in to that the loss of Charlie Strong,giving us a new look defense  with a group that’ll be almost as new to Gator football as their new coordinator, George Edwards.

Faith, apparently, is the new chant for Gator Nation.

Sure, we’ll know some of the names next year, will become more familiar with them as the season goes on, but it will be more than a little awkward those first few games, hearing play by play full of so much wehaven’t been accustomed to hearing:

“Brantley passes to Dubose for ten yards…”

“Look at that move by tight end Gerald Christian…”

“Matt Elam’s snatched the ball on an errant pass from McElroy…”

You see?  If you’re listening on the radio, most fans from the past couple years will have trouble believing that it is actually a Gator game.

Maybe it’s me and you guys are all used to this.  I’m an NFL guy, so losing players isn’t such a big deal every season.  In the pros, a running back may be traded, a quarterback may retire, or a DB could just decide to up and go to free agency (and being from Buffalo, this happens more often than you’d think), but rarely is there a mass exodus like there is for Florida this year.  It truly is the end of theTebow era and all the pieces that were important to that time are leaving with him, but this is inevitable as love of the game will only take you so far.  Eventually, these kids want to get paid, want to go on to the next level, and many have made the decision that the time is now.

Just ask Maurkice…

Hey, at least Brantley still has a Pouncey at center this year (as Mike, who was projected to go relatively late as a guard in the NFLdraft has decided to stay on another year, move to center, and try and up his draftability) and a backfield that, minus Brandon James, will be almost exactly the same.  Defensively, you’ve got to be heartened by not only the depth last season (our second string was as good asmost SEC first string defenses), but the infusion of fresh meat, as well as a new system under Edwards will at least make for an exciting beginning to the season.

The Gators of 2010 are like that big box wrapped under the tree at Christmas; the one you stare at for weeks hoping is the best of the presents you’re getting and not some over dressed trick to hide the fact thatyou’re getting socks this year.  Shake it all you want, peel away a corner of paper and peek, but the fact is you won’t know what it is until it’s unwrapped on Christmas morning.

Well, Christmas for the Gator Nation comes September 4th when the Swamp welcomes Miami (Ohio) to the new era (we’ll call it A.T. until this new team steps up and shows us something…After Tebow, but you knew that already…).

See you in the Swamp.

Go Gators.

Josh Bauer is a Columnist for GatorTailgating.com