The Van Stryker Story

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Breaking News

In a surprise announcement Urban Meyer has decided to step down from his position as head coaching position at the University of Florida. Meyer led the Gators to two national championships during his tenure at the school. In a short news conference Meyer cited wanting to spend more time with his family as the reason for his resignation. The Gators endured a disappointing 2010 campaign as they went 7-7 and lost to Indiana in the Outback Bowl.

Early speculations of Meyer's replacement are former offensive coordinator Dan Mullen currently head coach at Mississippi State or Charlie Strong the head coach at Louisville. Florida AD released a statement that the search for Meyer's replacement would be an open search and he would make a hire based upon what was best for the university.

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In a move that has many people scratching their heads Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley announced that he had found the next man to lead the Gator Nation. Van Stryker ,29, has been annouced as the new head football coach of the Gators. Stryker was a standout high-school player during the late 1990s when as a freshman and sophomore running back he helped to lead his team to two straight Florida state championship victories. He tore both of his ACLs in a brutal hit the second carry of his junior season and was never able to return to form. Many had thought he could be the greatest player that had ever stepped onto the College Gridiron. Since his high-school days he has helped lead his former high school to three more state championships employing a run heavy team that while sometimes out-matched in talent were able to pull of many upsets because of their toughness.

In a statement Foley said, "I was very impressed with Van's interview, we brought him in as a sort of dark horse candidate, he showed a real passion for the game and was very knowledgeable when it came to the background of such things as recruiting." In a phone call Stryker said was quoted, "I'm very excited about this opportunity, the team and my coaching staff are going to work our butts off everyday to be able to go out and improve each day so that when the season rolls around we are able to win every time we step on the field." Also when asked about what type of offense he would implement he stated that he would use the offense that helped him win his five state championships, a very run heavy offense, similar to Wisconsin's that looks to get some playmakers helping to make big plays on the outside.

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Coach Stryker's History
Record:
Conference Champs:
National Champs:

National Champions
2 Alabama (12-1) defeated 1 Iowa (12-1) 31-13



Heisman Winners
Ricky Stanzi 308-451 3851 yds, 190 car. 551 yds, 40 total TD

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Dynasty Settings
Rosters: Luvtotha9s
Difficulty:Heisman, Heisman
Sliders: Megatron's Heisman Sliders
House Rules:
Length:8 min qtrs.
Game Speed:Normal
Threshold: 25

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2010 Top 10 Recruits
1.Kurt Madsen LSU 6'7 236lbs ATH(DE)
2.Cliff Bolen Fla 6'1 177lbs ATH(S)
3.Joe Hollins Texas 6'1 178lbs WR
4.Nick Duncan LSU 6'1 204lbs HB
5.Calvin Sharp Bama 5'10 207lbs HB
6.Eric Charles Bama 6'6 252lbs TE
7.Mark Nelson LSU 6'2 190lbs FS
8.Kevin Cunningham Texas 6'0 211lbs HB
9.Jonathan Bolden Mich 6'0 202lbs FB
10.Colt Morgan Fla 6'2 202lbs HB

Despite Urban Meyer's resignation Coach Stryker was able to keep together what was then the #4 recruiting class at the time which he ended up turning into the #1 class in the nation. Stryker was able to land Morgan, as well as five other recruits that were previously undecided. Notes of the class there were no 5 star QBs. As seen 7 of the top 10 recruits joined an SEC team.

Top Recruiting Classes - 2010
RK	TEAM	5	4	3	2	1	TOTAL
1	Florida	5	10	3			18
2	USC	3	8	9			20
3	Michigan	2	12	5			19
4	Alabama	4	6	6			16
5	Texas	6	3	2			11

Florida Top 5 Recruits
2.Cliff Bolen 6'1 177lbs ATH(S)
Coach Styrker's comments: I actually got the chance to see this kid play in high school he's one of the best I've ever gotten to see, he lined up at QB,HB,WR on offense, and S on defense. We're looking to put him at FS however with Will Hill(95 ovr) returning we'll have to find somewhere else for him to play this season, he's too much of a game-changer(95spd,95acc) not to see the field.
10.Colt Morgan 6'2 202lbs HB
Coach Stryker's Comments:I'm especially excited at landing Colt as he was my starting tailback the last three years, he's not the fastest player(79spd) but he can break tackles(88) and has good moves(SPM 93, JKM 94). We already have three HBs ahead of him on our initial depth chart so don't be surprised to see a redshirt.
11.Shawn Carter 6'2 175lbs WR
Coach Stryker's Comments:Shawn doesn't have the best speed(spd 80 acc 91) but man can the kid catch(83cth,90spc). As we're loaded at WR he's probably going to be taking a redshirt.
16.Curtis Daniels 6'0 205lbs SS
Coach Stryker's Comments:The slower(77spd,87acc) of the SS recruits he plays good zone(zcv 90) and he's more of a hard hitter(86pow).
17.Dusty Thomas 6'0 203lbs SS
Coach Stryker's Comments: Faster(87spd,85acc) but not as polished as Daniels needs to work on his tackling and coverage to improve.

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2011 Season Preview

NCAA Football Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Aug 1, 2011
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Alabama	0	0
2	2	Wisconsin	0	0
3	3	Iowa	0	0
4	4	Auburn	0	0
5	5	Oregon	0	0
6	6	Ohio State	0	0
7	7	TCU	0	0
8	8	North Carolina	0	0
9	9	Nebraksa	0	0
10	10	Oklahoma	0	0
11	11	Boise State	0	0
12	12	Florida State	0	0
13	13	Texas	0	0
14	14	Clemson	0	0
15	15	Virginia Tech	0	0
16	16	Arkansas	0	0
17	17	WVU	0	0
18	18	USC	0	0
19	19	Oklahoma State	0	0
20	20	Notre Dame	0	0
21	21	Tennessee	0	0
22	22	Stanford	0	0
23	23	Cincinatti	0	0
24	24	Texas Tech	0	0
25	25	Georgia Tech	0	0

The Gators start off at #47 in the nation and hope with their tough schedule to be able to advance quickly and get ranked early in the season.

Florida Atlantic
UAB
21Tennessee
@4Auburn
1Alabama
@LSU
Open
Georgia
@Kentucky
Vanderbilt
@South Carolina
ECU
Florida State
Open

Heisman Hype
Kellen Moore Boise QB
Landry Jones OU QB
Chris Polk UW HB
Erik Highsmith UNC WR
Beau Reliford FSU TE

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Gator Nation Season Preview

After a disappointing 7-7 season that ended with a loss to Indiana in the Outback Bowl the Gators look to get back to their winning ways with a new man at the helm. Van Stryker looks to make the Gators a tougher team and make opponents fear coming to "The Swamp" once again. Stryker has promised to put the Gators back on the national championship radar by using a heavy-run offense that controls the ball and a defense full of tough-nosed players. He said that speed will still be a major component on both sides of the ball but first and foremost there going to be a run-first pound the ball type of team.

Quarterback
#12 John Brantley SR(RS) 6'3 220lbs 88ovr 92THP 88THA
Brantley looks to get the start, the former Gatorade National High School Player will be more of a facilitator in the offense.
#5 Trey Burton SO 6'2 225lbs 83ovr 89spd 91acc 86THP 88THA
Stryker said that he has some special plans to utilize Burton's many diverse talents and use him as a wrinkle in the offense as a change of back QB.
#10 Tyler Murphy FR(RS) 6'1 196lbs 75ovr 81spd 81acc 89THP 75THA
Murphy shouldn't see too much time this year as Burton will get most of the mop-up duty should any arise.
#9 Lee Terry FR 6'3 209lbs 69ovr

Half-back
#2 Jeff Demps SR 5'8 192lbs 94ovr 99spd 98acc
Although not the usual type of back you see in a power run team Demps will look to use his speed to cut off his blockers and make big gains with his big-play potential
#23 Mike Gillislee JR 5'11 200lbs 89ovr 93spd 93 acc 80 trk
Will be used in shorter yardage situations when only 1 or 2 yards are needed.
#33 Mack Brown FR(RS) 5'10 198lbs 81ovr 91spd 99acc
Will only get a few touches but has the ability to make them count.

Colt Morgan, Ben Whitehead, and C.J. Anderson will redshirt.

Fullback
TJ Pridemore JR(RS) 6'1 250lbs 79ovr 77RBK 77 PBK

Wide Receiver
#6 Deonte Thompson SR(RS) 5'11 203lbs 93ovr 97spd 94acc 82cth 83spc 80cit
#3 Chris Rainey SR(RS) 5'9 179lbs 92ovr 97spd 99acc 80cth
#85 Frankie Hammond JR(RS) 5'11 179lbs 91ovr 91spd 91acc 88cth 93cit
#82 Omarius Hines JR(RS) 6'0 219lbs 89ovr 92spd 95acc 85cth 81spc 92cit

The wide receiving core is full of upperclassman who have the skill to make plays on the outside and over the middle they will be looked to provide big plays and to keep opposing defenses from being able to load eight men in the box.

Tight End
#11 Jordan Reed SO(RS) 6'3 245lbs 82ovr 87spd 87acc 85 cth 84THP 80THA
Reed is a physical freak who will be used to create match-up problems with the linebackers and make plays over the middle of the field
Desmond Parks and Gerald Christian have similar skill sets though not as talented as Reed can still be match-up problems with their speed.

Offensive Line
#78 LT David Young 82ovr 6'4 309lbs, #67 LG Jon Halapio 84ovr 6'3 315lbs, #50 C Sam Robey 87 ovr 6'4 295lbs, #66 RG James Wilson 88ovr 6'3 316lbs, #73 RT Xavier Nixon 91ovr 6'5 304lbs look to be able to move defensive lineman and linebackers out of the way to pave easy running lanes for this run heavy attack.

Defensive Line
#95 LE Gavin Johnson 86 ovr, #20 RE Chris Martin, DTs #6 Jaye Howard 95ovr and #99 Omar Hunter 92ovr look to clog up the middle and let the athletic linebackers scrap and make the tackles blocker free. Tied with WR for most depth on the team DTs Sharrif Floyd 88ovr, Dominique Easley 86ovr, and DEs Ronald Powell 85ovr, Lerentee McCray 85 ovr could start for many other quality teams in the nation.

Outside Linebacker
#43 Jelani Jenkins 6'1 230lbs 89ovr 85 spd 95 acc
Jenkins looks to make plays on the outside he's very versatile he can run down running backs and stand up and take a block as well and then go make the tackle.

There's some young depth here with Freshmen Clint Jackson 77ovr, Anthony Newsome 79 ovr and Sophomore Neiron Ball all being able to step in and contribute to the D without missing a beat

Middle Linebacker
#52 Jonathan Bostic JR 6'1 240lbs 91 ovr 87spd 86acc 89tak 89pur
Bostic is a very instinctive player who is going to be key for Stryker's plans for this season he is going to have to be a leader on the defensive side for the young but athletic defense.

Stryker Back
#25 Cliff Bolen FR 6'1 177lbs 95spd 95acc 82tak
Bolen was too talented to keep him off the field so Stryker developed a type of hybrid position between LB/CB/S that Bolen would have the job of taking care of. While small he has surprising strength, he needs to work on his awareness but he is expected to make an instant impact as soon as he steps on the field.

Cornerback
#1 Janoris Jenkins SR 5'11 185lbs 97ovr 95spd 95acc 99prc,mcv, 98zcv
#8 Jeremy Brown JR(RS) 5'10 184lbs 86ovr 90spd 96acc
#36 Moses Jenkins SR(RS) 6'2 189lbs 86ovr 92 spd 97acc
The obvious shutdown corner is J. Jenkins who will be looked to play a lot of single coverage on the opposition's top receiver. The rest of the secondary while not is good in coverage still has extreme speed to make up for mistakes.

Free Safety
#10 Will Hill SR 6'1 207lbs 95ovr 93spd 97acc
Can play man or zone also has a good nose for the football to step up and help in the run game.

Strong Safety
#22 Matt Elam SO 5'10 203lbs 84ovr 93spd 96 acc
#21 Dusty Thomas FR 6'0 203lbs 79ovr 87spd 85acc
#44 Curtis Daniels Fr 6'0 205lbs 79ovr 77spd 87acc
One of the youngest positions on the team has the ability to develop into a strength for the defense in 2-3 years but for now it is perhaps the biggest weakness on the otherwise strong defense.

Kicker/Punter
#19 Caleb Sturgis SR 5'10 194lbs 85ovr 89kpw 82kac


If coach Stryker is able to get this team to work as a unit and buy into his plans we could see the Gators return to prominence.

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The debut of Van Stryker's Florida Gators started off very slow, after the first quarter which saw only two field goals by the Gators Caleb Sturgis(51,38yds) 6-0 had fans grumbling that they wished Urban Meyer had never resigned.

The second quarter went much the same as the second until a timely interception by freshman phenom Cliff Bolen set up a scoring drive that culminated with Jeff Demps first rushing TD(6 yds) of the day with 1:08 left in the half 13-0. After the Gator held the Owls to a quick three and out the offense went to their home-run hitter Chris Rainey for a 63 yard TD reception off of John Brantley hitting him for the bomb with 16 seconds left in the half. The Gators went into halftime with a comfortable lead of 20-0.

The third quarter was like the rest of the game Florida playing great defense but the offense not being able to get any sustained drives. Finally the Gators were able to punch another TD in with another Demps run with 2 minutes in the quarter 27-0.

The fourth quarter saw another Sturgis field goal 30-0, some more defense and a Mike Gillislee 20 yard TD scamper for a 37-0 lead. The defense also got some points on the board as they forced a safety with a minute twenty left to play to end the game 39-0.

Florida Stats:
J. Brantley 9-24 214yds TD INT
J. Demps 28att 89yds 2TD
M. Gillislee 8att 68yds TD
C. Rainey 4rec 136yds TD

Owls Stats:
S. Curtis 16-31 207yds INT
A. Morris 14 att 19yds 5rec 38yds
D. Williams 3rec 81yds

Coach Stryker Comments
Alright so a win's a win we played real sloppy today on offense we need to get some consistency there. We need to give Brantley more time to go through his progressions a lot of his incompletions were a result of heavy pressure. On the other hand the defense played great that's great to pitch a shutout no matter the opponent.