Florida's turnaround quick under Meyer's watch

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Ol' Ball Coach suddenly seems so ... ol'.

Vitality has replaced the visor.

The Gators are strut and strength.

Who do you think made out better, Notre Dame or Florida? (Getty Images)

Ask Troy Smith, the latest Heisman flop in a national championship game. Ask Jim Tressel, who turned into Bozo the Coach in Monday's BCS title game. Ask Notre Dame how it missed out on this guy 25 months ago.

Then ask Gator Nation to meet The New Ball Coach.

Five years ago Urban Meyer beat Missouri in his first game at Bowling Green. Three years ago he talked a scrawny quarterback named Alex Smith out of transferring. And 25 months ago Meyer beat BYU in his final regular-season game at Utah.

Some wise-ass Ute fan pointed a sign at BYU's Mormon fans that night:

Where's Your God Now?

Right here in Glendale, winning the national championship game by 27 points. Meyer took a sizable swipe at Steve Spurrier's legacy while making a borderline fraud out of the No. 1 Buckeyes.

It took Spurrier all of six seasons to win a national championship. Meyer did it in his second season. He single-handedly took the spread option from parlor trick to base offense for a large portion of the country's high school and college teams.

Spurrier changed the SEC. Meyer is changing the, gulp, football world.

"This time last year I was enrolling as a freshman at Florida," freshman quarterback Tim Tebow said. "Now I'm here (winning) a national championship."

Yes, it happened that fast. Florida became the first school to win basketball and football championships within a year. Actually, the gestation period was only nine months, with Billy Donovan attempting to repeat.

"It's definitely possible," said Florida receiver Cornelius Ingram, when asked if his coach could someday outshine Spurrier. "With a guy like Coach Meyer you definitely can't count him out."

Count him out? There hasn't been much doubt about the guy's ability since he landed on campus. OK, maybe it took him a few games to realize the speed of the SEC. But then he unleashed Franken-Gator on the world.

There is speed and then there is SEC speed. Ohio State certainly wasn't ready for it. Smith was sacked five times. Ends Derrick Harvey and Jarvis Moss, plus defensive tackle Ray McDonald, made the Buckeyes' offensive tackles look like blocking dummies -- only worse. Blocking dummies bounce back up. Alex Boone and Kirk Barton were whiffing all night.

Tressel essentially handed the game to Florida in the first half when he decided to go for it on fourth-and-one from his own 29 in the second quarter. Not a good idea. Freshman running back Chris Wells was stopped short.

"We're a lot quicker, a lot more athletic," the 6-foot-6 Moss said. "It's just totally different playing guys in our conference.

"I really don't know who they played other than Michigan. They really didn't have an identity. They really weren't tested by any great teams."

Florida played 10 bowl teams, losing only to Auburn. It depends on when you lose, though. After allowing only 86 points in their first 11 games, the Buckeyes allowed 80 in their final two to Michigan and Florida.

"I see what you see on TV, but I've seen him speak and I know he's a motivator and there is something special," said Meyer's wife, Shelley. "I really believe that Urban has something about him that makes players want to play their hardest."

That only begins to explain what got into Chris Leak. The senior established his legacy forever, playing perhaps his finest game (25 of 36, 213 yards).

"He is officially one of the top two quarterbacks to play at the University of Florida," Meyer said. "There have been only two in 100 years of football to win a national championship. Chris Leak is one of them."

Danny Wuerffel is the other. This story is better. It is doubtful whether Wuerffel was ever booed on his home field.

And to think Florida AD Jeremy Foley won Meyer's services by a landing strip. Notre Dame essentially was late getting the private plane in the air for Salt Lake City for their courtship with Meyer.

Was it ever going to really get Meyer? Let the postseason answer. The Gators won their second national championship by the same score (41-14) that Notre Dame lost by to LSU a few nights ago.

The margin pretty much muted any BCS controversy. This season concluded with only one undefeated team, and no one should care at all.

"Yeah, let's play them next week," Meyer said. "I know Boise State.

"I would not want to do that. We're good. We're done. We're finished."