I am glad that we have Meyer as a coach and I hope for the best with respect to the future of the Gators. But with all of this talk about Steve today, I find it hard to understand. It seems that everyone has vastly different opinions about what happened and what was the "right thing to do" and when was the "right time to leave". I understand that everyone has their own beliefs and they are entitled to them. I also realize that none of us are Steve or Foley, so therefore, we'll never really know all of the truth, but this is what I recall and what I believe; Steve won the heisman and returned to coach his alma mater to their first SEC championship... Finished 1st in the SEC over half of the years he coached the Gators. Won the one and only national title for our school... His resume, if there is such a thing, is known as the Gator trophy room. I believe that Steve has always stuck by our school and our players. Sometimes, he took things a little closer to his heart than he should have. In the most pressing incident, late in his coaching career at Florida, Steve sought some sort of confirmation or apology from fsu and/or Darnell Dockett for his malicious actions against our running back (Earnest Graham). Steve went so far as to compile a tape of the event to get some others interested in this incident. I firmly believe that he saw a problem with the system which would allow a player to intentionally hurt another and get away with it. Bobby Bowden joked about it. Hart (fsu AD) said he would "spank Steve and send him to bed" if he were his coach. And Foley basically just told Steve to shut-up. Steve had no support from his own administration on the issue and his player remained injured from something that could have turned into a court case if it were up to me. Steve left. I would have done the same thing. He had continuous offers from the big league (nfl) and why not; give it a go. Contrary to popular belief, I do not think there was a “good time” for Steve to step down. Yea, maybe it made recruiting a little hard, but we still got a lot of those players he went after that year. What if he had left in the middle of the year? What if he had stayed until he died? What if... We all know what occurred in the NFL - Steve missed his college coaching days and did not enjoy dealing with money talent without control over who played his plays. In the end, Steve was not about to hang up coaching all together. He wanted back into college ball. Subsequently, Florida decided to fire their current coach mid season. Then... (paraphrasing best that I can here) Foley was quoted as saying, “of course if Steve is available, we would be interested”. Steve was quoted as saying, “I’m interested.” What happened next is where many may debate. It became readily apparent that Steve was to come in for an “interview”. I believe he found the whole concept insulting, as he should. It was not like they were bringing in Bear Bryant or another legend to compare resumes for Christ’s sake. At that point, Steve humbly declined the “offer” to be considered. He wanted to coach and did not need to be brought through the mill over it. Nothing good could have come out of it. Steve would have either been hired with many questions about his competition for the job, or they would not have hired him which would have reduced his stock on the open market. Shortly after that, USC picked him up. Steve commented on his hiring “process” at USC and how they did it right; “You decide who you want as a coach and then you go get him.” (He also commented about the firing of Zook mid-season, but that’s another story). So in the end, Steve is at a popular division 1-A which has always fought an up-hill battle. They have some pretty good facilities. They have some pretty good fans. Hell, they even play some pretty good competition. When it is all said and done, this week, Steve is a cock. We will crush them. But I can’t help thinking “what if”, he had never left or he had come back. Seems to me that he is continuing to do a lot with the talent he has to work with. But he’s not here. So Go Meyer. Tear him a new one. Spread the ball around and run up the score. God knows, he’ll do the same when given the chance. GO GATORS! (This includes Leak, Danny, Emmitt, and even Steve) In all kinds of weather, best of luck Steve, ‘cept when you’re playing the “good guys”.