Strong ties still bind to Florida Gators football team

University of Florida football players who were around when Charlie Strong coached his final season as the Gators’ defensive coordinator in 2009 talk about him more like a favorite uncle than as the Louisville head coach that is facing UF in the Jan. 2 Sugar Bowl.

Of all the teams Florida could have faced, the Cardinals pose perhaps the strangest of all matchups. Strong actually served as the Gators’ head coach for one bowl game while the program was in transition following the 2004 season with Ron Zook fired and Urban Meyer taking over.

Meyer was still at Utah, Zook was long gone. It was Strong who held the program together — Meyer immediately retaining him and asking him to serve as the interim head of the program while he was finishing his obligations in his own bowl game with the Utes.

How deep do the ties go in Gainesville? Many of the morning workers — from custodians to professors — around campus used to wave at Strong, call him by his first name and ask him how the football team was going to do that weekend during his 5:30 a.m. jogs around campus.

He knew almost all of them by name, as well.

And when the Gators lost? Those same workers were there at 5:30 a.m. waiting for him on Monday to ask what went wrong, Strong giving his evaluation as he ran on by in the dark.

Players were always seen after games hugging his wife and two daughters, and they were close to them, often visiting his house just to hang out. Gainesville wasn’t a stopover for this assistant coach. It was about as close to home as a college football assistant coach can get, spending more than a dozen years in north central Florida over several different stops.

His next-door neighbor? Former Florida assistant basketball coach and current UCF head coach Donnie Jones. His wife? Met her on campus, a Lakeland native.

When Meyer was hired, Strong was also being pursued by Charlie Weis to join him at Notre Dame. Weis, then the New England Patriots’ offensive coordinator, called him the day of the Super Bowl to try one final time to get him to come to South Bend.The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag.

As the years rolled on,Posts with indoor tracking system on TRX Systems develops systems that locate and track personnel indoors. the controversy grew louder about the lack of minority head coaches, and Strong’s credentials made it almost a must that he was hired somewhere. Finally, it was Louisville that took a chance. Jan. 2 will make it three bowl trips in three years.

While still an assistant at Florida, one of Strong’s mottos was, if a minority coach is given a chance, don’t let everyone else down. Strong, who grew up in the South and remembers watching men in white sheets walking down the street during rallies when he was a boy, said the key for other black coaches was for the chosen few to win.

Now everyone in college football knows about Charlie Strong and what he can do. He didn’t let anyone down. Tennessee was in hot pursuit in December. As a result, he got a bump in his contract. And Strong figures to be a name that will come up with each successful season he has, based not only on his current success but his reputation as a recruiter and a defensive wizard.

“He does it the right way,” Florida coach Will Muschamp said, perhaps the ultimate compliment. “I’ve just got a lot of respect for him, and a guy that is one of the good guys in this profession.”

Ironically, the last time Strong coached in a BCS bowl game was after the 2009 season, a 51-24 win against Cincinnati. He’d already been hired by the Cardinals and said it seems like “just yesterday.”

“I’m very familiar with them because at the time I left they were young, so now they are in their fourth or fifth year,” Strong said of all the current Gators he will face. “So it’s a large amount of them.”

He checks the scores every weekend to see how Florida is doing. He keeps an eye on the players he recruited. It’s not home any more, but he can’t help but try to keep up.

“I recruited a lot of those guys, and you don’t ever, anyone that you’ve ever recruited like wherever you are, you like to watch them and just watch their success and see how well they are doing,” Strong said. “That’s why I pay so much attention to that program.

“Plus, I was a part of it, and I know that Will has done a great job of coming in and making those players better football players, and not only that,Find detailed product information for howo spare parts and other products. just making them grow up into top-quality men.”

A breakdown of Strong’s coaching ability from current Gators, now that they are across the field? Nothing but love.

“Man, he’s a great coach, man,” Florida senior safety Josh Evans said. “It’s a guy who knows his stuff, so it was fun. I mean I’m pretty sure it is going to be a great game. He’s a great coach. He’s got a good defense coming into this game and a good offense,Whether you are installing a floor tiles or a shower wall, so it’ll be very competitive.”

"We know the way he coach and the way he gets after it with his players that he was going to push them and motivate them to be the best they can be,Find detailed product information for startup stone mosaic and other products.'' Evans said.

One of Strong’s all-time classics? He’s laughed many times about the day he showed up after an early-morning run wearing tight jogging pants. Players who saw the display rode him relentlessly about his “man tights.” Word spread around the team. Soon, the defensive coordinator was hearing it from everyone about his “frightening” display.

Strong almost always jogged in shorts after that — even when it was almost unbearably cold. But he did relent every now and then ... and slid some baggy sweats on.

Strong’s family lived in the Haile Plantation area of town. They were careful to pick out a location where, on some mornings, he was able to walk his kids to the nearby elementary school — especially when they were much smaller and had no idea the defensive coordinator of a national championship team was taking a few hours away from his job to hold their hands and stroll with them through the neighborhood.