Gibson and his Gators in 2008

Another team that I really wanted to get some information on this year is Florida. Kurt Gibson and Windham were kind enough to answer some questions and I thought I would share.

Florida?

The first thing I wanted to know was where the hell Florida came from? I can remember a time, and I am talking 3-4 years ago, when Florida was never mentioned among the top teams in the country. However in 2006, they shocked the country (or at least me) and put together an almost perfect season and won a national championship. I have speculated as to what precipitated this jump to success. People like Kurt Gibson and Tim Gehret must have shook things up, but I was still unsatisified with that answer. So I went to the source. This is what Windham had to say about it:

"Honestly, it was a little bit of good luck to start out with. I think having talent like Tim and Kurt on the same team in college is every program’s wet dream. Once everyone else on the team realized though that these were some of the best guys in the country, it was a little bit of a priority shift. Previously we had been the team who went out to the tournament partys and drank ourselves stupid and let the dice fall where they would the next day. Once we realized that we had some special talent though we all committed ourselves to doing something with it. We stopped going to the party (sorry ultimate community) and began focusing more on training and conditioning throughout the season. I know this may not seem like a big deal, but to anyone in the ultimate community I think you can see how this might be a little bit of a paradigm shift. I guess to sum it up, once we realized the talent we had at the program, we knew how far we could get with some hard work."

Gibson had some follow up remarks:

"I believe that in 2005 we were a better team than we were in 2006. To be clear, we had more talent on the team in 2005. We should have beaten Cal and Colorado at Centex that year. We had no training, barely practiced and didn’t dedicate ourselves to be winners. In 2006 that changed by bringing in a coach, Kurt Dahlenburg, who pushed us on the track to get ourselves into phenomenal shape and be very mentally tough. Bill, Cyle, Tim and I developed a very good chemistry together after playing for three straight years together. Cyle also did a great job in making us play together all the time."

Player Departures

Luckily for Florida, a lot of their players are in the meat portion of their college careers. They are returning 12 players from last year and their only real losses are Gray Kirkmyer, "a solid O-player from the national championship team" and two defensive studs in, Joel Crandall and Tommy Rush (guy can pull like none other too).

2008 Stand outs

Without a doubt, most people will be looking for Kurt Gibson and Brodie Smith to make big plays. Kurt (5th year) is an obvious choice. He was Tim's go to cutter in 2006, he led Florida last year and has gained some serious disc experience playing at the highest level with the Southeast MLU team in 2006, and with Boston Ultimate this past club season. Brodie Smith (junior) is my pick for biggest threat in the AC. He has the same overall build as Kurt but really has a lot of pressure taken off of him by having Kurt as a team mate. I have had the privilege of watching Brodie play many times and I can say that his composure in the air is unreal. He will definitely be a part of a few double happiness points.

Young Guns

A school like Florida definitely has the ability to recruit and train the next all region caliber players and I was curious to know who the next crop of blue and orange studs would be. First and foremost Cole Sullivan will look to have another spectacular year. He was the AC's freshman of the year and this 6'2" defender will attempt to rack up fantasy points on Florida's D line. Another up and comer is Alex Hill, who Windham has pegged for the 2008 AC freshman of the year. Alex used to play for Sack Lunch, a mid level open team from Colorado, and I am sure with his initial experience, Florida's stringent conditioning, and his supporting cast, we will be seeing a lot of this kid on Rob's footage in the future.

Tournament Schedule

Florida is one of the few teams that will be able to attend all 4 CCS tournaments and are set to be at Warm Up, TiV, Stanford, Centex and of course the series. Florida is in a unique position to see the best in the country many times over but they definitely have a chip on their should to deal with. They won Warm Up last year and they come in seeded #1 this year and it is theirs to lose this weekend. Expectations for Florida are going to be exceedingly high at TiV because they have won it the last two years. With Wisconsin playing Mardi Gras before making the trek to the desert, Florida's year long sunshine might not prove to be the advantage it once was. I am glad Florida is going back to Stanford. In 2006, they showed that no amount of wind could shut down their game, a true test of the best. Their combination of composure and talent in 2006 was astonishingly impressive. However, SI has seen 4 different winners the last 4 years and I think in addition to Florida, the Hodags, JoJah, and Stanford will all be chomping at the bit to win that title again. Centex should also be a true acid test for Florida. Texas has been somewhat hard on these kids. They have lost in the finals twice and had a heart breaking loss to CUT in quarters last year. They came back and avenged their March loss with a sick layout D by Phil Vozza in quarters at Nationals, but many other teams will want to spoil Florida's fun in Austin.

Challenges and Goals

Florida definitely has some challenges this year. Their main tactic in 2006 was to rely on superstars and in 2007 they figured their reputation would earn them the W's to make the finals. However, with the loss of Tim Gehret and a shocking pool play loss to Delaware's Sideshow, Florida must commit to a more team oriented game. This is what Windham had to say about that Florida loss and their outlook for 2008 in that regard:

"It was a wake up call more than anything else, not to be cliché. After we won the championship in ’06 I think a lot of our guys felt like we were entitled to win more games, and often times throughout the ’07 season we did not bring enough fire to the games (notably the Delaware loss at nationals and the Carleton loss at Centex, though Carleton played a great game). Our philosophy in previous years had been to ride our big players and I think that those games showed us that winning at that level takes a full squad committed to working hard and showing up fired up every game. I think sometimes it easy to forget when you step out on the field that the other team really wants to win too, no matter who they are, and they are not going to hand you a title just because your shirt says Florida."

As with most teams at this level the main goal is always to win nationals. However, like Wisconsin, Colorado, Stanford, Oregon, CUT, UCSB, etc... just making nationals is extremely difficult. These teams have to play the best to even earn that spot in Boulder and playing in the AC region is definitely a humbling experience. The AC has been so dynamic, with teams like NC State, William and Mary, UNC, Georgia, Florida, and UCF all rising and falling, and teams must be really sharp to make it out of regionals. Windham enjoys the competition however and said that the AC is "very tough. For the past few years we have come from the toughest section and the toughest region in the country. Playing all those good teams throughout the season though I think helps, because you know you are going to be ready for whatever comes at you from across the country". It is easy to appreciate Florida's focus especially with words like "No game is ever a cake walk, and if you think it is going to be, then it definitely won’t be."

Closing Thoughts

I will say that Florida definitely has been humbled since memorial day 2006. They have fall losses to Georgia, UNC, and UNC Wilmington not to mention a perennial rivalry with Wisconsin, the top team on Florida's radar. I think if Florida spreads the disc around more than they have in the past and potentially open their rotation and give points to some young blood, they will definitely have the ability to make it back to sunday at natties. One last question that I ask every captain concerns the new college nationals date to which Windham replied:

"Personally I like the date. I know for us it is hard to keep some guys around after graduation and the semester is over and keep practicing. We have had multiple people living on teammates floors for two weeks since their lease was up or the dorms are closed, so I think pushing it up was a good move."

I think this Florida team will be better than 2007. Kurt is at his best, Brodie is as good as it gets, they have the young legs. However, with a national title in the trophy case they still have that red bulls eye over their head and every opponent they see will want to stick it to this seemingly seamless ultimate team.

just my thoughts

match diesel