Apparently God is a Florida Fan

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Silly me, but I didn’t realize God was a Gator.
But apparently he is based on comments from Sharrif Floyd’s high school coaches about what went down in the final few days before Floyd announced his college choice on national TV last Saturday at the U.S. Army All-American game.

As we all know, Floyd picked Florida.

Now we’re starting to find out why. According to Floyd’s coaches, he was set to pick Ohio State until he spoke with Meyer on the phone. That’s when Florida’s coach, desperate to rein in the nation’s top defensive tackle prospect, went “all in” with the religion card. Here’s what the coaches said:

“Sharrif was really confused and put a call into Coach Meyer. When they spoke Coach Meyer told him that he had a ‘dream’ the night before, and that Coach Meyer saw himself on the sideline coaching Sharrif. Told him that is was a "message from God that I should come back and coach, as I guess if it’s my time to die, I'd rather die on the sidelines coaching you than anywhere else in the world.

"Sharrif talked to us the next day and said Ohio State is great and all, but Coach Meyer said he would DIE for me. That's pretty intense. From that day on Sharrif mainly kept to himself. But that was the turning point in my eyes."

Either you have to applaud Meyer for a brilliant recruiting maneuver or mock him for preying on the emotions of a naïve high school kid.

You could also do both. Make no mistake, Meyer knew exactly what he was doing, just like the way he “resigned” as Florida’s head coach only to announce a day or two later he was taking an indefinite leave of absence. Contrived? You bet.

But, considering all the highly-touted prospects that have committed to the Gators in recent days, Meyer’s ploy has worked to perfection.

Really, though, the entire Meyer/Floyd proves yet again that while the NCAA Rulebook is as thick as a phone directory there is only one rule that truly matters when it comes to recruiting – caveat emptor.

Let the Buyer Beware.

It’s difficult to blame Floyd for believing such nonsense since players worship coaches like Meyer as father figures. They sincerely accept as true anything and everything that comes out of the mouths of coaches, especially one like Meyer who has won multiple national championships.

Titles bring credibility.

But Meyer’s master stroke in convincing Floyd that committing to Florida was a matter of divine intervention is yet another indication of how far some coaches are willing to go in recruiting to sign the top players. Did Meyer cross the line? Yes. Is it illegal to tell a kid you had a vision from God? No.

The way the NCAA works, it’s the player’s responsibility and his advisers to separate fact from the B.S.

Is this the first time a well known coach has played the religion card? Heck, no. And it won’t be the last either.

If you recall, former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden un-apologetically played the religion card while recruiting RB C.J. Spiller. Unfortunately, God later determined the Tigers weren’t worthy of an ACC championship or a BCS bowl game during Spiller’s time in the Upstate, though he did accomplish a lot individually.

I’m sure there are countless other examples as well where coaches have exploited a player’s belief in the almighty to gain a recruiting advantage.

About 20 years ago, preacher Oral Roberts relied on the same tactics when he convinced thousands of his followers God would “call him home” unless he raised enough money ($8 million) to send out missionaries from a medical center he had built earlier.

In essence, it’s all about passing the snicker test. As long as the prospect doesn’t laugh when religion is invoked, the coach has a chance.

And that’s exactly what Meyer was counting on.

So, is God a Gator? Well, if that movie set for release this weekend is really true, his attention isn't focused on college football right now.