Florida’s Tim Tebow gets new QB coach, tweaks mechanics in hopes of becoming better passer

Overhaul Tim Tebow? Gators say heck no!

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Tim Tebow is far from the perfect passer.

He takes every snap from the shotgun formation, has a long windup, throws sort of sidearm and finishes each pass with a leg kick.

His arm strength is average, his ability to read defenses is questionable and his NFL future is routinely debated.

Top-ranked Florida even has him working with a pro-style quarterbacks coach whose resume includes Brian Griese, Tom Brady, Drew Henson, John Navarre and Chad Henne.

So does this mean Tebow will change his game in an attempt to make himself an NFL-ready signal caller in his final college season?

Not a chance.

“It better not be overhauled,” coach Urban Meyer said. “The guy has a 60-plus percent completion rate. Enhanced, yes. It’s not going to be like all of a sudden, ‘Look at this guy.’ It’s going to be Tim Tebow.”

Tebow being Tebow might be all Florida needs to win a third national championship in four years. The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner has completed 65.8 percent of his passes for 6,390 yards and 67 touchdowns in three seasons. He also has 2,037 yards rushing and 43 scores.

That’s 110 touchdowns in 41 games. It’s even more impressive considering Tebow came off the bench for 14 of the games and hasn’t been completely healthy since he took over the starting job. He has played with a broken hand, a hyper-extended knee and nagging shoulder pain that prompted painkilling shots before 19 of his last 20 games. He had shoulder surgery in January.

Even though Tebow missed some practice repetitions last week because of a sore back, he feels as healthy as he’s been in three years. That could make him more accurate and even tougher to tackle.

“It’s just so much easier now,” said Tebow, who is 35-6 with the Gators. “I can take hits and smile, not grunt now. That will be nice.”

Tebow considered leaving school after last season and entering the NFL draft. But with shoulder surgery planned and varying opinions about his NFL draft stock, he opted to return for his senior season and a shot at making history.

He wants to be on the first Florida team to have a perfect season and hopes the Gators become the first program in more than a decade to win three national championships in four years.

He also knows the odds are against him. No quarterback in the Bowl Championship Series era has won a national title as a junior, returned for one more year and been able to repeat as champs.

Five have tried. Five have failed.

Tennessee’s Tee Martin (1999), Florida State’s Chris Weinke (2000), Miami’s Ken Dorsey (2002), Ohio State’s Craig Krenzel (2003) and Southern California’s Matt Leinart (2005) all came up short in their attempts to lead their teams to national titles as seniors. Just like Tebow and the Gators, they were surrounded by talent, highly ranked and were popular picks to win it all.

Tebow knows the trend. He also has a reason for it.

“It’s hard. I think that’s why you see so many teams fall that next season when they have the same talent and everything,” Tebow said. “It’s a grind. You just have to have great leaders and push and find that edge and keep going. It’s hard enough to win one, let alone another one.”

Nonetheless, he’s ready to try.

He’s also prepared for the critics, all the nay-sayers who believe he’ll never make it in the NFL. Tebow has made it clear he wants to play quarterback at the next level. Not tight end. Not fullback. Certainly not linebacker.

And when offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Dan Mullen left to take the head coaching job at Mississippi State, Meyer did all he could to help Tebow reach his goal. Meyer hired Scot Loeffler, who has college (Michigan) and NFL (Detroit) experience coaching quarterbacks.

One of the first things Loeffler did was break down video of Tebow’s mechanics, evaluating his footwork, his body position, his arm angle, his throwing motion, his release point and anything else that could be improved this offseason.

But there were no drastic changes.

“Slight fundamental changes, slight body position changes,” Loeffler said. “Will the average fan notice? I don’t know. A lot of people who study quarterbacks might. Tim Tebow throws the ball well enough to help us win the SEC title. All we’re trying to do is improve. It doesn’t matter if he was Joe Montana, it’s the same approach that we would have.

“The nature of the position is you’ve never arrived, you’re never there. The Tom Bradys of the world, they’re constantly working at fundamentals, footwork and technique, body position, weight transfer.”

Tebow has done the same, trying to become a better passer. But will there be a noticeable difference?

Meyer would prefer Tebow stay just the way he is.

“The quarterback’s job … is to win,” Meyer said. “We don’t win the ‘06 national championship without Tim Tebow. Absolutely not. We certainly don’t win without him last year. Tim has the label as a winner. He won a state championship in high school. He’s done tremendous in college so far and he has another year left.”