Urban renewal begins in Gainesville

Florida's new head football coach Urban Meyer takes his first look at "The Swamp" Tuesday in Gainesville, Fla. after he arrived in Florida following his acceptance of the position. Meyer, a two-time National Coach of the Year from Utah has 19 years of coaching experience behind him. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)

AP Sports Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — When Urban Meyer moved from Notre Dame to Bowling Green to Utah in five years, he explained the relocations to his three children by telling them he was like a mountain climber trying to get to the top.

After accepting the Florida job last week, his 6-year-old son simply asked, ‘‘Daddy, are you there yet?’’

Meyer smiled and responded, ‘‘Yes, this is the top.’’

Few would disagree.

The former Utah coach was formally introduced at Florida on Tuesday, getting a campus tour and meeting his new team for the first time since agreeing to a seven-year, $14 million contract.

He said all the right things, too. He talked about winning championships, praised coach Steve Spurrier and said he has no aspirations to coach in the NFL. He even took shots at Florida State and Tennessee, recalling famed Spurrier lines about ‘‘Free Shoes University’’ and ‘‘You can’t spell Citrus with UT.’’

‘‘This is a place you can put your feet down hopefully for a long time,’’ he said.

Although Meyer will coach the fifth-ranked Utes against No. 19 Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl, he already has started working for the Gators. He called recruits over the weekend and began what will be a difficult month of transition.

He spent the weekend celebrating his team’s Bowl Championship Series berth, had dinner with Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley on Monday and flew to Gainesville on a private jet with his wife and three children Tuesday morning.

Then he got a complete tour, capped by a visit to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

His eyes widened as he walked into ‘‘The Swamp’’ and noticed references to the six Southeastern Conference titles, the two Heisman Trophy winners and the 1996 national championship. He also saw an altered photo of himself — wearing an orange and blue Gators jacket — on both scoreboards.

He already knew expectations would be high, but his trip into the recently renovated stadium made it a reality.

‘‘Is it the toughest conference in the country? Absolutely. Is it one of the toughest schedules in the country? Absolutely. Can we recruit the best student-athletes in the country? Absolutely. It’s a great challenge and it is different.

‘‘To stand here and say that we had some great success at Bowling Green and some great success at Utah, we know we have to work that much harder to have great success here.’’

The Gators fired coach Ron Zook in October after a 20-13 record in two-plus seasons.

He also never satisfied fans who became accustomed to Spurrier’s innovative system that was fun to watch and tough to stop.

The 40-year-old Meyer, partly because of his presence and mostly because of his wide-open offense, should be a welcomed change.

‘‘He’s got a lot of fire, he’s a young guy you can relate to and he comes in with a great track record,’’ center Mike Degory said.

Bowling Green went 17-6 in two seasons under Meyer. Utah has a combined 21-2 mark the last two years, which made Meyer the most wanted coach in the country — and helped him move to the top of the mountain.

‘‘He’s done an excellent job at all of his coaching stops, and I believe firmly that he’ll do an excellent job here,’’ Foley said. ‘‘When I met with him and his wife 11 days ago, it became very apparent very quickly that he will be a perfect fit at this institution and his family will be a perfect fit in this community.’’