Q & A with James Bates

How long should they wait to retire No. 15 after this season?
What, they haven’t retired it already? He’s just meant so much to the Gator Nation and so much to college football. (Tim Tebow’s) just such a wonderful, wonderful person. I just feel blessed to have played with Danny Wuerffel and be around such a great guy and a great competitor, then to have a guy like Timmy Tebow playing for my school and the team that I love. I’m just so proud of these guys as a whole. Urban Meyer has done such a good job at putting not just good players on the field, but good people off of it, and Tim Tebow spearheads that charge. It’s not a stretch by any means to say that he’s the greatest college football player to have ever played and I’m just excited to watch him in his senior run. The (retired number) will go up soon enough. ... You know it will happen. I wouldn’t put it past Urban (to do it soon), because he knows how special Tim is. I was just talking to Urban, and he told me that (New England Patriots coach) Bill Belichick is coming into town this weekend to talk to the team and he said he was the best football player he’s ever seen. Bill Belichick’s seen some great ones in his day. He’s a great kid, and I’m glad he’s a Gator.

So between the two quarterbacks you mentioned, who would you pick for your backyard team — Tebow or Wuerffel?
For my backyard team? I think I’d take Tebow. He’s 240 (pounds). Wuerffel’s never gotten close to 240. Nobody’s going to bring him down in the backyard.

You brought your son, Jake, out to spring football practice. What would you say to him if he came to you in a few years and said he wanted to play at Tennessee for Lane Kiffin?
Oh man. My brother is good friends with Lane Kiffin. They spent some time together down in Tampa when my brother was coaching for (Jon) Gruden. I don’t know him that well other than the few things we’ve seen lately. My Dad played at UT, my Mom went to UT, my brother played at UT. It’d be tough, because I’d like to push him toward the Gators. But hey, my Dad let me do what I wanted to do and it worked out for the best. I have to let him do what he wants to do, but that’s a tough question and a good question.

Who’s a tougher No. 44, you or current Gator Duke Lemmens?
It’s good to see 44 back on a linebacker, where it belongs. Right after I left, there was a punter that wore it, (David) Wasielewski. He’s what (former Gator) Lawrence Wright used to call BMW: Body Made Wrong. He was a good kid, but he just didn’t look good in that 44, man. Lemmens had a pick (in Wednesday’s practice) right over there against Tebow. He looked good, but I gotta say Bates. I can’t say someone else wearing 44. Now that was not a good question. Now it’s just an OK interview (laughs). We went from great to bad, to right there in the middle. What’s the next question you’ve got for me?

We’ve got some ground to make up then. You played with an offensive tackle named Zach Piller in the late '90s. You guys always said that he was going to become a pro wrestler and you were going to be his ring manager. What was going to be your shtick?
That was just Piller. You didn’t need any gimmick with him. Zach Piller’s a beauty, man. He’s a different cat. He’s (Matt) Patchan. That’s exactly what he is. My wife says I’m just a magnet for strange people, and sure enough, Patchan comes and finds me and he’s now my best buddy on the team. It’s like we’re the same age and we’ve known each other for years. I love it. We were down in Miami for the National Championship game and he was on the sideline and not playing. I told him that I was going over to meet (Brian Bosworth). I didn’t even expect him to know who Brian Bosworth was, but he started freaking out. That’s a guy after my own heart. For those that didn’t know Piller, just follow Patchan and you’ve got Piller. Zach Piller was a fun, fun guy. It takes a guy like that to make things go, even though they give coaches headaches some times.

So what’s your favorite Brian Bosworth movie?
Stone Cold. Though (former Gator quarterback) Eric Kresser was in one with him that was a lower budget movie. I challenge anybody to watch Stone Cold and say it’s a bad movie. If you say it’s a bad movie, then you just don’t like Brian Bosworth. He’s The Bos, man.

You used to have an alter-ego Tennessee fan named Luther Ogle. What would he say about this year’s Gator team?
Luther Ogle, oh man. I can’t talk about Luther Ogle anymore or I’ll get in trouble. My wife made me put those shorts up. He’d be scared, because Luther Ogle is a big Vols’ fan. I mean (Florida has) 22-deep coming back on defense and Tebow and company, Aaron Hernandez. He wouldn’t like those guys.

If you could take any one player off of this team and put him on one of the Gator teams you played on, who would you take?
Besides Tebow? I’d like to say (Brandon) Spikes, because I’m such a big fan of the linebackers. I enjoy watching the linebackers play and I respect the fact that he came back because he loves college football and being a Gator. I’d like to say Spikes, but you can’t get much better than Aaron Hernandez. This guy doesn’t look really like he’d be a world-beater. He doesn’t look like the Tony Gonzalez that’s just going to run by everybody, but man, he makes it happen. He’s a winner and he’s a scrapper. He’s been through some hard times and has really fought through. He’s a really good kid. I think Aaron Hernandez would be a tight one, but he’d be a win over Spikes.