FOUR BITS: Brantley, Pouncey, Tebow, Haden

1 » When mentioning Florida Gators redshirt junior starting quarterback John Brantley, the first thing that comes to the mind of most is simply: “How will he follow Tim Tebow?” Brantley, to his credit, says that is not his goal – even if the comparisons will be there from the get-go. “He knows he’s going to be compared to Timmy and that’s OK, that’s part of the deal,” his father John Brantley, Sr. told USA Today. “But I keep telling him, ‘Be yourself. Don’t be Tim Tebow. Don’t be someone you’re not. You’ve been successful at every level. Don’t change.”

2 » Florida senior center Mike Pouncey has taken his new leadership position seriously. So much, in fact, that he proclaimed boldly to USA Today that no foolishness will get by under his watch. “We had a lot of things going on [last year] that we shouldn’t have had and we got away from being the team,” Pouncey said. “We lost a lot of our star players, guys with big names. We don’t have any prima donnas. Anyone who is going to step on that field is going to have something to prove. […] We’ll take care of [any prima donnas]. We’re not having that this year.”

3 » The Cleveland Browns seemingly hoped to kill two birds with one stone Tuesday as they hosted former Gators quarterback Tim Tebow and cornerback Joe Haden at the team’s complex in Berea, OH. According to The News-Herald, team president Mike Holmgren has “made it clear the Browns will take a quarterback in the draft;” whether or not that will be Tebow remains to be seen. Also in attendance was former Rutgers CB Devin McCourty, considered the fourth-best at his position. The team could choose him in a later round should they pass on Haden at No. 7 overall.

4 » The Gainesville Sun’s Kevin Brockway, citing a story published by the Knoxville News-Sentinel earlier this week, reports that Florida basketball has inquired about 2010 three-star point guard recruit Jalen Steele (Knoxville, TN). Steele, who committed to the Auburn Tigers in September, is looking to get out of his letter of intent after the team fired head coach Jeff Lebo.