He had just entered the St. Petersburg Coliseum through the back door, preparing to address a room filled with Gators who had paid between $25 and $35 to hear him. Meyer was stunned by what he saw. As he peeked through the curtain separating the main room from the back, he saw 1,200 Gators crammed into a room designed for not that many.

The line of people awaiting his autograph snaked around the room. He heard cheers - ``Orange ... Blue'' - reverberate through the crowd.

And he was the guy who caused all this.

``Wow,'' he said, as he shook his head in amazement.

You have to understand where he is coming from. When he coached at Bowling Green, his stop before he headed to Utah, Meyer once spoke to a booster club function attended by five people. He gave no autographs because, well, ``No one asked for one.''

But now Meyer is the must-see Gator, preaching his gospel of discipline, dedication and high ambition. The faithful love it, too, and they will for as long as he wins every game and beats Tennessee, Georgia and Florida State so badly they want to run home to mama.

``This,'' Meyer said, ``is insane.''

And the opening kickoff is more than three months away.

Sudden Impact

It's impossible to overstate the impact Meyer has had in Gator Nation since taking over for Ron What's-His-Name on Dec. 4.

``The first year we had [Steve] Spurrier, we didn't have anywhere near the turnout at our dinner that we have with this,'' said Eric Schneider of the Pinellas Gator Booster Club. ``I think it's the whole fresh attitude now. He is coming off that 12-0 Utah team, and the fact is we had Ron Zook for three years.

``Now, I love Ron Zook and his passion, but he had the attitude that he was playing not to lose. I'm looking forward to winning.''

Meyer wins. That much we know.

He built Bowling Green into a Top 25 power. He built Utah into a Top 10 power. Neither of those places provided the resources he now enjoys. But it's more than just the anticipation of payback for all the misery of the Zook error that caused people to leave the comfort of their homes on a weeknight to hear his gospel. Meyer has the masses juiced because he has the air. He has the look of a can't-miss winner.

He certainly has sold no less a Gator than Gator Ray himself - former Florida coach Ray Graves.

``Florida is lucky to get him,'' Graves said.

After watching Meyer's renowned offense at work in the Gators spring game, Gator Ray is among the believers.

``I was a little doubtful at what we were getting, but after this spring, I'm sold,'' he said. ``I think we're going to have a lot of exciting football. You know, I'm a defensive coach and after I saw his game films, I know one thing: I wouldn't want to try to stop him.''

Got Their Man

People who are supposed to know such things say they've never seen anything quite like the enthusiasm Meyer has generated. Even the year after Spurrier led the Gators to the national championship, this banquet sold only about 1,100 tickets. The faithful this time grabbed up all 1,200 available tickets to see Meyer and would have bought hundreds more.

``There's a magic about him, that's what it is,'' booster Frank Campisi said. ``We thought Steve had that about him, but this guy does too.''

This just in: The magic man is tired. He is nearing the end of the Gator banquet circuit, and he is ready.

``I just want to get done with this stuff,'' he said before going out to speak to the faithful. ``I've reached the saturation point.''

But then he smiled and pulled it together one more time. They greeted him with a standing ovation, and he held up a single index finger and told them that's what Florida wants to be - No. 1. After three years (decades? centuries?) of hearing Zookbabble, that fearless, direct message was just want they wanted.

Of course, it's late May and Meyer hasn't lost a game since he was hired, about six months now - although even Zook stayed undefeated for that long. What happens next will determine how long this lovefest will last, but one suspects this has a chance to last a while.

``I get one chance to be the head football coach at the University of Florida,'' he told the crowd. ``And we're going to do this damn thing right.''