Never Forget How Close Alabama Was to Landing Tim Tebow Over Florida

Tim Tebow is a University of Florida legend. A Heisman Trophy winner and two-time National Champion, few players have an NCAA Football resume quite like Tim Tebow.

Considering how tremendous of a collegiate player Tebow was, it is remarkable to think about how things would have changed had he signed with the Crimson Tide instead of the Gators all the way back in 2006. It is even crazier to think that it could have actually happened.

Mike Shula and his Alabama coaching staff pursued Tebow very aggressively, and in a story from the Florida Times-Union, believed to be "50-50 with Florida." Just one day after a twelve-hour in-home visit, Tebow signed with Florida.

Shula went 6-7 the following year that resulted in him losing the Alabama job to make way for Nick Saban. Clearly, things worked out for Alabama, winning five national championships under Saban's command, but who knows what the Tide's success would have been if Shula remained in Tuscaloosa.

Florida would have likely never earned those national titles that catapulted the team's national standing. Maybe Urban Meyer would have never developed into the coaching legend he is today. Perhaps Dan Mullen, quarterbacks coach during the Tebow era, would have never been in the running for the head coaching position over a decade later.

In the end, both Alabama and Florida found success in the days both during and after Tebow's tenure, but there are endless questions of the outcome if things went the other way instead.