I'm always looking at roster and coaching moves for clues---tipoffs---of what's happening internally.  Sometimes a roster action or a myriad of other things can mean more than what it says at a surface level.

Recent example: the University of Florida.

This offseason, several players were involved in a campus-area shooting where some shots were fired into a Gainesville apartment.  No charges have been made, but there's been an investigation.

What were the repercussions for those players?  So far, none.

Here's the assessment from Rivals' Spring Football Wire:

Florida wide receivers Andre Caldwell and Kenneth Tookes will not be suspended following an off-the-field gun incidenct in February.  Prior to a Gator Gathering on Monday in Tallahassee, Fla., Florida coach Urban Meyer called the incident disappointing.

Police questioned Caldwell, Tookes and former Florida cornerback Dee Webb as part of an investigation into gunshots fired at a Gainesville, Fla., apartment.  Tookies admitted to firing the gun, which was owned by Webb.  No one was harmed in the incident, and police did not file charges.

"If they were bad people, I would have made a change," Meyer said.  "It's very disappointing.  We all make stupid mistakes, and this ranks up there as a very serious one."

Not that this is Earth-shattering analysis or anything, but I find this a tipoff that Meyer's deviating from his traditional disciplinarian role in order to have as full of a roster as possible for this season.  It's a change, and my guess is he would have attempted some kind of punishment last year when the aura of his hiring was fresh.  He also took an interesting flier on top recruit Percy Harvin, a gifted athlete but also someone with all kinds of disciplinary issues.  He was suspended from all levels of high school competition (read: track) after a string of altercations at high school basketball and football games.

Every time any coach adds a questionable recruit a certain amount of their time will inevitably drawn away from the field and into babysitting.  There's a tradeoff, and Meyer obviously likes the gain he will get from Harvin and retaining the gun incident players instead of what he might lose through bad press, apparent hypocrisy and a certain amount of time and energy lost from more traditional team matters to keep an eye out for potentially wayward players.

Please keep in mind I'm not sanctimonious about off-field incidents.  In fact, I generally choose not to report them on here because people's opinions usually get in the way of fact.  I've also known a good deal of dirt at several programs and the stuff that goes unreported is far grimier and pernicious than what we'll ever get out of the press clippings.  However, they can sometimes be instructive about where a coach's head is at, at that particular point.

In this case, coach Meyer is either anticipating great returns from backing these players or is nervous about the upcoming season and needs them at all costs on the roster to retain a certain level of on-field respectability for the program if in fact he anticipates a season worse than most fans and pundits expect.  You'd be surprised, coaches tend to know what kind of season their team is about to have (this works at both extremes, coaches with low expectations who know they're about to explode into the rankings, and highly ranked coaches who know their team won't be as competitive as expected.  In fact, I bet Phil Fulmer had at least some idea his team would tank last year before the first game was ever played), but they're smart enough to know not to get quoted about it.