Every freshman has a stripe on his helmet when fall practice begins each year at Florida. That player doesn't truly become a Gator until the stripe is removed.

On Tuesday, Florida coach Urban Meyer described the process.

"We started that a long time ago," he said. "It's basically to de-recruit, to get rid of the nonsense. To make them understand they're not an outstanding freshman ... they're just another guy on the team."

Meyer, a player's position coach and director of strength and conditioning Mickey Marotti determine when the stripes come off. When that decision is made, the removal typically takes place at either a team meeting or on the field and involves each freshman's big brother on the team.

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