DESTIN, Fla. -- Distance isn't a factor when Florida football coach Urban Meyer is in need of good advice.

"I'll fly to New England to visit (Patriots coach) Bill Belichick," Meyer said at the SEC spring meetings Tuesday. "I try to visit with champions, the very successful people."

Now, he can do so without leaving his neighborhood. Why go all the way to New England when Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan lives just 100 yards away?

At last year's spring meetings, after Donovan had just won his first national title, he talked about conferring with coaches who had won back-to-back championships. He obviously took good notes.

The Gators successfully defended their national championship in April. And despite the team's wealth of talent and experience, Donovan justifiably got much of the credit.

His previous team basically came out of nowhere to win a national championship. This team began the season with a No. 1 bulls-eye on its back. Only another coach can fully appreciate the significance.

"His job was much harder than a year ago," Meyer said. "Last year, they just kind of popped up and won a championship. This year, anything other than a championship, a lot of people would have called that a failure. I thought the way they handled it was tremendous."

As Meyer spoke glowingly of his Florida colleague, I wondered if any school has ever had two hotter coaches in its employ at the same time.

Meyer just won a national championship and has won 22 games in two seasons with the Gators. And all he did before that was lead Utah to an unbeaten season.

After only six years as a head coach, he already ranks with the best in his profession. But he's not even the hottest coach on his campus.

Donovan has won back-to-back national championships. He's in the process of negotiating a contract that likely will pay him $3 million a year. And his name is mentioned repeatedly with NBA openings.

Amidst Donovan's burgeoning fame and fortune, his appreciation has grown for a group of players whose devotion to each other was as much of an asset as their combined talent.

"I was really fortunate to have a team that was very committed to each other," Donovan said. "It was a very humbling experience.

"On one hand, I'm very privileged to have coached them. On the other hand, you hate to see them go."

All the star players have departed and a mammoth rebuilding job lies ahead. But how daunting can the challenge be when you have Donovan as your coach?

As his golfing companions will attest, the ball is still bouncing his way.

Donovan, six of his former college buddies and new Arkansas coach John Pelfrey recently enjoyed a golfing trip to Ireland. The players on Donovan's team enjoyed it the most.

One day, his team was leading by a stroke after 17 holes. On the par-5 18th hole, Donovan seemingly was in no position to help hold the lead.

With his ball buried in the weeds 50 yards from the green, he had little reason for optimism. When he punched the ball out of the rough, it hit the side of one of the two mountains which flank the green.

But it didn't stop there. Instead, it rolled down the mountain onto the green. Twenty feet later, it was in the hole, and Donovan's teammates were falling down in celebration.

"We had a lot of fun," Donovan said.

His teams usually do.