A Few Moments with UF Athletic Director Scott Stricklin

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:

On the way out of the Heavener Football Center Wednesday, I was able to spend a short time with Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin. Here are four questions and four candid answers about the future of college football and the University of Florida when it comes to NIL money.

Are there contingency plans in place or else being formulated should all these lawsuits against the NCAA bring the organization to its knees?

Scott Sticklin: “Well, what’s next is the great question. The current model has been under attack, those attacks don’t seem to be weakening. If anything, they’re gaining momentum. We’ve got to figure out what’s a sustainable, defensible model for college athletics and right now the model that we have, because of all the litigation going on there are questions if this is the right model. In a perfect world at some point we are going to figure out – I say we: college athletics, the presidents, the commissioners, the NCAA, the courts, Congress – somebody has to figure out what a defensible model is that can be sustained.”

The NLRB just ruled Dartmouth players are employees and can unionize. Is this going to spread quickly throughout college sports or will it take awhile?

Scott Stricklin: “My understanding is that will be a lengthy process, very similar to what Northwestern football went through several years ago. The National Labor Relations Board overturned the initial ruling in that case. We’ll see what happens in this one. That question continues to come up. What is the appropriate nature of the relationship between universities and their athletes who compete in sports.”

Do you see a time in the near future when players are employees, on salary and each school/conference has a salary cap?

Scott Stricklin: “I think I can imagine a lot of scenarios and without putting my thumb on any one in particular. I think it’s going to look different. It looks different now than it did 3-1/2 or 4 years ago. I think it will look different, even more so 3 or 4 years from now. Sometimes different is very uncomfortable but eventually we have to get to a point where different is very good. We have to give a lot of thought about what that means.”

Is the University of Florida behind when it comes to the revenue needed for NIL to compete with the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Texas, etc.?

Scott Stricklin: “I think we’re in a really good, competitive position. I want us to be in the best position. I’m not sure who has the No. 1 spot, but I think we’re in a really competitive, high end position. We want to make that better here.”

SANKEY SPEAKS ABOUT THE ALIANCE WITH THE BIG TEN

On ESPN Wednesday, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey addressed questions about the “joint advisory committee” formed with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petiti. The commish made it a point to emphasize that this “committee” is about leadership and not about the two conferences necessarily breaking away from the NCAA to form a super conference.

 "We have all been in rooms with people, big rooms filled with a lot of people," Sankey said. "We don't seem to be making a lot of progress on the key issues present in college athletics. Here's an opportunity to slim down the participants, focus on two conferences with the idea that we can introduce some concepts that others can consider and react to. ... We have a set of pressing issues upon us that merit this kind of conversation."

Sankey is correct. There have been far too many voices with far too many rotten opinions about the future of collegiate athletics and that starts with the NCAA, whose inept president Mark Emmert passed the torch on to former Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker. Emmert was clueless. Baker is a politician hired to bring about a political solution. When he rolled snake eyes on his trip to Congress, Baker turned to this very novel solution of the rich schools getting richer while paying all their athletes in all their sports $30,000 apiece. That went over like a fart in an elevator.

By teaming with Petiti and the Big Ten, the two richest and most powerful conferences are willing to lead. Had the Big Ten, led by the inept Kevin Warren, followed Sankey’s proposal for an expanded College Football Playoff back in 2021, the Pac-12 would have survived and much of the mess college football is in could have been avoided. Petiti is a thinker who understands the role networks will play in keeping college sports alive,  unlike Warren, whose next goal in life seems to be turning the Chicago Bears into the worst franchise in the NFL.

With the NCAA being bombarded on multiple fronts with lawsuits, intelligent proposals are in short supply. Sankey is the smartest man in any room he occupies, but he doesn’t allow ego to stand in the way of practicality. The problems facing college sports won’t be solved overnight and they won’t be solved by one man alone.

"There are no magical answers," he said. "The idea that people out there might think I have magical answers to the problems facing college athletics – that keeps me up at night."

SEC BASKETBALL: A logjam at the top

Auburn and South Carolina sit at the top of the SEC standings with identical 8-2 records in league play with Tennessee and Alabama a half-game out. Auburn moved into a tie with South Carolina thanks to a 99-81 win over Alabama Wednesday night, a game in which the two teams shot a combined 85 free throws (50 by Auburn, 35 by Alabama). South Carolina got to 8-2 with a 68-65 win over Ole Miss on Tuesday.

That sets up a Saturday in which 6th-ranked Tennessee, 12th-ranked Auburn and 16th-ranked Alabama will all be on the road, which has been a treacherous place for SEC teams this year. Tennessee travels to Texas A&M, which already has home wins over 17th-ranked Kentucky and Florida. Auburn will be at Florida, where the Gators’ only home loss is by two points to Kentucky. Alabama will be on the road to LSU, which runs hot and cold at home. No. 15 South Carolina gets a bit of a mulligan, playing host to Vanderbilt, whose only SEC win is over Missouri, which is 0-10 in league play.

Wednesday’s scores: No. 6 Tennessee (17-5, 7-2 SEC) 88, LSU (12-10, 4-5 SEC) 68; No. 12 Auburn (19-4, 8-2 SEC) 99, No. 16 Alabama (16-7, 8-2 SEC) 81; Texas A&M (14-8, 5-4 SEC) 79, Missouri (8-15, 0-10 SEC) 60; Mississippi State (15-8, 4-6 SEC) 75, Georgia (14-9, 4-6 SEC) 62

Saturday’s games: No. 12 Auburn (19-4, 8-2 SEC) at FLORIDA (15-7, 5-4 SEC); No. 6 Tennessee (17-5, 7-2 SEC) at Texas A&M (14-8, 5-4 SEC); Vanderbilt (6-16, 1-8 SEC) at No. 15 South Carolina (20-3, 8-2 SEC); No. 16 Alabama (16-7, 8-2 SEC) at LSU (12-10, 4-5 SEC); Gonzaga (17-6) at No. 17 Kentucky (16-6); Mississippi State (15-8, 4-6 SEC) at Missouri (8-15, 0-10 SEC); Georgia (14-9, 4-6 SEC) at Arkansas (11-11, 2-7 SEC)

SEC nationally in Kenpom.com analytics: 4. Auburn; 5. Tennessee; 7. Alabama; 24. Kentucky; 36. FLORIDA; 38. Mississippi State; 42. Texas A&M; 45. South Carolina; 60. Ole Miss; 81. Georgia; 83. LSU; 117. Arkansas; 137. Missouri; 205. Vanderbilt

COLLEGE FOOTBALL STUFF

Nick Saban will be joining ESPN’s College Game Day crew. Saban’s role will be announced in the near future, but it could be that he will take a regular position on the show with 88-year-old Lee Corso appearing only for big games.

Vontrell King-Williams is being promoted from analyst to D-line coach at Auburn. King-Williams previously worked for Hugh Freeze as the D-line coach at Liberty.

UCLA head coach Chip Kelly interviewed for the offensive coordinator job with the Seattle Seahawks. If he were to leave that would put two power five schools with a head coaching vacancy. Boston College is thought to be centering its search on former NFL head coach/Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, recently named the offensive coordinator at Ohio State. Although UCLA might seem like a lucrative job, facilities are subpar and Los Angeles is owned by Southern Cal, at least when it comes to college football.

Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter will be joining Jim Harbaugh with the NFL Los Angeles Chargers.

Former Florida defensive coordinator and Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins is the new defensive coordinator at North Carolina, where his base salary will be $1.1 million.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: During a phone conversation Wednesday I was asked to name my top 10 Florida football players of all time regardless of position, so here goes:

1. Tim Tebow: No surprise here. He was instrumental in the 2006 national championship and the driving force behind the 2008 national title. He won the 2007 Heisman Trophy and should have won in 2008 when Sam Bradford of Oklahoma got the trophy because he had Star Wars numbers, not because he was the nation’s best player.

2. Steven Orr Spurrier: Yeah, I know the stats aren’t anywhere close to what we see these days and times, but if you saw him play, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Opponents knew no lead was safe in the fourth quarter because SOS could bring the Gators back. Heisman Trophy in 1966.

3. Emmitt Smith: It’s not like the Florida offense was a big secret during two of his three years with the Gators. Emmitt left, Emmitt right, Emmitt up the middle and everyone in the ball yard including the other team’s DC knew it. The exception is his sophomore year when the offensive coordinator Lynn Amedee (The Amedeeville Horror) tried to convince us that Willie McClendon was a better running back.

4. Danny Wuerffel: Heisman in 1996 when he led the Gators to their first national title and fourth straight SEC championship. Interesting, isn’t it, that the fathers of the three Heisman Trophy quarterbacks in UF history were preachers.

5. Jack Youngblood: They didn’t keep sack stats in his day, but he and Robert Harrell sacked FSU QB Bill Cappleman so many times he still hears the footsteps. Unblockable and maybe the meanest player (on the field) to ever suit up for UF.

6. Wilber Marshall: Speaking of hearing the footsteps, mention the name Wilber Marshall in Sean Salisbury’s presence and his skin gets clammy. Two-time national defensive player of the year.

7. Wes Sandy Chandler: He was the lone wide receiver in Doug Dickey’s wishbone offense. If the Gators were going to throw, everybody knew who the receiver would be. Didn’t matter. No one could stop him. Averaged more than 20 yards a catch and would have been more if UF’s QBs could have thrown the ball better. Imagine him in the Fun ‘n Gun.

8. Scot Brantley: Try this on for size, 467 tackles in three seasons and a game-and-a-half before he suffered a season-ending concussion in 1979. If you saw him play, you know he belongs here. Sideline-to-sideline.

9. Carlos Alvarez: He caught 88 passes as a sophomore for 12 touchdowns. He was handicapped his junior and senior seasons by Doug Dickey’s offense and bad knees. If knee surgery then was what it was now he would have set receiving records at UF that would have never been broken.

10. Maurkice Pouncey: Surprised? Ask any nose tackle who got decleated about Maurkice. Started at guard as a true freshman in 2007, then every game at center in 2008-09. Strong enough and quick enough that he could handle nose tackles, no matter their size, without needing help from either of the guards. He won the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s top center.