Buddy Martin Blog: Thoughts On New Gator Coach While Around Thanksgiving Table. Looks like Napier.

“Here on Thanksgiving Eve, I believe AD Scott Stricklin has shortened his list down to one and it's Billy Napier of Louisiana, who my trusted contacts in Baton Rouge say is 'a done deal.' Honestly, I can't say I know that yet, but it certainly seems to be trending that way."

Sitting down at the family’s Thanksgiving table this week, I will be giving a sincere thanks as I reflect on the best and worst of this holiday, while also being honest about my own intentions and shortcomings. I do admit to my addiction for pie, especially pecan.

The worst? I’m not one of those who complain about being with family, because for me it’s pure joy to share a sumptuous meal with these wonderful generations with which my wife and I have been blessed. Besides, they cook great food. So I’m bound to overeat.

The good? The aforementioned family being nearly the greatest on the planet. Gratitude. Blessings. And, of course, off-the-charts hospitality. As for other human frailties, I love football. So you can see why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. (And no gifts!)

There’s a sure bet football, along with the subject of Dan Mullen and Florida’s next coach, will come up before, during and maybe after dinner. So I’ll get right to that now, with the caveat being that it can change on any day, if not any hour. But I don't think so this time.

Billy Napier: Next coach?

Here on Thanksgiving Eve, I believe AD Scott Stricklin has shortened his list down to one and it's Billy Napier of Louisiana, who my trusted contacts in Baton Rouge say is "a done deal." Matt Moscona, host of the popular "After Further Review" at 104.5/104.9 ESPN Baton Rouge came on The Buddy Martin Show Wednesday night and told me that Napier wanted the LSU job, but they suggested he might want to take the Florida job if offered. Moscona told me he believes Napier has committed and the paperwork was being drawn up.

Of course as of this writing it cannot be confirmed. Stricklin was in Louisiana and believed to be headed to Starkville for Thanksgiving.

I expected Stricklin to move post-haste because of the recruiting crunch. And going past the weekend without a coach would not good optics for future Gator prospects because recruiting is already leaking oil.

The recruiting will probably self-correct in time, but time is the very essence. Napier, or someone, will be immediately charged with pimping the new $85M football facility, but it's already too late to impact this year’s class. The shelves of the new coaching staff will have to be stocked from the transfer portal until then.

So that was among the chief topics at my Thanksgiving table. By late Thursday evening, I will have overindulged in food, followed by remorse, followed by overindulgence in football, followed by football fatigue, followed by more remorse, followed by a short nap. Meanwhile, I doubt my family will talk much about politics and religion. Football, perhaps.

I have a football savvy group, with very smart young men and ladies in my large family who are also conversive, but it will no doubt fall to me for Show And Tell at some point. Because it’s my job. And I regularly take daily deep dives into the subject, searching the ocean floor for shipwrecked treasures and remnants of info. Maybe this buried treasure will suffice for the day. I set out to brush up on my Billy Napier file before the holiday. Which included this fine story by Ross Dellenger:

Napier has used the Nick Saban model to build the Ragin' Cajun program.

Was Lane Kiffin ever on Scott Stricklin's list of coaching candidates?

At Thanksgiving dinner, if asked, I will tell:

1)What I think. 2)What I feel. 3)What I know.

Let’s go backwards on that, without all the frilly thoughts.

3)What I know right now after processing a boatload on information over four days from every conceivable source I’ve got in my I-Phone, including coaches, former player, writers, broadcasters, a few lawyers and a neighbor or two with a hunch or a vision is that there appears to be very little other movement among possible candidates. I was confident Lane Kiffin's name would be on Stricklin's list but information is hard to come by. The problem is that well-meaning people tell you stuff they think is accurate but wrong. These kinds of stories bring out the pseudo, self-styled Woodward-Bernsteins in everybody. Everybody has a story to tell, even if they heard it from another person.

I trust the journalists mostly. They aren’t trying to convince you or sell you anything, they’re just a conduit to what they hope are good sources. And by “journalists,” I don’t mean the guy with a Twitter account that has 38 followers. I mean people with a conscience, pretty well informed, well-trained professionals who know the drill.

In tracking these stories for almost 60 years, I’ve been burned, lied to, gotten it wrong, and have learned the hard way after quoting so-called “unimpeachable sources” who were later impeached by their own words or eventual denial. People lie to cover their own stuff or promote their self-serving agenda. And people who “know” often don’t really know. Because targets also change and facts evolve.

I once wrote a story about new Florida basketball coach that was about to be named – a horrible choice – and by the time I wrote and printed it, the AD had changed his mind. Even though my information came off a rough draft of a press release, it turned out to be wrong. So WHEN you write it matters, too.

Another time I had a personal letter written to me by the head of the NCAA, Walter Byers, back when the NCAA had credibility and respect from CFB, saying that the University of Florida football program was being investigated on matters of ethics. Even though I had documented evidence, the university president denied it and called me a “liar” in print. Later it came out I was right.

As The Messenger, I have lived and died several lives.

Part of it is our own fault. The trouble is, we often don’t tell our readers the difference between fact-based analysis, conjecture, opinion or social media fabrication. All of which has some merit, but different levels of authenticity. And digging down to excavate the truth often takes more time and sticks of dynamite than one can muster. So it’s just easier to pass long what you read on Twitter.

Enough preaching.

2)What I feel. (Most of this is opinion and only part of it is fact-based.)

Even though he played it as if there was no sense of urgency, Scott Stricklin was feeling the heat to get it done. He has had his eyes on a couple of candidates and no doubt carried on at least third-party conversations with several others before landing his man. However, this is what real estate people call a “sellers’ market,” which means inventory is low and prices are not only escalated, but off the charts.

As for 3) What I think –

Stricklin has got to get this one right. As highly as he is regarded by his peers, Stricklin faces stiff competition in the marketplace – even if Florida is a Top 5 job. There are just so many available candidates and very few hot prospects. When I asked him about that competitive pressure last week in his press conference, Stricklin sort of played it off, responding that he and the UF would not base their decisions on what other schools were doing.

Sorry, not disrespecting Stricklin, but we’ve seen others come along and cherry pick the candidates – as UCLA did four years ago with Kelly and Nebraska did in signing Scott Frost. But I think it’s a smart strategy by Stricklin if he’s sitting at a poker table with three of a kind and betting like it was a full house.

Meanwhile, what blows me away is how deeply passionate the Florida fans are about picking the future coach of their football team, almost if they were electing the president of their country. There is nothing that stirs the soul of the Gator Nation like picking their ultimate Next Man Up. It had best be the right one.

Meanwhile, it’s Florida-FSU week and until now I haven’t mentioned a word about it. “Wouldn’t it be something,” said a person very close to the UF program, “if the Gators beat the ‘Noles by a big score and went to a bowl? Wouldn’t Scott Stricklin at least be obliged to give Greg Knox an interview?”