Florids Gators Football: The on the field Gerald Chatman can be heard "a mile away"

A few thoughts to jump start your Friday morning:

Photo credit Chris Spears

Sometimes first impression can be a bit deceiving. The first time Cam Jackson talked to his new defensive line coach, Gerald Chatman, made him think laid back. The first time Gerald Chatman started letting his D-line troops have it on the practice field, Jackson thought all hell had broken loose.

“So the first time I was in Dallas training when Coach Chatman called me and he was quiet,” Jackson recalled Thursday evening after the Gators completed the 10th practice of the spring. “I’m like okay, I’ve got one of the quiet, cool coaches. He’s still cool, but I thought he was quiet! And then we got on the field. First day of spring practice we got out on the field and he got loud all of a sudden. He had me fooled!”

Gerald Chatman has two personalities. There is the one that his wife and children see at home. That Gerald Chatman is a quiet, attentive dad who dotes over his four kids, especially his three daughters.

That’s something similar to the coach Cam Jackson met on the phone that first time.

“God blessed me with three daughters,” Chatman said. “I have four kids, but God blessed me with three daughters and then we had a son on fourth down. I say that we finally got off the field. But maybe God knew I was intense and whatever the case may be, so boom one daughter after the other. So I’m definitely not as intense with them as I am on the field but that’s a good balance there.”

On the field, all bets are off. The quiet, thoughtful tone of Chatman’s voice ratchets up about a hundred or so decibels as the persona switches to football mode. It’s sort of a cross between a tent revival preacher and a pro wrestler calling out the guy he intends to maim in the square circle.

The magic word is intense.

“You can hear Coach Chatman from a mile away,” Jackson said, adding that Chatman tells his troops “basically just go out there, whup blocks and be aggressive. I feel like the whole D-line has improved a lot.”

Florida’s defensive line has to improve. The Gators have finished 12th among the Southeastern Conference’s 14 teams against the run the last two seasons. The Gators had 23 sacks in 2022, 22 last season. Contrast that to 2019 when the Gators dropped opposing quarterbacks 49 times.

Chatman was brought in as part of a defensive staff overhaul in the offseason. His 2023 D-line at Tulane dominated up front. The Green Wave allowed only 112.71 yards per game (the Gators gave up 155 and 21 touchdowns). The D-line was so effective rushing the passer that Tulane rarely had to blitz linebackers. Of Tulane’s 35 sacks, 28 came from D-linemen. Of Florida’s 23 sacks, only 4.5 came from D-linemen.

In a very calm, ever so rational voice, Chatman verbalized what the goals will be for Florida’s defensive line in the fall.

“We want to have one of the best units in the country and I’m not afraid to say that and that’s a huge challenge,” Chatman said. “And that takes a lot of work, that takes discipline, that takes leadership …”

UF SOFTBALL: Gators run-rule Stetson, 8-0

Skylar Wallace, Korbe Otis and Ariel Kowalewski hit home runs to back a combined 3-hitter by Keagan Rothrock and Olivia Miller as 10th-ranked Florida clocked Stetson, 8-0, in DeLand. The win was Florida’s 17thshutout of the season and 25th win by run-rule.

Wallace hit a 2-run homer in the third, her ninth of the season. Otis hit her fifth homer in the fourth, also a 2-run job, and Kowalewski made the run-rule possible with a 2-run homer in the top of the fifth, also her fifth home run of the season.

Rothrock, 16-3, went the first four innings and then Miller finished things up with a shutout fifth.

Next up for the Gators (32-5, 7-2 SEC) is 7th-ranked LSU (30-4, 8-4 SEC), a 3-game weekend series beginning Saturday at Katie Seashole Presley Stadium (6 p.m., ESPN).  

UF BASEBALL: Gators on the road at Missouri

It’s an opportunity for the Gators (17-11, 6-3 SEC) to get a sweep this weekend when they travel to Columbia to face Missouri (12-18, 1-8 SEC) tonight (X p.m., SEC Network+). The 6th-ranked Gators have taken two out of three in their three previous SEC weekend series, all against ranked opponents. Missouri ranks dead last in the league in hitting (.248) and 11th in pitching (5.43 ERA).

Florida will continue with its revamped weekend rotation with former closer Brandon Neely (1-0, 6.05 ERA) getting the Friday night start. Freshman Liam Peterson (1.3, 8.31 ERA) will go Saturday with Jac Caglianone (3-0, 2.18) going on Sunday. Caglianone leads the Gators at the plate in average (.397), hits (46), home runs (14) and RBI (30).

UF BASKETBALL: Three transfer visits set

This weekend the Gators will be hosting Furman’s All-Southern Conference point guard JJ Pegues (6-1, 165, JR), who averaged 18.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game for the Paladins last season. Pegues has scored 1,080 points in his Furman career. Per the Auburn Live website, the Gators are going head-to-head with Auburn and South Carolina for Pegues, who is a Nashville native.

Next weekend Sam Alexis (6-9, 230, SO) from Chattanooga will be on campus according to Joe Tipton of On3. An Apopka native, who has put on 40 pounds of muscles since his high school days, Alexis averaged 10.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game. The Gators are considered the team to beat for Alexis, who is being heavily courted by Mississippi State and Georgia among others.

The third visitor is Drexel’s Amari Williams (6-10, 227, JR), who will be at Florida April 21-22. Williams averaged 12.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots per game. He is a fifth year guy who will be taking advantage of his COVID season. Williams has scored 1,081 points in his career. Williams’ official visit list includes St. John’s, Indiana and Creighton.

SEC BASKETBALL: Musselman leaves Arkansas in bad shape

For weeks there was speculation that Eric Musselman would bolt Arkansas first good chance he got. His name was out there for a couple of jobs. Was he sticking his toe in the water to see if it was warm? When Andy Enfield left Southern California earlier in the week to take the job at SMU, it didn’t take long for Musselman to say his sayonaras in Fayette-Nam for the land of 13.3 percent state income tax and the Big Ten.

Musselman built the Arkansas program on transfers and it worked well enough to get the Hogs to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament three times, but never to the Final Four. Arkansas was good enough to beat Duke in December but crashed and burned the rest of the way in large part because the transfer-heavy roster never found any real on the court chemistry. A combination of 11 players from the past season have either used up their eligibility or they are in the transfer portal, which might have a lot to do with why Musselman was so eager to bolt.

There is good news and bad news for Arkansas. The bad news first. Barring a miracle of Daniel in the lion’s den proportions, Arkansas is going to be very, very bad next year. The good news is that other than Texas and the Aggies, Arkansas has more gozillionaires than anyone in the SEC so the money to hire a really good coach won’t be an issue. Smart money should be on Will Wade, the former LSU coach who got McNeese to the NCAA Tournament this year. What Wade did that got him fired at LSU is all legal now. The boy can coach and he can recruit. And, since it’s legal to cheat now, if Arkansas hires him he will have a ton of money to play with.

Will Bama slay Goliath Saturday?

After all these years, Alabama is in the Final Four. There’s a first time for everything. Now that Nate Oats has the Crimson Tide sniffing the rarified air near the summit of college basketball, he only has to beat UConn Saturday to make it to the championship game on Monday.  

UConn has an enormous advantage that goes beyond the massive presence of 7-2 Donovan Clingan in the middle. Danny Hurley has constructed a team that isn’t confined to lobbing the ball into the paint to the big guy. Play it slow and UConn can beat you. Speed it up, they’re even better. Zone the Huskies and they’ll shoot you out of it. No matter the style, UConn can beat you. Although the announcers will rave about Alabama point guard Mark Sears, the best guard on the floor will be UConn’s Tristen Newman. Sears deserves all the accolades he’s been given, but Newman is 19 points shy of 2,000 for his collegiate career with averages of 15 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists this season.

Alabama has only one way to win this game. The Crimson Tide has to go into a collective shooter’s coma and beat UConn at the 3-point line. Sears will have to play the game of his life and he’ll have to have a lot of help. If Bama hits fewer than 12 3-pointers, it will be next to impossible to win.

SEC in the transfer portal

Alabama

Incoming (1): PG Houston Mallette (6-5, 180, JR) from Pepperdine

Arkansas

Outgoing: PG Keon Menifield (6-1, 150, SO); F Denijay Harris (6-7, 200, SR); WG Joseph Pinion (6-6, 195, SO) to Arkansas State; C Baye Fall (6-10, 200, FR); PG Layden Blocker (6-3, 175, FR); SG Davonte Davis  (6-3, 180, SR)

Auburn

Outgoing: CG KD Johnson (6-0, 190, SR); PG Tre Donaldson (6-2, 190, SO)

FLORIDA

Outgoing: SG Riley Kugel (6-5, 206, SO) to Kansas

Kentucky

Outgoing: SG Adou Thiero (6-6, 200, SO)

LSU

Outgoing: SF Mwani Wilkerson (6-5, 205, SO)

Incoming: PG Cam Carter (6-3, 195, JR) from Kansas State

Mississippi State

Outgoing: PG Andrew Taylor (6-3, 190, SR); SG Trey Fort III (6-4, 195, JR); PF Jaquan Scott (6-8, 230, JR); SG Shakeel Moore (6-1, 180, SR)

Incoming: PG Kanye Clary (5-11, 192, SO) from Penn State

Missouri

Outgoing: SG Curt Lewis (6-5, 215, JR); PF Jesus Carralero (6-8, 210, SR)

Incoming: PF Jacob Crews (6-8, 210, JR), from UT-Martin

Oklahoma

Outgoing: CG Otega Oweh (6-5, 210, SO); PF John Hugley (6-9, 240, JR); PG Javian McCollum (6-1, 170, JR); PG Milos Uzan (6-4, 183, SO)

Ole Miss

Outgoing: PF Rashaud Marshall (6-9, 220, FR) to Arkansas State; C Malique Ewin (6-10, 240); Jacob Gazzo (6-8, 215, FR); PF Cameron Barnes (6-9, 195, FR)

South Carolina

Outgoing: PG Meechie Johnson (6-2, 184, JR) to Ohio State; CG Ebrima Dibba (6-5, 214, SR)

Tennessee

Outgoing: SG Freddie Dilione (6-5, 185, FR)

Texas

Outgoing: SF Alex Anamekwe (6-6, 200, SO); PG Chris Johnson (6-5, 180, FR)

Vanderbilt

Outgoing: PG Paul Lewis (6-2, 170, SO); C Lee Dort (6-10, 245, SO); SG Tyrin Lawrence (6-4, 200, SR); PF Colin Smith (6-8, 220); SG Jason Rivera-Torres (6-6, 180, FR)

Incoming: PF Jaylen Carey (6-8, 245, FR) from James Madison

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Officially, it will be Iowa vs. UConn in the second of the two NCAA women’s semifinals tonight but who are we fooling? It’s Caitlyn Clark against Paige Bueckers, arguably the two best players in the country. Clark is the drawing card here, a record-setting scorer (32 a game) who threatens a triple-double (7.3 rebounds, 9.0 assists) every time she steps on the floor. Shooting range? From the moment she steps off the bus. Bueckers’ stats aren’t nearly as gaudy (22 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists) but UConn has a chance to win its 12th national championship and 11th since 2000 because she knows how to take a game over.

Now, the best team in the tournament is South Carolina, which plays North Carolina State in the other semifinal and is everybody’s favorite to cut down the nets on Sunday. The Gamecocks are 36-0 and only four of their games have been decided by fewer than 10 points. That’s domination but is anybody really paying attention to South Carolina? Surely, South Carolina deserves better as far as media attention, but Caitlyn Clark is a the Taylor Swift of women’s basketball. Iowa drew 55,000 to its football stadium to watch Clark and the Hawkeyes demolish DePaul a few months ago. In beating LSU back on Sunday, 12.3 million Americans tuned in to ESPN, which made it the highest rated basketball game (college men, NBA or women) since 2018. More people watched than any game of the World Series.

We can only imagine how many will be watching Sunday afternoon if Iowa makes the championship game.