Thoughts of the Day: August 16, 2022

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:

THE NEXT WEEK IS CRITICAL AS GATORS GET READY FOR THE OPENER

It started out as a question about the offensive line and development of depth but before Billy Napier was through with his answer to that question Monday morning, the focus was expanded to what happens in practice this week and how it relates to the season opener with Utah on September 3.

Back in the spring, Napier stressed the importance of being two-deep on the offensive line. Judging from reports that have trickled out of practice, Florida’s offensive line is doing a great job in the running game, so obviously there is reason to think the Gators could be strong up front. Napier didn’t seem dissatisfied with the productivity but did question where the depth will be.

“I’m very comfortable with that group,” he said. “I think there’s competition there. I think we know who six, seven and eight are. We’re looking for the next, who’s nine, who’s 10, who’s going to get reps in a game week, why’s not, who are our rotational players? I think we’ve got probably eight players that deserve to play if we had a game today, you know, and okay, who’s the ninth player? Who’s the 10th player?”

From how the Gators finished spring and the reports that have surfaced through the first scrimmage, the first unit O-line looks like this: LT Richard Gouraige, LG Ethan White, C Kingsley Eguakun; RG O’Cyrus Torrence; RT Michael Tarquin. Six and seven are Josh Braun who is a right side guy (RG/RT) and Richie Leonard, backup at center and LG. No. 8? Probably Kamryn Waites or it could be Austin Barber.

Napier then began stressing what happens in this next week.

“This week, in particular here, practices 10 to 15 are going to be very competitive on our football team,” he said. “I think when we evaluate our team right now, we moved out of the hotel yesterday. Can we maintain that discipline now that we’re in our normal living circumstance? Can we be on time? Can we go to bed at night? Can we make our way through the day efficiently in terms of transitioning back and forth from where we live? Can we manage the distractions as the students come back into town?

“One of our things is can we get the facility and the organization and the players in-season ready? Yesterday, I think we’re 10 days out before we turn the page to the first game. I think between now and then we have to iron out the wrinkles and we’ve got to uncover any issues that will affect our preparation for a game.”

And that led to talk about the special teams.

“I think on special teams we have to get the game-changers game-ready. We’ve got competition at kicker. We’ve got to improve our operation. We have to get really good at covering kicks and certainly we have to get ready to make some game-changing plays.”

From special teams it was back to depth charts with mention of the offensive line, which was the original question.

“Those depth charts there’s so much competition on the team relative to who’s the one, who’s the two? Week four we travel on the road. We’re going to have to cut it down to 70 for the travel roster. Overall depth, the offensive line is an area, but I think overall, the whole team, who’s earning time? Who’s going to earn time? We talk about being one of the 11 we put between the lines to represent the University of Florida. This is a special privilege. Who are those people? This week, 10-15, this is going to be … there’s going to be some urgency. It’s going to be intense and there’s going to be a ton of competition.”

Then for the finale, we got into team discipline and how it relates to on the field performance. Earlier in the press conference I asked him about discipline regarding penalties. He didn’t get into it much with that first question, but he did as he wrapped up an answer to this one.

“I also think we’ll be focused on eliminating what has nothing to do with the opponent – undisciplined penalties, turnovers, mental errors, fundamental and technique issues, hidden yardage and special teams. All these things that contribute to winning and have nothing to do with who we play or where we play or what time we play.”

So, after attending numerous Billy Napier press conferences, I know we will get a well thought out answer. He doesn’t get into names and specifics all that much, probably for a reason. He’s still trying to shape his roster and depth chart so that he knows what to expect once the games begin. I believe that once the season begins we will see more detailed press conferences and reports. For now, access is limited as is the amount of time Napier gives us so we have to settle for press conferences that don’t give us nearly the amount of information we’d like to have. Still, the answers are good to the questions we ask.

The Associated Press preseason top 25: 1. Alabama; 2. Ohio State; 3. Georgia; 4. Clemson; 5. Notre Dame; 6. Texas A&M; 7. Utah; 8. Michigan; 9. Oklahoma; 10. Baylor; 11. Oregon; 12. Oklahoma State; 13. North Carolina State; 14. Southern California; 15. Michigan State; 16. Miami; 17. Pittsburgh; 18. Wisconsin; 19. Arkansas; 20 Kentucky; 21. Ole Miss; 22. Wake Forest; 23. Cincinnati; 24. Houston; 25. BYU

SEC football/basketball

Alabama: Explaining why he chose to leave national champ Georgia, where he caught 26 passes for 497 yards and five TDs last year, for Alabama, the team Georgia beat in the national championship game, wide receiver Jermaine Burton said, “I’m just trying to make the best decision I can for me and my family.”

Arkansas: Backup quarterback Malik Hornsby will also see the field at wide receiver this fall, prompting starting QB KJ Jefferson to say, “With two quarterbacks on the field you don’t know what’s going on. You don’t know who’s gonna have the ball.”

Auburn: Edge rushers Derrick Hall and Eku Leota believe they can improve on last year when they combined for 16 sacks, 22.5 tackles for loss, seven quarterback hurries and three forced fumbles.

Georgia: Mike White will be returning to Florida when Georgia faces St. Joseph’s in the Sunshine Slam tournament in Daytona Beach on November 21. Georgia will face either UAB or South Florida the next day.

Kentucky: On WJOX in Birmingham Monday morning, Paul Finebaum ripped into John Calipari for making the comment that Kentucky is a basketball school. Finebaum said, “And, listen I don’t need to explain Kentucky basketball but you and I understand in 2022 when billion dollar deals are being made across the board, it’s about football. It’s not about basketball … I mean are you guys telling me you can’t find a coach better than John Calipari right now? Billy Donovan? I’m just throwing a name out there. A young coach who is up-and-coming? Take your pick. John Calipari is really no longer the best option for the University of Kentucky.”

LSU: Myles Brennan’s football career is over, not by his choice but by Brian Kelly’s. Writes Matt Hayes at Saturday Down South, “Now he’s finally walking away, told this weekend by Kelly that he wasn’t in the plans moving forward in the 3-way quarterback competition. Six years, multiple serious injuries and 13 career touchdowns later, he’s still an LSU graduate.”

Mississippi State: Mississippi State will honor Frank Dowsing Jr. and Robert Bell, the first two African-American football players at the school, with specially designed uniforms at the season opener with Bowling Green. Dowsing became an All-America defensive back who also won All-SEC honors twice. Bell was a 3-year starter on the D-line.

Missouri: HBC Eli Drinkwitz wants a tougher team that can win in spite of adversity. “If we’re content with being average, that’s fine,” Drinkwitz said Monday. “We can pat them on the back and give them popsicles, but we need to continue to be tougher and more physical, and we’ve got to respond to every period in practice.”

Ole Miss: The new punter is Charlie Pollock, who used to punt at Nevada. HBC Lane Kiffin says, “Yeah, I don’t know a whole lot about him. I think he was down at the frat house, like at a keg party or something, where they got him from.”

South Carolina: Walk-on wide receiver Payton Mangrum, who has played in 14 games the last two seasons as both a wideout and on special teams, has been awarded a scholarship.

Tennessee: The reason it is taking so long for Tennessee to get clearance for Southern Cal transfer wide receiver Bru McCoy is because McCoy has already transferred multiple times. McCoy began at Southern Cal, transferred to Texas and then back to Southern Cal all before he transferred to UT.

Texas A&M: ESPN writes that “Jimbo Fisher is recruiting like a title contender, but he hasn’t figured out how to craft strong quarterback play since Jameis Winston left Florida State in 2014. If he gets it this year, A&M is a top five team and playoff contender. If not, the Aggies might have to settle for four more losses and potential spoiler status. At some point, that might start to get old.”

Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt hasn’t had a winning season since 2013. Since then the Commodores are 29-66 overall, 10-55 in the SEC. Vanderbilt hasn’t won an SEC game since October 19, 2019 when it beat Missouri 21-14.

Our SEC orphans in the Big 12

Oklahoma: Since 2000, Oklahoma has won 239 games, the best total in all of Division I.

Texas: HBC Steve Sarkisian confirmed that wide receiver Isaiah Neyor and O-lineman Junior Angilau will miss the entire season due to knee injuries suffered in Saturday’s scrimmage.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Billy Napier calls the new Bill Heavener football facility a game-changer because it means the Gators are no longer lagging behind the schools that have catapulted past UF in the 13 years since Florida’s last SEC/national championship. If you don’t think facilities matter, then take a look at what they have at Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Auburn, Georgia and Ohio State. The only national champion that has rotten facilities since Florida’s last one is Florida State, which has everything to do with why Jimbo Fisher jumped ship to Texas A&M. With Texas A&M’s facilities and willingness to spend whatever it takes to bring championships to Aggieland, leaving FSU wasn’t all that difficult a decision. FSU has won three national championships – one by Jimbo – since the last time the Aggies won one (1939), but the facilities and money are proof of commitment that Jimbo knew FSU would never have.

Proof of commitment is what the Heavener Center represents for Napier and the Gators. It is a standalone facility that rivals or exceeds any that you will find anywhere in the country, allowing Napier to go toe-to-toe with the best recruits. It puts the Gators light years ahead of in-state rivals FSU and Miami. We may see astronauts landing on Mars before either of them can afford to build anything close to the Heavener Center. Throw in the $100 million payout that will be coming Florida’s way once Texas and Oklahoma join the Southeastern Conference (expect 2024) and FSU and The Ewe will be experiencing the football equivalent of third world status with their $40 million payouts from the ACC plus their lack of serious television exposure.

We are already seeing what commitment and organization do on the recruiting trail. Buckle your seatbelts because it will get better. Six of Florida’s first seven games are at home, which means recruits will get the best game-day atmosphere plus first-hand looks at facilities that FSU and The Ewe can only dream about.