Good Call On 1966 Throwback Uniforms

Auto credit UAA

Short Stuff: The Rest Of The Story: Napier’s Numbers Show Unmerited Mulligan

When asked why he chose to return to college football mere months after being fired at Florida, first-year James Madison coach Billy Napier answered a question with a question: “How many coaches the last 10 years have gotten let go and got a chance to be a head coach the same cycle?” The answer: just eight. Not sure he earned it.

Really Cool Stuff By Florida Legends — Next Week

Keep an eye out for something special coming from Florida Legends involving the Isaiah 117 House in Ocala. The local chapter of this national non-profit gives children awaiting foster placement a safe, comforting home instead of a child welfare office to wait in.

Its mission:

• Reduce trauma — minimizes the fear and loneliness kids feel during initial removal from their homes.

• Lighten the load — gives caseworkers a safe space to care for a child while they handle the paperwork.

• Ease the transition — clean clothes, food, toys and a warm environment before a child meets their foster family.

Locally, it’s backed by area congregations like Joy Lutheran Church in Ocala.

Tweet of the Week (And It’s Dead Wrong)

Some Tweeter declared that Haynes King is a future NFL MVP and that Buster Faulkner “wasted his talents.” Wrong on both counts. What’s not wrong: Buster Faulkner is an offensive coordinator who gets it.

Q: Can you sense that this fan base wants a great offense again?

A: “Yeah, shoot, I hope they do. That’s what I want. That’s what these kids want. That’s what Coach Sumrall wants. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to be here. When you think of Florida football, you think of Coach Spurrier and all the things he did here. He was on the cutting edge of it. Then Urban Meyer, watching his offenses, they were fun too. They were physical, violent, and I think we want to be a combination of both of them. I still think violence and playing tough and playing physical, old-school football, still wins. But we do have the skill players to hopefully look like they did in the ‘90s with Spurrier. It’s all about winning and finding a way to score one more point than our opponent.”

Q: What does it take to play quarterback for Buster Faulkner?

A: “You got to be the toughest guy in the building mentally and physically. It’s not easy to play this position, especially in this league, what they got to go through each week, the defenses we’re going to see, the crowds we’re going to play against. All those things, you’ve got to be mentally and physically tough to be a great quarterback in this system, or really in any system.”

New Day For LJ? 

McCray on his decision to return to UF:

“This is my dream school, I grew up about an hour 30 away from here. So, being at Florida means a lot to me.”

New Number, Same Mission: Zero/Hero?

Switching from No. 15 to No. 0, Florida edge rusher Jayden Woods hopes big numbers — especially in the win column — help erase the memory of 2025. Real deal? He Flipped from Penn State and chose the Gators over Alabama, Kansas, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Oregon and Texas A&M, among others.

History Lesson: Florida–Tennessee

Remember when the Vols were a yearly rival?

Florida leads the all-time series 33–22 through the end of the 2025 season. Texting with Paul Finebaum the other day about the 1955 Tennessee national champs, which I saw play vs. the Gators.

Bowden Wyatt coached against the Gators exactly once, that day, leading Tennessee to a 20–0 shutout in Gainesville on November 12, 1955. His Tennessee tenure ran eight seasons (1955–1962), but the programs didn’t play annually back then — making it his only career meeting with Florida.

Torrence Cashes In

At his news conference, Bills coach Joe Brady was asked about former Gator guard O’Cyrus Torrence: “He’s one of the top guards in football. He was out there through every injury. He’s as tough as it gets.” Now, he’s richly paid for it. Torrence and Buffalo agreed to a 4-year, $78.4 million extension, making the former second-round pick the 7th-highest-paid guard in the league, with more than $46 million guaranteed. His deal was negotiated by agents Jon Perzley, Brian Mackler and Daniel Scardigno.

Shanahan’s Scare

Kyle Shanahan said he believed his Tesla was in autopilot mode when it veered into oncoming traffic on June 14, causing a crash that left the 49ers coach with broken bones and a lingering concussion. In his first podium appearance since the crash, Shanahan said autopilot apparently switched off when he reached down to retrieve a dropped phone while driving south on Alma Avenue in Palo Alto. He said he’s used some form of autopilot for nine years.

“So I’m pretty comfortable with it and, you know, who knows what happened when I turned around — whether it malfunctioned or whether I knocked it off?” he said. “That’s something I don’t know yet.”

“But regardless, that’s always your fault, whether you’re on autopilot or not,” he continued. “You can’t take your eyes off the road. (Driving) is a partnership. You don’t just turn it over to a computer. And it’s a good lesson, no matter how comfortable I am with that, that I believe someday could save my life or someone else’s. It’s really helped me have perspective on that stuff.”

Horse Racing Note

1. Churchill Downs and NYRA are reportedly squeezing the Preakness out in favor of a new Thoroughbred Championship Series. 

Starting in 2027, the Preakness Stakes is moving from its traditional Saturday to Sunday, May 23, 2027.   Announced by MarylandGovernor Wes Moore and the Maryland Jockey Club, the race shifts to three weeks and a day after the Kentucky Derby to give horses more rest time. 

Key Schedule Changes

New Timing: Three weeks after the Kentucky Derby instead of two.

Day of Week: Sunday (the first Sunday Triple Crown race in history).

Baugh’s Motivation

Florida Gators star running back Jadan Baugh keeps a photo of his only career fumble on his phone.

Gator Growl Is Coming Back

Great to hear the HBC promoting the return of the Growl’s prominence. Glad to see us bringing back some of the fun things again at UF. Now how about GatorBait!

Sumrall on the Fall Camp Schedule

“The guys that were here previously, then went through, and got the format of the morning practice schedule, seemed to really enjoy it,” Sumrall said. “And it felt like we got the best of their day in regard to waking up, being fresh and ready to go. And so we’re going to continue that. And also, I think late in the week it helps you in-season maybe be fast and fresh on Saturday, which is kind of important.”

Overdue: A Statue for Archie

Archie Manning is getting a statue. Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter informed Manning Saturday of the school’s plans to honor him with a 13-foot statue depicting his legendary playing days for the Rebels. The statue has been commissioned and will be unveiled for the 2027 Ole Miss football season, Manning said. It’s expected to be displayed between the Manning football complex and Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Loved that Jon Sumrall honored Steve Spurrier by choosing the 1966 all -white unis with a blue helmet as Gators’ throwback outfit. I

Know you also like the all-orange coach Sumrall, but be careful because that makes us older Gators a bit queasy — probably because it’s a Miami-Tennessee-Auburn color.