The First 59 Days Were Easy Compared To What's Ahead For Napier
For 59 days, it was a running on fumes existence for Billy Napier, who not only signed 17 high school kids but enrolled five high quality transfers, hired an entire coaching staff and then put in place his “army,” the largest influx of analysts, graduate assistants, recruiting experts and other support staff in University of Florida history.
That was actually the easy part.
Now that the second signing day for high school and junior college kids is in the books, Napier moves on to spring football and roster management, which are actually joined at the hip because of anticipated attrition. Attrition. That’s a key word to remember over the next three or so months, not just here at Florida, but everywhere in Division I as every head coach has to deal with a myriad of NCAA rules, many of which make no sense at all.
So, here is a Reader’s Digest Condensed version of what Napier and his carefully chosen staff of assistant coaches and personnel specialists are going to be dealing with.
1. The NCAA allows 85 scholarship football players in Division I. As of National Signing Day, the Gators have 87 on scholarship. Attrition says two have to go to make the Gators compliant with the rules.
2. The NCAA allows 25 in a signing class but the Gators only signed 22 in 2021 and three (Kamari Wilson, Devin Moore and Chris McClellan) signed and enrolled early for 2022. Those three count back to 2021. Napier signed 17 high school kids and five high quality transfers, so with the three counting back, he has a recruiting class of 19.
3. It gets a little complicated here. Because of the NCAA rule that allows a one-time transfer immediate eligibility, the transfer portal has exploded. Even with all the transfers who have signed and enrolled nationwide, there remain more than 1,400 players in the portal and we haven’t even gotten to spring football. Spring football and roster management, if you recall, are joined at the hip because of attrition. There is that word again. There will be an entire wave of transfers as well as a good number of players who essentially “retire” because they are told their chances of dressing out on game day and sniffing the playing field are less than Jethro Bodine becoming a brain surgeon. There will be lots and lots of attrition.
4. The NCAA, in its infinite wisdom and in an attempt to deal with roster management after it granted blanket eligibility immunity for every single kid who played Division I football in the COVID year of 2020, came up with a transfer waiver that allows each school to replace as many as seven who transferred out AFTER December 15. That means if seven players transfer out after December 15, they can be replaced, which means a school can as many as 32 for this signing cycle. This is complicated for a school like Florida which signed 17 high school kids and five transfers. Because the three early signees count back to 2021, the Gators essentially have another 13 scholarships at their disposal. The only problem is, the Gators are already three over the limit.
Because it is not exactly 100 percent clear whether the seven transfer waiver applies to the 85-scholarship limit, Florida compliance will be working overtime to determine how many scholarships Napier has at his disposal to deal with transfers. Does Napier have 92 scholarships counting the anticipated seven transfers? Or is it just 85 and the transfers are in addition to the signing class?
Spring practice will go a long way toward determining the number of scholarships that are actually available.
At his Wednesday press conference when he was answering questions about the signing class and recruiting in general, Napier answered a roster management query by saying, “There’s a delicate balance between the number of players we add and also hitting that 85 number. So, a little bit of this is to be determined. It's always a big juggling act, a big math problem. You're adding and subtracting today. Certainly as we approach May 1st there will be more attrition.”
Spring practice is essential because it won’t be until coaches have actually seen the returning players from 2021 and the eight (three early enrollees and five transfers) from the signing class on the field. In those 15 practices, not only will the coaches see who fits in and where, but a lot of current players will determine that they might be better off seeking opportunities elsewhere.
The amount of attrition at UF following spring football will determine how many transfers are needed to fill gaps in the roster.
“So I think some clarity with the players, where are they at and how they view themselves, and then you're looking at each individual position,” Napier said. “You're trying to hit a certain number.”
There is no pre-determined number of transfers Napier has in mind. The eye test of seeing players actually practice and respond to coaching will fill in that blank.
“There's no cap,” Napier said. “I don't necessarily see us hitting a cap when we get to the spring portal period, if that makes sense.”
Until that point in time, there probably won’t be much movement on the Florida football roster. And, until then we can only speculate how many decide to seek greener pastures at Florida or anywhere else. It’s not unsual for 10 or more to leave whenever there is a coaching change. Florida has already seen eight leave and it’s possible more will choose to go after spring practice.
We also have no idea how many holes Napier and his staff will determine are in the Florida roster. The fastest way to fill holes, as Napier’s buddy Michigan State coach Mel Tucker proved in 2021, is through the transfer portal. When Napier was hired, he set up a personnel division within his support staff whose sole purpose is to target potential transfers so that quick, accurate evaluations can be made. It’s an NFL approach that worked quite well for Tucker, whose Spartans went from one of the worst teams in the Big Ten in 2020 to a New Year’s Six Bowl game in 2021.
Can Billy Napier use the transfer portal in the same way to turn Florida from a disappointing 6-7 in 2021 to an SEC East Division contender in his first year on the job while navigating the complexity of NCAA scholarship limits? Napier did a remarkable job in his first 59 days on the job to bring in 17 high school kids and five transfers. The next three months will be more difficult than the first 59 days, but if we go by the results we’ve seen so far, Florida has the right man to handle the situation efficiently.
Here is the current roster and commentary about where there may be some attrition:
QUARTERBACKS (6)
Emory Jones (6-2, 211, RJR); Anthony Richardson (6-4, 235, SO); Jack Miller III (6-4, 210, SO/Transfer from Ohio State); Carlos Del Rio-Wilson (6-2, 225, RFR); Jalen Kitna (6-4, 210, RFR); Max Brown (6-2, 200, FR)
Who could be going: Emory Jones is almost certain to go unless he (a) has an incredible spring in which he proves he doesn’t have to throw off his back foot or (b) reaches the conclusion that his chances of making the NFL as a QB are slim but pretty darn good if he can actually catch the football. Jalen Kitna came to UF to be coached by Dan Mullen. Mullen’s gone. He seems a prime candidate to go.
RUNNING BACKS (5) NayQuan Wright (5-9, 196, JR); Lorenzo Lingard (6-0, 203, RJR); Demarkcus Bowman (5-10, 193, SO); Montrell Johnson (5-11, 210, SO/Transfer from Louisiana); Trevor Etienne (5-9, 217, FR)
Who could be going: Lorenzo Lingard has hardly sniffed the field in two years. If he doesn’t think he’s getting a fair shot in the spring, you can almost bet the farm he will be looking to leave.
WIDE RECEIVERS (8) Justin Shorter (6-5, 228, SR); Trent Whittemore (6-4, 211, RSO); Ja’Markis Weston (6-3, 215, RSO); Xzavier Henderson (6-3, 195, SO); Ja’Quavion Fraziars (6-3, 220, SO); Marcus Burke (6-4, 187, RFR); Daejon Reynolds (6-2, 205, RFR); Caleb Douglas (6-3, 191, FR)
Who could be going: It’s doubtful anyone leaves. This is a need position and a place where a couple of quality receivers could be found in the portal.
TIGHT ENDS (6)
Keon Zipperer (6-3, 242, JR); Jonathan Odom (6-5, 240, RFR); Gage Wilcox (6-4, 230, RFR); Nick Elksnis (6-6, 243, RFR); Tony Livingston (6-5, 225, FR); Hayden Hansen (6-6, 256, FR)
Who could be going: This is a position where it’s doubtful anyone transfers out but both Odom and Livingston have wide body frames and could grow into tackles.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (16)
Richard Gouraige (6-5, 312, RJR); O’Cyrus Torrence (6-5, 335, JR/Transfer from Louisiana); Ethan White (6-5, 319, JR); Kingsley Eguakun (6-4, 303, RSO); Josh Braun (6-6, 342, SO); Michael Tarquin (6-5, 302, RSO); Riley Simonds (6-3, 303, RSO); Will Harrod (6-5, 325, RSO); Richie Leonard (6-2, 310, SO); Austin Barber (6-6, 312, RFR); Yousef Mugharbil (6-4, 318, RFR); Jake Slaughter (6-5, 303, RFR); Kamryn Waites (6-8, 358, RFR/Transfer from Louisiana); David Conner (6-5, 295, FR); Christian Williams (6-4, 319, FR); Jalen Farmer (6-5, 334, FR)
Who could be going: Bringing in Torrence and Waites could put the squeeze on a couple of players who seem to be spinning their wheels on the depth chart. Riley Simonds and Will Harrod have been here three years but haven’t played very much.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (15)
Griffin McDowell (6-4, 297, RJR); Dante Zanders (6-5, 291, RJR); Gervon Dexter (6-6, 303, SO); Princely Umanmeielen (6-4, 260, SO); Jaelin Humphries (6-3, 328, RSO); Desmond Watson (6-5, 390, SO), Jalen Lee (6-2, 305, SO), Lamar Goods (6-2, 332, RFR); Justus Boone (6-4, 252, RFR); Chris Thomas Jr. (6-5, 314, RFR); Tyreak Sapp (6-3, 251, RFR); Chris McClellan (6-3, 305, FR); Jamari Lyons (6-4, 298, FR); Jack Pyburn (6-3, 263, FR); Andrew Savaiinaea (6-3, 261, FR)
Who could be going: McDowell switched to defensive line after three years as a backup center. Almost all his playing time has been on special teams. This will be Jaelin Humphries fourth year in the program. He’s played in two games. Lamar Goods has played in two games in two seasons.
LINEBACKERS/EDGE (10)
Ventrell Miller (6-1, 226, SR); Brenton Cox Jr. (6-4, 253, RJR); David Reese (6-2, 230, RJR); Diwun Black (6-3, 228, JR); Lloyd Summerall III (6-5, 247, RSO); Derek Wingo (6-1, 224, SO); Antuan Powell (6-2, 255, RFR); Chief Borders (6-4, 241, RFR); Scooby Williams (6-2, 230, RFR); Shemar James (6-1, 210, FR)
Who could be going: This is a position of need. Miller is the only experienced inside linebacker so expect Napier to do some shopping in the portal to find two wide body types who have a history of filling gaps to stuff the run.
SECONDARY (17)
Trey Dean III (6-3, 206, RSR); Jadarrius Perkins (6-1, 182, JR); Jaydon Hill (6-0, 182, RSO); Avery Helm (6-1, 180, SO); Jason Marshall Jr. (6-0, 191, SO); Rashad Torrence II (6-0, 205, SO); Tre’Vez Johnson (5-11, 192, SO); Kamar Wilcoxson (6-1, 200, SO); Donovan McMillon (6-1, 197, SO); Mordecai McDaniel (6-1, 191, SO); Fenley Graham Jr. (5-9, 171, SO); Ethan Pouncey (6-1, 175, SO); Jordan Young (6-0, 185, RFR); Corey Collier Jr. (6-1, 180, RFR); Dakota Mitchell (5-11, 182, RFR); Jalen Kimber (6-0, 170, RFR/Transfer from Georgia); Kamari Wilson (6-0, 201, FR); Devin Moore (6-3, 190, FR)
Who could be going: This is a very young group with a lot of talent. It is also crowded. Attrition could probably claim three or four. Fenley Graham, who is small for a corner and who was one of the most dangerous returners in the country as a prep star in Lakeland, has asked to change positions to wide receiver.
SPECIAL TEAMS (4)
Long snappers (2): Marco Ortiz (6-4, 233, RJR); Rocco Underwood (6-3, 229, RFR)
Punter (1): Jeremy Crawshaw (6-4, 193, SO)
Kicker (1): Trey Smack (6-1, 200)
Who could be going: Nobody.
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