The force is with Billy Napier as UF stays hot on the recruiting trail

Florida recruiting is giving Albert reason to flex some muscle (Photo by Chris Spears)

“The greatest danger is standing still.” – Andy Grove

 In the locker room after Florida beat Florida State 34-7 at The Swamp on November 2, 2005, the atmosphere was like chum in shark-infested waters. Vernell Brown, who got the biggest Senior Day ovation because he was on crutches, spoke about what it meant to be a Gator. The late Avery Atkins, who had started as a true freshman that day and shut down FSU’s 6-6 wide receiver Greg Carr, was in tears talking about how Vernell had coached him up on the sidelines and inspired him to play better. By the time the locker room cleared, Urban Meyer had a handful of commitments including future All-American Brandon James. Seizing on the momentum of that night, Meyer landed Tim Tebow a couple of weeks later and Tebow was followed by Percy Harvin.

By the time the dust had cleared, Meyer had a class that would produce a Heisman Trophy winner (Tebow), four first team All-Americans (Tebow, Harvin, Brandon Spikes and James), six first or second team All-SEC (Tebow, Harvin, Spikes, James, Riley Cooper and Jermaine Cunningham), 12 who started two or more seasons and six NFL draft picks.

To this day, Urban will be the first to tell you the momentum of that night in the locker room carried over to a class that was the foundation of the 2008 national championship. The next year, the momentum of landing commitments from six Lakeland Dreadnaughts (Marquise Pouncey, Mike Pouncey, Chris Rainey, Ahmad Black, Paul Wilson and Steve Wilks) carried over to a class that included 12 two-year starters, five All-Americans, eight All-SEC, six NFL draft picks and a future Heisman Trophy winner at Auburn, Cam Newton.

Momentum is everything in recruiting and right now Billy Napier has momentum. Over the weekend, Napier got commitments from 4-star wide receiver Marquez Daniel (6-5, 200, Tuskeegee, AL Booker T. Washington); 4-star defensive end JaReylan McCoy (6-6, 250, Tupelo, MS) and 4-star running back Carsyn Baker (6-1, 200, Fairburn, GA Langston Hughes). We shouldn’t be surprised if Napier gets one or two more commitments before the sun sets Monday. Also committed since June 1 are 4-star wide receiver Justin Williams (5-11, 190, Gainesville, FL Buccholz), 3-star offensive tackle Chancellor Campbell (6-8, 306, St. Petersburg, FL Lakewood), 4-star safety Kaiden Hall (6-3, 200, Milton, FL), 3-star offensive tackle G’Nivre Carr (6-4, 325, Ocala, FL/Bradenton, FL IMG Academy) and 3-star tight end Kekua Aumua (6-5, 255, Kahuku, Hawaii/Bradenton, FL IMG Academy).

Per On3.com, Florida’s recruiting class, once an overnight hike away, is now No. 13. If Napier can take advantage of the momentum he has going for him, the Gators could be in for the kind of recruiting class that build on the strong foundation that is already in place.

It has been a long time since there was so much optimism about Florida football recruiting.

LINDY’S RATES THE SEC POSITION BY POSITION

QUATERBACK: 1. LSU; 2. Texas; 3. South Carolina; 4. FLORIDA; 5. Oklahoma; 6. Vanderbilt; 7. Alabama; 8. Ole Miss; 9. Texas A&M; 10. Auburn; 11. Arkansas; 12. Missouri; 13. Georgia; 14. Mississippi State; 15. Tennessee; 16. Kentucky

RUNNING BACK: 1. Texas; 2. Oklahoma; 3. Georgia; 4. Missouri; 5. Alabama; 6. FLORIDA; 7. LSU; 8. Texas A&M; 9. Arkansas; 10. Ole Miss; 11. Tennessee; 12. Auburn; 13. South Carolina; 14. Kentucky; 15. Vanderbilt; 16. Mississippi State

RECEIVERS:  1. Auburn; 2. Texas A&M; 3. LSU; 4. Alabama; 5. FLORIDA; 6. Georgia; 7. Texas; 8. Oklahoma; 9. Ole Miss; 10. Arkansas; 11. Tennessee; 12. South Carolina; 13. Missouri; 14. Kentucky; 15. Vanderbilt; 16. Mississippi

OFFENSIVE LINE: 1. Alabama; 2. Texas A&M; 3. FLORIDA; 4. Georgia; 5. Texas; 6. Missouri; 7. South Carolina; 8. Auburn; 9. Ole Miss; 10. Oklahoma; 11. Vanderbilt; 12. Tennessee; 13. Arkansas; 14. LSU; 15. Mississippi State; 16. Kentucky

DEFENSIVE LINE: 1. Texas; 2. Alabama; 3. Ole Miss; 4. Oklahoma; 5. LSU; 6. South Carolina; 7. Georgia; 8. FLORIDA; 9. Texas A&M; 10. Auburn; 11. Tennessee; 12. Vanderbilt; 13. Missouri; 14. Kentucky; 15. Arkansas; 16. Mississippi State

LINEBACKERS: 1. Texas; 2. LSU; 3. Georgia; 4. Alabama; 5. Ole Miss; 6. FLORIDA; 7. Missouri; 8. Texas A&M; 9. Auburn; 10. Oklahoma; 11. Tennessee; 12. Vanderbilt; 13. Arkansas; 14. South Carolina; 15. Kentucky; 16. Mississippi State

SECONDARY: 1. Alabama; 2. Georgia; 3. Texas; 4. Tennessee; 5. South Carolina; 6. Georgia; 7. LSU; 8. FLORIDA; 9. Texas A&M; 10. Oklahoma; 11. Auburn; 12. Ole Miss; 13. Kentucky; 14. Vanderbilt; 15. Mississippi State; 16. Arkansas

SPECIAL TEAMS: 1. Georgia; 2. LSU; 3. Texas; 4. Alabama; 5. Tennessee; 6. FLORIDA; 7. Texas A&M; 8. Ole Miss; 9. Oklahoma; 10. Auburn; 11. Kentucky; 12. Vanderbilt; 13. Mississippi State; 14. Missouri; 15. South Carolina; 16. Arkansas

UF WOMEN’S TRACK: Gators finish 15th at NCAA championships

When Habiba Harris pulled up on her leg of the 4X400 relay, any chance the Florida women had of a top 10 finish at the NCAA championships was doomed. The injury cost the Gators points in the relay and possibly 10 points in the 100 meter hurdles. The Gators also lost points when Hilda Olemomoi had to scratch in the 5000 and 10,000 races. Instead of a top five finish, the Gators finished 15th with 18 points.

By finishing outside the top 10, Florida will likely finish a few points behind Tennessee in the Learfield Director’s Cup standings. Florida is a likely seventh place finisher. A top five finish was doomed by injuries that proved costly in baseball, softball and track and field, both in the indoor and outdoor seasons.

BRIAN KELLY SAID IT …

On ESPN’s College Game Day podcast, LSU coach Brian Kelly tried to pour some water on the hype surrounding Arch Manning while touting his on QB, Garrett Nussmeier.

Kelly said: "Look, we hear it every day because [Manning is] from Louisiana. … And listen, there's another guy that hears it all the time and that's Garrett Nussmeier. He's committed, and more than anything else, he's experienced. And in this league, you need to see the bullets flying.

"Now, Manning is extremely talented, but he's got to go do it. And there's going to be a couple of days where it doesn't come out the way it's supposed to. How do you bounce back, how do you come back from that? How does it work the next week in your gameplan? So there's a lot out there. I can see the assessment of Manning, he's an outstanding player. But I'll take the guy that's been in the SEC and seen what it looks like."

There is no question Garrett Nussmeier is more experienced than Arch Manning. Nussmeier started 13 football games last year. Manning got one start against Louisiana-Monroe and while impressive that pales in comparison to Nussmeier. Still, Nussmeier threw 12 interceptions, tied for most in the SEC, and with a playoff berth on the line, he lost three consecutive games. In the losses to Alabama (42-13) and Florida (27-16), Nussmeier averaged only 5.6 yards per pass attempt and had as many interceptions (2) as touchdown passes. Against Florida he was sacked eight times.

How much of Nussmeier’s struggles in games that mattered most is the result of poor coaching? Or, is it possible that he’s one of these quarterbacks who will always put up big stats but come up empty when his team needs him to lead the way to victory? It should be noted that in the two previous seasons at LSU, Kelly’s quarterback was Jayden Daniels, who put up ridiculous numbers and won the Heisman Trophy in 2023. Daniels also lost seven games in two years. Nussmeier lost four a year ago.

So, that’s 11 losses in three years with great talent at quarterback. File that under things that make you go hmmmmm.

Here’s a prediction for you: Garrett Nussmeier will put up interplanetary stats this year but LSU will lose at least four games. If Kelly couldn’t get into the playoff when he had the best quarterback on the planet for two years, he darn sure won’t get in this year with Nussmeier. Arch Manning’s stats may or may not compare with Nussmeier, but he won’t lose four games. You can pencil in Texas right now on your playoff dance card.

Here is another prediction: DJ Lagway will have ridiculous stats and Florida will win at least nine games, maybe 10. At the end of the season, the best three quarterbacks in the Southeastern Conference will be DJ, Arch Manning and Oklahoma’s John Mateer.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT

Remember the tease for the movie Jaws 2? Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water it said, reminding millions who refused to stick a toe in the ocean that there are great white sharks out there.

Well, we also have college football. We had a 4-team playoff that expanded to 12 last year. Don’t get comfortable with 12 teams. Just when you were resigned to an expanded playoff format, brace yourself. The 12-team format will expand to 16, perhaps as early as 2026.

We’ve known the playoff is going to expand for some time now, but who gets in and who is out? That was the question that raged at the Southeastern Conference spring meetings in Destin a couple of weeks ago. The Big Ten would prefer the 4-4-2-2-1 format which would assure the SEC and Big Ten of four teams. The guarantee of half the field before we even fill up the rest of the brackets doesn’t float well with the ACC and Big 12, nor is it favored by the SEC.

“I don’t like it,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said. “Obviously, that model has been out there for almost a year now, and I didn’t like it because I just felt it created a huge divide between us and those two [SEC and Big Ten] conferences.”

Yormark has an ally in Greg Sankey. Sankey and the SEC want a 5-11 format. Basically, it is quite similar to what we have with 12 teams, which guarantees the conference champ from each of the power four conferences and the highest ranked conference champ from the Group of Five. In this 16-team expansion plan five conference champs will stay the same and four more at-large teams will be added. 

You can bet the farm that there will be a 16-team playoff in 2026 and it will probably be a 5-11 format. That is probably the least of our concerns. How the teams are selected and ranked is a raging debate. Do we stay with the selection committee not only picking the at-large teams but ranking the 16 teams that will be in the playoff? Do we play first and second rounds on campus and then incorporate the bowls? Or do we play just first round games on campus and then incorporate more bowls into the format? How do we deal with the Rose Bowl which insists that it will play a game January 1.

There is a simple way to do it. Five conference champs are in which assures the Group of Five will have at least one team in. The next 11 ranked teams. Selection committee of 15 makes the decisions. Two years on and then new committee. Old committee members can’t be on the committee for five years after they are replaced. Eight games on campus in round one. Four quarter-final games and two semifinal games split between the Orange, Sugar, Rose, Cotton, Fiesta and Peach bowls. Championship game rotates between Dallas, Atlanta, Miami and Los Angeles.  

A 16-team playoff is too much for one network, so split it each year between two networks. First round, for example, four games CBS, four games ESPN/ABC. Quarter-finals two CBS, two ESPN. One network gets the semifinals and championship game. Next year, same two except CBS gets the semis and championship game. Year three two new networks.

This is a common sense approach, which is exactly why they will never go for it. Common sense is in short supply when it comes to collegiate athletics and will remain in short supply until football becomes its own independent entity, free from the NCAA and free from all the rules.