Thoughts of the Day: December 28, 2021

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:

THE BILLY NAPIER PEOPLE PLAN

Despite the embarrassing loss to UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl, the Florida football program hasn’t sunk. Not yet, anyway, but let’s be real here, it has been taking on water at an alarming rate. It’s enough that some have questioned if new coach Billy Napier is having second thoughts about stepping into a program that has to be rebuilt from the ground up.

The answer to that question is a big flat no. Napier knew what he was getting into, but he also knows what can be done at Florida. Charley Pell had to raise the program from an 0-10-1 rock bottom in 1979 to put it on a firm foundation. The program isn’t in nearly the shape it was then. The boosters are well organized (Charley got that going). Facility deficiencies that have plagued the program the last 30 years, are finally being addressed. And now, Napier arrives with a plan to resurrect the Gators and keep them at a sustainable level of excellence.

Speaking to ESPN sideline reporter Taylor Davis at the Gasparilla Bowl, Napier pointed out the advantages he sees with Florida.

“Well, I think we’ve got to focus on the things we can control,” he said. “It’s going to be a team effort. I think we’ve got to work together, right? We’ve got an incredible history, a great alumni base and a talented team, so we’ve got to pull the rope in the right direction and we’ll have success.”

Pulling in the right direction starts with his “people plan” that is a combination of all the things he’s learned on the road to Gainesville and the things he learned first hand about dealing with people that he observed growing up with a father who was a high school coaching legend.

“We’re going to use my approach to people,” he said. “I think the combination of those two things can position us to have success. A lot of the times when people ask me about the head coaches that I’ve worked for, one thing that gets overlooked is the number of assistant coaches and some of the best support staff members in the entire country that we’ve had an opportunity to work with.”

He’s worked as an assistant for Dabo Swinney (2 national championships at Clemson) and Nick Saban (6 national championships since 2009), the two coaches who have dominated the last 12 years of college football. At Alabama, for example, he worked with these assistant coaches/analysts before they became part of the Nick Saban head coaching tree – Mario Cristobal, Kirby Smart, Mel Tucker, Lane Kiffin, Jeremy Pruitt, Mike Locksley and Steve Sarkisian.

Some of the assistants who have never become head coaches have also been influential in his path to success – Bo Davis, Scott Cochran, Karl Dunbar, Burton Burns, Tosh Lupoi and Brent Key.

“That network of people has been critical. It’s allowed us to have success in the past. We’re all a product of the experiences we’ve had and the people we’ve been exposed to. I’m certainly no different. I’m a product of my environment.”

PITTS IN THE RECORD BOOK

Former Gator All-American tight end Kyle Pitts, who made the Pro Bowl and who has 64 catches for 949 yards through 15 games, has surpassed Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez for the most receiving yards by a tight end in Atlanta Falcons history. With two games remaining, Pitts has a chance to break Mike Ditka’s NFL record of 1,076 receiving yards by a rookie tight end.

THE SEC DID UF BASKETBALL NO FAVORS

The Gators (9-3) will open the SEC portion of their schedule Wednesday night in Oxford against an Ole Miss team that lost its last outing to Samford when former Gators Ques Glover drained a winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. Glover, by the way, is averaging 19.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game for Samford and it hitting 37.5 percent of his three pointers. The Samford loss is the only loss the Rebels have suffered playing at The Pavilion at Ole Miss, so the Gators can expect a very difficult conference opener.

The Ole Miss game is part of a four-game gauntlet the Gators face to open SEC play and it could have a defining affect on the remainder of the season. Following Ole Miss, the Gators will play host to 19th-ranked Alabama (9-3), then hit the road to face 11th-ranked Auburn (11-1). After that it’s back home to face 16th-ranked and unbeaten LSU (12-0).

As if that’s not bad enough, the Gators’ next two games will be on the road at South Carolina (9-3) then home against Mississippi State (9-3). There are 19 games remaining on the UF schedule – 18 SEC and Oklahoma State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge – and the only team the Gators face that has a losing record is Georgia (5-7), which the Gators face home-and-home.

The Gators continue to hold at No. 30 nationally in the Kenpom.com ratings. The Gators rank 44th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency ratings and 31st in adjusted defensive efficiency.

SEC Basketball Wednesday’s games: FLORIDA (9-3) at Ole Miss (8-4); No. 16 LSU (12-0) at No. 11 Auburn (11-1); Missouri (6-6) at No. 18 Kentucky (9-2); Gardner-Webb (5-7) at Georgia (5-7); Central Arkansas (2-9) at Texas A&M (9-2); No. 14 Tennessee (9-2) at No. 19 Alabama (9-3); Arkansas (10-2) at Mississippi State (9-3); South Carolina State (7-8) at South Carolina (9-3) POSTPONED

The Associated Press Top 25 poll: 1. Baylor 11-0; 2. Duke 11-1; 3. Purdue 11-1; 4. Gonzaga 10-2; 5. UCLA 8-1; 6. Kansas 9-1; 7. Southern Cal 12-0; 8. Iowa State 12-0; 9. Arizona 11-1; 10. Michigan State 10-2; 11. Auburn 11-1; 12. Houston 11-2; 13. Ohio State 8-2; 14. Tennessee 9-2; 15. Seton Hall 9-1; 16. LSU 12-0; 17. Texas 9-2; 18. Kentucky 9-2; 19. Alabama 9-3; 20. Colorado State 10-0; 21. Providence 11-1; 22. Villanova 8-4; 23. Xavier 11-2; 24. Wisconsin 9-2; 25. Texas Tech 9-2

The Coaches Top 25 poll: 1. Baylor 11-0; 2. Duke 11-1; 3. Purdue 11-1; 4. Gonzaga 10-2; 5. UCLA 8-1; 6. Kansas 9-1; 7. Arizona 11-1; 8. Iowa State 12-0; 9. Southern Cal 9-0; 10. Michigan State 10-2; 11. Auburn 11-1; 12. Ohio State 8-2; 13. Seton Hall 9-1; 14. Houston 11-2; 15. Tennessee 9-2; 16. LSU 12-0; 17. Kentucky 9-2; 18. Texas 9-2; 19. Alabama 9-3; 20. Colorado State 10-0; 21. Providence 11-1; 22. Villanova 8-4; 23. Wisconsin 9-2; 24. Xavier 11-2; 25. Texas Tech 9-2

SEC FOOTBALL

Alabama: Asked Monday what he thinks about the fan criticism of his coaching, defensive coordinator Pete Golding replied, “Well, their name ain’t on my paycheck, so I really don’t listen to it … I don’t listen to the outside noise, to be honest with you. I think if you’re a football coach and you do that, I think you get out of this profession pretty quick. You start selling insurance and playing golf.” It should be noted that Alabama’s defense ranks eighth nationally in total defense (306.1 yards per game) and fourth against the run (82.77 yards per game, 2.51 per carry).

Arkansas: The Razorbacks may be without star wide receiver Treylon Burks for the Outback Bowl game, but opponent Penn State will be without first team All-Big Ten wide receiver Jahan Dotson and starting DB Jaquan Brisker. All three have opted out to prepare for the NFL Draft.

Auburn: Leading tackler LB Zakoby McClain has joined All-American corner and OL Broadarius Hamm in opting out of the Tigers’ Birmingham Bowl matchup with Houston.

Georgia: Apparently, quarterback JT Daniels and wide receiver George Pickens have passed the COVID protocols. Both players made the trip with the rest of the team to Miami where the Bulldogs will face Michigan in the College Football Semifinal matchup Friday night ... If Georgia loses to Michigan, you can bet Kirby Smart will be blowtorched with criticism for allowing Dan Lanning to juggle duties as the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator/play caller with head coaching duties that he has assumed at Oregon.

Kentucky: The Wildcats are in Orlando for final preparations for their Citrus Bowl game with Iowa. HBC Mark Stoops says the Wildcats are “doing the best we can” when it comes to dealing with COVID protocols.

LSU: With Max Johnson already departed for Texas A&M, freshman Garrett Nussmeier is the scheduled starter for the Tigers’ Texas Bowl matchup with Kansas State. If anything happens to Nussmeier senior wide receiver Jontre Kirklin would step in. Kirklin is a former dual threat QB from Lutcher, Louisiana who has caught 20 passes in his LSU career for three touchdowns but has never thrown a pass in a game.

Mississippi State: It’s a juicy Liberty Bowl matchup for Mississippi State because it pits Mike Leach against Texas Tech, which fired him after the 2009 season. Leach fired a wrongful termination suit against Texas Tech which hasn’t been resolved. Monday, Leach said he plays to fight Texas Tech for as long as it will take to win. “I don’t have anything to lose,” Leach said. “I mean, they cheated me out of $2.6 million plus four years remaining on my contract.” It should be noted that Leach never had a losing season and went 84-43 as Texas Tech’s head coach. In the years since he was fired, Texas Tech has had exactly four winning seasons.

Ole Miss: Names being mentioned prominently to replace offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, who left for Oklahoma, are Arkansas OC Kendal Briles and South Florida offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., both of whom worked for Lane Kiffin when he was the head coach at Florida Atlantic.

South Carolina: Four players will miss South Carolina’s game with North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte but none of them for COVID. Three non-starters are suspended and one player will miss the game to spend with a family member who is seriously ill.

Tennessee: James Carvin says he and the other starters on the Tennessee offensive line are trying to convince right tackle Cade Mays to come back for another year rather than declare for the NFL Draft. If Mays were to come back, the Vols would return all five starters to go with returning QB Hendon Hooker and top wide receiver Cedric Tillman.

FOOTBALL IN THE MINOR LEAGUES Former Troy head coach Chip Lindsey is heading to UCF as Gus Malzahn’s offensive coordinator. Lindsey worked for Malzahn at Auburn in 2013 when the Tigers nearly won the national championship and again in 2017 when they beat Alabama and won the SEC West.

Boise State has had to withdraw from the Arizona Bowl because of COVID. Central Michigan, which was supposed to play Boise, is now headed to the Sun Bowl to play Washington State. It’s a big step up for Jim McElwain and the Chippewas, who not only play a Power Five opponent in the bowl game but will have a significant payout boost. The Arizona Bowl would have paid the Fighting Chips $350,000. The Chips (and the Mid-America Conference) will get a payout of somewhere around $2.25 million.

Atlanta Falcons running backs coach Desmond Kitchens, who at one time was thought to be a lock for Billy Napier’s Florida staff, is expected to be named offensive coordinator for Tony Elliott at Virginia.

If you check the box score of Florida’s 41-14 national championship game win over Ohio State in 2006, you’ll notice the Buckeyes’ leading tackler was Marcus Freeman (16 stops). That’s the same Marcus Freeman who is the former Cincinnati and Notre Dame defensive coordinator who is now the head coach at Notre Dame.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Monday the Center for Disease Control issued a new guidance for dealing with COVID-19, particularly the omicron variant that is running rampant through the US. Instead of a 10-day isolation/quarantine, the CDC is now recommending five days for people who test positive and if they are asymptomatic after five days, they should wear a mask for five days. That’s good news for the general population. I have to wonder if this new guidance had been in place a week ago if Texas A&M and some other teams could have played in their bowl games.