Thoughts of the Day: It's never too early to prep for the portal

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:

In an absolutely perfect world, Billy Napier would have spent all day Wednesday going from one position coach to the next in preparation for Saturday’s game in The Swamp with the Arkansas Razorbacks (2-6, 0-5 SEC). It’s not a perfect world, so some of Napier’s time was allocated for personnel issues. He’s got the No. 3 recruiting class on paper, but it still has to be nailed down on national signing day.

And then there is the matter of the transfer portal. Napier still doesn’t know how many transfers he will pursue but mid-December will be here in a matter of weeks so his personnel people have to make sure they’re ready to go immediately on the first day the portal opens.

“I think ultimately a lot of that is to be determined,” Napier said at his Wednesday evening press conference. “I think ultimately for me, where we're at as we approach signing day and then when the portal window approaches, ultimately the players available determine a lot of your decisions, if that makes sense. But this is a bigger math problem. We used to be kind of, it was Algebra 1. It was 25 initials, 85 scholarships. That was the variables. Then midyear spots was a big deal. How many midyear spots did you have available?

“Now you've got portal, which is not only players in but it's players out, and then you have NIL, which ultimately I think affects things in a significant way. So, now we're approaching Calculus, if that makes sense. I'm getting my doctorate right now … and I think that I could do math today, but the numbers that we're putting in are going to change. So, we've got good people. We actually met on it today briefly, the personnel department. So, there's just a ton of things that contribute to that. I miss those Algebra days. I miss those days."

Shemar James out for the season

Sophomore linebacker Shemar James is done for the year with a dislocated kneecap. Surgery was performed Wednesday. Napier said it’s a 4-month recovery process so James won’t be available again until spring.

“He's our leading tackler,” Napier said. “More than that, Shemar, he's a great example – his practice habits, his character. He's developed a voice. You know, that's something that I think, in particular, as of late, he really was getting comfortable from a leadership standpoint of being vocal. So that's the unfortunate part.”

Gators have to contain KJ Jefferson

Jefferson was rated no worse than the No. 2 quarterback in the SEC when the season began. Although his numbers are off, in large part because Arkansas has lost six games in a row, Napier know the key to beating the Razorbacks is containing Jefferson.

“He’s just a physical player and he's tough to get on the ground,” Napier said. “You may get to him but he's like a lot of these bigger quarterbacks who have played throughout the years. This is a big man (6-3, 247). Ultimately, it's tough to get him on the ground as a runner and when you do try to finish on him, he's a challenge in that regard and he is an athlete, there's no question about it. He's developed as a passer and he's got a good group of skill around him and when you start talking about defending Arkansas, it starts with him and his mobility is a part of the equation."

Injuries on the D-line

With both starting nose tackle Cam Jackson and starting end Tyreak Sapp questionable for Arkansas for what is being described as upper body injuries, young guys will have to step up Saturday.

“You're going to see Kelby Collins more often, you'll see Jack Pyburn more often, you're going to see Jamari (Lyons) more often, Chris McClellan more often,” Napier said. “So, all the guys that have been playing will continue to play. They'll just play a little bit more. And let me tell you, them guys, they're flying around out there because they know their role is going to increased and they're excited about it. So I think ultimately, sometimes that can be a good thing."

PRACTICE THIS WEEK

"I thought we were a little … we started a little slow yesterday but we finished really well,” Napier said. “I thought the energy kinda improved as we knocked the rust off. Tuesdays are typically that way because we don't practice on Monday. And then today we hit the ground running. I mean, I thought we started faster today than we have in a long time. I thought the good-on-good periods, in particular, were very competitive. So, I think that's a good indication.

“Now like I've told you many times before, does that mean we're going to play well on Saturday? We'll see, but I do think they're going about it the right way. I believe in this group, I like the makeup of this group. I think we're still searching for consistency. We’re still trying to put the best performances together from all parts of our team. Ultimately, that's the goal. And, you know, this will not be easy Saturday. I know the record may indicate that, but turn the tape on, this group can play."

SEC football

No. 8 Alabama (7-1, 5-0 SEC): On the SEC Coaches Teleconference, Nick Saban praised the way LSU uses motion and multiple formations to make its offense so explosive. Saban said, “So they do a great job with formations, they do a great job with motions, which creates opportunities for the defense to have to adjust. And then be able to play not only the route combinations, but also the run game they have which is at times similar to the triple option.”

Arkansas (2-6, 0-5 SEC): Arkansas may get a lift for its offense Saturday against Florida if running back Raheim “Rocket” Sanders (knee injury) is able to play for the first time since game three. “There’s a chance that he’ll be available,” head coach Sam Pittman said on the SEC Coaches Teleconference. “He has practiced Monday and Tuesday, limited basis but he has practiced. So, we’re hopeful that he’ll be available on Saturday.”

Auburn (4-4, 1-4 SEC): Quarterback Payton Thorne had his best game of the season in the win over Mississippi State, completing 20-26 passes for 230 yards with three touchdowns. That prompted Hugh Freeze to remark on the SEC Coaches Teleconference, “I think we protected him better. I think our receivers are playing better and the plan is better.”

No. 1 Georgia (8-0, 5-0 SEC): Kirby Smart is impressed with Missouri’s defensive line. On Wednesday’s SEC Coaches Teleconference, Smart said, “It’s very demanding, it takes great communication, it takes being on the same page. They create difficulties. They understand what you’re doing protection wise. They try to get the best matchups and create confusion.”

Kentucky (5-3, 3-2 SEC): Mark Stoops has never beaten Mississippi State in Starkville, one of the reasons that Kentucky is only a 3.5-point favorite over the Bulldogs Saturday. Speaking about the MSU defense and the challenge of Starkville, Stoops said, “Defensively, Mississippi State is much like they always are. Very disruptive, very multiple in the things they do … It’ll be a very big challenge and historically we haven’t played well down there, so hopefully we can get that changed and play a bit better this week.”

No. 13 LSU (6-2, 4-1 SEC): CBS college football analyst is predicting LSU will beat Alabama Saturday because of its high powered offense. “This reminds me of 2019, this offense for LSU … This offense is Cajun hot … Whoever has it last is going to win. I’m going with the Tigers.”

Mississippi State (4-4, 1-4 SEC): There is still no word on who will play quarterback against Auburn Saturday. Zach Arnett is playing it close to the vest with Will Rogers (shoulder injury) and backup Mike Wright.

No. 14 Missouri (7-1, 3-1 SEC): Eli Drinkwitz knows he’s going against the No. 1 team in the country Saturday in Georgia, but he says the goal for his team each week is “not to make any one game bigger than the next. This game is important to us, but it’s not any more important than the Vanderbilt game was, or the Kentucky game was, or the homecoming against South Carolina was. They all have a level of significance to them and so we’re just trying to approach it with that mindset and worry about being 1-0 this week.”

No. 12 Ole Miss (7-1, 3-1 SEC): Texas A&M has lost its last eight games on the road against ranked teams, prompting Lane Kiffin to remark “I hope it keeps going” on the SEC Coaches Teleconference. Kiffin said the Aggies play better at home because Kyle Field is “one of the loudest places to play in the country, probably the loudest continual place for an entire game in the country.”

South Carolina (2-6, 1-5 SEC): Shane Beamer is hoping wide receiver Juice Wells will be able to go Saturday in a non-conference game against Jacksonville State. A year ago, Wells caught 68 passes for 928 yards and six touchdowns. Limited to three games this year because of injury, Wells has caught only three passes for 37 yards and a TD.

No. 19 Tennessee (6-2, 3-2 SEC): The Vols will honor the late Pat Summitt Saturday when they play UConn in a non-conference game at Neyland Stadium. Summitt won seven national championships coaching Lady Vols basketball. She died of Alzheimers in 2016. Saturday commemorative Summitt cups will be sold at Neyland with $1 of each sale being donated to Alzheimers research.

Texas A&M (5-3, 3-2 SEC): The challenge for the Aggies will be to contain Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart, who averages 260 passing yards per game but has also run for 326 yards and seven touchdowns. The Aggies give up only 173 passing yards per game and their run defense gives up 96 yards per game and 2.85 per carry. Jimbo Fisher said Dart “does a great job of keeping plays alive and in their quarterback runs in which they do whether they run inside or outside.”

Vanderbilt (2-6, 0-5 SEC): Apparently AJ Swann is the odd man out at quarterback. On the SEC Coaches Teleconference Wednesday, head coach Clark Lea said his plan for the Auburn game is for both Ken Seals and Walt Taylor to play. Seals apparently will get the start.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Bob Knight passed away Wednesday at the age of 83 from complications of dementia and other illnesses that had hospitalized him for several months. During a legendary coaching career that saw him win three national championships at Indiana and post a career record of 902-371, Knight was an old school hardliner known for getting in the face of officials and yelling at his players. He was forced out at Indiana where he won 661 games in 2000 because he grabbed the arm of a freshman student who Knight said called him by his last name. Knight thought it was a sign of disrespect. The Indiana administration considered it the last straw and dismissed him. He coached another six years at Texas Tech, winning at least 20 games in five seasons.

I’m old school myself, so I never was offended by Bob Knight. He yelled, he screamed, he even threw a chair across the floor. I cut my sports writing teeth on Al McGuire, Norm Sloan, Lefty Driesell, Bones McKinney, Adolph Rupp and Frank McGuire. In a lot of ways, Bob Knight seemed rather tame by comparison to some of the outbursts by these guys.

Here’s what I remember about Bob Knight and it’s similar in so many ways to how I remember my late friend Al McGuire. Bob Knight and Al McGuire pushed kids and pushed them hard. They expected nothing less than 100 percent at all times. They got in their players faces and never once worried that they might be hurting someone’s feelings. Kids who couldn’t handle it, got the hell out of Dodge. The kids who stuck it out, graduated, became better people and most of them unqualified successes in their chosen professions once basketball ended.

I once heard Quinn Buckner, the point guard on the last collegiate team to ever run the table unbeaten (Indiana 1976), speak about Bob Knight. I don’t recall word-for-word exactly what he said, but it went something like this: Sure he yelled at you and yes, he pushed you hard, but he knows what life is like in the real world, and ultimately, that’s what he was preparing us to do.

That’s how I will remember Bob Knight and a lot of old school coaches who wouldn't survive in today's I'm okay, you're okay world. I like these guys better than most of today's coaches.