Vernell Brown III is set to carry on his dad's footsteps at the University of Florida. The elite wide receiver prospect verbally committed to the Gators on Sunday, following in the footsteps of his father, Vernell Brown Jr., grandfather, Vernell Brown Sr., and uncle, Vincent Brown, all of whom played for Florida. His commitment video featured these family members and was shown during his live ceremony, streamed on YouTube. Brown is from Orlando’s Jones High School, standing at 5-11 and weighing 170 pounds. He’s rated as a 5-star recruit by the 247Sports Composite, ranking as the No. 5 player in Florida, the No. 6 wide receiver, and the No. 25 overall prospect in the Class of 2025. Despite his strong family ties to the Gators, Brown's recruitment was highly competitive. He received offers from 42 different schools, including powerhouse programs like Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas A&M. For his big announcement on Sunday, Brown had narrowed his choices to Florida, Florida State, Miami, and Ohio State. “Sure, I grew up around it and was naturally drawn to UF,” Brown said, “but I can’t say that throughout my recruiting process it was always going to be UF. There were times when UF wasn’t my top choice. Every school in my final four was my No. 1 at different times.” Brown’s commitment is a significant boost for head coach Billy Napier and his recruiting staff, who are looking to gain momentum on the recruiting trail. The Gators currently have only 10 verbal commitments, lagging behind. Their class ranks No. 62 nationally and 15th in the conference, just ahead of Vanderbilt. In 2023, Brown recorded 63 catches for 1,230 yards and 9 touchdowns.

What ifs on a Friday: The history of Florida sports is a living, breathing testament that nobody, but nobody in college sports does what if as well as the Gators. Don’t believe me? Follow along with a top 12 incidents and events followed by the subsequent what if. 1. 1924, Major James Van Fleet assigned to the Panama Canal Zone: A member of the legendary class of 1915 at West Point, a class that included Ike, Omar Bradley, Joe McNarney, Thomas Larkin and 64 others who became generals (Bob Neyland was in the next class), Van Fleet was assigned to head the ROTC program at UF in 1922 where he assisted head coach William G. Kline. Taking over in 1923 as the head coach, the Gators went 12-3-4 the next two years. In 1923 the Gators only loss was on the road to Army but ended with a win on the road at Alabama. The Gators went 6 -2-2 in 1924, losing to Army on the road and tying Texas in Austin. The Gators were on the verge of becoming a real national power, but Van Fleet was assigned to the Panama Canal. He went on to become a 4-star general, a hero at the Battle of the Bulge and a legend in Greece and Korea. But what if he had resigned to remain at UF? 2. 1928, Colonel Robert Neyland turns the Tennessee stadium into a quagmire: Charlie Bachman, an All-American at Notre Dame and teammate of Knute Rockne, was the first year coach of the Gators who went into the final game of the season (December 8) at Tennessee with an 8-0 record and believing that a win over the Vols would earn a Rose Bowl invitation. The Gators were the highest scoring team in the country and featured the legendary Dale Van Sickle and quarterback Clyde Crabtree. A several months drought had engulfed eastern Tennessee, but amazingly, on the night of December 7, it rained … only on the football field, turning it into a quagmire. UF had no mud cleats, Colonel Neyland said he was sorry but didn’t have any to spare. All the Knoxville sporting goods stores were closed. The Gators slipped and slid all over the field. Tennessee got the win 13-12 when Bobby Dodd blocked the extra point. Georgia Tech got the Rose Bowl bid. Had the Gators won, they would have tied Georgia Tech for the Southern Conference championship. It would be 63 years later before the Gators won a conference championship that counted. What if the Gators had won a championship? Would that have changed the trajectory of the UF football program? 3. 1959, Ara Parseghian believes the lies, stays at Northwestern: Dr. J. Wayne Reitz told Bob Woodruff prior to the season that 1959 would be his final as the UF head football coach. Dr. Reitz had Northwestern’s Ara Parseghian ready to take the job, but the Northwestern president promised he would upgrade the facilities, relax the academic standards a tad so Ara could get better players and give everybody big raises. Ara stayed and Florida hired Ray Graves instead. Ara finally figured out that Northwestern wasn’t going to live up to his promises and left for Notre Dame in 1964. Graves, meanwhile, left Georgia Tech where he was the defensive coordinator and the inventor of the 4-3 defense to become Florida’s head coach, leading the Gators to the most successful decade in school history. What if Florida had hired Ara? Maybe he would have taken the Gators to prominence, but one thing for certain, because Ray Graves was the coach the Gators got Steve Spurrier to play football at UF. 4. 1966, Norm Sloan leaves UF for North Carolina State at the insistence of Ray Graves: When Press Maravich left North Carolina State for LSU after the 1966 season, NC State turned to native son Norm Sloan, who was the head coach at UF. NC State offered more money, but Sloan had a team he believed capable of winning the SEC, which had never been done before, and playing in the NCAA Tournament, also something that had never been done before. The front line would be 6-11 Jeff Ramsey, 6-9 Gary Keller and 6-10 Neal Walk. Norm told UF athletic director Ray Graves he would stay if he could get new furniture and carpet for his office, which was pretty shabby. Coach Graves, who didn’t want basketball to win an SEC before football, refused to meet Sloan’s demand and even suggested he should take the job at NC State. Coach Graves hired Tommy Bartlett, an assistant for Ray Mears at Tennessee, at the insistence of UF athletic director Bob Woodruff. Yes, the same Bob Woodruff who was the former UF football coach, also Graves’ O-line coach when he played at UT. The Gators went 21-4 in 1967, but they didn’t win the SEC. Bartlett was a nice guy but not the kind of coach who could win big and sustain the program. Sloan went on to win the NCAA championship at NC State in 1973. What if Norm Sloan had stayed? The talent was there and Sloan was a great recruiter. 5. 1969, Dr. Stephen C. O’Connell hires Douglas Adair Dickey in August: In August of 1969, Dr. Stephen C. O’Connell told Ray Graves he would be out as football coach after the season but could stay on as the AD. Dr. O’Connell then made an agreement to hire Florida native son Douglas Adair Dickey, the ultra-successful coach at Tennessee. BEFORE the season. The Super Sophs, led by John Reaves and Carlos Alvarez, went 8-1-1 and were one of the nation’s most exciting teams. Florida played Tennessee in the Gator Bowl. Days before the game, Jack Hairston and Buddy Martin broke the story that Graves was out and Dickey had already been hired. The players were stunned that Graves was out and that Gene Ellenson wouldn’t be the successor. They threatened to strike but were convinced to play. Florida beat the Vols, 14-13, in the Gator Bowl. Dickey won 58 games in nine years at UF before he was fired. What if Gene Ellenson had succeeded Coach Graves and Dickey had remained at Tennessee? Could the Super Sophs have won the SEC the next year? Could Ellenson have done what Graves couldn’t do by winning the SEC? 6. 1978, Lou Holtz won’t give a positive answer, Charley Pell is hired: Lou Holtz had been flirting with the idea of becoming the Florida coach for several years, so when Douglas Adair Dickey was fired at the end of the 1978 season there was no question that Holtz would emerge as the top choice as the replacement. Ron Meyer, the coach at SMU publicly stated he would crawl backward from Dallas for the UF job, but he was just a blip on the radar as was Texas coach Fred Akers.  Holtz was coming off a 9-2-1 season at Arkansas that concluded with a win over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. When pressed for a commitment, Holtz wouldn’t give a positive answer. Meanwhile UF president Robert Marston and Warren Cason met with Charley Pell at the Greenville-Spartanburg airport clandestinely. They were impressed and decided not to wait on a Holtz answer. Pell became the UF coach, but what would have happened if Lou Holtz had taken the UF job? 7. 1984, Marshall Criser fires Charley Pell while other SEC presidents stand by their coach: When Florida went on probation for recruiting violations under Pell three games into the 1984 season, UF president Marshall Criser went back on a couple of promises, one of which was firing Pell. There was precedent to stand by coaches whose programs went on probation. Barry Switzer at Oklahoma comes to mind perhaps as the most famous. Pell had assembled what amounted to an NFL team that included three first round draft pick running backs (Lorenzo Hampton, Neal Anderson, John L. Williams), the best O-line in the country and a nasty defense filled with future NFL players. Would Florida have weathered the NCAA probation? The Gators won the SEC on the field but in the spring, the SEC athletic directors and presidents voted to strip UF of its SEC title. Had he survived, would the Gators have won multiple SEC titles and a national title? 8. 1989, Bill Arnsparger does his best to hire Mike Archer: When Galen Hall was fired during the 1989 season, all eyes turned to Duke University where Steve Spurrier was leading Duke to a most improbable ACC championship. At the end of the season, UF athletic director Bill Arnsparger was determined to hire Mike Archer, the man who he had hand picked to succeed him as the LSU football coach in 1986, even though the Tigers went 4-7 in 1989. Legend has it that Ben Hill Griffin sat in Arnsparger’s office and after hearing the case made for Archer, said, “Bill, Steve Spurrier is going to be the head coach here next year. You don’t have to be the athletic director.” Just how far would the Florida football program have slipped under Archer? Would Florida have ever gotten a chance to hire Spurrier, who was a hot coaching property? 9. 2002, Steve Spurrier retires, Ron Zook hired: On the Monday after the Gators crushed Maryland in the Orange Bowl, Steve Spurrier abruptly retired. Speculation immediately focused on two coaches, both former UF assistants – Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan (former OC under Charley Pell) and Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops (former DC under Steve Spurrier). Jeremy Foley flew out to Denver but Shanahan wasn’t hired. Then the UF plane went to Norman and for two days it seemed Stoops was going to be the head coach, but no announcement. Seven days after the Orange Bowl win, Foley announced Ron Zook as the new head coach despite the fact Zook had zero head coaching experience and had never been on anyone’s head coaching short list. Zook was a brilliant recruiter the next three years, bringing in 20 of Urban Meyer’s starters when he won the 2006 national championship. But go back to 2002. What would have happened if Foley had hired Stoops? He was 31-7 after three years at OU, then 160-41 in the 15 years after the alleged near hire at UF.  Would he have been as successful at UF as he was at OU? He’s only 64 years old. Would he still be the Florida football coach? 10. 2010, Urban Meyer resigns, Will Muschamp hired: When Urban Meyer retired after the 2010 season, the Gators hired Will Muschamp, the head coach in waiting at Texas. It seemed like a great fit since Muschamp grew up in Gainesville and was considered as hot a young coach as there was in the country. Charlie Weis was hired as the offensive coordinator, supposedly over Muschamp’s objections. Then came Brent Peas for two years including a 4-7 losing season in 2013 that included a loss to D1AA Georgia Southern. When the UF offense finally caught up with the defense it was 2014 when Kurt Roper led the Gators to 30.2 points per game. Blowout losses to Alabama and Missouri and an overtime loss to South Carolina doomed Muschamp, who was fired by AD Jeremy Foley. What would have happened if Muschamp had been given one more year? He left behind an NFL defense and a roster that would win 10 games for  Jim McElwain in 2015. 11. 2017, Old Yeller fired: Jim McElwain was paid $4 million a year to coach football at UF but never saw the need to have his teeth whitened, hence the nickname Old Yeller. He won 19 games and the SEC East in 2015-16 but when the Muschamp defensive players went to the NFL, the Gators struggled to stop people in 2017. UF was 3-3 after consecutive close call losses to LSU and Texas A&M when McElwain claimed Florida players as well as his family had been victimized by death threats. It was the Monday prior to the Georgia game. McElwain offered no proof that any such thing had happened. During the week McElwain was given opportunity by the UF administration to prove the death threats were real, but he never did. After losing to Georgia 42-7, McElwain was fired. UF never said it was because he had lied about the death threats but there is no doubt that was the reason. What would have happened if McElwain had enough integrity to simply own up to his lie and apologize? 12. 2020, What if the Gators had knocked off Alabama in the SEC Championship Game?: Alabama came into the SEC Championship Game unbeaten, having steamrolled 10 straight opponents by at least 15 points. Alabama won this game, 52-46, but it’s a game the Gators should have won by a couple of touchdowns if they hadn’t shot themselves in both feet multiple times. Tied at 7-7, Trey Dean intercepted a pass and ran it back 17 yards but fumbled when tackled, giving the ball back to Bama, which scored on the next play. Trailing 14-10, the Gators got a third down stop that would have forced a Bama punt but Zach Carter was flagged for a personal foul to extend the drive. Alabama went on to drive for a TD and a 21-10 lead. Trailing 21-10, the Gators would have forced another punt, except a substitution infraction when a player loafed to get off the field. Bama went on to score for a 28-10 lead. There were certain other mistakes, but Florida’s offense was so good that the Gators could have taken a big lead instead of trailing 35-17 at the half. Eliminate those mistakes and it’s entirely possible the Gators would have been in the College Football Playoff. What if the Gators win that game? Could they have won the national championship? If they had, Mullen would probably still be the head coach.

For the next eight weeks, I will be releasing my power rankings of the new-look SEC football and what you need to know about each team in the conference, starting from the bottom to the top. Each week, on Wednesday and Friday, a new team will be released in the ranking along with what to expect and what you need to know for the upcoming season. With some newcomers to the SEC this offseason, it will be a good way to learn a little more in depth about some schools that you may have not been keeping up with over the years.

For the first time in ten years, EA Sports has released a college football game. One of the most anticiapted returns of a video game, maybe ever, did not dissapoint. At one point during the opening day, there were 533,218 (!!) players online at once.

For the next eight weeks, I will be releasing my power rankings of the new look SEC football and what you need to know about each team in the conference, starting from the bottom to the top. Each week, on Wednesday and Friday, a new team will be released in the ranking along with what to expect and what you need to know for the upcoming season. With some newcomers to the SEC this offseason, this will be a good way to learn a little more in-depth about some schools that you may not have been keeping up with over the years.

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning: What? Paul Finebaum is having second thoughts about Billy Napier and the Florida Gators in 2024? Asked at SEC Media Days by On3’s J.D. PicKell if there is an SEC team for 2024 that he and the national media might be wrong about, Finebaum said, “I think it could be Florida. And, by the way, I don’t know why I say that because I’m the one who has been asking every guest for the last six months, saying ‘What do you think about Florida?’ Their expectations might be as low as they’ve ever been.” After consecutive losing seasons in Napier’s first two seasons on the Florida job, just ending the season with a winning record will be considered quite an accomplishment by nearly everyone in the media, particularly given a schedule that nearly every expert considers the toughest in the nation. Finebaum told PicKell, “I don’t think they have much to prove. Knowing my business, Billy Napier beats Miami and starts and maybe beats a couple … Well, Billy Napier – early favorite for Coach of the Year.” The Gators’ September schedule is Miami, Samford and Texas A&M at home followed by a road trip to Mississippi State. Miami and Texas A&M are in many preseason top 25 rankings. Samford is a D1AA team and Mississippi State, with its second brand new head coach in two years, is predicted to be a bottom feeder in the SEC. By starting off with three straight home games, the Gators have a chance for a fast start that could define the season. Therefore, not enough emphasis can be placed on the season opener against the Hurricanes. Finebaum, agrees. “Again, if you lose to Miami? Forget everything I said.” Billy Napier will take to the podium at SEC Media Days in Dallas today at 12:50 p.m. He will be preceded by Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer and Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby. They said it at SEC Media Days Oklahoma coach Brent Venables on the first year in the SEC: “… Oklahoma isn’t intimidated as a football program. We’re running towards the SEC.” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel on QB Nico Iamaleava: “He’s got the ability to throw the football sideline to sideline, vertically down the football field, extremely accurate, loose, quick-triggered arm. He’s got the ability to extend and make plays with his feet. As a runner, evading and making a play down the field.” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz on what makes QB Brady Cook so consistent: “Brady is never having a bad day. Didn’t matter if his girlfriend had broken up with him or if he had thrown an interception; he just loves coming to work, being in the training room. You know, we lost to LSU. He was right back in there Sunday morning ready to go to work versus Kentucky.” Georgia coach Kirby Smart on the importance of creating toughness during August camp: “If you’re not physical enough at the line of scrimmage and tough enough and you don’t demand excellence, because during the season there is only so much we can do to create the toughness that we need at the line of scrimmage and the toughness we need as an overall football team.” UF BASEBALL: Gators emerge from MLB Draft in very good shape Kevin O’Sullivan dodged a few bullets and emerged from the three days of the Major League Baseball Draft in far better shape than he might have imagined when the draft began Sunday night. Everybody knew the Gators were going to lose Jac Caglianone (No. 6, Kansas City) and high school shortstop Kellon Lindsey (No. 23, Los Angeles Dodgers) in the first round and it was almost a certainty that closer Brandon Neely was a goner. His final month of the season bumped him up to the third round where the Boston Red Sox grabbed him with the 86th overall pick. Neely’s bonus is slotted for $878,800.  He will take the money and start his minor league career rather soon. In the tenth round, the Colorado Rockies picked reliever Fisher Jameson (No. 288), who will probably take the $185,800 and call it a career at UF. That ended matters Monday. Then came Tuesday, which got off to a rousing start when outfielder Ty Evans announced he will be returning for his senior season. Evans (.316, 13 HR, 43 RBI) was having a breakout season when he broke his wrist sliding into a wall in foul territory in May. With Evans returning, the Gators should have one of the best outfields in college baseball next year with Miami transfer Blake Cyr and Evans manning the corners and Stetson transfer and gold glover Kyle Jones in center field. Once the draft got under way for the final 10 rounds, the good news continued for the Gators. Shortstop Colby Shelton, who was projected to go first three rounds, dropped all the way to 20th (St. Louis Cardinals), presumably because he had already told teams what it would take to sign him. With two years of eligibility remaining, Shelton had all the leverage he needed. That he was taken in the 20th round was simply a wish call by the Cardinals just in case there is a change of mind. Catcher Luke Heyman, who was rated high enough to go in the first six or seven rounds, went undrafted, so he will be back. Reliever Ryan Slater, who had a disappointing 2024 after a very promising 2023, was drafted in the 18th round by the San Francisco Giants. He has another year of eligibility remaining so it’s not 100 percent certain that he will sign. If he returns, he could become Florida’s closer next year if he can revert back to his 2023 form. Righthanded pitcher Michael Ross, the Southern Conference pitcher of the year at Samford and a transfer to UF, went in the 18th to the Minnesota Twins. Like Shelton, it is presumed that he told the big league teams he would be playing his senior season at UF unless he was drafted in the first few rounds. Apparently, he’s doing a Brandon Sproat, betting on himself and playing one more year of college baseball. Other than Lindsey, Florida had several high school signees that were projected to go in the first 10 rounds of the draft, but it wasn’t until 19th round that the Cardinals selected Brandon Lawson, a Canadian who played his high school baseball in South Carolina. Lawson was a Florida lean all the way and when he didn’t go in the first three or four rounds, it was almost a certainty he would be coming to UF. By going in the 19th, figure he will be a freshman at UF in the fall. None of the high school pitchers were taken, so O’Sullivan has some young arms with which to replenish a pitching staff that lost five freshmen to the transfer portal. So here is a potential starting lineup for 2025: C Luke Heyman; 1B Brody Donay; 2B Cade Kurland; SS Shelton; 3B Justin Nadeau (Jacksonville transfer) or Landon Stripling (Texas Tech transfer); LF Cyr; CF Jones; RF Evans. Weekend rotation: Pierce Coppola, Liam Peterson, Michael Ross. Closer: Luke McNeilly or Jake Clemente. Midweek starters: Billy Barlow (Clemson transfer), Clemente or McNeilly. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: FSU to the SEC or the Big Ten? Consider it a rather inflated ego per Brett McMurphy, easily the single most connected reporter in the country when it comes to college football. In a column Tuesday at The Action Network, McMurphy’s sources in both the SEC and Big Ten made it abundantly clear that the Seminoles need to think twice before bolting the ACC. It was entitled, “Sources: Big Ten, SEC Unlikely to Add Florida State if ACC Survives.” Reading the article, McMurphy could have named it, “Sources: FSU to the SEC or Big Ten? Donkeys might fly first.” Florida State, along with Clemson, is suing the Atlantic Coast Conference in an attempt to get out of a media rights contract that runs through 2036. Nobody held a gun to FSU’s head in 2016 to force the Seminoles to sign a 20-year agreement. But now, the Seminoles want out because within a year or two the ACC media deal will pay about half what the SEC and Big Ten are pulling in from their media deals. So, the Seminoles are green with envy. Understandably so, but if they want to find who’s at fault, they should take a look in the mirror. Twice they’ve been offered a chance to join the SEC. Twice they’ve turned the SEC down. Now, it’s the SEC’s turn to tell Florida State sorry, you had your chance, now move along.” McMurphy’s sources included three presidents of Southeastern Conference universities. Apparently, they’re quite unimpressed with FSU. McMurphy wrote, “Three SEC presidents recently told Action Network they had “no interest” in adding Florida State. It takes 12 of the 16 SEC presidents to favor adding another school.” You can take it to the bank that FSU won’t find 12 SEC presidents willing to ask the Seminoles to join the party. For one thing, McMurphy writes, adding FSU has shown “it’s not a good partner.” When it comes to trust, here is what one of those sources told McMurphy: “Look what they did: getting the attorney general involved, accusing [former ACC commissioner] John Swofford of rigging the television rights to help his son, filing a suit to expose ESPN’s TV deals — something the other three power leagues are against, by the way. They’re not a good partner. There’s no congeniality. No one wants that. It’s not about FSU getting out of the ACC’s Grant of Rights. They’re not a fit.” One of McMurphy’s well-placed Big Ten sources agreed that the Seminoles aren’t necessarily a good fit, although his reasoning is a tad different. “What’s the upside of Florida State?” McMurphy’s Big Ten source said. “We got what we needed by adding USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington — and Oregon and Washington were added at 50 cents on the dollar to help USC and UCLA. Who would Florida State help? And at what cost? And, most importantly, who’s going to pay for it?” There is that possibility that the ACC will implode. FSU and Clemson aren’t the only schools upset with the league and its media rights deal. Unless Clemson and FSU win in court – highly doubtful since the court case will be tried in Charlotte – you can all but figure everyone in the league will have to bite the bullet and accept second class citizenship in the brave new world of college sports. Of course, they could all get together and hold statewide yard sales, bake sales and car washes to raise the funds it will take to compete financially with the SEC and Big Ten.

“To have faith is to be sure of things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.” – Hebrews 11:1, Good News Translation At SEC Media Days in Dallas Wednesday, Billy Napier paraphrased that verse, telling media gathered from every corner of the country, “In Hebrews it says, Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. I’ve got all the faith in the world in the people in our building.” The Napier critics – and there is no shortage of them after consecutive losing seasons and a season three going against the toughest schedule in the nation – may choose to dwell on the words “things hoped for.” As in, hoping the Gators get enough wins to douse the coals threatening to burst into flames after going 11-14 in seasons one and two. Critics seem to think Billy is on a rather short leash in 2024, which isn’t true. Now, if 2024 is a bust and Napier hasn’t turned things around by the end of 2025 he might not wish to invest long term into Gainesville real estate. Make no mistake about it, however, the people who write and sign the checks at the University of Florida are determined to give Billy Napier the time he needs to solidify the football program’s foundation, which has eroded considerably since Urban Meyer retired after the 2010 season. In the l3 years since Urban walked away, the Gators are 98-66, the 39th best record in college football. From 1990-2010, the Gators were 210-57-1, the best record in all of college football. Expectations at UF are the Gators of 1990-2010, not the ones who have endured five losing seasons in the last 13 years. To get back to that point where you could pencil Florida in for a minimum of 9-10 wins and a top ten ranking every year, the revolving door of coaches has to stop. Steve Spurrier coached from 1990-2001 and Meyer from 2005-10, combining for 187 wins and only 37 losses (1 tie), eight Southeastern Conference championships and three national titles. The other five coaches – Ron Zook (2002-04), Will Muschamp (2011-14),  Jim McElwain (2015-17), Dan Mullen (2018-21) and Napier (2022-present) – have gone a combined 121-81without a single SEC or national championship. Obviously, Florida fans are getting restless, but the administration is determined to stop the revolving door of coaches. So, Napier is reasonably secure heading into 2024. The reason he has faith that this will be the year when the Gators chart a new path has everything to do with leadership and experience. “I like our team,” Napier said Wednesday. “I believe in our team. When people ask me why, it's about experience. It's about production. We've got 463 starts on this team, 17 starters returning. We've got 41,000 snaps coming back this year, and we're fourth in our league in returning production. We've got competitive depth for the first time.” A year ago, the Gators were one of the least experienced teams not just in the Southeastern Conference but in the entire country. Now, a year older doesn’t necessarily make you a year better, but when it comes to football, there is no substitute for experience. Basketball is a 31-game regular season with a post season that can be 10 or more games counting the conference and NCAA tournaments. You can scrimmage every single day. Baseball plays a 55-game regular season and the team that wins the NCAA title often plays 70 or so games. Baseball allows exhibition games in the fall and players can get in hundreds of practices to hone their skills. No such luck with football. There are 12 games in the fall and with the expanded playoff that goes from four to 12 teams this year, the two teams that play for the national championship will play 17 games. A team gets 20 practices in August leading up to the season and 15 in the spring. During the season teams are limited to 20 hours of practice a week and most coaches only hit once a week. There are only a few opportunities each year to move past youthful mistakes and transform into a confident been there, done that player. A year ago, the kids took their lumps. A year later, the kids who looked dazed and confused in 2023 will have a chance to show just how much they have matured in a year and they will be supplemented by a transfer portal class that might be one of the most underrated in all the country plus a group of talented freshmen, many of whom will have a chance to contribute right away. It is all part of a rebuilding process that has taken awhile longer than perhaps even Napier expected when he left Louisiana for the UF job in December of 2021. There were far too many holes in the 2022 roster and while there were fewer holes to fill in 2023, the Gators still had to rely on too many inexperienced kids who had to play against grown men like the ones they faced against Georgia in Jacksonville. More experience has Napier far more confident in the team he will put on the field this season than he was in either 2022 or 2023. “We're in year three, our roster has stabilized,” he said. “We've got credible leadership at the player level. The discipline and accountability of this team is at an all-time high, and I think some of the adjustments that we made in the off-season have proved to be effective.” Among the adjustments was gutting his defensive staff to bring in Gerald Chatman from Tulane to coach the line, Ron Roberts from Auburn to be the co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach, and Will Harris from the Los Angeles Chargers to coach the secondary. With the NCAA rules about the size of coaching staff thrown out the window, Napier can put to work on the field many from his army of analysts such as third-year quarterbacks analyst Ryan O’Hara, former Central Michigan head coach and long time offensive guru Dan Enos and special teams demon Joe Houston, who spent the last four years working for Bill Belichick with the New England Patriots. There is also a new strength and conditioning coordinator. Tyler Myles, who Napier says has changed the complete approach to training, is credited with 500 pounds of new lean muscle on the team and 500 pounds of lost weight. “Our team looks different,” Napier said. “All the numbers, the metrics, the speeds, the strength improvement, not to mention the culture.” It will be a significant achievement if the Gators look the part of muscular, grown men when they take the field. That hasn’t happened in awhile. There is that old saying looks like Tarzan, game like Jane. We can only hope the Gators not only look but play like Tarzan, but looking like grown men is a good place to start. Another reason Napier believes this team will be better is because of improved leadership. He pointed to a couple of Saturdays in the offseason and the Fourth of July as living proof that he has leaders who teammates are more than willing to follow. “Go back to January, I'm taking the boys to the office,” Napier said. “Sammy and Charlie are with me. It's Saturday, it's January, it's February, we walk around the corner, we've got 70 guys in the weight room on a Saturday doing extra work. I used to play for an old coach that said champions do extra. I'm going to tell you, this group, that has continued. It's been consistent … Just a few weeks ago, Fourth of July, we have 53 guys that are in there on Saturday doing extra work.” There is that matter of the schedule, toughest in the nation per every credible analyst in the country. Of the 12 teams the Gators play, 11 are members of the four power conferences and 10 played in bowl games. Florida’s 11 Division I opponents went a combined 100-45 including 13-1 records by Georgia and Florida State, 12-2 by Texas, 11-2 by Ole Miss and 10-3 by LSU. The schedule was tough last year, tough the year before, also. Eight Southeastern Conference games plus Miami, FSU and UCF. There is no room to breathe. Every weekend will have somewhat of a playoff feel to it. For the past two seasons, the Gators have made a habit of playing both the good teams and the bad teams on their schedule tough. They have also made a habit of almost inventing ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Far too many winnable games have turned into losses because of a botched play here or a missed assignment there. Napier seems to think that perhaps this year’s team has turned the page on the close call losses, which has plenty to do with his Biblical analogy. For the Gators to take the next step and turn missed opportunities into enough wins to calm anxious masses of UF fans, it will take a shared faith by his entire coaching staff and roster of players. Faith that is the confidence that wins hoped for in the past will turn into tangible wins on the field in 2024.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey gives his state of the conference address (Photo by Brenden Martin) The Readers Digest Condensed version of Greg Sankey’s State of the Conference address to the media to kick off SEC Media Days in Dallas Monday morning could be summarized this way: This is the Southeastern Conference, top to bottom the best league in the country and the one everyone else wishes they could join. “We’ve been incredibly successful, and I understand why so many outside of the campus and conference realm are interested in coming in and being a part of it, but that responsibility lies with us to bring people into the solution, not to cede authority to external actors,” Sankey said. “We know who we are, and the Southeastern Conference, we’re the one conference at this level where the name still means something, the southeastern part of the United States, where when we expanded, we actually restored historic rivalries while adding only 100 miles to the longest campus-to-campus trip our student-athletes will experience.” Think of it for a moment. “We know who we are … we’re the one conference at this level where the name still means something.” Those words were the equivalent of plunging an 11-inch stiletto plunged deeply into the hearts of the Big Ten, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12. The Big Ten. It’s 18 schools that stretch from metro New York to LA and up north to Portland and Seattle. How many of you will be burning the midnight oil to catch a thrilling Rutgers at UCLA game played before 20,000 in the 100,000-seat Rose Bowl. The ACC. It is 17 schools that stretch from Miami to Boston on the East Coast, out to the Bay area on the Left Coast for Stanford and Cal, and deep in the heart of Texas for SMU. Boston College at Cal might not make your must see TV weekend schedule. The Big 12. The 16 teams stretch across all four time zones, half of them made up of refugees from the Pac-12 and the American Athletic Conference. Its commissioner has intimated that more expansion might be on the way. The Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 have created logistical nightmares while gutting the Pac-12 and leaving it on the side of the road to die. Meanwhile, there is the Southeastern Conference led by the most powerful man in all of college athletics, now a 16-team league that is the strongest and most powerful by far in the country. Sankey spent the bulk of his address Monday extolling the virtues of the recently expanded conference with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma. By constantly mentioning that the SEC is a 16-team league, Sankey let it be known that Texas and Oklahoma aren’t country cousins invited to the party at the last second, but full-fledged members of an exclusive family. Of course, once Sankey opened things up for questions and answers, it wasn’t long before the inevitable question poised by some brave soul about Florida State and Clemson, the would-be orphans in the Atlantic Coast Conference who are standing on the street corners at SEC and Big Ten headquarters holding “Will Work for Beer” placards. The question wasn’t exactly direct. It was a roundabout way of asking if Sankey and the SEC are interested in expanding, but instead it went like this: “How closely are you following Florida State and Clemson’s challenge to the ACC, and if they succeed, what sort of ramifications do you see for the entire college sports landscape?” Oh my. That ranks right just behind the guy who asked Doug Williams how long he had been a black quarterback. That actually happened. When it comes to college sports, Greg Sankey is Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, The Nature Boy, Dusty Rhodes and The Rock rolled into one. He’s far more powerful than Charlie Baker,  the latest lightweight chosen to run the NCAA. If  Greg Sankey and the SEC get the sniffles, all the other schools make a run to Walmart to buy NyQuil in anticipation of catching a cold. So, yes, he does follow FSU, Clemson and the saga with the ACC closely. Sankey’s response? “I pay attention. As I said, we’re focused on our 16. I’ve said before at Media Days, I’m not a recruiter. My job is to make sure we meet the standard of excellence that we have for ourselves on a daily basis. That attracts interest. It’s done that with the two universities that we have added this year. They’re not the only phone calls I’ve ever had, but I’m not involved in recruitment. Our presidents have been clear that I am not going to entangle us in litigation around expansion. So I pay attention, but I’m not engaged in those conversations. “In fact, as I understand, the issue is agreements have been signed, the decisions have been made among a conference, and the question is are those going to be honored as they were established? And apparently that’s for a court to decide now.” Translation: No one held a gun to the heads of FSU and Clemson when they signed that ridiculous 20-year grant of rights contract and the only way they’ll get out is a long fight in the courts.” It will be a lengthy fight because the ACC has made it perfectly clear they will fight as long as it takes to either keep Clemson and FSU in the league or else make them pay what their media rights payments would be for the next 12 years. Let’s say the average payout the ACC pays its member schools will average $55 million per over the next 12 years. That’s $660 million. Times Two. It will require a lot of bake sales, car washes and yard sales to raise that kind of money. That doesn’t include the cost of litigation. Lawyers love cases like this. Tons of billable hours. Sankey probably knows down to the penny how much it would cost them to leave. He knows that while Clemson and FSU are stuck in the courts, they aren’t going anywhere. Overtures to FSU and Clemson about future membership could get the SEC dragged into never-ending litigation that will take place in North Carolina courts, which is akin to the ACC running the Dean Smith four corners to run out the clock. This is why Sankey pointed out it is up to the courts to decide when and if Clemson and FSU can worm their way out of the grant of rights with the ACC. Put your money on the ACC winning thanks largely to the home court advantage. As if his answer required an exclamation point, Sankey said, “I certainly don’t spend any time engaged in that recruiting activity because we’re focused on our 16, and I want to be respectful of the difficulty that’s currently faced with that issue — that set of issues within the ACC and my colleague Jim Phillips.” There, the emphasis on 16 teams again. That should have been period, end of story, but there were a pair of follow-up questions, one of which asked if Sankey could ever foresee a time when the SEC would expand beyond the Southeastern United States and another that asked if he can see a day when the SEC expands once again. Answering the first question, Sankey said, “You’ve seen how we’ve made decisions over the last decade plus for contiguous states to join. I think that’s incredibly wise and provides remarkable strength.” To the second, Sankey answered, “We can certainly remain at 16 for a long, long time and be incredibly successful.” Sankey has good reason to be content. Already the top sports league in the country, he just added an Oklahoma football program that has seven national championships and seven Heisman Trophy winners in its storied history. Texas is a legendary program that has won four national championships while producing two Heisman winners. The SEC plus Texas and Oklahoma will make the SEC more dominant in so many of the non-revenue programs, but as we all know, it is football that drives the engine. By adding Texas and Oklahoma, every football weekend is going to have a playoff feel to it, not to mention it will send SEC TV ratings through the roof. Ratings may be a nasty word to college sports purists who still believe in the Boy Scouts amateur model, but without television, coaches would be working for a couple hundred thousand and big NIL payments might be a thousand a month. Every school in the SEC including Texas and Oklahoma will get a raise for the 2024-25 athletic year thanks to the 10-year contract with ESPN/ABC/Disney that just kicked in, probably to something like $70-$75 million. While on paper the contract with Fox, CBS and NBC is worth more per year for the 18 Big Ten teams, you can bet the farm the SEC contract will be torn up and re-written a couple of years from now as SEC ratings continue to rise and Big Ten ratings flatline. There will be no logistical nightmare in the SEC while those East Coast to Left Coast flights taken by the Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 will take their toll both on the athletes and on travel budgets. Now, there will be difficulties ahead but Sankey won’t be distracted by logistics and the problems of coast-to-coast leagues, he will still have to deal with such matters as the numerous anti-trust lawsuits that go well beyond the recent settlement with the House of Representatives, athletes as employees, players unions, and an out of control transfer portal that combined with NIL is like heaving a 40-gallon drum of high octane onto an out of control bonfire. What to do about the NCAA may prove to be a bigger problem than all those previously mentioned issues combined. Sankey asked Monday “how much authority can be managed at the national level through the NCAA?” Indeed. At some point in the not too distant future college football will need to secede from the NCAA or else become an autonomous division that makes and abides by its own set of rules. Whenever that day comes about, the SEC will be the best prepared league to handle any speed bumps and obstacles the future holds. Greg Sankey may not have all the answers for whatever is next just yet, but he is always at least one step ahead of everyone else. He is reminiscent of the immortal words of Butch Cassidy: “I’ve got insight and the rest of the world is wearing bifocals.”

Jeffrey Alan Caglianone had to wait, but not too long Sunday night. In the two or three days prior to Sunnday’s Major League Baseball Draft, consensus among experts was Florida’s All-American and winner of the Olerud Award as the nation’s top two-way player would go at No. 5 to the Chicago White Sox. The Sox passed, choosing Arkansas lefty Hagen Smith instead. The Kansas City Royals must have thought they were dreaming. They never once thought Jac Caglianone would be available at No. 6 so they got the guy they really and truly wanted, another building block to go with All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. It was a perfect storm for the Royals when Cags was still available. They have a team batting average of .246 and they’re tied for 23rdamong Major League Baseball’s 30 teams with only 99 home runs in a homer happy season. The Royals desperately need a big time power bat – another Aaron Judge or Ohtani – and they got the hitter with the most power of anyone in this draft and the most of any player since former Gator Pete Alonso was chosen by the New York Mets in 2016. Against Jacksonville earlier in the season, Caglianone hit a 516 -foot home run that cleared the scoreboard at Condron Family Ballpark. The ball left his bat at 121 miles per hour, making it both the longest and hardest hit ball in either college or professional baseball in the Statcast era. When Caglianone’s name was called, he was announced as a two-way player, so the Royals must have a serious interest in Caglianone’s fast ball, which consistently hits 97-98 on the radar gun but has been known to go triple digits. A two-time All-American at Florida, Caglianone leaves as the Gators’ all-time home run leader with 75, tied for eighth in college baseball history. In 2024, Caglianone hit .419 with 35 home runs and 72 RBI. He homered in nine straight games to tie an NCAA record, reached base in 62 of Florida’s 66 games including the last 52 as the Gators made it to the College World Series in Omaha. He walked 58 times, 31 intentionally. He struck out only 26 times. For his college career, Caglianone hit .355 with 75 homers and 189 RBI in 166 games. It should be noted that the Major League Baseball season is 162 games. While Caglianone was the most feared slugger in all of college baseball, he could dominate on the mound when he was able to keep the ball in the strike zone. Caglianone didn’t pitch at Florida in his freshman season (2022) when he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Midway through the season he became the DH. For Florida’s NCAA runner-up in 2023, Caglianone went 7-4 as the No. 3 starter behind first rounder Hurston Waldrep (Altanta Braves) and second rounder Brandon Sproat (New York Mets). He was the Sunday starter in 2024 but still was Florida’s top pitcher with a 5-2 record. For his two seasons on the mound,  Caglianone compiled a 12-6 career record with a 4.55 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 148-1/3 innings. By dropping down one position in the draft, Caglianone lands with a young team with lots of talent that is on its way up. The Royals are 52-47 at the All-Star break, seven games behind American League Central Division leader Cleveland and 2.5 behind second place Minnesota. Compare that to the White Sox, who are mired in last place of the division. Chicago’s 27-71 record is the worst by far in all of Major League Baseball. The Royals are one of the youngest teams in MLB with four players selected to the American League All-Star team: Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., catcher Salvador Perez, and pitchers Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans. Witt is hitting .323 with 16 homers and 63 RBI, while Perez is hitting .282 with 17 homers and 62 RBI. Lugo is 11-4 with a 2.48 ERA while Ragans is 6-6 with a 3.16 ERA. Also on the pitching staff is former UF All-American Brady Singer (5-6, 3.20 ERA), a first round draft pick of the Royals in 2018. By drafting Caglianone as a two-way player, the Royals have to figure out how to work him into the pitching rotation. He’s a gold glove type at first base, but the Royals have a young first baseman in Vinnie Pasquantino, who is having his best season ever with 11 homers and 62 RBI, although he is hitting only .246. So, would the Royals look at Cags as a pitcher/DH or as a 1B who occasionally starts or throws in relief? Over the last few games, Perez has been the DH while Freddy Fermin has caught. The regular DH for much of the season has been  25-year-old Nelson Velazquez (.200, 8 HR, 27 RBI). Caglianone is the 14th Gator taken in the first round since Kevin O’Sullivan became the UF head coach in 2008.  In the last three years, four Gators have been chosen in the first round – Caglianone, Wyatt Langford (Texas, No. 4), Waldrep (Atlanta, No. 24) and Sterlin Thompson (Colorado, No. 31). The slot value for Caglianone is $7,213,800 from a bonus pool of $13,023,300, so he will be starting life with a rather nice financial cushion. What they’re saying about Caglianone: David Seifert, D1Baseball: “He’s a free swinger with a singular purpose that is to crush the ball. Inherently, this approach drags down his hit tool, but he counters it with a low strikeout rate and consistent, hard contact. He also hits it hard to all fields with just a 3 mph deviation from his pull side to opposite field contact. In one season Cags lowered his chase rate from 41% in 2023 to 37% this season. He also answered the critics by cutting his strikeout rate from 18.2% to 8.2%. At the same time, he tripled his walk rate from 5.3% to 18.4% and increased his ISO to .456, up from .415 in 2023. Only a special talent is capable of such improvement, and Jac is that guy. He’s also the guy who homered in nine consecutive games this season and banged one an estimated 516 feet … Cags is a present above-average defender at first base with very good hands and plenty of range. It might be a stretch to call him a future Gold Glover, but his defense projects to be plus in the major leagues. He also adds significant value and versatility with his ability to pitch (reliever profile), if/when that time comes, as well as intrigue as a potential right fielder.” David Schoenfeld, ESPN: “Imagine Bobby Witt Jr. batting in front of a 40-homer-hitting Caglianone? That's what the Royals are hoping for -- and this is definitely an offense that needs some juice besides Witt, Salvador Perez and Vinnie Pasquantino. Note the Royals announced Caglianone as a two-way player, so it's possible they will try to develop him as a two-way player. With Pasquantino at first base, Jactani could turn into a DH/SP ... sound familiar?” Jonathan Mayo, MLB.com: “A tremendous player who has a 70-grade fastball from the left side on the bump and tremendous power at the plate, Caglianone was announced as a two-way player when his name was called, and the Royals plan to give him a shot to do both. If I had to guess, his future will be punishing pitches, not delivering them (if he doesn't stick as a two-way player). His lack of swing-and-miss given his power is impressive.” Edward Sutelan, The Sporting News:  “There was some talk Caglianone could go second overall. Perhaps even a dark horse to go first overall. Instead, he slides all the way to sixth. Caglianone cut down on his strikeout rate in his junior year, even if the chase rates are still a tad high. He demolishes baseballs with explosive power and has middle-of-the-order upside. Announced as a two-way player, Caglianone throws triple-digits from the left side, but his control will likely keep him off the mound in the pros. That he's likely only headed to the pros as a hitter doesn't diminish his value in the slightest as he has arguably the highest upside of any college hitter in the class.” Ben Badler, Baseball America: “In terms of pure talent, it will be hard for any player in the 2024 class to match what Caglianone brings to the table. He’s a massive presence with a 6-foot-5, 250-pound frame and is one of the better college two-way players since Louisville’s Brendan McKay … Caglianone has the power to lead the league in home runs, a la Pete Alonso, who, like Caglianone, is a product of Tampa’s Plant High and UF.” UF signee Kellon Lindsey goes No. 23 to the Los Angeles Dodgers Shortstop Kellon Lindsey (Wauchula, FL Hardee County), reported as the fastest player in the 2024 draft, was taken with the 23rdpick by the Los Angeles Dodgers. A former high school football quarterback, Lindsey projects either as a shortstop or center fielder at the next level. He is considered one of the most, if not THE most athletic player in the first round of the draft. Lindsey has a slot value of $3.68 million. Given that it’s the Dodgers and the amount of money, it’s almost an impossibility that he will say no and come to the University of Florida. Writes Dan Mullen of ESPN: “When it comes to athleticism and explosiveness, Lindsey is one of the elite prospects in this class. The downside of his profile is that he simply has not faced the same level of competition as many of the players who have come off the board before him. But, like the Orioles taking Honeycutt with the previous pick, this is a case where the organization matters as much as the draft spot, and the Dodgers landing a player drawing Turner comps here is scary for the rest of the league.” Edward Sutelan, The Sporting News: “On paper, Lindsey is a slight reach, with some expecting he would have fallen between the first and second rounds. But the Dodgers always seem to perform well in the draft, so they've earned the benefit of the doubt. It's not hard to see what Los Angeles sees in Lindsey. He's arguably the fastest player in the draft and in that 6-2 frame, there's plenty of raw power still left for him to reach. Lindsey makes consistent contact and should stick at shortstop, which give him a high floor among prep players.” Jonathan Mayo, MLB.com: “He has plus-plus speed and took big steps forward in his swing decisions along with his ability to play shortstop. It’s the second straight year the Dodgers have taken a premium prep athlete after taking Kendall George last year.”

This week Billy Napier will be addressing a throng of media from all over the nation gathered in Dallas for SEC Media Days. As always, this is the premier college football media event of the summer and while so much attention will be given to SEC newcomers Texas and Oklahoma as well as the usual adulation for Georgia and Alabama, there will be dozens of stories written which ask just how hot is Billy Napier’s seat. Memo to the media ahead of time: Unless the Gators do the equivalent of a 1979 0-10-1 nosedive, Billy isn’t going anywhere this year. If he can’t get it together by the end of 2025, then he can sweat. As for the moment, he’s safe. He’s being given the necessary time to rebuild the Florida football program and end the revolving door that has seen five coaches come and go since Steven Orr Spurrier walked away from the job in January of 2002. Perceptions. Key word for this week. The media will be hanging on Napier’s every word to determine even the slightest bit of trepidation ahead of a 2024 that will see the Gators playing a schedule so difficult that the media is in near unanimous agreement that it’s easily the toughest in the nation. Who knows how the media will perceive Napier’s assessment of the 2024 Gators? If you’re prone to bet on such things, bet a few bucks that at least some folks will gauge Napier’s rather deadpan demeanor as a coach who is feeling the heat. Again, nothing is further from the truth. Billy always comes across that way, but if you’ve been around him awhile and spoken to the kids who play for him, he exudes a quiet kind of confidence. He leaves the rah-rah to others, but has a way of getting his point across in such a way that kids want to play for him. This is Napier’s third media days appearance so he knows what to expect. In previous press conferences, he’s gone about things in a very pro-active way, choosing to at least give his side of the story ahead of the questions he knows that are coming. Sometimes it works rather well, sometimes it is like striking a match to start a fire. Napier will talk about how happy he is with an offseason that saw no veterans arrested and only one incoming freshman run afoul of the law. He will talk about the hard work and leadership of the veterans, especially quarterback Graham Mertz and some of the elder statesmen of the team. He will talk about the new additions to his coaching staff and how they’ve transitioned into a functioning unit that has made the team better. And he will speak optimistically about the schedule. What else can he do about that? He’s not the one who made out the schedule and he’s not about to ask why the Gators got such a tough schedule while Auburn and Missouri have managed to squeeze in Vanderbilt as well as a couple of homeless shelters to fill out their 12 games. When it’s time for the questions, the sharp knives will come out. Napier isn’t asking for any slack nor is anyone about to give him any. Some of it is likely to resemble an interrogation but Billy has dealt with this before and he has had a few months to get ready for the tough questions that are sure to come. He’s not an excuse maker but neither is he one to paint rosy pictures. Napier is not one to dwell on the past, so unless someone feels bold enough to bring up how close the Gators are to 18 or 19 wins instead of the 11 they’ve posted the last two years, it won’t be mentioned. But it should be and it should be because the Gators have endured their fair share of winnable games that somehow slipped through their fingers. Some would go so far as to call the Gators masters of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The two questions that should be asked of Napier are: (1) How will the changes you’ve made to the defensive coaching staff turn these close call, shoulda, woulda, coulda losses into victories; and (2) how much closer are the Gators to a legitimate SEC roster than they were when you took over the UF program in December of 2021? Just from what we saw in the spring, there is no doubt the Florida coaching staff is better now than it was last year, especially on the defensive side of the football. The Gators addressed all three levels of the defense by bringing in Gerald Chatman from Tulane to handle the line, Ron Roberts from Auburn as co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers, and Will Harris from the Los Angeles Chargers to handle the secondary. Tulane gave up only 112.71 yards per game on the ground (3.55 per carry) and got to the quarterback 35 times. The Gators, by contrast, gave up 155.58 yards per game rushing (4.84 per carry) and only registered 22 sacks.  Chatman spent the spring teaching gap control against the run and collapsing the pocket. Of Tulane’s 35 sacks, 28 came from the D-line. In nine of Tulane’s 14 games, the Green Wave allowed fewer than 100 rushing yards. Here is how to measure the potential for Roberts with the defense. A year ago, his first at Auburn, Roberts improved the defense by seven points and four first downs per game. Take away one touchdown from the opponents and give the offense 12 more plays and the potential is there for a 14-point swing. Can he do the same at Florida where offense hasn’t been the problem but getting the other team off the field has been? Roberts has been a mentor in the past to co-defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong, who is considered a rising star in the coaching profession. Roberts brings maturity and stability to the defensive staff. Harris was a ball hawking safety for Pete Carroll at Southern Cal during his playing days. While coaching the secondary at Washington in 2021, the Huskies led the nation by allowing only 142.9 passing yards and only 5.4 yards per pass attempt.  Based on what we saw in the spring time, the Gators much more aggressive with their coverage and their willingness to go after the football. Two years of development, good recruiting that plugs holes, three years of judicious use of the transfer portal, improvements in the strength and conditioning department and the most experience he’s had since he arrived have finally given Napier a roster that looks the part of one that belongs in the SEC. Graham Mertz, who came via the transfer portal, has more starts than all but one Division I quarterback, and he’s building on a 20-TDP, 3-INT season in 2023. He’s got stud receivers in Eugene Wilson, and transfers Chimere Dike (Wisconsin) and Elijhah Badger (Arizona State), the best running back in the SEC (Montrell Johnson Jr., transferred in from Louisiana two years ago) and an O-line bolstered by transfer tackles Devon Manuel (Arkansas) and Brandon Crenshaw-Dixon (San Diego State). Over on the defensive side of the ball, Napier brought in a stud pass rusher (George Gumbs, Northern Illinois), the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year (DT Joey Slackman), the big, physical middle linebacker he needed in Grayson Howard (South Carolina transfer) and three stud safety transfers in Trikweze Bridges (Oregon), Asa Turner (Washington) and D.J. Douglas (Tulane). It has taken three offseasons but finally, the Gators look the part of an SEC roster. Two years ago in Jacksonville it looked like the Gators were playing kids against grown men. It was less of a problem last season but as we saw in the spring, the Gators look like grown men. For a change. Experience cannot be underestimated. The Gators were one of the least experienced teams in all of college football a year ago. They come into 2024 with a roster than has a combined 525 starts and 1,401 games of experience. Kids are going to play, but they won’t be thrown to the wolves. They will be surrounded by experienced players and that has the possibility to make a huge difference. The pieces are in place for improvement. The schedule is brutal for sure, but seven games are in The Swamp and only three outside the state of Florida. Even with the home field advantage, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas say the over/under is 4.5 wins which is fueling so much of the Napier on the hot seat rhetoric. Does this team look the part of another loser? Not really, but this will be decided on the field and not by Vegas or the media. So, expect another typical Billy Napier press conference in Dallas. This will be the equivalent of driving 100 miles out of the way for an ice cream parlor that has more than 40 flavors then ordering vanilla. He will not say anything that can be remotely close to bulletin board material for any UF opponent. Don’t read anything into it. He knows he has a team that could not only post a winning season but scare the bejabbers out of every team on the schedule. For now, think of Billy as a poker player who isn’t showing his cards.

For the next eight weeks I will be releasing my power rankings of the new look SEC football and what you need to know about each team in the conference starting from the bottom to the top. Each week, on Wednesday and Friday, a new team will be released in the ranking along with what to expect and what you need to know for the upcoming season. With some newcomers to the SEC this offseason, it will be a good way to learn a little more in depth about some schools that you may have not been keeping up with over the years.