A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning: “The Dude abides.  I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners.” – The Stranger, talking about The Dude, Jeff Lebowski, also known as His Dudeness, Duder or El Duderino in “The Big Lebowski” After taking a couple of days off to deal personally with the death of a dear friend, it’s back to the grind. When it comes to Florida football in general, there is only one with the title “THE DUDE” and that is Steven Orr Spurrier for his exploits both as a Heisman Trophy quarterback and national championship coach at UF. There are two El Duderinos – Gene Ellenson and Urban Meyer. However, when we go position-by-position, we have a Dude and nine other El Duderinos. Today, the Florida running backs. THE DUDE 1. Emmitt Smith: Sometimes you have to wonder what Emmitt Smith could have done in Steve Spurrier’s offense. It’s hard to argue that he made the right decision by going into the NFL Draft after the 1989 season because he was taken by the Dallas Cowboys. In the NFL he won three Super Bowl rings and left as the all-time leading rusher in league history. The Spurrier offense would have had a passing game which means Emmitt could have run free as a banshee through defenses, but that’s something we’ll never know except in our wildest dreams. So all we have to go by is what he did in three years at UF where he carried 700 times for 3,928 yards and 36 touchdowns while catching 56 passes for 463 yards and one more TD. As a junior in 1989, the passing game disintegrated for all practical purposes with the season-ending injuries to Kyle Morris and Stacey Simmons, after which it was Emmitt left, Emmitt right and Emmitt up the middle. Everybody knew he was going to get the football but he still gained 1,599 yards and scored 14 TDs. Emmitt also had to endure “The Amedee-ville Horror,” the offense concocted by coordinator Lynn Amedee, who was convinced Willie McClendon was the best running back on the team. That was the only one of Emmitt’s three seasons at UF that he didn’t gain at least 1,000 yards. When he signed with Florida, Max Emfinger, considered the nation’s top recruiting analyst wrote, “Emmitt Smith is a lugger, not a runner. He’s not fast. He can’t get around the corner. When he falls flat on his face, remember where you heard it first.” Emmitt did pretty well for a lugger, don’t you think? Has anyone taken Max Emfinger seriously since? The El Duderinos 2. Errict Rhett: Georgia fans tend to remember the time out call by Anthone Lott that preceded what Poodle fans thought was the game-winning touchdown pass from Eric Zeier to Jerry Jerman. Poodle fans tend to forget they had two more cracks at the end zone and didn’t make it as the Gators took a 32-29 win. What should be remembered is Errict Rhett, who turned the Gator Bowl quagmire into his personal playtime in the mud. Rhett was splashing in the puddles pre-game then during the game carried 41 times for 183 yards and two touchdowns. Rhett was first team All-SEC in 1991 and 1993, first team All-America in 1993. During his career, he carried 873 times for a school-record 4,163 yards and 34 touchdowns. He also caught 153 passes for 1,230 yards and two touchdowns. You can probably count on one hand the number of times he didn’t get the first down on third-and-2 or fourth-and-1. 3. Larry Dupree: Don’t let the numbers fool you (405 carries, 1,725 yards, 15 TDs). This was a different era of football. Put him in a modern offense and he would have set records. Ask those who played with and against him and they will tell you this guy was a stud. Some even say he’s the best they ever played against. He played the Georgia game in 1963 the day after his child was stillborn. His father-in-law FHP Eldridge Beach drove him from Shands to the Gator Bowl. He destroyed Georgia that day in what teammates say is the gutsiest performance they ever saw. 4. Larry Smith: He’s remembered for pulling up his pants that were sliding off while finishing a 94-yard touchdown run in the Orange Bowl against Georgia Tech in 1966. On campus he’s remembered for showing up at the intramural track meet and running a 9.8 100-yard dash in his Converse sneakers. He made All-SEC three years and first team All-America in 1968. During his career at UF, Smith played in 28 games, carrying 518 times for 2,186 yards and 24 touchdowns. He caught 50 passes for 607 yards. This was in an era when a wide open offense threw the ball 20 times per game and there was no play clock in between snaps. 5. Neal Anderson: He could make you miss or run over you. From tiny Graceville, Florida he became one of the nation's most consistent running backs. He ran inside or outside, caught passes out of the backfield and had no problems sticking his hat in a blitzing linebacker's chest. He was second team All-SEC in 1983-84, first team All-SEC in 1985, a year he should have been a first team All-American when he gained 1,034 yards on the ground and caught 25 passes for 349 yards out of the backfield. During his Florida career, Neal ran for 3,234 yards and 30 touchdowns while catching 46 passes for 525 yards and two more. This is how special this guy was. A first round pick of the Chicago Bears in the 1986 NFL Draft, Neal endowed an athletic scholarship at the University of Florida in his mother's name. There have been a lot of Gators who went on to fame and fortune in the pros. Not too many have endowed scholarships. 6. Fred Taylor: There was no secret to what Steve Spurrier had up his sleeve in the Citrus Bowl following the 1997 season. It was line up, give the ball to Fred Taylor and let him destroy Penn State, which is exactly what he did – 43 carried for 234 yards – as the Gators went smash mouth against the Nittany Lions for a 21-6 win. Fred was All-SEC in 1997 and should have been first team All-America (he was third team). That was Fred’s last game as a Gator. In the previous game he ran for 162 yards and three touchdowns as the Gators beat No. 1 Florida State, 32-29, a game that cost the Seminoles a chance to play Nebraska for the national championship. In 1997, Fred bounced back from two injury-filled seasons to run for 1,292 yards and 13 touchdowns while catching 24 passes for 238. His career numbers 537-3,075 rushing, 31 touchdowns; 67 catches for 717 yards. 7. John L. Williams: At Palatka, he was the dominant player on both sides of the football as the Panthers won the state title his senior year in 1981. In 1982 at Florida, the crowded backfield was James Jones, Neal Anderson, Lorenzo Hampton and John L., all of them destined to be first rounders in future NFL drafts. John L. put up serious numbers at Florida – 468 carries for 2,409 yards and 14 touchdowns; 92 catches for 863 yards and seven touchdowns – that would have been off the charts except he was always in a crowded backfield. He was second team All-SEC two years, should have been first team both times. 8. James Jones: He could run, he could catch (see the 1-hander against Miami in 1982 that beat the Hurricanes) and he was an edge rushers nightmare because he hit them and hurt them while protecting the UF quarterback. He ran for 2,018 yards (17 touchdowns) and caught 68 passes for 593 yards and five more TDs. He made All-SEC twice and was selected one of the 100 greatest high school football players in Florida history from his days at Blanche Ely in Pompano. 9. Earnest Graham: As a junior in 2001, Florida’s only two losses were the games Earnest Graham missed due to injury. If he had played against Auburn and Tennessee, odds are the Gators would have played Miami for the national championship. In 2002, Ron Zook’s first season as the UF head coach, everybody knew he was going to get the ball but he still gained 1,085 yards and scored 11 touchdowns. Graham’s career numbers: 609-3,085 and 33 rushing touchdowns; 59 catches for 402 yards. 10. Tony Green: Running out of Doug Dickey’s wishbone, Tony Green was always a threat to go the distance when he got his shoulders turned to the line of scrimmage after taking an option pitch. You have to wonder what he might have done in an offense in which he was the featured back but in the wishbone carries were shared. Still, Tony gained 2,590 yards on 448 carries (5.8 per carry) and scored 15 touchdowns. He caught 31 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns. He rarely returned kicks, which is strange since he became a Pro Bowl returner in the National Football League. Jac Caglianone will hear his name early when MLB Drafts starting Sunday (Photo by Chris Spears) Gators in Baseball America’s final pre-MLB Draft 500 best prospects With the start of the Major League Baseball Draft just three days away (July 14-16), there is a rush to get the final list of best prospects as well as mock drafts in place. Here are the Gators (both 2024 and signees) listed in Baseball America’s final list of the 500 best prospects. 5. Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP: Fifth best prospect? Oh please. 27. Kellon Lindsey, SS (Wauchula, FL Hardee County): Fastest high school kid in the draft, he’s 99 percent gone. 64. Colby Shelton SS/3B: If he’s the 64th player drafted, figure he’s a goner but he has two years of leverage so he can say no and come back. 132. Brendan Lawson SS/3B (Toronto, Canada/Lexington, SC P27 Academy): Right now it seems he’s leaning to UF. If he comes to UF he’s draft-eligible after his sophomore year. 159. Joshua Whritenour, RHP (Hudson, FL/Tampa, FL A3 Academy): There are reports that he wants a lot of money to sign and therefore probably will be a Gator. 171. Jackson Barberi, RHP (Snellville, GA Brookwood): Throws serious heat and he isn’t even 18 years old yet. It will have to be the right team and the right amount of money for him to sign, otherwise it’s UF. 212. Brandon Neely, RHP: He could come back but why? The way he pitched the last month of the season makes him a hot property for teams looking for the closer of the future. 229. Luke Heyman, C: Two years of leverage so it will take an outstanding offer and the right team for him to sign. Figure he’s back. 262. Pierce Coppola, LHP: Lefties, who are 6-8, 255 and heat it up to 96-97 will always be in demand, but he sat two years, needs the experience and he’s 99 percent certain to come back. 278. Schuyler Sandford, RHP (St. Augustine, FL/Orange Park, FL St. John’s Country Day): He had Tommy John surgery. He will be at UF, taking a redshirt his freshman year. 329. McCall Biemiller, LHP (Tampa, FL Jesuit): Lefty with a wicked curve and a fast ball that occasionally hits mid-90s. Seems 100 percent committed to being at UF. 359: Ty Evans, OF: He could come back, but don’t count on it unless the team that drafts him lowballs him. Great power potential. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The saga of the Atlantic Coast Conference continues and the news is not good for Florida State and Clemson, which are trying to maneuver their way out of the league. Wednesday, a North Carolina judge denied Clemson’s motion to have the ACC’s countersuit moved out of Mecklenburg County, NC. Judge Louis Bledsoe wrote in his decision, “The only court that has jurisdiction over FSU, Clemson and the ACC – and thus, the only court that can assure a consistent, uniform interpretation of the Grant of Rights Agreements and the ACC’s Constitution and Bylaws, the determinations at the core of the Pending actions – is a North Carolina court.” FSU tried to do an end run on the ACC back in March and Bledsoe ruled against the Seminoles. Wednesday he made it clear that FSU and Clemson will have to answer the ACC’s counter-suit in North Carolina. There are four cases now involving FSU, Clemson and the ACC, one in Leon County, another in Pickens County, SC, and the two in Mecklenburg County. The ACC has dug in its heels and has vowed scorched earth to keep FSU and Clemson from bolting. What this means is any move FSU and Clemson make will be met with litigation that is going to take years to resolve. And, while FSU and Clemson get down on their knees at night, praying that either the Southeastern Conference or Big Ten will invite them to join, these will be prayers that will require a miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead proportions to be answered. As long as there is litigation, FSU and Clemson will languish in the Almost Competitive Conference. I’m reminded of a book by the late, great Lewis Grizzard: “When My Love Returns from the Ladies Room, Will I Be Too Old to Care.” When the court room drama is over for FSU and Clemson, will we be too old to care?

Buddy Blog: EMPTYING THE MIDWEEK NOTEBOOK

Myles Johnson, a standout 3-star linebacker from Brewton (Ala.) T.R. Miller, has committed to the Florida Gators. Previously committed to Alabama, Johnson made the switch after de-committing from the Crimson Tide last Tuesday.

A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning: “The Dude abides.  I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners.” – The Stranger, talking about The Dude, Jeff Lebowski, also known as His Dudeness, Duder or El Duderino in “The Big Lebowski” When it comes to Florida football, Steve Spurrier is THE DUDE and Gene Ellenson and Urban Mayer qualify as El Duderinos. For the next few days, we’ll go position by position to name THE DUDE at each position and a top 10, or El Duderinos. Quarterbacks THE DUDE 1. Tim Tebow: It’s a travesty that he didn’t win two Heismans. He has two national championship rings, one as Chris Leak’s caddie in 2006, the other as the starter in 2008 when he should have won his second Heisman. He threw for 88 TDPs and ran for 57 more. El Duderinos 2. Danny Wuerffel: He won the Heisman in 1996 and was the runner-up the year before. The Gators were 22-2 his last two years with a national championship in 1996. He threw for 10,785 yards and 114 touchdown passes. 3. Steve Spurrier: Yes, he is THE DUDE when it comes to UF football but that’s because he was a player and coach. As a QB he won the 1996 Heisman. His career passing numbers were big time for the era – 4,848 yards and 36 touchdowns. When he led the Gators to a 9-2 record and a win over Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl as a senior, Spurrier passed for 2,012 yards and 16 touchdowns. 4. Shane Matthews: Not enough people appreciate just how good Shane was. He was the sixth string QB when Steve Spurrier became the head coach in January. He was the starter in May and started three years, winning SEC Player of the Year twice. Threw for 9,287 yards and 74 TDPs. 5. Rex Grossman: He should have won the Heisman in 2001 but it was given to Nebraska’s Eric Crouch as a lifetime achievement award. He threw for 9,164 yards and 77 touchdown passes. 6. Kyle Trask: It took Feleipe Franks breaking his ankle for us to discover just how good Kyle Trask was. He led a fourth quarter comeback win over Kentucky in 2019, coming off the bench cold after Franks went down, then never looked back. The Gators went 11-2 that season and were the only team that came within a touchdown of national champ Alabama in the SEC Championship Game in 2020. He threw for 7,386 yards and 69 touchdowns in 22 games as a starting QB. He made it to the Heisman Trophy podium as a senior in 2020, not bad for an almost no-star recruit from Texas in 2017 who had 27 pass attempts prior to the comeback against Kentucky. . 7. Chris Leak: When he signed with the Gators he vowed to lead the Gators to a national championship. As a true freshman he beat national champion LSU in Baton Rouge in just his second collegiate start. In his final collegiate start he was the MVP of the national championship game when he clearly outplayed Heisman Trophy QB Troy Smith as the Gators destroyed Ohio State 41-14. Leak started 47 games in all, and was 22-4 his final two seasons. He threw for 11,213 yards and 88 touchdowns in his UF career. 8. John Reaves: You will be hearing the name John Reaves a lot as the season opener with Miami approaches. In the final game of 1971, the Gators were already destroying Miami when it became known on the sideline that Reaves was 14 yards shy of what was then the NCAA career passing yardage record. Miami had the ball but to give Reaves a chance to secure the record, the defense flopped allowing Miami to score. Reaves got the record on a pass to Carlos Alvarez, but Miami fans are still infuriated by “The Florida Flop.” There was no love lost between the two schools before the flop, but now, from Miami’s perspective, it’s pure hate. In three years as the UF starter, Reaves threw for 7,549 yards and 54 touchdown passes. 9. Kerwin Bell: A walk-on from tiny Mayo, he became the starting QB when Dale Dorminey was lost for the 1984 season just days before the Gators were to take on Miami in the season opener. The Gators lost that game, 32-20, but The Throwin’ Mayoan aquitted himself quite well. He was the SEC Player of the Year in 1984 and Florida’s starting quarterback for four years, during which he threw for 7,585 yards and what was then a school record 56 touchdowns. 10. Doug Johnson: Unfortunately, he will always be remembered more for a loss at LSU and for throwing a football at Bobby Bowden’s head than for the 7,114 passing yards or 62 touchdown passes he threw. The top-ranked Gators lost to LSU, 28-21, in Baton Rouge, a game in which Johnson was picked off four times. It came out later that Johnson had been out drinking in downtown Gainesville on Thursday night before the Gators traveled. When there was a near brawl before the 1998 Florida-FSU game in Tallahassee, Johnson nearly hit Bobby Bowden in the head with the football. He was actually a good QB with a lot of talent. UF BASEBALL: Draft day approaches Most of the experts at D1Baseball predict the 2025 Gators will make a return visit to Omaha for the College World Series even though the Gators will lose Jac Caglianone for sure and quite possibly, several other important players who made the late season run to Omaha possible. Kevin O’Sullivan has a good nucleus of returning players, an outstanding group of high school signees and five additions from the transfer portal. Here is a look at the draft-eligible players from the 2024 roster and signing class that could be hearing their names called when Major League Baseball drafts next week: Draft-eligible Jac Caglianone, 1B/P: He will be one of the first four players chosen. Probably the ideal spot would be Colorado at No. 3. In that thin air he could hit home runs into the next county. No. 3 prospect MLB.com, No. 5 Baseball America Colby Shelton, SS/3B: He is a draft-eligible sophomore so he has tremendous leverage. If he doesn’t like the team or the money, he can come back for a year. With his glove and his power he could be a surefire first rounder in a year if he comes back and cuts down on his strikeouts. No. 64 prospect by Baseball America, No. 133 MLB.com Luke Heyman, C: Unless he’s drafted first five rounds, he needs to come back. He’s a draft-eligible sophomore so he can be picky. He could go first two rounds next year if he comes back and cuts back on the strikeouts. Serious power.  No. 222 prospect by Baseball America Pierce Coppola, LHP: Here is why you hope he resists the urge to go pro. In the last 9-1/3 innings he pitched (Nebraska and Kentucky) he struck out 17. After a 2-year absence due to injury the heat was still there, only the command was missing. If he comes back and has regained command of the strike zone, he will be a No. 1 pick in 2025. All indications are he’s coming back. No. 242 prospect by Baseball America Ty Evans, OF: Missed the run to the CWS after breaking his wrist. Power is a plus. He has the leverage to come back for his senior year, but if he’s top ten, he needs to sign and go. No. 359 prospect by Baseball America Brandon Neely, RHP: His last month of the season elevated his draft stock considerably. Should go first five rounds. Does have the leverage of returning for one more year. No. 193 prospect by MLB.com, No. 246  Baseball America Ryan Slater, RHP: After an outstanding sophomore season, he struggled to get people out in 2024. If he’s drafted it will be because of 2023 when he was 10-1 coming out of the bullpen. Fisher Jameson, RHP: He has a year of eligibility remaining and if he wants to be a closer, this will be his chance. Had a great last half of the season primarily as long relief and setting up Neely to close. Is that enough to get him into the first 10 rounds? If he’s first ten he needs to sign. Tyler Shelnut, 3B/OF: He has graduated and run out of eligibility. Good power numbers in 2024 should at least give him a shot as a late round draftee or free agent signee. Assessing the situation: Figure Caglianone and Neely are gone for sure. Evans is probably a goner and if Slater cracks the first ten rounds, he should go also. Shelton and Heyman have leverage and a chance to move up for next year’s draft if they come back and play well. Figure they’re leaning toward coming back if the money or team isn’t right. If Jameson wants to close, he needs to come back. Coppola can pitch his way into a top ten pick next year if he comes back. Could be drafted from the signing class Kellon Lindsey, SS: Nearly every mock draft has him going last half of the first round. He’s the fastest guy in the draft. No. 27 prospect by Baseball America, No. 29 MLB.com Jackson Barberi, RHP: There is a good chance he is selected first 3-4 rounds, perhaps even in the second. Power pitcher with room to grow. No. 99 prospect MLB.com, No. 169 Baseball America Joshua Whritenour, RHP: Mid-90s fast ball and a wicked splitter. Another Hurston Waldrep in the making? No. 157 prospect by Baseball America, No. 160 MLB.com Brendan Lawson, SS: Can play the left side of the infield. Hits well enough that he could DH. Gap to gap hitter with exceptional power potential. No. 131 prospect by Baseball America, No. 156 MLB.com Schuyler Standford, RHP: He had Tommy John surgery so 2025 will be a redshirt year if he comes to UF, which is likely. No. 275 prospect by Baseball America Aidan King, RHP: Put up ridiculous strikeout numbers in the Jacksonville area. Likely tenth round or later. Kolt Meyers, SS: Can play three infield positions, makes a lot of contact and has power potential. Likely tenth round or later. Niko Janssens, LHP: Lefties who can hit 95 on the gun at 18 are always in demand. Could slip into the first ten rounds. Assessing the situation: It will be a huge surprise if Lindsey turns down first round money. If Barberi likes the team and is first three rounds, he’s seems certain to be a goner. Whritenour, Lawson and Standford should be Gators. A possible lineup for next season C: Heyman or Brody Donay; 1B: Donay or Caden McDonald; 2B: Cade Kurland; SS: Shelton or Lawson; 3B: Justin Nadeau (Jacksonville transfer) or Landon Stripling (Texas Tech transfer); LF: Hayden Yost or Ashton Wilson;  CF: Kyle Jones (Stetson transfer); RF: Blake Cyr (Miami transfer) Starters: Liam Peterson; Coppola; Jake Clemente; Michael Ross (Samford transfer); Billy Barlow (Clemson transfer) Closers: Jameson; Slater; Luke McNeillie; King ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Call me a pessimist. Having scoured the Lindy’s, Athlon and Phil Steele magazines, I have reached the following conclusion that these five teams will go down as vastly overrated when the curtain comes down on the 2025 season: 1. Southern Cal: A new quarterback and the same lousy defense. The luster is starting to wear off Lincoln Riley. 2. LSU: Jayden Daniels is gone and so are those stud wide receivers. No running game without Daniels and the defense still sucks. 3. Michigan: With 17 starters and Jim Harbaugh gone, the Wolverines aren’t going to be anything close to what they were a season ago. After week two against Texas fans will be questioning of Sherrone Moore was the right coach to replace Harbaugh. 4. Florida State: The quarterback will be DJ Uiagalelei. All of last year’s receivers are gone as well as three starters on the O-line and seven from the defense. The record will be good but it’s a pansy schedule. 5. Texas A&M: Aggies are thinking that a new coach will solve all their problems. They may be wishing they still had Jimbo after Notre Dame in the opener and a roadie to UF two weeks later.

“The Dude abides.  I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners.” – The Stranger, talking about The Dude, Jeff Lebowski, also known as His Dudeness, Duder or El Duderino in “The Big Lebowski” Who is THE DUDE when it comes to Florida football? There have been three Heisman Trophy winners in the past, several members of the College Football Hall of Fame, some who will be and should be in the CHOF, and a few others who were outstanding during their careers at UF. There is only one who qualifies as THE DUDE and that is Steven Orr Spurrier, Florida’s first legend in the modern era of college football and still the unmatched greatest coach in UF history. There is are two El Duderinos. Neither played football at Florida. One was the defensive coordinator and master motivator of the Ray Graves era Gators. The other the only football coach with two national championships. So here is my list of The Dude, the El Duderinos and 15 others who might have been THE DUDE or at least El Duderino someplace else. THE DUDE Steven Orr Spurrier: It’s safe to say that he lifted Florida out of the dark ages and into the modern era of college football. Ray Graves eased the son of a Tennessee Presbyterian preacher into the starting role as a sophomore (freshmen weren’t eligible then), taking over in game five against Alabama. He capped off the season by leading the Gators to a 20-6 win over LSU in Baton Rouge. The Gators were 7-3 but there were only a handful of bowl games in those days so the Gators sat home. In 1965, Spurrier took the Gators to their first bowl game outside of the state of Florida. The Gators lost to Missouri, 20-18, in the Sugar Bowl because Graves elected to go for two (and missed) after the Gators mounted a furious comeback. Spurrier beat Bob Griese for the Heisman in 1966 when he led UF to its first 9-win season in history and an Orange Bowl win over Georgia Tech. He coached the Tampa Bay Bandits in the USFL, then led Duke to an improbable ACC title in 1989. Florida athletic director Bill Arnsparger was opposed to Spurrier becoming the head coach after Galen Hall was fired. As legend has it, Ben Hill Griffin told Arnsparger, “Bill, Steve Spurrier is going to be the football coach at the University of Florida. You don’t have to be the athletic director.” Spurrier was the head coach for 12 years, during which the Gators had three 9-win seasons, six 10-win seasons, one 11-win season and two 12-1 seasons. The Gators won their first SEC championship that counted (1991). The Gators won four SEC championships in a row (1993-96), something only Bear Bryant ever did in SEC history. Florida played for the national championship in 1995, won it in 1996 by beating Florida State 52-20. Steve Spurrier is the greatest Gator ever. He is THE DUDE and THE DUDE abides. El Duderinos (2) Gene Ellenson: He was Ray Graves’ defensive coordinator, a former Georgia All-American and hero in World War II who had two silver stars pinned on his chest by General Patton during the Battle of the Bulge. He may have gone to Georgia, but when he died his veins bled orange and blue. His pre-game and halftime speeches were the thing legends were made of. The night before the 1968 Florida State game, the Gators were staying at the Holiday Inn in Live Oak. As Coach Ellenson stood to talk to the team there was a knock on the meeting room door. A box was delivered to the podium. From the box Coach Ellenson lifted a Gator helmet with a hatchet buried in the crown and a note that read, “We’re going to kill your quarterback.” The fired up Gators held the high-scoring Seminoles to a field goal the next day. Coach Ellenson was supposed to succeed Coach Graves, but Dr. Stephen C. O’Connell made a deal with Douglas Adair Dickey of Tennessee PRIOR to the 1969 season for Dickey to become the UF head coach in 1970. In his last game as the UF defensive coordinator, the Gators beat Tennessee, 14-13, in the Gator Bowl as Jack Youngblood, Robert Harrell and others took turns stuffing anything the Vols ran. Urban Meyer: Yeah, a lot of Gator fans are still upset that Meyer retired after the 2010 season, then became the head coach at Ohio State in 2012. They still blame Meyer for the current state of Florida football. Meyer left behind 34 players who would spend at least one year in the NFL, so it's not like he left the cupboard bare when he retired. So, give the man credit. In six years on the job, the Gators were 65-15 with national championships in 2006 and 2008, plus three 13-1 seasons. Florida hasn’t won an SEC or national championship since Meyer left. Dudes, but not THE Dude (15) 1. Tim Tebow: Helped the Gators to the 2006 national title, then won the Heisman in 2007. Should have won in 2008 and was on the podium in 2009. He’s got a statue outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and people still flock to buy his jersey. The numbers 9,285 passing yards and 88 TDPs plus 2,947 rushing yards and 57 more TDs. The Gators were 48-6 in his four years, 35-6 when he was the starting QB. College Football Hall of Fame. 2. Danny Wuerffel: His status as a UF legend was sealed as a redshirt freshman in Lexington in 1993 when he threw a touchdown pass to Chris Doering to lead the Gators to an improbable24-20 come from behind win over Kentucky. The Heisman runner-up in 1995, Wuerffel won the Heisman in 1996 when he threw for 3,625 yards and 39 touchdowns to lead the Gators to the national championship. Like Spurrier and Tebow, Wuerffel was the son of a preacher. The Gators won the SEC title all four years he was on the field, racking up 10,875 yards and 114 touchdown passes.  College Football Hall of Fame. 3. Wilber Marshall: When Charley Pell moved Wilber from tight end to linebacker in the spring of 1980, he was ready to transfer. Only a late night heart-to-heart with Ward Pell saved the day. Wilber went on to be the two-time national defensive player of the year in a career in which he was the most feared defensive player in the country. He was in on 323 tackles with 22 sacks despite 90 percent of the plays run away from him. Southern Cal’s Sean Salisbury still sees Wilber in his nightmares. College Football Hall of Fame. 4. Emmitt Smith: When he signed with Florida alleged recruiting guru Max Emfinger said the Gators got “a plugger.” Some plugger. Emmitt gained 3,928 yards in a career in which the offense was basically Emmitt left, Emmitt right and Emmitt up the middle. Well, there was 1988 when Lynn Amedee tried to sell the idea that Willie McClendon was a better tailback. Emmitt survived the Amedeeville Horror and rebounded in 1989 with a school record 1,599 yards in an offense that had no passing attack once Kyle Morris and Stacy Simmons were injured. Pro Football and College Football halls of fame. 5. Jack Youngblood: In 1969, Youngblood and Robert Harrell combined for 11 sacks of FSU All-American QB Bill Cappleman as the Gators beat the favored Seminoles, 21-6. As a sophomore in 1968 he was also the field goal kicker who beat Air Force in the season opener, 24-21. He was a 6-4, 185-pound linebacker when he arrived at UF from Monticello, Florida. He was a beast who would go on to have an NFL Hall of Fame career when he left in 1971. College Football Hall of Fame. 6. Wes Sandy Chandler: If he had played in the Spurrier era he would have set receiving records that would have never been broken. The Gators ran the wishbone during the Dickey era and everybody knew that if UF was throwing the ball was going to Wes Chandler. Despite quarterbacks with accuracy issues, he caught 90 passes for 1,963 yards and 22 touchdowns. He doubled as a tailback the last few games of 1977 when he ran for 353 yards and six touchdowns. He scored all three touchdowns in Florida’s 22-17 upset of Georgia in 1977, one on a spectacular 1-handed catch. He was Percy before there was Percy. College Football Hall of Fame. 7. Percy Harvin: In the 2008 national championship game with Oklahoma in 2008, the Gators had just come up with a magnificent goal line stand to stop the Sooners at the UF three on fourth down. On first down, Percy Harvin, running on a still healing high ankle sprain, took a handoff and went straight up the gut, splitting two OU defenders at the 10. At full speed they never would have caught him, but when they brought him down it was at the UF 49. The game changed on that play and UF went on to win the national title, 24-14. Percy’s numbers – 1,852 rushing yards (9.5 per carry) and 19 touchdowns, 133 catches for 1,929 yards and 13 touchdowns. He only touched the ball 327 times in three years! 8. Lomas Brown: The left tackle for The Great Wall, one of the greatest offensive lines in the history of the Southeastern Conference. A four-year starter for Charley Pell, Lomas was an All-American in 1984 when he won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy. A dominating run blocker, Lomas had quick feet and rarely was beaten off the edge. He was the best O-lineman in the country in 1984. College Football Hall of Fame. 9. Carlos Alvarez: Against Houston in the 1969 season opener, Alvarez blew by an All-American corner to catch a 70-yard TDP from John Reaves, a prelude of things to come in the Super Sophs fabulous 9-1-1 season, then a best record in school history. Carlos caught 88 passes for 1,329 yards and 12 touchdowns in that All-American season. Injuries and the 1970 transformation of Florida’s exciting offense to Douglas Adair Dickey’s watch the paint dry style curtailed Carlos from a career no one could ever forget. Still, he caught 172 passes for 2,569 yards and 19 touchdowns. College Football Hall of Fame. 10. Scot Brantley: The tackling machine. In three full seasons plus five quarters of 1979, Scot Brantley was in on 467 tackles. David Little, who played four full seasons, holds the school record of 475. Scot Brantley was sideline-to-sideline and maybe the most consistently ferocious hitter of his era. He deserves a spot in Florida’s Ring of Honor. 11. Shane Matthews: This should tell you how good Shane Matthews was. He learned the Steve Spurrier offense in one spring. Every other Spurrier quarterback took at least one full year. Shane led the Gators to their first official SEC championship in 1991 and was the two-time SEC Player of the Year. He was 29-6 as the UF starting QB with 9,287 passing yards and 74 TDPs. 12.  Maurkice Pouncey: When Maurkice and twin brother Mike signed with the Gators FSU insiders posted that the dynasty was officially over. Maurkice started at right guard as a true freshman, moved to center as a junior in 2008 and won the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s best center in 2009. An absolute beast who handled nose tackles without assistance from a guard. 13. Reggie Nelson: On the first play of the Tennessee game at Neyland Stadium in 2006, the Vols thought they had the mismatch they needed on the outside so Erik Ainge went deep down the sideline for what everyone in the stadium though would be a TDP when the ball was launched. Only one problem. Reggie Nelson, from his one-high safety came from 30 yards away to erase the play with a startling interception. “The Eraser” set the tone for Florida’s dominant defense as the Gators went on to win the national championship. Nelson was a first team All-American and should have won the Thorpe Award as the nation’s best defensive back. 14. Errict Rhett: If you were to ask most Florida fans who is the all-time leading rusher in Gator history you would probably get one of two answers – Emmitt Smith or Fred Taylor. Both wrong. Errict Rhett gained 4,163 yards and scored 34 rushing touchdowns. He also caught 153 passes for 1,230 yards. He didn’t miss when it came to picking up blitzers. How many third-and-two or fourth-and-ones did Rhett fail to convert? You can probably count it on one hand. Best Rhett memory. Prior to the 1993 Georgia game at the Gator Bowl, Rhett was playing in the mud and enjoying the rain. Rhett carried 41 times, gained 183 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Gators beat Georgia, 33-26. 15. Alex Brown: Tennessee came to The Swamp with a 14-game winning streak on a hot, muggy Saturday night in September. Tee Martin, who had quarterbacked the Vols to the national championship in 1998, became Alex Brown’s personal whipping boy. Alex had five sacks, forced a fumble and intercepted a pass. Tee Martin still hears the footsteps. A two-time All-American and a Lombardi Trophy finalist, Alex still holds the single season (13) and career (33) sacks records at UF.

“Today I might be mad; Tomorrow I’ll be glad; ‘Cause I’ll have Friday on my mind” – The Easybeats, 1966 “Friday on my Mind” The Florida defense had its best game last year against Tennessee (Photo by Chris Spears) Thinking out loud on a Friday morning: THE UF DEFENSE WILL DEFINITELY IMPROVE Yes, yes. How could they be any worse than they have been the last two years? It isn’t the Florida offense that has been atrocious, but the defense has been. In 2022, the Gators went 6-7. In six of the losses opponents scored 30 or more points. In 2023, the Gators went 5-7 and in five of the losses the Gators gave up 30 or more points. You don’t win in the Southeastern Conference when you can’t get your defense off the field. Enter three new defensive coaches including creeper defense guru Ron Roberts, six transfers from the portal and a year of experience for a bunch of kids who got their baptism by fire the last two years. Roberts’ success is well documented. At Auburn last year he improved the defense by four first downs and seven points per game. Twelve extra plays for the offense, 12 plays the defense isn’t on the field and fewer points needed to win. The Gators only had 22 sacks last year. Enter Gerald Chatman, formerly the Tulane D-line coach. His guys had 35 sacks a year ago. The Gators picked off only three passes last year and allowed 8.3 yards per pass attempt. Enter Will Harris from the Los Angeles Chargers. When he was coaching the secondary at Washington in 2021, the Huskies gave up only 5.4 yards per pass attempt and 142.9 passing yards per game. The defense gets impact transfers Joey Slackman, George Gumbs, Grayson Howard, Trikweze Bridges, DJ Douglas and Asa Turner to strengthen all three levels of the defense. The UF defense will definitely be improved and that should translate to more wins. RIGHT SIDE OF THE OL IS CRITICAL FOR A GREAT UF DEFENSE The easy answer would be Montrell Johnson Jr. or Eugene Wilson III, but it’s actually the two people who will start on the right side of the offensive line. When the spring ended, San Diego State transfer Brandon Crenshaw-Dixon was the right tackle and Damieon George Jr. was the right guard. The perception is the weak link in that duo is George, who struggled at right tackle a year ago and moved to guard, which should be his natural position, in the spring. With his size, he should be a road grader type capable of punching big holes in opposing fronts, but what if he can’t pass protect? It’s way too early to count anyone out, but Crenshaw-Dixon has played both guard and tackle in his career (35 starts) so moving him inside and going with Austin Barber at right tackle would seem a no-brainer. But, what if Crenshaw-Dixon and Barber are the two best tackles and George is struggling to pass protect? Who then plays right guard? Here are three possibilities for you: Roderick Kearney, Kamryn Waites or freshman Jason Zandamela. Whoever starts at right guard and right tackle have to play well. The Gators have the weapons on offense, but Graham Mertz can’t get it done if he’s in a feets don’t fail me now mode half the time. The UF O-line has to play well for a win against Miami (Photo by Chris Spears) THE KEY TO A GAME ONE WIN IS THE O-LINE Think of game one not only as a confidence builder, but a game that can set the tone for the entire season. Miami is coming to town which means obnoxious Hurricane fans with their usual trash talk. The only way to shut them up is to kneecap them and to do that the offensive line will have to do a far better job than it did last season when the Gators lost the season opener on the road at Utah. In that one the Gators ran for all of 13 yards on 21 attempts and Utah sacked Graham Mertz five times for 47 yards in losses. Pass protection is critical. The Hurricanes got to the quarterback 35 times a year ago with Francisco Mauigoa and Ruben Bain credited with 7.5 sacks each. The Hurricanes gave up only 105 yards per game, but they were torched for 235 by North Carolina, which also threw for 273. In the bowl game, a 31-24 loss to Rutgers, the Hurricanes gave up 208 rushing yards and couldn’t get the Scarlet Knights off the field. The way to beat Miami is a balanced attack which means Florida’s offensive line will be required to dominate a Miami defensive line that is quick but under-sized. HOW DID TEXAS GET SUCH A PANSY SCHEDULE? Texas has everything it takes to make a deep run in the playoff. They have one of the nation’s top three quarterbacks in Quinn Ewers, blazing speed at the wideouts, stud running backs, four returning starters on the O-line and what is expected to be their best defense in years. There is every reason to be confident, particularly when you consider the schedule the SEC gave them. The home SEC schedule is Mississippi State, Georgia, Florida and Kentucky. Only Georgia is ranked out of that bunch. There is the annual Dallas shootout with Oklahoma, but the true roadies are Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Texas A&M. Eight games. The Longhorns are already favored to win seven and the Georgia game could be a real tossup. The four non-conference games to start the season are Colorado State, at Michigan, Texas-San Antonio and Louisiana-Monroe. Michigan lost a bazillion guys to the NFL and Jim Harbaugh is coaching the Chargers. On paper, this is at worst an 11-1 schedule. WAIT UNTIL KALEN DEBOER LOSES HIS FIRST GAME Bear Bryant retired after the 1982 season after going 232-46-9 with 13 SEC and six national championships. It took Alabama 25 years and seven coaches to find a new legend. In his 17 years on the job, Nick won nine SEC and six national championships. When Bear retired the replacement was Ray Perkins, who went 32-15-1 and never won the SEC much less the national championship. Nick Saban’s replacement is Kalen DeBoer, 104-12 in his career. He got Washington to the national championship game in two years. Serious credentials, but winning at Sioux Falls (67-3 record) and Washington (25-3 in two years) is a whole different animal than winning at Alabama. Sure, because it’s Alabama you get the attention of great players simply based on name recognition and tradition. And, now it’s legal. Bama boosters have been accused of cheating for years. Now there is NIL which means everything is legal. So, Kalen DeBoer has everything he needs to be mega-successful at Alabama, but there is that teensy matter of pressure. He’s never had the kind of pressure that he is under at Alabama, where a million people go on suicide watch whenever the Crimson Tide loses a game. DeBoer never had this kind of pressure at NAIA Sioux Falls, Fresno State or Washington. How is he going to handle it? A lot of good coaches have failed when they try succeeding a legend. Just ask Will Muschamp. He made the mistake of following Urban Meyer at Florida then tried to follow Steve Spurrier at South Carolina. Will has a brilliant coaching mind, but he made rotten choices when it came to his two head coaching gigs. He might still be a head coach if he had chosen better. Lou Holtz once said, “I don’t want to follow a legend, but I wouldn’t mind being the guy who follows the guy who followed a legend.” Kalen DeBoer will find out what living in a pressure cooker is all about the first time he loses a game. THE ACC SHOULD HAVE GONE AFTER UCONN Who knows what the Atlantic Coast Conference was thinking when it expanded by adding Stanford and California from the now defunct Pac-12 and SMU from the American Athletic Conference. None of those three moves made any sense at all. Maybe the best explanation out there is Little Jimmy Phillips anticipated that he’s going to lose Florida State and Clemson so he wanted to have replacement teams in place while the getting was good. But Stanford, Cal and Schmooz? The academics in charge will be happy but the football needle hasn’t moved an inch nor has the basketball needle. Good water polo, soccer and swimming but those sports are financial drains. Then you add in the travel. This will go down as a very dumb move. If Phillips and the other geeks in charge of the ACC had been smart they would have added UConn. While true that Clemson and FSU have five football national championships between them since 1993, it doesn’t change the fact that the ACC was, is and will always be a basketball first league. UConn is a better geographic fit than Stanford, Cal or Schmooz, plus it brings 17 national championships in basketball between its men’s and women’s programs. UConn doesn’t play a very good brand of football, but Connecticut is close enough to Tobacco Road that more fans would travel to Storrs than will fly to the Left Coast or to Dallas. Taking Stanford, Cal and SMU dumb. UConn would have been smart, but come to think about it, nobody has accused the ACC of being smart since John Swafford retired as the commish and Little Jimmy Phillips was hired. PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS THAT THE NCAA WILL NEVER THINK OF The NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, has never been a place where the best and brightest minds congregate. A lot of PhD types, but as we all know, PhD often means piled higher and deeper. It does NOT mean these people are smarter, only that they went to school longer. So, while the folks at the NCAA are trying to deal with DEI and trans rights, here are some practical solutions to solve an impending crisis in college football: 1. Play D1AA teams in the spring: Instead of a meaningless game in the fall, Division I schools should play D1AA teams in the spring. A competitive game would sell out so the D1AA teams would get their paychecks but they wouldn’t interrupt their seasons by taking a beating. Who cares if you lose in the spring? The same goes for Division I schools. 2. Change the transfer rules: No transferring until one full academic year on campus unless there is a coaching change. Transfers with a 2.5 or higher GPA can transfer without sitting out a year. Less than 2.5 sit a year. Any transfer still taking remedial courses sits a year. 3. Create a new football division: There are too many schools that have no business being in Division I. Division I should be made up of the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, Mountain West and American Athletic Conference. Form a new division for what’s left of the group of five and give them their own playoff and championship. Teams in the new division would still be able to play paycheck games against Division I teams, but Division I teams would only be allowed one paycheck game a year. Allow current upper echelon D1AA teams to join the new division. 4. Graduate in four years and you get a fifth year of eligibility: Any player who graduates in four or fewer years gets an extra year of eligibility. 5. Give football autonomy and a commissioner who doesn’t answer to the NCAA: Since the NCAA is clueless when it comes to understanding that football is a business that should be run by football and business people, give football autonomy free from the restraints imposed by the geeks and academic marvels who run the organization. Give football a commissioner who doesn’t answer to the NCAA but only to the football coaches, athletic directors and conference commissioners. Let football make its own rules and give the commish the power to enforce them with an iron hand.

Billy Napier has his most experienced team yet at UF (Photo by Chris Spears) Growing pains were part of Billy Napier’s Saturday routine last fall when the Gators were one of the youngest teams in the entire country. The Gators just couldn’t grow up fast enough, which had plenty to do with Florida’s 5-7 record. A play here, a play there, the kind experienced players make instinctively and eight or nine wins could have been had. So many kids who learned their lessons the hard way are back for the 2024 season, bolstered by transfers that bring 213 starts and 368 games of experience to the lineup. Of course, the single most important position when it comes to experience is quarterback where Graham Mertz returns for his second year as the UF starter. Counting his time at Wisconsin, Mertz has 43 career starts, which makes him the second most experienced quarterback in Division I football heading into the 2024 season. Billy Donovan once quipped, “Another year older doesn’t necessarily mean you’re another year better.” As true as that may be, there is no substitute for been there, done that and this year the Gators have far more experience than they’ve had in either of Napier’s previous two seasons on the job at UF. Here is a position by position look at the Gators with game experience and starts listed: Tackles (9) Brandon Crenshaw-Dixon (35 starts, 38 games): He was the right tackle during the spring, but could slide down to right guard with Austin Barber taking over on the outside. Austin Barber (13 starts, 24 games): Barber’s shoulder is healthy again and he will likely move back to the right side where he was most effective as a redshirt freshman. Kamryn Waites (3 starts, 24 games): If he can stay healthy he could have a breakout season. Devon Manuel (4 starts, 10 games): He’s an Arkansas transfer with a huge wingspan and very quick feet. Should start at left tackle. Christian Williams (5 games): He’s a grinder who could also slide down to guard. Freshmen and redshirts with ZERO experience (4):  Caden Jones, Fletcher Westphal, Mike Williams, Enoch Wagnoy Looking ahead: There are 55 starts with experience in 101 games. Among the kids, Caden Jones and Fletcher Westphal are going to grow into absolute monsters. Guards (7) Riley Simonds (16 games): He is a career backup but a good person to have in the locker room. Dameion George Jr. (14 starts, 27 games): He struggled at right tackle. He’s better suited to play guard. Knijeah Harris (1 start, 12 games): Huge upside. Pencil him in at left guard. Freshmen and redshirts with ZERO experience (3): Jason Zandamela, Bryce Lovett, Noah Portnjagin, Marcus Mascoll Looking ahead: There are 15 starts and 45 games of experience, but Crenshaw-Dixon could slide inside and Waites has proven he can play inside, too. Zandamela isn’t going to ride the pine. Jake Slaughter (66) is the smart, tough guy in the middle of the UF O-line (Photo by Chris Spears) Centers (2) Jake Slaughter (8 starts, 25 games): He got progressively better as the 2024 season moved along. Cerebral, tough guy who reads opposing defenses and makes the right line calls. Redshirt with ZERO experience: Roderick Kearney Looking ahead: Slaughter is indispensable. Kearney has a strong upside. Knijeah Harris could also play center. Only one quarterback in Division I is more experienced than Graham Mertz (Photo by Chris Spears) Quarterbacks (4) Graham Mertz (43 starts, 45 games): There is only one quarterback in the country with more starts than Mertz. He was very good last year. He will be even better in 2024. Clay Millen (11 starts, 13 games): He started 10 games in 2022 at Colorado State and was the opening day starter in 2023 when he got hurt and missed the rest of the year. Good arm, smart guy. Freshmen and redshirts with ZERO experience (2): DJ Lagway, Aidan Warner Looking ahead: The Gators have 54 Division I starts and 58 games worth of experience. Mertz came back to win football games and he’s going to get his wish. Lagway is the QB of the future. He will have a special package of plays in 2024 that will keep opposing D-coordinators up late at night. Running backs (6) Montrell Johnson Jr. (20 starts, 39 games): He has 2,496 career rushing yards. Pencil him in for at least 1,200 in 2024. Cam Carroll (25 starts, 40 games): He missed last year with a knee injury after transferring in from Tulane. Power guy with surprising speed and great hands out of the backfield. Treyaun Webb (11 games): It’s a matter of when not if he’s a star. Freshmen and redshirts with ZERO experience (3): Ja’Kobi Jackson, Jaden Baugh, KD Daniels Looking ahead: The Florida running backs room has 45 starts and 90 games of experience. The Gators are going to be VERY good running the ball. Somehow Jaden Baugh and KD Daniels are going to see the field. UF is stacked. Tight ends (8) Caleb Rillos (20 starts, 34 games): After three years in the Air Force offense, he’s like having an extra tackle. Can he catch? Keon Zipperer (6 starts, 39 games): Missed last year with an injury. He’s a very difficult matchup. Arlis Boardingham (2 starts, 13 games): This should be a breakout season. He could double as a big wide receiver. Hayden Hanson (9 starts, 12 games): He’s grown and has a year of experience under his belt. He will help make the running game go. Scott Isacks (7 games): Walk-on who will be valuable on special teams. Tony Livingston (7 games): Freaky athlete who has a huge upside. Freshman with ZERO experience: Gavin Hill, Amir Jackson Looking ahead: With 37 starts and 112 games of experience, the Gators have numerous packages that can create issues for opposing defenses. Boardingham will be more involved in the downfield passing game. Amir Jackson might be so good they have to find snaps for him. Wide receivers (10) Chimere Dike (31 starts, 44 games): He and Mertz were a passing game item during their days together at Wisconsin. Sneaky fast but a dependable guy who can get you a first down. Elijhah Badger (23 starts, 35 games): He has 142 career catches and a legit deep threat. He’s an Arizona State transfer. The last ASU wide receiver transfer (Ricky Pearsall) turned out pretty well, didn’t he? Ja’Quavion Fraziars (1 start, 42 games): A world of talent with size and speed. Does he put it together this year? Marcus Burke (1 start, 18 games): Some people say he is as talented as any receiver on the team but consistency has been an issue. He could be a deep threat. Kahliel Jackson (9 starts, 19 games): He’s Willie’s kid so you know he is physical and can catch the ball. Very underrated and faster than he looks. Eugene Wilson III (7 starts, 10 games): Superstar in the making. Caught 61 passes mostly drag patterns, bubble screens and underneath stuff a year ago. This year the SEC learns he can go deep. Andy Jean (4 games): He’s got the physical attributes to be very good in the future. Aidan Mizell (2 games): Serious, serious speed. He will see the field. Redshirt freshmen, freshmen and others with ZERO experience: TJ Abrams, Tank Hawkins Looking ahead: The best wide receivers coach in the SEC (Billy Gonzales) is almost giddy when he sees all the talent and speed in his room. The Gators have 72 starts and 174 games of experience plus more speed than they’ve had on the outside since 2019. Graham Mertz doesn’t lack for targets. Defensive linemen Joey Slackman (20 starts, 29 games): He was the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. Super smart, very physical and a real leader. Desmond Watson (10 starts, 28 games): At some point he’s got to get his weight down (465 in the spring). At a cool 400 he could dominate at nose tackle. Cam Jackson (24 starts, 45 games): If he can collapse the pocket from the inside he will be a real weapon on defense. Caleb Banks (11 starts, 18 games): He can play inside and outside. He’s just starting to figure things out. Jamari Lyons (1 start, 15 games): Very functional, physical guy. Kelby Collins (12 games): Coaches were very impressed with him after he moved inside during the spring. Freshmen, redshirts with ZERO experience: Michael Boireau, D’Antre Robinson Looking ahead: It has been a long time since the Gators had a D-line with 66 starts and 147 games of experience under their belts. Slackman is a difference maker who will make everyone around him better. Freshman D’Antre Robinson is a future stud. Tyreak Sapp (94) is Florida's most experienced returning edge rusher (Photo by Chris Spears) EDGE (10) Ja’Markis Weston (37 games): He’s tremendous on special teams. Started out at WR, moved to S, moved to LB and now is an EDGE guy. Justus Boone (2 starts, 15 games): Losing him to a knee injury last year was devastating for the defense. He’s back and is said to be stronger, faster and very hungry. George Gumbs Jr. (7 starts, 24 games): Athletic freak started his career at Northern Illinois as a wide receiver, then moved to tight end. He led the MAC in sacks last year, his first year coming off the edge. Quincy Ivory (10 games): Very athletic. Started his collegiate career as a quarterback at Mississippi Valley State. Tyreak Sapp (11 starts, 24 games): He’s rock solid. With better personnel around him, he should have a much better 2024. Jack Pyburn (1 start, 16 games): Tough guy that the coaches really love. Kamran James (12 games): Still growing. Lots of physical ability and speed. TJ Searcy (12 games): With a year experience under his belt, watch this guy come on strong. Freshmen, redshirts with ZERO experience: LJ McCray, Brien Taylor Jr. Looking ahead: Not a lot of starts (21) but a lot of experience (150 games). Gators couldn’t get to the QB last year. That will change this year. Gumbs is going to be a steal from the portal. LJ McCray is a stud freshman and Brien Taylor is a juco with real pass rushing ability. Linebackers (9) Derek Wingo (3 starts, 46 games): Wingo’s leadership is essential for the success of the defense. If he can stay healthy he’ll be a solid contributor. RJ Moten (16 starts, 36 games): He’s moved down from safety to linebacker. His dad was a stud linebacker for Charley Pell way back when. Mannie Nunnery (11 starts, 36 games): Flirted with the portal but came back. Special teams demon who could have a big year. Shemar James (12 starts, 21 games): He was the second leading tackler on the team despite playing only eight games before he had a season-ending injury. Grayson Howard (11 games): Big physical guy who transferred in from South Carolina, where he had a fine freshman year. Big loss for the Gamecocks. Big gain for UF. Deuce Spurlock II (5 games): Speedy guy who transferred in from Michigan last year but didn’t make an impact. Jaden Robinson (1 start, 12 games): The talent is there. The consistency has been lacking. Freshmen, redshirts and others with ZERO experience: Myles Graham, Aaron Chiles Looking ahead: With 43 starts and 162 games of experience, the Gators will be better. James and Howard may turn into as good an inside combo as there is in the SEC. Myles Graham and Aaron Chiles are going to be legitimate studs. Corners Jason Marshall Jr. (32 starts, 38 games): There aren’t many corners in the country with as much experience as Marshall. If the Gators can generate some pass rush, he’ll have an All-SEC type of season. Devin Moore (12 games): The key for Moore is to stay healthy. He’s ideal for handling big wide receivers. Sharif Denson (12 games): Solid guy who played a lot last year and should be improved. Ja’Keem Jackson (11 games): Real ball hawk skills that he got from being a stud WR in high school. Cormani McClain (4 starts, 9 games): Former 5-star who was on the field a lot as a freshman at Colorado. Needs some physical strength but could be the starter opposite Marshall. Dijon Johnson (12 games): See Denson and Jackson. He’s got talent, just needs more PT. Freshmen, redshirts and others with ZERO experience: Jameer Grimsley, Teddy Foster Looking ahead: Other than Marshall, not a lot of starting experience, but a lot of game experience (36 starts, 94 games). Moore, McClain and Grimsley are likely to get the bulk of playing time. Safeties Asa Turner (28 starts, 44 games): He’s the smart guy on the back end that will get everyone in the right place. Washington transfer who thrived in 2021 when now UF secondary coach Will Harris was in charge of the UDub secondary. Trikweze Bridges (17 starts, 39 games): He’s a wild card. Safety skills and strength to handle handle tight ends and enough speed to handle the guys in the slot. DJ Douglas (13 starts, 38 games): Tulane people say losing him was a crippling blow to their defense for 2024. Hits a ton, has great ball instincts and he doesn’t miss tackles. Jordan Castell (11 starts, 12 games): Big physical safety who led the team in tackles as a true freshman. He will be a whole lot better surrounded by better players this year. Bryce Thornton (4 starts, 11 games): He makes plays. He will be on the field early and often. Aaron Gates (4 games): He’s healthy now and should be a factor long term. Freshmen, redshirts and others with ZERO experience: Gregory Smith III, Josiah Davis Looking ahead: Billy Napier scored big in the portal with Turner, Bridges and Douglas to go with Castell. The Gators have 73 starts and 158 games of experience. There will be a lot fewer passes completed over the middle. Trey Smack (29) hit 17-21 of his field goals, all with Jeremy Crawshaw (26) holding (Photo by Chris Spears) Special teams Jeremy Crawshaw (40 games): If he had gotten enough attempts, he would have finished second in the nation both in 2022 and 2023. Career average 46.7 per punt. Trey Smack (19 games): He hit 17-21 on his field goals a year ago and didn’t miss an extra point. Range to about 54 on field goals. Rocco Underwood (26 games): Experienced snapper who is seriously consistent.

UF running back Montrell Johnson is poised to have a monster season running the ball in 2024 (Photo by Chris Spears) 9 Football predictions, plus some softball and basketball stuff: 1. MONTRELL JOHNSON WILL HAVE A MONSTER SEASON RUNNING THE BALL: Montrell has always been good. His 2,496 career rushing yards are the most of any back in the Southeastern Conference. What’s amazing is Montrell has always shared the carries, both as a freshman at Louisiana, and the last two seasons with Trevor Etienne. Etienne is gone to Georgia where he expects to get the bulk of the carries. Montrell may not see many more carries in 2024 than he’s had in any of the last three seasons, but he will be running behind a better offensive line. A year ago Montrell ran for 817 yards and 5.4 per carry despite Florida’s wildly inconsistent O-line. Some of his best runs were for short gains because he had to break tackles to make something out of nothing. Rob Sale is very confident his O-line will be vastly improved this season. The Gators will be bigger, stronger and deeper than they’ve been the last two seasons and that should translate to more big plays for Montrell, who is sneaky fast thanks to this gear he has that kicks in once he gets past the linebackers. Expect something like 175-190 carries, 1,200-plus yards and 10 or more touchdowns. The 1-2 backup punch of Treyaun Webb and freshman Jaden Baugh will make sure the Gators always have a fresh back capable of punishing defenses in the game. But make no mistake about it, this will be Montrell Johnson’s year to prove he’s one of the two or three best backs in the SEC. 2. RON ROBERTS WILL MAKE THE FLORIDA OFFENSE BETTER: There is this misconception that Florida’s offense wasn’t very good last year. The Gators averaged 28.4 points per game and 6.05 yards per play, numbers that could have been better except for a couple of teensy details: (1) The offensive line was rather porous, allowing 39 sacks for -260 yards and only 4.27 yards per carry; and (2) the defense was so bad Billy Napier had to try to play defense with his offense by milking the clock (UF averaged more than 33 minutes of possession time per game). The offensive line will be better this year – how could it be worse? – but the biggest improvement will be thanks to Ron Roberts as the co-defensive coordinator. A year ago at Auburn, Roberts improved the defense by four first downs and seven points per game. Four first downs is the equivalent of 12 plays for the offense and that is 12 plays the defense is off the field. Seven points more than last year means UF averages 35 per game. Roberts is a master at stopping the other team and getting his own defense off the field. More plays for the offense, fewer plays for the defense will mean more wins for the Gators. 3. THREE ROAD GAMES THAT SPELL TROUBLE FOR THE POODLES: Georgia is everybody’s choice to win the national championship game, but for the Poodles to win their third national championship in the last four years they’re going to have to come up big on the road. They are at Alabama September 29, at Texas October 19 and at Ole Miss on November 9. Bet the farm that all three will be ranked top ten. The last time Georgia played a top ten team on the road was 2020 when No. 1 Alabama scored a crushing 41-24 win in Tuscaloosa. Before that it was 2018 when No. 6 LSU scored a 36-16 blowout win. In 2017, No. 10 Auburn hosed the Poodles, 40-17. 4. BEWARE OLE MISS: For years everyone has been wondering what would happen if Lane Kiffin ever had a defense to go with his typical brilliant offensive teams. A year ago Pete Golding’s defense allowed just 22.5 points per game, the fewest points an Ole Miss defense has given up since 2014 when the Rebels led the nation at 16.0. Two names to remember: (1) Linebacker Chris Paul Jr., a tackling machine from Arkansas; and (2) Walter Nolen, the Texas A&M transfer who will be the beast nose tackle who disrupts the running game and collapses the pocket. Ole Miss will score plenty of points. Now the Rebels have a defense capable of getting stops. 5. TENNESSEE WON’T BE NEARLY AS GOOD AS ITS RECORD: The SEC schedule makers gave the Vols one of the easier schedules. Phil Steele rates the UT schedule No. 52 nationally. Only Auburn (No. 56) and Missouri (No. 62) have easier schedules. The only tough road games are at Oklahoma (September 21) and Georgia (Nov. 16). The Vols get Florida, Alabama and Kentucky at home. Tennessee will probably go 9-3 this year and that might be good enough to make the College Football Playoff, but will they actually be that good? Doubtful. Highly doubtful. 6. TEXAS IS LOADED BUT THE LONGHORNS WILL LOSE A GAME THEY SHOULDN’T: The Longhorns went 12-2 last year, their first season with 10 or more wins since the 2009 team went 13-1. If you’ve followed Texas through the years, the Longhorns always lose one or two games they have no business losing. A year ago, they lost to Oklahoma, 34-30, another one of those games they should have never lost. Texas plays Michigan at the Big House, Oklahoma in Dallas and Georgia at home. Expect the Longhorns to win all three. The game they shouldn’t lose but quite possibly will is Nov. 30 at Aggieland. The Aggies hate being little brother again, more so now that Texas stole their baseball coach. 7. MISSOURI WILL SCORE POINTS BUT WON’T STOP ANYONE: Quarterback Brady Cook has a lethal weapon in wide receiver Luther Burden III and two other receivers in Theo Wease and Mookie Cooper who would start for just about any team in the country. Scoring points will not be a problem with that kind of personnel for OC Kirby Moore to work with. Stopping people? That might be troublesome. Five defenders from last year were drafted and the D-coordinator left for LSU. There will be a lot of shootouts even with a pansy schedule ranked dead last in the SEC and No. 62 nationally. 8. THESE THREE TEAMS ARE OVERRATED: LSU, Kentucky and Texas A&M are all getting a lot more love than they deserve. LSU was pathetic on defense last year and now that Jayden Daniels is gone, the running game is going to suffer. They think Garrett Nussmeier can make folks forget JD. No way and no how. The defense will suck once again. The last five games on the schedule are at Texas AM, Alabama, at Florida, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. There’s one win in that bunch. Kentucky is breaking in a QB who has never started a college game even though this is his fourth year. He’s thrown 21 passes so far. The new OC is Bush Hamdan, who was pretty average at Boise State. The defense will be good, but the Wildcats won’t score enough points to be anything better than 6-6 or 7-5. The Aggies fired Jimbo Fisher and hired Mike Elko away from Duke. Coaching in the SEC is a far cry more difficult than coaching in the Almost Competitive Conference at Duke. The QB is Conner Weigman, who has a tendency to suffer season-ending injuries. There are a lot of losable games on the schedule but the fans will be happy with a 1-11 record if the one win is Texas. 9. IT’S ALABAMA, THE TIDE WILL BE GOOD: No Nick Saban. Somehow it just doesn’t feel right. How can we have a football season in the SEC without Nick Saban? The new HBC is Kalen DeBoer, career record 104-12. At Washington, DeBoer took over a 4-8 team and went 25-3 in two seasons, taking the Huskies to the national championship game where they suffered their first loss. He turned Michael Penix into a first round draft pick at Washington. This year he will be working with Jalen Milroe, who is enormously talented. If DeBoer does for Milroe what he did for Penix, then Alabama will be formidable on the offensive side of the ball. If there is an issue it will be on the defensive side where Bama will be breaking in five new starters and a coordinator (Kane Wommack) who has never called the shots for an SEC defense. If DeBoer’s history with offenses holds true, Alabama can win a lot of shootouts. Circle September 29. That’s when Georgia comes to town. 10. UF SOFTBALL: Tim Walton D1Softball national coach of the year Picked middle of the pack in the Southeastern Conference by the preseason media, Tim Walton guided the Gators to a second place finish in the regular season and the SEC Tournament championship. The Gators won both the regional and super regional to advance to the Women’s College World Series where they were seeded fourth. There in Oklahoma City, the Gators were a walk-off homer in extra innings from eliminating Oklahoma and playing for the national championship. The Gators went 3-2 in Oklahoma City, ended eventual national champ Oklahoma’s 20-game winning streak at the WCWS, and finished third. That’s quite an accomplishment for Walton, who was named D1Softball’s national coach of the year Monday. It was the first time Walton has won the national coach of the year award. Florida went 54-15 in 2024. Walton is 980-238 at Florida, 1,103-302 in a career that includes eight SEC championships, six SEC Tournament championships and two NCAA championships. Walton was inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame back in December. 11. UF BASKETBALL: Another Urban, this one a guard from Slovenia The last time the University of Florida welcomed someone named Urban his last name was Meyer. Two national championships, a Heisman Trophy QB and three 13-1 seasons. That worked out pretty well, didn’t it? Todd Golden is bringing in another Urban, this one a point guard. Signed Monday was Urban Klavzar, a 6-1 guard from Slovenia, who spent last season playing in Spain. Playing for the Slovenian National Team in the Under-20 FIBA European Championships, Klavzar averaged 15.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game while knocking down 37.5 percent of his 3-point shots. With Klavzar, the Gators now have all 13 scholarships filled. 2024-25 roster Bigs: Micah Handlogten (7-1, 235, JR) will redshirt; Sam Alexis (6-8, 240, JR/TR); Alex Condon (6-11, 230, SO); Thomas Haugh (6-9, 210, SO); Rueben Chinyelu (6-10, 250, SO); Viktor Mikic (6-11, 240, FR); Olivier Rioux (7-9, 298, FR) walk-on Perimeter: Alijah Martin (6-2, 210, GR/TR); Will Richard (6-4, 206, SR); Walter Clayton Jr. (6-3, 195, SR); Denzel Aberdeen (6-5, 190, JR); Kajus Kublickas (6-2, 171, SO); Isaiah Brown (6-4, 195, FR); Urban Klavzar (6-1, 185, FR)

Former Gator All-American Wyatt Langford hit for the cycle Sunday night with the Texas Rangers A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning: Former Gator All-American and Texas Rangers rookie outfielder Wyatt Langford hit for the cycle Sunday night as the Rangers pounded the Baltimore Orioles, 11-2. Langford is the 11th player in Rangers history to hit for the cycle and just the second rookie. Langford, who went 4-5 with four RBI, led off the fourth with a triple off the left field wall. In the fifth he hit an RBI double, then legged out an infield single in the sixth. With two on in the eighth, Langford hit his fourth home run of the season, 404 feet down the left field line. Langford is hitting .260 with four home runs and 35 RBI. In the month of June, Langford hit .309 with three home runs and 22 RBI. He has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games. After a redshirt freshman season at UF in 2021 in which he had four at bats, Langford became one of the most dominant players in all of college baseball. In 134 collegiate games, Langford hit .363 with 37 doubles, six triples, 47 home runs and 120 RBI. Other UF baseball news: In its latest mock draft, MLB.com projects Jac Caglianone to be selected with the second pick in the June 15 draft by the Cincinnati Reds. There is a slot value of $9,785,000 for the No. 2 pick. Caglianone finished his collegiate career at UF hitting .355 with 28 doubles, two triples, 75 home runs and 189 RBI in 165 career games. Florida signee Kellon Lindsey (Wauchula, FL Hardee County) projects as the No. 30 draft pick by the Texas Rangers in the mock draft. Listed in the top 250 draft eligible players by MLB are: 133. SS Colby Shelton and 193. RHP Brandon Neely. High school players in the top 250 are: 29. SS Lindsey; 156. SS Brendan Lawson (Toronto, Canada/Lexington, SC P27 Academy); and 160. RHP Josh Whritenour (Hudson, FL/Tampa, FL A3 Academy). Jasmine Moore made the US Olympic team in both the triple jump and long jump (UAA photo) JASMINE MOORE MAKES US OLYMPIC TEAM IN TWO EVENTS Jasmine Moore made US Olympic track and field history this weekend when she finished second in the long jump. Already on the United States team that will participate in Paris after winning the triple jump earlier in the week, Moore is the first woman in US track and field history to qualify for the Olympics in both the triple jump and long jump. Also qualifying for the US team on Sunday was hurdler Grace Starks. The NCAA 100 meter hurdles champ both indoors and outdoors, finished third, but her 12.31 time was an Olympic qualifier so she’s on the team. Gators on the US men’s team are hurdler Grant Holloway and long jumper Malcolm Clemmons. Starks and heptathlete Anna Hall will represent UF on the women’s team. Parker Valby finished second in the 10,000 meters but missed by 0:49 of an Olympic qualifying time. Valby finished fourth in the 5,000 meters. Is it possible that by not making the Olympic team that Valby will return to the University of Florida for her senior season? She does have the option of running on the professional circuit. Leanne Wong is on the US Olympic Gymnastics team heading to Paris (Photo by Chris Spears) WONG MAKES OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS TEAM AS A REPLACEMENT Leanne Wong will be traveling to Paris, but as a replacement athlete. Should there be an injury, Wong is one of two American athletes who will be considered for the fifth spot on the roster. Wong also made the 2020 team as a replacement athlete. PULLIN SIGNS 2-WAY CONTRACT WITH MIAMI HEAT Florida point guard Zyon Pullin has signed a 2-way NBA contract with the Miami Heat. With a 2-way contract, Pullin will spend most of the season with the Heat’s G-League team but he can be brought up to the NBA team for as many as 45 games. With the 2-way contract, Pullin will make more than $500,000 as a rookie with the heat. Tyreese Samuel signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Phoenix Suns. The Exhibit 10 contract is a 1-year minimum salary deal. A player can be waived without the team taking a salary cap hit. TEXAS, OKLAHOMA OFFICIALLY JOIN THE SEC The college athletics world as we know it now did not come to an end at 12:01 a.m. when Texas and Oklahoma officially became members of the Southeastern Conference. Nobody’s seismograph moved. No registry on the Richter Scale. Just an SEC that was already the strongest and most powerful conference in all of college athletics becoming even stronger and more powerful. So much for the doom and gloom predictions of Kevin Warren, George Kliavkoff and Little Jimmy Phillips back in 2021 when the SEC voted unanimously to accept Texas and Oklahoma, expanding the conference to 16 teams. Warren, Kliavkoff and Phillips hit the panic button when instead they should have recalled the immortal words of Peter Warrick, who, after getting arrested for his part in fleecing a Tallahassee department store said, “It’s not like I shot the president or nothing.” Folks tend to forget that Texas and Oklahoma petitioned the SEC to join the league, not the other way around. What was Greg Sankey supposed to do? Turn them down and let them join the Big Ten or the Pac-12? They were determined to leave the Big 12. The Southeastern Conference seemed like the best option and Sankey wasn't about to turn them down when they came calling. Now, the college sports landscape has indeed changed dramatically since Texas and Oklahoma were unanimously approved to join the SEC, but for reasons not entirely the fault of either Sankey or the SEC. In the three years since it was announced that Texas and Oklahoma would be leaving the Big 12, think about what has happened to Warren, Kliavkoff, Phillips and their leagues: 1. Kevin Warren, who screwed up the Big Ten badly during the COVID year when he only let the teams in his league play AFTER the SEC announced a 10-game schedule, invited Southern California and UCLA to join the league, then bolted to become president of the Chicago Bears. He is in the process of turning the Bears into the NFC Central’s version of the Washington Communists. The Big Ten, meanwhile, not only raided the Pac-12 for Southern Cal and UCLA but further decimated the Pac-12 by inviting Oregon and Washington. Everyone in LA is pleased as punch over the thought of a November night game in Minnesota, which doesn’t have a domed stadium. The volleyball team and baseball team are also thrilled at the thought of flying cross country to face Rutgers. 2. George Kliavkoff oversaw the demise of a more than 100-year-old league so steeped in tradition and winning that the late, great Bill Walton labeled the Pac-12 “the Conference of Champions” and it stuck. When Southern Cal and UCLA left for the Big Ten, KLiavkoff promised one deal after another. The ten remaining schools were willing to stick together until they finally figured out that despite all his promises of an imminent big deal, donkeys would fly before Kliavkoff made something happen. Colorado, sensing the inevitable, left for the Big 12. Oregon and Washington got on their knees, had their prayers (and begging) answered and joined the Big Ten. Arizona, Arizona State and Utah joined Colorado in the Big 12. Kliavkoff did his best Alfred E. Neumann – “Who me?” – and was left with a 2-team league. He was dismissed, naturally, as the commish. Washington State and Oregon State are officially the Pac-12. Because they actually own the Pac-12 and the Pac-12 Network, they will get a full share of the College Football Playoff and for at least two more years, the league’s NCAA Basketball Tournament revenue. Expectations are that with the cash they’ll leverage what they have with the Mountain West to form a new league capable of competing for the place in the College Football Playoff guaranteed to the Group of Five. 3. Then we have Little Jimmy Phillips and an ACC in the throes of a revolt. Florida State and Clemson want to secede because the ACC has a rather lame media rights contract that seems rather ironclad through 2036. If FSU and Clemson can find a loophole that allows them to leave, Virginia and North Carolina are sure to leave also, but there is a difference. Virginia and North Carolina are coveted both by the Big Ten and by the SEC. Florida State and Clemson don’t move the TV needle enough and they are perceived as academic weaklings by a Big Ten whose 18 schools include 17 that are members of the prestigious American Association of Universities. And here is a real gem for you. A league that already has members grumbling because in two years they will be getting about $50 million less than their SEC and Big Ten cousins expanded. Not just any expansion, mind you, but all the way to the Left Coast to bring in Stanford and California, plus to Texas to bring in SMU. Stanford and California assure the ACC that it will dominate in men’s soccer, water polo and field hockey. As for SMU, it plays football in a 32,000-seat stadium, doesn’t field a baseball team, and has six (count ‘em) men’s varsity sports teams. They do great in equestrian and their cheerleading team won a national championship. The ACC seems to be forgetting its history is forged in basketball. For that reason it is baffling that Little Jimmy hasn’t figured out that the ACC would have been far better off to invite UConn instead of SMU. UConn has won six national championships in men’s basketball since 1999, the same number North Carolina and Duke have combined to win. UConn plays in a 40,000-seat football stadium, has natural rivals nearby in Syracuse, Boston College and Pittsburgh and it has a women’s basketball program that has won 11 NCAA championships. Meanwhile, the Big 12 landed on its feet despite the loss of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC. With Texas and Oklahoma gone, the league will be far more competitive top to bottom in football. Utah could emerge as a national contender in football this season. By adding Utah, Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado, the strongest basketball league in the country got stronger. The new Big 12 media deal is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $35 million which isn’t that big a drop from what the payouts were with Texas and Oklahoma. For schools like UCF and Cincinnati, which got $5 million or so from membership in the American Athletic Conference, they must feel like they have won the lottery. For Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah, if Kliavkoff could have delivered that much money they probably would have stayed in the Pac-12. That brings us back to the SEC, which is a 16-team league as of today as well as the strongest, most competitive and stable conference in the country. For that we can thank Greg Sankey. While the rest of college sports are going nuts, the SEC just keeps plugging along at the top. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Phil Steele is out with his preseason college football magazine that rates everything except teams by shoe sizes. Although Mr. Steele thinks the Florida Gators are going to be improved this year, he still ranks them 10th in the Southeastern Conference. That is actually an improvement over Athlon (11th) and Lindy’s (12th). However, both Athlon and Lindy’s have the Gators higher-rated nationally. Athlon projects the Gators as the No. 35 team nationally, while Lindy’s has UF at No. 37. As for Phil Steele, the Gators are listed No. 48. Steele does rank Florida’s schedule the most brutal in the nation, which probably makes it difficult to go out on a limb and predict the Gators will have a breakout season. So, since everyone else is hesitant to go out on a limb here are five predictions that I will make: 1. Florida will win at least seven games. Eight is do-able. 2. The Florida offense will average more than 33 points per game as Graham Mertz has an even better season behind the league’s most improved offensive line. 3. Florida’s defense will be four first downs and seven points per game better than it was in 2023. 4. The following freshmen will have an impact: RB Jaden Baugh; LB Myles Graham; EDGE LJ McCray and CB Jameer Grimsley. 5. S DJ Douglas will be one of the five most impactful transfers in the SEC.

At 12:01 a.m. Monday, Texas and Oklahoma will officially join the Southeastern Conference, a move that only solidifies the SEC as the best and most dominant league in the country but Greg Sankey as the smartest guy in any room where college athletics are being discussed. The Big Ten has more members (18-16) and for the moment, more money, but that doesn’t equal better. Long term, the difference between the two leagues will only become more profound and there will be a polar reversal of the current money gap. The Big Ten distributed $58.8 million per school in 2023 but Maryland, Rutgers and Nebraska didn’t get full shares. The SEC, meanwhile, distributed $51.3 million with everyone getting a full share. And, that included continued payback of the $23.7 million the SEC loaned each school during the COVID year to ensure nobody had to cut back on sports or scholarships. The new SEC contract kicks in this year. In a 14-team league, the new contract would pay each school $17 million more than a year ago, but with Texas and Oklahoma joining, their equal share will come from the new increase. Figure that will last a year or two, at which time ESPN/ABC/Disney will renegotiate the SEC deal based on the increase in revenues from a league which will have at least one or two playoff caliber football games every single weekend. Under the Big Ten media contract, Fox will get the No. 1 game every weekend at noon with CBS getting the second best game at 3:30 and NBC getting the No. 3 game at night. Meanwhile, the Southeastern Conference will have ABC, three ESPN networks, two SEC Network channels and the array of Disney-affiliated channels at its disposal. There is no way the Big Ten can compete with that. You can all but bank on the SEC having more teams in the College Football Playoff, which expands to 12 teams this year and potentially to 16 in the near future. That is more millions to the SEC. Football is the driving force when it comes to revenue, but all these networks will assure a constant stream of SEC competition in the other sports once football season concludes. That will drive more revenue to the SEC, which will only have to distribute to 16 teams while the Big Ten will have to deal with 18. Here is a look at the national championship programs Texas and Oklahoma bring to the SEC: Football: Oklahoma brings the tradition of seven national championships and seven Heisman Trophy winners to the league while Texas brings four national championships and two Heisman Trophy winners. Women’s basketball: Texas has won one national championship. Women’s gymnastics: Oklahoma has won six national championships. Men’s gymnastics: Oklahoma has won 12 national championships. Women’s volleyball: Texas has won five national championships. Baseball: Texas has won six national championships and has been to the College World Series a record 38 times. Oklahoma has won two national championships. Softball: Oklahoma has won eight national championships including the last four. Men’s swimming: Texas has won 15 national championships. Women’s swimming: Texas has won nine national championships. Men’s golf: Texas has won four national championships. Oklahoma has won two. Men’s tennis: Texas has won one national championship. Women’s tennis: Texas has won four national championships. Women’s track and field: Texas has won six indoor national titles and six outdoors. Women’s cross country: Texas has won one national championship. Women’s rowing: Texas has won three national championships. Wrestling: Oklahoma has won seven national championships. UF BASKETBALL: Gators sign 6-11 freshman big man The tallest team in America just got taller. Todd Golden has signed Viktor Mikic (6-11, 240, Belgrade, Serbia/Chattanooga, TN Hamilton Heights Christian Academy), who averaged 14.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per game last season for a Hamilton Heights Christian Academy team that finished 29-5 while winning the NACA national championship. Mikic, who will enroll in Summer B at UF on Monday,  is the seventh Gator on the 2024-25 roster who is at least 6-9. He is the 12th scholarship player. Golden has one scholarship remaining. It should also be noted that 7-1 Micah Handlogten will take a medical redshirt this season while continuing to rehab from the fractured leg suffered in the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game against Auburn back in March. 2024-25 roster Big guys: * Micah Handlogten (7-1, 235, JR); Sam Alexis (6-8, 240, JR/TR); Alex Condon (6-11, 230, SO); Thomas Haugh (6-9, 210, SO); Rueben Chinyelu (6-10, 250, SO/TR); ** Olivier Rioux (7-9, 298, FR); Viktor Mikic (6-11, 240, FR) * Will take medical redshirt in 2024-25 ** Walk-on Perimeter (6): Alijah Martin (6-2, 210, GR/TR); Will Richard (6-4,206, SR); Walter Clayton Jr. (6-3, 195, SR); Denzel Aberdeen (6-5, 190, JR); Kajus Kublickas (6-2, 171, SO); Isaiah Brown (6-4, 195, FR) UF BASEBALL: Gators land Clemson starter Billy Barlow Kevin O’Sullivan landed his second starting pitcher in a week Friday when he got a commitment from Clemson righthander Billy Barlow. Earlier, O’Sullivan landed Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year Michael Ross. Barlow is a third-year redshirt sophomore with a career 8-6 record. After a 2-4 freshman campaign in 2022, Barlow pitched in three games in 2023, taking a medical redshirt. He came back in 2024 to go 6-1 with a 4.28 ERA in 15 games, 10 of them starts. Barlow actually pitched 2/3 of an inning against the Gators in the Clemson Super Regional. He came on in the 11th, got two out, then walked consecutive batters before he was relieved. The Barlow news comes on the same day six Gators elected to transfer including lefty Cade Fisher, who had a sophomore slump after going 6-0 with a 3.10 ERA as a freshman in 2023. The Friday night starter when the season began, Fisher couldn’t get people out in 2024, going 4-3 with a 7.13 ERA. Fisher gave up 67 hits in 59-1/3 innings and compounded matters by walking 29 and hitting 13 batters. The other five transfers are all freshmen, the most experienced Alex Philpott, who went 2-2 with a 6.90 ERA in 14 appearances. Incoming: RHP Billy Barlow (RSO, Clemson); RHP Michael Ross (SR, Samford); CF Kyle Jones (FR, Stetson); OF Blake Cyr (SO, Miami); 2B Justin Nadeau (SO, Jacksonville); SS/DH Landon Stripling (FR, Texas Tech) Outgoing: CF Michael Robertson (RJR); LHP Cade Fisher (SO); LF/RHP Landon Russell (RSO, to Stetson); RHP Grayson Smith (FR); IF Sammy Mummau (FR); RHP Hunter Jones (FR); IF John Martinez (FR); LHP Robert Satin (FR); RHP Reilly Witmer (FR); RHP Alex Philpott (FR); LHP Jacob Gomberg (FR); OF Blake Brookins (FR) UF GYMNASTICS: Wong 8th at Olympic trials; 2 Gators injured Leanne Wong is in eighth place after the first day of the US Olympic Trials. The trials will continue Sunday. Fifteen women are competing for five spots on the US team. Friday night, Gator Kayla DiCielo was wheeled out of the arena after suffering a landing on vault. Incoming freshman Skye Blakely suffered a torn Achilles tendon training for her floor exercise routine on Wednesday. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Paul Finebaum has weighed in once again on Florida State’s attempt to get free from the grant of rights contract with the Atlantic Coast Conference that runs though 2036.  Florida State, along with Clemson is trying to wiggle out of a 20-year contract it willingly signed back in 2016. FSU wants out because the Atlantic Coast Conference doesn’t have a decent media deal and could be as much as $50 million per year behind the Southeastern Conference once the SEC renegotiates its deal with ESPN, perhaps in a year or so. Florida State believes it will be a hot property if it can legally worm out of the ACC deal, but Finebaum doesn’t believe the Seminoles will be invited to join the SEC. He also doesn’t believe FSU would fit in with the academic profiles of the Big Ten. “I’m not convinced they will want Florida State,” Finebaum said. “I know Florida State thinks they’re heavily in demand, but there are some questions about exactly what they bring to the Big Ten. They don't fit the Big Ten model … The Big Ten, I believe, other than Nebraska, has highly accredited schools, and I don't think Florida State really qualifies for that." FSU people point to the US News & World Report ranking (No. 53 nationally), but the Big Ten bases its academic reputation on membership in the American Association of Universities. Of the 18 Big Ten schools, 17 are AAU members while Nebraska is a former member trying to petition to regain AAU status. There are three AAU members in the state of Florida – University of Florida, University of Miami and University of South Florida. Finebaum a couple of weeks ago said he isn’t sure Florida State is a good fit in the Southeastern Conference. "It's about the fit, and really, what I've heard just from idle SEC fans is that there is negativity toward Florida State because of the way they've tried to get out of the ACC," Finebaum said. "I think the same thing is applicable to Clemson." The bigger question is what would Florida State or Clemson bring to the Southeastern Conference? Neither FSU nor Clemson will move the SEC TV needle all that much. The SEC already owns the state of Florida because of UF and when it comes to the state of South Carolina, at best it’s a tie between Clemson and the University of South Carolina. Okay, both FSU and Clemson are much better brands than Vanderbilt, but Vandy was an original SEC member and was a football power back in the days when FSU was FSCW and Clemson was a cow college in western South Carolina. So despite the fact Vandy basically freeloads off the SEC except for baseball, golf and tennis, it has standing because it was an original league member. With 16 teams in 12 states that are connected, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has an exceptional model for scheduling. Realistically, the SEC doesn’t need more schools to remain the most powerful conference in collegiate sports. If the SEC decided to expand, it would make far more sense to look to North Carolina and Virginia, which would expand the TV footprint.