On Saturday, Billy Napier and the Gators experienced yet another loss on a game day with changes to the upcoming recruiting class.

Why Urban Meyer thinks Graham Mertz coming back for 2024 is a BIG DEAL for Billy Napier. Meyer also comments on DJ Lagway and what its like transitioning 2 big QB's. "Gotta let em Play" The Best Fridays in Football with Buddy Martin and Brenden Martin.

It seems but a distant memory now, however, but as Georgia is playing for a third national championship it reminds me of the days when the Gators dominated college football and had a shot to win three nattys in four years.

Florida sophomore wide receiver Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman is set to enter the NCAA transfer portal when it opens its winter window for underclassmen on December 4, as reported by On3 Sports. He is the ninth Gator to enter the portal since the end of the season. GatorBaitMedia.com Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Chiaokhiao-Bowman transferred to Florida for the 2022 season after spending the spring at Independence Community College. Prior to that, he had a season at St. Thomas More College Preparatory School in Connecticut, following his high school career at Plymouth (Minnesota) Armstrong. In his first year with Florida, he became a presence on special teams, participating in kick and punt coverage units in nearly every game and also playing in nine offensive games, recording seven receptions for 138 yards. However, in his second season with the Gators in 2023, Chiaokhiao-Bowman's playing time was significantly reduced. He appeared in only two games, playing a total of 18 special teams snaps against Missouri and Florida State, concluding the season with one tackle. Current list of who is transferring out of Florida: Caleb Douglas (WR) Cam Jackson (DL) Max Brown (QB) Will Norman (DL) Kamari Wilson (S) Adam Mihalek (K) Jonathan Odom (TE) Jordan Herman (OL) Jadarrius Perkins (S)

Thinking out loud on a Friday

The Florida Gators received some positive news Thursday afternoon as redshirt junior quarterback Graham Mertz declared his return for the 2024 season. Mertz, who recently completed his best college season, says there is still unfinished business with the Gators.

Dear Gator Football, Four years ago I came to Gainesville to start my freshman year. To say it was not what I expected is an understatement. My freshman year on campus was plagued by COVID-19 related restrictions. Classes were online, bars and restaurants were closed and buildings required masks inside. Attendance at sporting events was limited and masks also needed. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was a ghost town despite the fact that the team had two Heisman trophy finalists and won the SEC East. It was sad, but that hadn't stopped me from realizing I was living out a dream that I had long been waiting for. I grew up in New York, almost as far away from SEC football as possible. My family members attended small schools in the Northeast with little to no school spirit. I grew up knowing exactly where I wanted to be: a football school. My grandparents moved to Gainesville when I was young and since then we'd visit them and each time I would ask to go to campus. I loved walking into or past the stadium or poking my head into the O'Connell Center just to get a glimpse of what one day would be where I went to school. I was a Gator fan. Flash forward years down the line, I began to take visits to schools. What once was just my dream school became my actual first choice. I was in London, England when decision day came around. My family didn't know that was the day decisions were released, so I quietly returned to my room and there it was. I was accepted to the University of Florida. It didn't take long before I decided to attend school in Gainesville and it was the best decision I ever made. Four years and 50 games later, it's all over. Gator football has given me memories and opportunities that I will never forget. From my first game in that empty Swamp, to my last in a crowd of 90,000+. This past Saturday was surreal, emotional, overwhelming and disappointing all at once. I'd be lying if I said I was not frustrated and upset with the result. But I'd also be lying if I said I was disappointed in this team. Since I arrived in Gainesville in 2020, I watched a team that appeared to be headed in the perfect direction almost collapse. I witnessed a locker room fall apart and a team's culture completely shift for the worse. I witnessed the hiring of Billy Napier, someone that was not on anybody's radar to take the head coaching position. I witnessed another culture shift, this time for the better. I announced games in The Swamp, I announced an incredible comeback in South Carolina and I attended the Florida-Georgia game in the same press box that some of my idols were in. I met Bradley Beal, Steve Spurrier and countless others. I attended some of the best football games in recent memory. I could not hear myself think as I stood front row at the Alabama game a few years back. And I saw myself in a similar situation when Florida upset Utah to open the season a year ago. I'll tell my kids about each one of these memories and I will die with these memories etched into my brain forever. I would be remiss to not mention Gatorbait Media. So many of these opportunities came as a direct result of the chance that Buddy and Brenden gave me. Never in a million years would I have pictured myself asking the head coach of the Florida Gators questions at a press conference, or walking onto the field post game, or sitting in on a press conference with the starting quarterback of this great school. To Buddy and Brenden, I cannot put into words how thankful I am for that opportunity. It's sad to see my time as a student coming to an end, but I end my time with so much gratitude and even more great memories. Over the course of the 50 games for which I was a student, the Gators went 25-25. I am confident in the direction this team is headed even if others are not. And I'm confident that the Gators will once again rise to the top of the SEC and the top of the nation. Sincerely, Matt Quartararo

Ali Peek Wilbur, David Moulton and Host Buddy Martin talk about who is in the portal and who isn't and what is the fallout if any on the 2024 class. The Buddy Martin Show

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning: The conclusion Todd Golden will reach when he watches the video of Florida’s 82-71 Wednesday night loss to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem is that the Gators let a perfectly winnable game slip through their fingers. Ten second half turnovers that Wake Forest turned into 15 points had plenty to do with it, but so did the combination of poor shooting at one end of the court and an inability to get stops at the other. Wake Forest shot 61.5 percent from the field in the second half on 16-26 shooting. The Gators, meanwhile, hit 11-27. The Demon Deacons converted 10 Florida turnovers into 15 points while Florida forced only six Wake Forest turnovers, converting them to five points. Wake Forest hit 16-20 of its second half free throws. Florida got to the line only 12 times and made 10. Add the numbers together and it’s obvious why the Gators dropped to 4-3 on the season. What makes crunching the numbers more painful is the Gators twice led by nine points in the second half but neither time could they extend the lead. “After we got up by nine in the second half we had multiple opportunities to extend that thing into double figures,” Golden said. “I think one turnover, one good shot that we missed just allowed them to have a little hope and a little belief, as opposed to being able to close them out. A good team, with a veteran backcourt and a really good coach. Those guys aren’t going to go away unless you make them, and we just weren’t ever able to really get that thing over that hump. To their credit, they made some big shots and allowed themselves to climb back in that thing.” Riley Kugel had a brilliant second half, but didn’t get a lot of help from teammates. Kugel hit 5-6 from the field in the second half including 2-2 from the 3-point line. He finished the game with 24 points on 9-14 shooting overall and 4-6 from the 3-point line. As much contact as he absorbed taking the ball to the rack, it was rather interesting that Kugel only had three free throw attempts (made two) the entire game. Take away Kugel’s efforts in the second half and the Gators shot 6-21 overall (28.6 percent) and 1-9 from the 3-point line (11.1 percent). You don’t win a lot of games with second half shooting like that, particularly when the opponent hits 16-26 from the field overall, 2-4 from the 3-point line and 16-20 on second half free throws. Contrast that to the first half when the Gators held Wake Forest to 12-31 shooting (38.7 percent). “I thought we did a great job in the first half,” Golden said. “Limited them to 40 percent from the field, 32 points. In the second half, they made a lot of twos, a lot of tough twos, and obviously they shot 20 free throws in the second half. We did a good job of defending the 3-point line – 6-for16, I’ll take that – got to limit them to a lower percentage from two. And, obviously, they shot 29 free throws, so that’s going to be an efficient way to score. We obviously have to do a better job of defending without fouling.” Tyrese Samuel, Walter Clayton Jr. and Zyon Pullin each scored 12 points to back up Kugel. While Samuel was able to hit 5-9 from the field while also contributing an assist, a blocked shot and two steals, Clayton and Pullin struggled to put the ball in the basket. Pullin was 3-13 overall and 0-3 from the 3-point line. Clayton was 3-11 from the field, 1-5 from the 3-point line. Pullin had five rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Clayton had three rebounds, two assists and three steals. The Gators played once again without 7-1 starting center Micah Handlogten, still trying to recover from an ankle sprained in last week’s win over Pittsburgh. Handlogten could be back next Tuesday when the Gators play host to Merrimack at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Also expected to return soon is 6-10 Aleks Szyczymk, who has been recovering from a broken foot. The Gators have yet to play a game this season with the full contingent of scholarship players available. SEC basketball Wednesday’s scores: Wake Forest (4-3) 82, FLORIDA (4-3) 71; Arkansas (5-3) 80, No. 7 Duke (5-2) 75; No. 17 North Carolina (6-1) 100, No. 10 Tennessee (4-3) 92; Virginia (6-1) 59, No. 14 Texas A&M (6-2) 47; Auburn (5-1) 74, Virginia Tech (5-3) 57; Boston College (5-2) 80, Vanderbilt (3-4) 62; Georgia (4-3) 68, Florida State (4-2) 66 Friday’s games: Mercer (2-4) at Georgia (4-3); George Washington (6-1) at South Carolina (6-0); Southeastern Louisiana (2-5) at LSU (4-3) Saturday’s games: Memphis (5-1) at Ole Miss (6-0); UNC-Wilmington (5-1) at No. 12 Kentucky (6-1); Alabama A&M (1-5) at Vanderbilt (3-4) DT Cam Jackson will be returning for 2024 Nose tackle Cam Jackson announced that he will return for his senior season at Florida. The 6-6, 360-pounder played in 11 games in 2023 and was in on 32 tackles. If the Gators are able to retain interior D-linemen Caleb Banks (6-6, 320, RFR), Chris McClellan (6-3, 320, SO), Jamari Lyons (6-4, 305, FR), and Desmond Watson (6-5, 435, JR) they will have the makings of a big, experienced unit. The transfer portal just starting to heat up for UF With the latest announcements that included wide receiver Caleb Douglas and QB Max Brown, six Gators have announced they will be transferring out when the portal opens for business Sunday. There will be others. When Sunday arrives expect the number to be somewhere between 12 and 15. Transferring out: OT Jordan Herman (6-8, 375, RSO); WR Caleb Douglas (6-3, 200, SO); QB Max Brown (6-2, 220, RFR); DL Will Norman (6-4, 300, RFR); S Kamari Wilson* (6-0, 205, SO); TE Jonathan Odom (6-5, 250, RJR) * Disputed by his father The SEC in the portal (as of 11 p.m., Nov. 29) Arkansas (4-8): LB Chris Paul (6-1, 233, SO); LB Jordan Crook (6-0, 222, SO); WR Sam Mbake (6-3, 205, SO); OG Keyshawn Blackstrock (6-5, 310, JR) from Michigan State; QB KJ Jefferson (6-5, 245, SR). Auburn (6-6): DL Enyce Sledge (6-2, 311, FR); DL Stephon Johnson (6-3, 337, FR) No. 1 Georgia (12-0): LB Darris Smith (6-5, 240, SO) Kentucky (7-5): DL Jamarius Dinkins (6-5, 280, SO); WR Dekel Crowdus (5-10, 171, SO); CB Jalen Geiger (6-1, 199, SR); OL Grant Bingham (6-5, 321, FR); TE Izayah Cummings (6-3, 232, SR) No. 13 LSU (9-3): RB Corren Norman (5-9, 205, SR); RB Armoni Goodwin (5-8, 200, JR) Mississippi State (5-7): QB Will Rogers (6-2, 215, SR); RB Simeon Price (6-0, 215, SO); WR Nakai Poole (6-3, 210, FR); WR Jacobi Bellazar (5-11, 165, JR) No. 9 Missouri (10-2): TE Max Whisner (6-4, 242, RFR) No. 11 Ole Miss (10-2): TE Javontay Conner (6-1, 234, SO) South Carolina (5-7): EDGE Donocan Westmoreland (6-1, 234, SO) Tennessee (8-4): Texas A&M (7-5): QB Max Johnson (6-6, 230, GR); WR Raymond Cottrell (6-3, 210, FR); Vanderbilt (2-10): QB AJ Swann (6-3, 228, SO); QB Ken Seals (6-3, 220, GR); OL Kevo Wesley (6-4, 317, SR); DE Zaylin Wood (6-2, 273, JR) from Middle Tennessee State; RB Patrick Smith (5-9, 189, JR); DL Nate Clifton (6-5, 280, SR) SEC assistant coach carousel Arkansas: OC Bobby Petrino (hired from Texas A&M) FLORIDA: DB Corey Raymond (packing); DL Sean Spencer (packing) Georgia: DB Fran Brown to Syracuse as HBC Kentucky: WR Scott Woodward (packing) Mississippi State: DL David Turner (retained); OL Will Friend (packing); WR Chad Bumphis (retained); OL John Cooper (hired from North Texas); OC Kevin Barbay (packing) Texas A&M: OL Steve Addazio (packing); WR Dameyune Craig (packing); OC Bobby Petrino (left for Arkansas); DC DJ Durkin (packing) Vanderbilt: OC Joey Lynch (packing); DC Nick Howell (packing) Football is actually played somewhere other than the SEC Oregon State has promoted defensive coordinator Trent Bray to replace the departed Jonathan Smith as head coach. Indiana is targeting James Madison HBC Curt Cignetti as its choice to succeed the fired Tom Allen. JMU is 11-1 this season and 52-9 under the direction of Cignetti. Counting his two other head coaching stops, Cignetti is 119-35 in his career. Delaware is making the move from D1AA to Conference USA in 2025. Delaware is currently 9-3 and in the second round of the D1AA playoffs. The Blue Hens won five national championships in Division II and won the 2003 D1AA title. With the addition of Delaware, Conference USA will have 10 teams. San Diego State has hired Colorado offensive coordinator and former Kent State HBC as its replacement for former head coach Brady Hoke. Hue Jackson, whose resume includes HBC jobs with the Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders, has been fired after two seasons at Grambling. Notre Dame is expected to dip into the ACC for another quarterback. Last season it was Sam Hartman from Wake Forest. This year it will be Riley Leonard from Duke. Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall, who has thrown for 10,005 yards and 88 touchdown passes (only 14 interceptions) is in the transfer portal. McCall has also run for 1,113 yards and 18 TDs. He will be a very hot commodity. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: "Make no mistake that a good quarterback in the portal costs, you know, a million to $1.5 million to $2 million right now, just so we're all on the same page.” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said that Wednesday. He got used to paying big bucks for quarterbacks when he was coaching the NFL Carolina Panthers. Nothing has changed since he returned to the college ranks. Now brace yourself for this. Rhule also said, “There are some teams that have $6 [million] or $7 million players playing for them." Matt Rhule is a stand-up guy, not one prone to hyperbole or embellishment. When he starts talking about the high cost of doing business, you can basically take it to the bank as fact. No wonder the standing joke about NIL is that it stands for “Now It’s Legal.” Funny, but back in the day when the money was paid under the table and people were concerned about getting caught, a lot less money changed hands. I don’t mind players getting paid to play college football. This is a brutal sport that causes devastating, long term injuries. Pointing out why the injuries are more severe these days than ever before, Steve Spurrier once said, “Players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever before. The field is the same size.” In other words, there are few places on the field to avoid the collisions. What I would like to see is for players to have access to long term health care benefits beyond their collegiate playing days. Their eligibility expires, but the injuries linger. I do believe that we’re not that far from an era when players are employed by each school and we have salary caps, but I am not naïve enough to believe that it will end the overspending of NIL money to land the most highly regarded recruits. A salary cap may limit what schools can pay their athletes, but the Supreme Court has already ruled in NCAA v. Alston that the NCAA and/or schools can’t prevent a player from signing a contract with someone naïve enough to write a big check. So, enjoy college football in its current state while you can. Don’t think for even a nanosecond that things will settle down and we’ll have years, perhaps even decades, of stability in which little changes. The next step will be divisions that are based entirely on money. How long before football jerseys look like European soccer jerseys with all the advertisements? Imagine the Chico’s Bailbonds Georgia Bulldogs. It could happen. Sooner and not later.

Sophomore wide receiver Caleb Douglas intends to enter the transfer portal after completing his second season in Gainesville, as reported by Hayes Fawcett of On3. Douglas, a 6-3, 200-pound player, participated in eight consecutive games with two starts during his freshman year, securing 10 catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns. Notably, he became the first true freshman receiver to start a game since Kadarius Toney in 2017. Reflecting on his freshman season, Douglas expressed satisfaction with the experience, especially in critically competitive games toward the end of the season. He emphasized the value of that experience in preparing for the challenges of the following year. In 2023, Douglas earned a spot in Florida's starting offense after an impressive spring and fall camp, recording 11 receptions for 133 yards and a touchdown in five games before a season-ending injury. Douglas attributed his improved performance to increased confidence, a better understanding of the game and a more measured pace on the field. However, with his decision to leave the program, the Gators may need to explore the transfer portal to fill the gap at wide receiver. It's noteworthy that two of Florida's original starters at wide receiver in 2023, Ricky Pearsall and Caleb Douglas, will not be part of the team in the upcoming season.

Just days after the season finale against the Florida State Seminoles, backup quarterback Max Brown entered his name into the transfer portal.