Poof! There goes the Pac 12. And now the ACC appears to be on life support.

In a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Florida head coach Billy Napier verified reports that sophomore linebacker Shemar James sustained a lower-body injury during a fall training camp practice held on Wednesday.

After back-to-back 6-7 finishes, the latter of which came during the first season of Billy Napier's tenure at Florida, the new head coach has taken strides to ensure the locker room is unified. It was very clear that as the Dan Mullen era was coming to a rapid end, there was a division amongst the team.

August 3, 2023 A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning: The skills have been there all along. Offensive line coach Rob Sale says he could tell by looking at Austin Barber’s high school tape that the big kid (6-6, 305, 5 career starts) from Jacksonville had what it takes to be a dominant player. “Yeah, it showed up on his high school tape if you go back and watch it,” Sale said about his left tackle Sunday morning. “That’s just the way he plays. He finishes … He’s a good player for us and he’s going to be a great player for us.” As a redshirt freshman a year ago, Barber began as a backup to both Michael Tarquin on the right side and Richard Gouraige on the left. He was a key member of the tackle rotation and when injuries took their toll, he got starts on both sides of the line. He was impressive enough to make College Football News Freshman All-America first team. Based on its analytics, Pro Football Focus gives Barber a 79.3 grade, which makes him the third best tackle in the SEC, trailing only Dalton Wagner of Arkansas (80.5) and Javon Foster of Missouri (80.3). Barber’s grade is higher than that of Alabama’s J.C. Latham (75.7), a fixture on nearly every preseason All-America team. No longer a backup, Barber is not only a starter at left tackle, but he’s a leader on an offensive line that has several new moving parts. The only full-time starter back from last year is Kingsley Eguakun (6-3, 302, 26 career starts) now entering his third year as the starting center. Richie Leonard IV (6-2, 310) has two career starts, both at guard although he’s Eguakun’s backup at center. Leonard’s experience gives him the upper hand on true freshman Knijeah Harris (6-3. 325) right guard. The left guard figures to be Baylor transfer Micah Mazzccua (6-5, 337, 10 career starts) once he is fully cleared for contact (recovering from labrum surgery) with Alabama transfer Damieon George Jr. (6-6, 361, 3 career starts) at right tackle. Florida International transfer Lyndell Hudson II (6-5, 329, 27 career starts) will be in the rotation on both sides of the line and redshirt sophomore Jake Slaughter (6-5, 301) can play all three interior line positions. A year ago, the Gators were among the national leaders in fewest sacks allowed (16 in 13 games) and yards per rush (5.51). To match or exceed those numbers in 2023, the chemistry will have to continue to grow. Barber sees a group that continues to bond, continues to spend the time together off the field and grows in trust on a daily basis. “I think right now I feel like we’ve been working together,” Barber said after Tuesday’s practice. “It’s just, new faces. It’s not like, we come in everyone bonds together. That’s why we do stuff outside of football. We can’t come in here and try to bond. You have to do everything outside. That’s what I think we benefit from and I think we can get back, if not, we’re already there. I trust these guys. I mean we’re playing with them. I played with them in spring. I played with them right now the first two days, I think we’ve been great.” While Barber worked in the offseason to add muscle and eliminate body fat, he also focused on building his leadership skills. If the Gators are to go from a team that is 12-19 since December 12, 2020 to a team that is one of the top tier teams in the SEC East, leaders are going to have to set the example. A year ago, Barber was a bit passive but now he has embraced the role of being a real leader on the line. “There's sometimes I sat back and let the older guys go in because I was a redshirt freshman last year, but now I think I can come in and be vocal leader and take over and me and Kingsley work together,” Barber said. “Me, Kingsley, Richie are pushing this O-line to the best of their ability.” Things to think about in the SEC … Alabama: With no clear QB settled after spring practice, could either of the freshmen (Eli Holstein or Dylan Longeran) have a shot at the starting job? Auburn: Robby Ashford can run but can’t throw. Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne can throw but can’t run. Will Hugh Freeze go with a 2-headed QB? Georgia: If Carson Beck remains THE guy at Georgia, how long before Brock Vandagriff’s people are making third party contact with other schools? Kentucky: North Carolina State transfer Devin Leary is the latest rent-a-QB. Every starting QB since 2018 has been a transfer from St. Somewhere Else. When will Kentucky develop one of its own? Ole Miss: John Bol, the 4-star 7-footer who was once a Florida commitment, has committed to play basketball for Chris Beard at Ole Miss. South Carolina: With an O-line predicted to be one of the worst in the SEC and no stud running back, why are people thinking South Carolina could finish as high in the SEC East? Tennessee: The Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle says freshman QB Nico Iamaleava is ready to play in the SEC right now. Considering he’s got an $8 million NIL deal, how short is the leash on starting QB Joe Milton? Texas A&M: It seems strange that QB Max Johnson, who started two seasons at LSU (37 TDPs) and got a few starts at A&M last year before he was hurt, hasn’t transferred out. Everything in Aggieland says Conner Weigman is the unquestioned starter. Waiting on the call from the governor … What’s going on with the Pac-12 is reminiscent of those old movies when a prisoner is strapped into the electric chair praying for a last minute call from the governor to grant clemency. Wednesday morning, all eyes were on the Arizona Board of Regents, but by late Wednesday evening, the Big Ten had also stepped into the picture. If the Arizona schools vote to accept an offer to join the Big 12, the Pac-12 gets the chair. The same is true if the Big Ten makes an offer to Washington and Oregon … and possibly Stanford and California. The Pac-12 desperately needs a last minute media offer to avoid the switch being pulled but with stories leaking out all day Wednesday that the Apple TV deal that was presented Wednesday night may barely exceed $20 million a year per school, it is all but certain the league is sure to cease existence after the 2023-24 athletic year. It’s sad, because it seems something will be missing from college sports without a league on the Left Coast, but the Pac-12 has only itself to blame. First, it hired Larry Scott as its commissioner and when Scott had all but run the league into the ground it hired blowhard George Kliavkoff, who knows as much about running a college athletic conference as a baby orangutan has of flying a 747. The Arizona Board of Regents are expected to vote for Arizona and Arizona State to join the Big 12 with the announcement coming Friday. Utah, which wants to stay in the Pac-12, will join albeit reluctantly. Utah doesn’t exactly relish being in the same league with BYU, which is 40-something miles down the highway from its campus. As of Wednesday night, it seemed the Big Ten was focused on adding Washington and Oregon from the Pac-12, leaving Stanford and California hanging out to dry. Given the high academic profile of Stanford and Cal and their top to bottom all sports prominence, they would fit well in the Big Ten, but apparently there are two chains of thought: (1) Big Ten members don’t wish to further dilute their Fox/CBS/NBC money even though adding Stanford and Cal would add the San Francisco Bay TV market; or (2) Big Ten members want to add two eastern schools along with Washington and Oregon, most likely North Carolina and Virginia. Making the rounds of the rumor mill is that new schools added to the Big Ten will take a less than full cut of the media money but a $50 million payout would be more than Oregon and Washington would make in the Pac-12 and certainly more than North Carolina and Virginia would make in the ACC. Washington and Oregon would give Southern Cal and UCLA a pair of longstanding Left Coast rivals, while Virginia and North Carolina would be reunited with former ACC rival Maryland. If Stanford and Cal are orphaned along with Oregon State and Washington State, do they all four join the Mountain West to make that a 16-team league? Would Stanford and Cal be willing to go it alone as independents? Washington State and Oregon State would fit in well with the Mountain West but they wouldn’t add anything financially to the league. Basically, we have a mess on our hands. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: “It’s not a matter of if we leave [the ACC] but how and when we leave.” – Drew Weatherford, former Florida State quarterback and member of the Board of Trustees. FSU wants out of the Atlantic Coast Conference and who can blame the Seminoles for their overwhelming sense of envy. They’re in the ACC which has this ironclad grant of rights media contract with all 14 members. If they want out of the league they have to hold enough bake sales and car washes to raise the $120 million the divorce will cost them, PLUS the ACC will get all the media money FSU makes until the current media deal with ESPN expires in 2036. Oh, those minor little details! But, as Matt Hayes of Saturday Down South points out, just suppose FSU figures out how to finagle its way out of the ACC. Who actually wants the Seminoles in their league? The Southeastern Conference? Greg Sankey is quite content with a 16-team league. It makes scheduling so easy and he’s got the flagship school in all 12 states. He’s got a great TV contract with ESPN and while ESPN will work out a brand new agreement next year when Texas and Oklahoma join the SEC, Sankey knows darn good and well that ESPN isn’t about to pony up more cash for FSU to join the league. What value would the Seminoles bring to the SEC anyway? They don’t move the television needle for football, which is what actually matters. Hayes points out that the only two schools Sankey sees as moving the TV needle for the SEC are Notre Dame and North Carolina. Notre Dame is quite content to remain independent and has a media deal with NBC worth $60 million a year that it doesn’t have to share with anyone. North Carolina seems more likely to join the Big Ten along with Virginia. There has been all this chatter about FSU and Clemson joining the Big Ten all week long, but there’s not much to it. Hayes points out that if the Big Ten were to venture into the state of Florida, the target would be Miami because of the huge South Florida television market and academics. Miami is a member of the American Association of Universities (Florida is also). Florida State is not. Every school in the Big Ten is a member of the AAU except Nebraska, which was voted off the AAU island by a two-thirds vote of its members back in 2011. FSU trustee Justin Roth says the current ACC television deal that will be paying something like $45 million a year in 2026 (SEC probably in the $90-100 million range by then) is unacceptable. “Staying in this conference for the next 13 years and trying to wait for the perfect alignment of the stars is the equivalent of death by 1,000 cuts and each cut is a $30 million cut over the next 13 years,” Roth said. Waiting is painful. So is death by 1,000 cuts, but FSU has zero in the way of leverage. Even if FSU’s legion of lawyers finds a way out of the ACC deal, somebody has to think FSU moves the TV needle enough to ask the Seminoles to join. In the immortal words of Dennis Hopper, “There’s two chances that’s going to happen: No way and no how!”

We have constantly talked about 2024 commit DJ Lagway's unprecedented recruiting efforts, and that continues this past weekend as the quarterback made another trip to Gainesville for the 'Grill in the Ville' event.

August 2, 2023

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:

Former Gators wide receiver Cris Collinsworth was named to 2023 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Class on Thursday. After his playing career, Collinsworth made a fairly quick transition into the sports broadcasting industry, where he has spent the last 30-plus years. He began his television career in 1990 as a game-analyst for NFL broadcasts on NBC Sports, before joining Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in the Fox broadcast booth in 2005. He then replaced the legendary John Madden in the booth for NBC Sunday Night Football with Al Michaels. He remains in that role today, however Michaels was recently replaced with Mike Tirico. Collinsworth is the only NFL analyst other than John Madden to receive a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports Event Analyst, which he has won nine times over the course of his career. Collinsworth was a three-time All-SEC and two-time All-American during his time at Florida spanning the 1977-80 seasons. He caught 120 passes for 1,937 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also running for two and returning a kickoff for another score. He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991. After his career with the Gators, Collinsworth spent eight seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, corralling 417 passes for 6,698 yards and 36 touchdowns. He was named to the All-Rookie Team in 1981 and was named to three pro bowls over the course of his career. Among those joining Collinsworth will be NBA on TNT studio-show host Ernie Johnson. The entire 2023 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted on December 12.

Florida coach Billy Napier began his media day press conference by sharing some impressive statistics from the offseason program, setting the tone for the upcoming fall camp. He highlighted the players who had made significant physical transformations since January, emphasizing the gains in muscle and losses in body fat percentage. Napier proudly stated, "We had 53 players that set records for max velocity this summer, which I think was really positive." Among the standout performers were T.J. Searcy, who gained 12 pounds of muscle, Jalen Kimber, who gained eight pounds of muscle since April, and Jack Pyburn, who added 10 pounds of muscle since January and reduced his body fat percentage by 6 percent. He also commended Jason Marshall Jr. for adding seven pounds of lean muscle and Princely Umanmielen, who had a fantastic summer, maxing in all three core lifts, gaining 10 pounds of lean muscle, and losing seven pounds of fat mass. Several early enrollees like Tony Livingston and Bryce Lovett showed impressive gains in muscle and losses in body fat as well. Mark Hocke, UF's associate head coach and director of football strength and conditioning, shared his perspective on the team's progress beyond just physical gains. He emphasized the importance of building a strong team culture, with players demonstrating intangibles like humility and teamwork. “The first thing I want to say is I think the culture is trending, and that’s because of the hard work of this football team. The quickest way to become a dangerous football team is to get your most talented players to have the most intangibles, for them to be the best examples. Without that, it’s a recipe for disaster,” Hocke said. “… I think you’re always going to have a mixed bag as far as did everyone hit this number on Power Clean, did everyone hit this number on max velocity, speed work, whatever. You’ll have a mixed bag. I think the majority trended in the right direction, and that’s what you’re really looking for.” Napier acknowledged that the team's execution and culture were crucial aspects they were working on. After a 6-7 season in his first year as head coach, Napier understood the significance of improvement in all areas of the program. The Gators' dedication to improvement extended beyond the visible changes in the weight room. Napier mentioned how nutrition, conditioning, and team chemistry also played vital roles in their pursuit of progress. He praised the development staff for their improvements in strength, speed, and explosiveness, backed up by data from Catapult technology, which tracked 53 players achieving new personal highs in maximum velocity over the summer. The team's hard work was evident in the physical transformations players underwent. Freshman defensive end TJ Searcy gained an impressive 12 pounds of muscle, while sophomore end Jack Pyburn added 10 pounds of muscle and reduced his body fat by 6 percent. Junior cornerback Jason Marshall and sophomore cornerback Jalen Kimber both showed gains in lean muscle mass. Napier mentioned other players like Andy Jean, Graham Mertz, Ricky Pearsall, and Tony Livingston, who also exhibited significant improvements in their physical attributes. Hocke explained how they aimed to continue chasing strength and speed year-round, but during the season, the focus would shift more towards practice and competition. Despite this, they had a plan in place to maintain strength and speed gains throughout the year. With the Florida Gators determined to continue their upward trajectory after a bumpy first season under Napier, the team's dedication to improvement in all aspects, both visible and intangible, showed promise for the program's future success. The combination of physical gains, cultural development and coaching pointed towards a brighter future for the Gators as they enter the second year under Napier.

July 31, 2023 A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning: Top to bottom of the roster, Billy Napier is working with more talent and fewer holes in the roster than the one he inherited in December of 2021. He’s added 17 transfers from the portal since taking over, filling some gaps with experience while young recruits grow up. The transfers will have to play well for the Gators this season. There are experienced starters returning such as Kingsley Eguakun, set to begin his third year at center, and corner Jason Marshall Jr., another third-year guy. Florida has 22 very good football players but so does everybody else in the Southeastern Conference. The average teams have 33 good ones and the teams that win nine or more have a solid two-deep. Championship level teams have another 10-20 quality players ready to plug and play. Where will the Gators stack up this year in terms of depth? That will largely determine if Florida is that mediocre team predicted by the media and Las Vegas oddsmakers or one capable of posting the first winning season since 2020. Here is what Napier had to say about depth Sunday morning when he spoke to the media on Florida’s first day of fall camp: “I do think there's parts of our team where we're going to have young players playing, but I think they're talented. I think there's areas of our team where injuries are important, but I also think we've added some experience. I think we've added some awareness, some maturity. We've added some veteran players I think that make our team better. In the two deep, I think when we get done with this thing, there's going to be a ton of competition going into this camp, but I do anticipate as we approach that first game, we're going to have young players that are going to be out there. The positive thing about that is we've had those players since January, and I think with the amount of work that we do, our year-round plan to get those guys I think will give us a better opportunity to work with some of those young players.” DC Austin Armstrong on improving the third down defense “One, I think the key to being good on third down is being good on first and second down. One of the hardest things to do in football for an offense is in known passing situations, which is usually like 3rd-and-6 plus, to drop back, block people and complete a pass. It really takes an offense, 11 people working on one accord to do that. It’s pretty significant. Then defensively you’ve got to create those situations on first and second down where you’re in manageable situations on the defense where you really have the advantage.” OL coach Rob Sale on left tackle Austin Barber’s toughness “Yeah, it showed up on his high school tape if you go back and watch it. That’s just the way he plays. He finishes. That’s constantly the standard that we want to set in the room, finish on every single play. He’s a good player for us and going to be a great player for us.” Strength coach Mark Hocke on how the culture has changed since last year “I think there was some resistance. I think we’ve overcome that. I think we’re all on the same page, and much more working as a team and kind of pulling in the same direction.” The Gators and Phil Steele Phil Steele, whose preseason magazine is filled with more information – some of it useful, a lot of it the kind that makes you ask who’s interested – puts the Gators at No. 28 in his power poll, but not in his preseason top 40 because the Gators face the toughest schedule in the entire nation. Steele rates the Gators 109th in terms of experience. Steele has the Gators finishing fifth in the SEC East. Here is his predicted finish for the SEC: East: 1. Georgia; 2. Tennessee; 3. South Carolina; 4. Kentucky; 5. FLORIDA; 6. Missouri; 7. Vanderbilt. West: 1. Alabama; 2. LSU; 3. Texas A&M; 4. Ole Miss; 5. Arkansas; 6. Auburn; 7. Mississippi State Here are some of Steele’s rankings when it comes to Gators. Draft eligible players by position: Graham Mertz, QB, 65; Montrell Johnson Jr., RB, 11; Cam Carroll, RB, 58; Ricky Pearsall, WR, 45; Dante Zanders, TE, 54; Keon Zipperer, FB, 13; Kingsley Eguakun, C, 27; Princely Umanmielen, DE, 8; Cam Jackson, DT, 76; Teradja Mitchell, ILB, 59; Jason Marshall Jr., CB, 20; Jaydon Hill, CB, 52; Jeremy Crawshaw, P, 4 UF units nationally: RB 16; WR/TE 18; OL 42; DL 55; LB 56; DB 39; ST 17 UF units SEC: QB 13; RB 5; WR/TE 6; OL 9; DL 8; LB 11; DB 9; ST 3 SEC football/basketball Alabama: ESPN’s Adam Rittenburg predicts Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner will be the starting QB game one. Arkansas: Keyon Menifield, who averaged 10 points and 3.1 rebounds per game as a freshman at Washington last season, will take a non-scholarship redshirt season at Arkansas for 2023-24. Auburn: Former Northwestern offensive lineman Dylan Senda is transferring to Auburn. He was the second highest ranked recruit in Northwestern’s 2023 recruiting class. Because he entered the transfer portal within 30 days of the firing of head coach Pat Fitzgerald, Senda will be immediately eligible … The wife of former Auburn long snapper Robert Shriver has been arrested along with two men in The Bahamas for plotting to kill Shriver. Wife Lindsay Shriver (36), her 28-year-old lover and a 29-year-old accomplice will be held in The Bahamas pending their court appearance on October 5. Georgia: Defensive lineman Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins is just the latest Bulldog to run afoul of the law. Ingram-Dawkins was arrested last week on a warrant for failure to show up in court and on the same day ticketed for driving 90 in a 70-mile zone. That’s at least 313 traffic citations since Kirby Smart became the Georgia head coach. Kentucky: New basketball assistant Chuck Martin will make $350,000 this season, $375,000 next season. Missouri: Defensive back Isaac Thomas, a 4-star recruit, will miss the entire preseason after suffering what has been determined as a significant lower body injury. His status beyond August has yet to be determined. Ole Miss: Ole Miss got a Sunday night commitment from Miami transfer corner Chris Graves, a former 4-star recruit from 2022 who was ranked the No. 15 corner in the nation. The Rebels also landed former 4-star linebacker T.J. Dudley, who was a member of Clemson’s 2022 recruiting class … Lane Kiffin has added 25 players through the transfer portal to his 2023 roster. Tennessee: The Vols will play D1AA East Tennessee State September 6, 2025. The play for pay game will earn ETSU a $575,000 payday for its bus trip down I-75 from Johnson City. Texas A&M: Jimbo Fisher says NIL needs some regulating. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” Fisher said over the weekend. “I think it needs to be regulated and controlled so that all the rules are the same.” Vanderbilt: Deputy athletic director Tommy McClelland has been named athletic director at Rice. McClelland spent three years at Vanderbilt after a stint as the AD at Louisiana Tech. As the expansion stomach turns … The choice to leave the Pac-12 was a no-brainer for Colorado. Take the Big 12 and its $31.7 million per year media deal and let everyone else sweat out another George Kliavkoff promise in the Pac-12. Colorado to the Big 12 is a done deal because Fox and ESPN agreed to pay a full $31.7 million in media money, the same amount Arizona, Arizona State and Utah are guaranteed if they decide to bolt the Pac-12. It's not so simple for Arizona and Arizona State. Instinctively, they have to know that Kliavkoff won’t come through with a deal worth $31.7 million but it was the then Pac-10 that rescued them from obscurity back in 1978, turning them into members of what was one of the real power conferences in the country. Loyalty says stay. Their bank accounts are saying something else. Utah, which was in the Mountain West until the Pac-12 came calling, is also loyal and wants to remain but if Arizona and Arizona State leave, it will also leave although it doesn’t relish the thought of being in the same league with BYU, which is 40 miles down the road from Salt Lake. San Diego State, which thought it was going to get an invitation from the Pac-12 but didn’t, committed to stay in the Mountain West, but now that Colorado is departed, it figures to be the logical successor, but there’s a catch. No media deal for the Pac-12 and a now $34 million alimony payment to the Mountain West. SDSU doesn’t have a spare $34 million kicking around. San Diego State would also like to be considered for the 14thspot in the now 13-team Big 12, but as a Group of Five member it would only get $20 million per year. That is more than it makes in the MWC ($6.7 per year), but it would still need to find $34 million to pay the alimony. UNLV would also love to join either the Pac-12 or the Big 12. It probably has a better chance of forking over a $34 million ransom payment to leave the Mountain West than San Diego State. A pre-emptive move by the Big 12 would be a mini-dagger in the Big 12’s heart since Las Vegas is where the Pac-12 plays its basketball tournament. Meanwhile, the Big 12 is talking to UConn about becoming the 14th school in the league. UConn has won five NCAA basketball championships so it would instantly make the already best basketball league in the country even better, plus it would bring along its 11-time NCAA champ women’s team to a rather strong league that includes perennial power Baylor. UConn doesn’t move the football needle at all but it’s not all that far from Cincinnati and West Virginia. There is a teensy matter of $30 million to leave the Big East, a staggering amount for a school that backstrokes in red ink on a daily basis. Big 12 commish Brett Yormark, who has made Kliavkoff seem like a bigger buffoon than he already is, has one other option at his disposal – Washington and Oregon. They’ve been vetted already. For a throw-in, he could add Oregon State. Will the threat of adding the three schools in the north of the Pac-12 be enough to force Arizona, Arizona State and Utah off the fence? What we have going on right now is a game of chicken. Somebody is going to blink, probably this week. So why not Boise State? Considering its success over an extended period of time, it would seem logical that Boise State would be on somebody’s expansion radar but that hasn’t been the case. The Pac-12 just lost Colorado but there is no one pushing for Boise as the replacement. Stewart Mandel of The Athletic pointed out the reason the phone doesn’t ring at Boise State and it has everything to do with academics. Mandel points out that in the US News and World Report rankings, Boise State was in the 331-440 tier. Washington State, the worst academic school in the Pac-12 has a 212 ranking while West Virginia, the bottom feeder in the Big 12, is No. 234. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Pay close attention to what is going on at The Ewe this week. Billionaire booster John Ruiz is under federal civil and criminal investigations and the lawsuits keep on coming. The stock in Ruiz’s company Life Wallet, which traded at $10 a share a year ago, was trading for less than $0.25 on Friday. It is Ruiz with all his NIL deals that have kept Miami relevant even though its ACC media money is only a fraction of what SEC schools make. QB Tyler Van Dyke is on the payroll as was Isaiah Wong, who led The Ewe’s basketball team to the Final Four. The women’s program is on NCAA probation for some shady NIL dealing. Ruiz talked a big game and had folks believing he could even do some sort of deal that could get a stadium on or near campus, but the collapse of his empire is going to have devastating effects on the Miami athletic program.