Dan Bond was there in College Station with his Gator Road Warriors. (Bond family photo) On the road again Goin’ places that I’ve never been Seein’ things that I may never see again And I can’t wait to get on the road again --Willie Nelson, 1980 On the road again. Willie had it right. Ever since I moved away from Florida in 2006, mostly in Dallas, I’ve been on the road. I saw the 2008 Gator softball team, with a record of 68-3, was coming to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series. Only three hours away. I never had been to a softball game and it was there I would be introduced to a young Tim Walton, 38 then, and his Gator squad. Led by All-America pitcher Stacy Nelson. She finished 47- 5 that year. Just not enough run support that weekend to win it all. The Gators lost their two games, 3-2 and 1-0, in a combined 17 innings. The final two games against Texas A&M, Florida split. Another time I had another Gator sport to get excited about. It was a different atmosphere at the Women’s College World Series. Sure everyone wanted their team to win, but the fans were more friendly, a good family atmosphere. Unlike many road trips for football or in Gainesville, for that matter. Goin’ places that I’ve never been. I traveled a few more times to Oklahoma City to watch Florida softball and in 2016 the Gators were coming to College Station. An easy drive from Dallas. I decided to take in the series. They do it up right in Aggieland. (Dan Bond photo) The old A&M stadium was mostly bench seating and not much to talk about, as far as stadiums go. Unlike the $21 million palace they built in 2019. The old stadium had “The Sugar Daddies,” a group of boyfriends/friends that would heckle -but not in a nasty way -- the opposing team and lead cheers. I thought it was great and was sad to see the PC Police shut them down by the time I came back in 2019. In the third game, freshman Kelly Barnhill pitched. My friend that came with me, after hearing how loud Barnhill was when pitching, said, “The Sugar Daddies are going to just destroy her.” I always thought that was some motivation when Barnhill carried the Gators to the 2019 tournament title in College Station her senior year. Seein’ things that I may never see again: The next visit to College Station for softball was 2019. The new A&M stadium is a gem, something to check out someday, if you haven’t been. This was the regular season. I just went down for one game because I already had plans to attend the SEC tournament later in May of that year. Florida swept A&M that year in the regular season. The 2019 tournament, WOW! The Gators were a low six seed. The opening game against South Carolina had a 5-hour delay due to a bad storm and a tornado touching down nearby. I hope to never see that again. Coach Walton rolled the dice and rested Barnhill for that game. UF got down 4-0 after three innings and 5-2 after seven innings. Jordan Matthews hit a walk-off, two run, double in the 7th to keep Florida alive. The rest of the weekend was The Barnhill show. Beating LSU and Auburn 3-0 then holding number one seed Alabama to one run for the 2019 SEC title. And I can’t wait to get on the road again. The people, the places and the game. Some of the Gator Road Warriors on the Texas trip.(Dan Bond photo) Gator nation is strong. It’s what makes going on the road fun. You know there are going to be Gators there to cheer on the mighty Gators. As I mentioned, the softball community is a friendly one. You have many of the players family and friends attending. I ran into the Thomas family on a recent trip. Their daughter Bryn is a backup on the team. They came all the way from Trenton, Florida, just West of Gainesville, and have taken many road games. The Hightower family out of Monticello. Their daughter Elizabeth is the ace this year. One of the larger groups was Reagan Walsh’s family out of California. For Saturday’s` game the Gator fans took over a big portion of the parking lot near the stadium for a tailgate. Everyone wearing Orange and Blue was welcomed. It was my brother Andrew’s first softball game this past weekend. He recently moved to Fort Worth from Denver with his wife Tracey. Thanks to a great series, a nice venue and a fun college town. We have another softball fan. The food, let’s not forget the food. Being on the road means the diet is over and let’s find something tasty. Maybe its barbecue, I prefer C&J barbecue despite Franz Beard’s love of Rudy’s in College Station. Maybe a steakhouse. There’s a newer section of stores and restaurants at University Ave southwest of Texas Ave that’s great. Porters is a five-star steakhouse white tablecloth kind of place, if that’s your mood. It’s fun to find these places. I’ve had great tips from LSU fans in Baton Rouge. Just ask the locals they’ll know where to go. Soon Oklahoma and Texas will join the SEC, giving us Dallas Gators three easy road trip locations. I laughed at this idea: I will soon be closer to three SEC schools then when I lived in Jacksonville. So browse those road schedules. Find a place and a time that works for you and GO! The life I love is makin’ games with my friends. And I can’t wait to get on the road again! It's a brother deal. Dan (left) and brother Andrew whooping it up. (Bond family photo)

A few thoughts to jump start your Friday morning: GOURAIGE: TWO O-LINE COACHES IS BETTER THAN ONE One of the major changes Billy Napier brought to the Florida coaching staff was hiring two offensive line coaches, Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton. Sale, who worked with Napier at Louisiana for three years, was the O-line coach for the New York Giants last year. Stapleton, who started in a Super Bowl for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was one of the O-line coaches at Louisiana last year. The two-coach approach worked very well for Napier in his four years at Louisiana where the Rajin Cajuns ran a fairly balanced attack. It’s a concept that worked quite well when the Gators won two national championships in three years (2006 and 2008) with Steve Addazio and John Hevesy. Senior left tackle Richard Gouraige likes the idea because it gives the offensive linemen more coaching and more detail work. “It’s better getting it from two guys instead of one, to see what they see and stuff like that,” Gouraige said earlier in the week. “Like my hand position, my feet and everything. It’s just elevating our game. Like I say, two is better than one.” Hevesy was Florida’s only offensive line coach the last four years. The Gators had some success running the ball in 2018 and they did a good job in pass protection in 2020, but there was never a lot of consistency and false start penalties were a plague. Sale and Stapleton insist on more discipline and they are constantly preaching about taking care of the little things. Another advantage of two coaches is more work gets done in the same amount of time. “I feel like having two coaches is very helpful for inside guys one day – like the guards get one coach one day and the other coach the tackles,” Gouraige said. “They’re very flexible so everybody is getting a lot of work in a short period of time. Every minute counts.” Gouraige has been very impressed with the two Louisiana transfers. Gouraige says O’Cyrus Torrence, a two-time All-Sun Belt performer, “can definitely help us win games.” As for the 6-8, 360-pound Waites, Gouraige says, “He’s going to be a great player” while adding, “I never felt so small around another person.” Gouraige is listed at 6-5, 320. GATORS FACE LSU IN TOP 25 MATCHUP Hunter Barco (4-1, 1.72 ERA) will get the baseball tonight when the 6th-ranked Gators (16-5, 2-1 SEC) play host to No. 15 LSU (15-6, 1-2 SEC) at the Florida Ballpark (7 p.m., SEC Network+). Opponents are hitting only .153 off Barco, who ranks second in the SEC in strikeouts (44 in 31-1/3 innings). LSU will send righty Blake Money (2-0, 2.86 ERA) to the mound against the Gators. Florida opened SEC play last weekend by taking two of three on the road at Alabama. The Gators hit 10 home runs during that series, two by Jud Fabian, who hit another two on Tuesday to lead the Gators to a 3-2 non-conference win over Bethune-Cookman. Fabian leads the SEC in home runs with 10 (25 RBI) and is second in walks (21). Wyatt Langford leads UF in hitting (.385) and is tied for third in the SEC in home runs (8). As a team, the Gators rank 5th in the SEC in hitting (.309) and second in home runs (43). Brandon Sproat (3-1, 3.33 ERA) is Florida’s expected starter for Saturday’s game. SEC Baseball Thursday’s score: No. 4 Vanderbilt (19-2, 4-0 SEC) 10, South Carolina (10-11, 0-4 SEC) 0 Friday’s games: No. 21 LSU (15-6, 1-2 SEC) at NO. 8 FLORIDA (16-5); No. 17 Georgia (17-4, 2-1 SEC) at Kentucky (15-7, 0-3 SEC); No. 4 Vanderbilt (19-2, 4-0 SEC) at South Carolina (10-11, 0-4 SEC); No. 3 Arkansas (16-3, 3-0 SEC) at Missouri (12-6, 0-3 SEC); Alabama at Mississippi State; Auburn (15-6, 1-2 SEC) at Texas A&M (13-7, 2-1 SEC); No. 5 Tennessee (20-1, 3-0 SEC) at No. 1 Ole Miss (16-4, 2-1 SEC) UF SOFTBALL: BLUE-OUT AT KSP FOR MATCHUP WITH TENNESSEE It will be a blue-out at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium tonight when the 6th-ranked Gators (26-3, 4-2 SEC) face 15th-ranked Tennessee (20-8, 3-2 SEC) in the first game of their 3-game weekend series (6 p.m., SEC Network+). This is the top SEC softball matchup of the weekend. The Gators trail first place Auburn (26-2, 5-1 SEC) by one game while the Vols trail Auburn by 1.5 games. The Gators will probably go with a rotation of Elizabeth Hightower (8-0, 1.47 ERA) tonight with Natalie Lugo (5-2, 1.19 ERA) on Saturday and Lexie Delbrey (9-1, 1.72 ERA) on Sunday. Tennessee’s ace is Erin Edmoundson (13-1, 1.53 ERA). The Gators lead the SEC in team ERA at 1.61. As a team, the Gators are third in the SEC in hitting (.352), led by Kendra Falby (.456, 3 HR, 18 RBI, 22-24 stolen bases) and Skylar Wallace (.432, 4 HR, 31 RBI, 22-23 stolen bases). The Gators rank next to last in the SEC in home runs (23) but they’re second in runs scored (205) and first in stolen bases (73). NCAA SWIMMING: GATORS REMAIN IN SECOND PLACE Two days into the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta, the Gators remain in second place with 159 points, 21 behind Texas and one ahead of third place California. For the second straight night, a Florida relay team captured a championship as Adam Chaney, Eric Friese, Will Davis and Kieran Smith set a new UF school record to win the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:14.11. The Gators fell just .03 from the NCAA record. Seventeen Gators will be swimming Friday including six in the 500 freestyle and five in the 200 freestyle. FOUR GATOR GYMNASTS CLAIM ALL-AMERICAN HONORS Trinity Thomas is the only gymnast in the country to earn first team Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association All-America honors on vault, bars, beam and floor exercise. She is one of four Gators to earn regular season All-America. Nya Reed earned first team floor All-America and second team vault. Megan Skaggs earned first team all-around honors and freshman Leanne Wong made first team on bars, second team all-around, beam and floor. SWEET 16 Thursday’s scores West Regional: 4 Arkansas (28-8) 74, 1 Gonzaga (28-4) 68; 2 Duke (31-6) 78, 3 Texas Tech (27-10) 73 South Regional: 2 Villanova (29-7) 63, 11 Michigan (19-15) 55; 3 Houston (32-5) 72, 1 Arizona (33-3) 60 Friday’s games East Regional 15 St. Peter’s (21-11) vs. 3 Purdue: Saint Peter’s is a terrific story but now the Peacocks have to contend with Purdue’s size and point guard Jaden Ivey. The Peacocks have to shoot from the 3-point line like they did against Kentucky (9-17) if they want to win this one. I like: Purdue 8 North Carolina (26-9) vs. 4 UCLA (27-7): In their two first weekend wins, North Carolina had 51 assists on 62 made baskets, which is phenomenal. Can UCLA contain Armando Bacot (32 points, 26 rebounds in two NCAA game) and Brady Manek (54 points, 16 rebounds)? UNC plays spotty defense. UCLA has to have a great shooting game from Johnny Juzang and Jaime Jaquez Jr. to win this one. I like: North Carolina Midwest Regional 4 Providence (27-5) vs. 1 Kansas (30-6): Providence has allowed 57 and 51 points in two NCAA games. For the Friars to beat Kansas, they’ll have to hold the Jayhawks to fewer than 60. Remy Martin has awakened from his season-long slumber to score 20 and 15 in the two Kansas wins. If he’s controlling the ball from the point, Providence will have troubles. I like: Kansas 11 Iowa State (22-12) vs. 10 Miami (25-10): Miami has no size but their 4-guard lineup does play ferocious defense and the Hurricanes have only turned the ball over seven times in two games. Iowa State’s two NCAA wins are by a combined nine points. The Cyclones thrive in white knucklers. I like: Iowa State ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Several members of Congress are planning to host a virtual summit next week with athletes and advocates next week in an attempt to create momentum for NCAA reform. If ever there was a call for the football playing schools to secede from the NCAA this is it. If there is one organization in the entire country more inept than the NCAA it is the Congress. The NCAA hasn’t lacked for opportunities to bring about significant and needed changes, but instead of devoting time and effort to get something meaningful done, it has instead chosen to fight lawsuits in the courts where it has lost every single major case. The NCAA vs. Alston, which brought about NIL is the perfect example. The NCAA fought it all the way to the Supreme Court rather than sit down with schools and athletes to come up with a plan that would work. And, once the NCAA got its butt kicked by the Supremes, it chose to take its issues up with Congress, which is convinced it knows how to spend our money better than we do. I don’t think anything good can come from Congress getting involved in reforming the NCAA just as I don’t think there is anything good that can come from the football schools remaining under the NCAA umbrella. I’m convinced the NCAA is beyond reform and I’m not the only one who thinks that way. Back in 2013, when talking about issues with the NCAA, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby stated: “I think we all have a sense that transformative changed needs to happen. I don’t know that we can keep doing what we’re doing. It’s bad grammar but a good concept. If we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll always get what we’ve always go. That’s kind of where we’re at.” Bowlsby went on to say, “I don’t see secession from the NCAA as a viable leverage point, except as a last resort.” Well, it’s nine years later and the only thing that has changed is now the NCAA wants to compound its own inability to govern college sports by bringing in the Congress. The time for a last resort is now. Football is the economic engine that drives all of college sports. There is no way that schools with $100 million (or more) budgets should be held to the same standards as the Kent States and New Mexico States of the world yet through its arcane rules and regulations, that’s what the NCAA tries to do. Why, for example, should Florida and the rest of the SEC schools, which distributed more than $56 million from media contracts have to abide by the same scholarship restrictions as schools with $30 million budgets for the entire athletic program? But, that’s what we have and it will only get worse if the Congress gets involved to any extent.

After seven years coaching basketball at the University of Florida where only one of his teams sniffed the Final Four, Mike White left for Georgia, just a couple days removed from an overtime loss in the Southeastern Conference Tournament. His head wasn’t on Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin’s chopping block but he never really felt appreciated by fans who expected championship level basketball. White left a Florida program that is the only two-time national champion from the SEC in this century and one of only six in NCAA history to go back-to-back (2006-07) for a school with very little in the way of basketball winning tradition and a fan base that pretty much thinks basketball is what fills the time before spring football practice. In the history of the SEC, Georgia has never won the regular season championship (Florida has won seven) and has only won the SEC Tournament once (2008) and that was helped along by a tornado that shifted the venue from the heavily damaged Georgia Dome to Georgia Tech’s cozy Alexander Coliseum. That White would leave Florida didn’t surprise a lot of people. The relationship with the fan base was borderline toxic, largely because in seven years he never won either the SEC regular season or the league tournament and only once did he make it past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. That White would leave for Georgia, however, did raise plenty of eyebrows, but it probably shouldn’t when you consider his background. White played collegiately at Ole Miss, another football school that has never won the SEC regular season championship although it has won two tournament titles. Like Georgia, Ole Miss has had far more losing seasons than winners. Perhaps he feels that at a place where the expectations are low and the tradition non-existent he will be loved and appreciated. Take also into consideration that prior to Florida, White was the head coach at Louisiana Tech, which hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in more than 30 years. White won 101 games in four seasons but he only got the Bulldogs in the NIT. White did win 142 games in his seven years on the job at UF, but it seems obvious in retrospect that he was never quite comfortable with either the expectations or the fact he was the guy who followed a coaching legend. Fans were accustomed to Billy Donovan winning championships (6 SEC regular season, 4 SEC Tournaments, 4 NCAA regionals, 2 national championships) so the lack of March success by White never settled well. There are certain similarities in White’s background as well as those of new Florida coach Todd Golden. Golden was an over-achieving walk-on point guard who earned a scholarship at Saint Mary’s. While he did have a two-year stint as an assistant coach at Auburn, the rest of his career prior to Florida was at the mid-major level (Columbia and San Francisco). White was a mid-major head coach at Louisiana Tech. Golden was at San Francisco (57-36 record with an NCAA bid). Seven years into the Florida gig, however, White elected to leave for a place where everybody talks about the high ceiling, but reality is the expectations are as low as they get in the SEC. Three years into his San Francisco gig, Golden is leaving a place where he probably couldn’t get fired after taking the Dons to their first NCAA Tournament in 25 years. He’s coming to a place where championships matter and are expected, but this is where he and wife Megan want to be. They see a great place to raise their two small children, but they also see the basketball potential and it is basketball, after all, that brought them to Gainesville. Championship expectations? Golden made it perfectly clear at his introductory press conference at the O-Dome that he embraces the high expectations. Golden also let it be known that if Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin didn’t have championship expectations he wouldn’t have taken the Florida coaching job. “Honestly, at a place like this they should have high expectations,” Golden said.” Like I mentioned, there's everything you need here to be really, really good, and if they didn't have those championship aspirations and expectations – if Scott didn't want to do that – that would concern me. If he didn't think, ‘Hey, Todd, I expect you to compete to win SEC Championships, to do those things; oh, I just want you to be middle of the pack,’ that would have concerned me. I want those expectations. We're going to do everything we can to get there.” Comparisons to Billy Donovan come with the territory. It took Alabama 25 years to find a coach (Nick Saban) who was comfortable with the ghost of Bear Bryant in the building. At Kentucky, where four different coaches have won a national championship since Adolph Rupp retired. Every one of them is just another coach until they’ve matched Rupp’s four. Since John Wooden retired at UCLA, there has been only one national championship. Every coach who takes that job knows he will be measured against Wooden’s 10 national championships in 12 years. There is no ghost for Golden to chase at Florida. Donovan is still very much alive and though he coaches the Chicago Bulls in the NBA, he still considers Gainesville his home. His dad, Bill Sr., was at Golden’s press conference Wednesday. If there is even a slight amount of intimidation, then it certainly wasn’t evident. Golden and Donovan have already spoken on the phone and Donovan made it perfectly clear, he’s ready to help. “I was able to talk to Coach Donovan last Saturday for about 30 minutes, and it gave me goose bumps the whole time we were chatting because he was so unselfish, so willing to be a resource to me,” Golden said. “He said he was willing to help as much or as little as possible, talked about how passionate him and his family were about Gainesville and how big of a part that this place played in his life, his family's life, the maturation of his kids. “He considers this place home, and it's really important to him that this place is great, and he said you don't have to worry about me. I said, Coach, ‘I'm going to be calling you a lot. Don't worry.’ I want to pick his brain. I want him to be a big resource for me. He is a guy I look up to both from a coaching standpoint and also as a man. Everything I hear from others is how great of a person he is.” Golden’s plan for the Gators sounds a lot like the one that was the foundation for Donovan at UF for 19 years: play defense at an elite level, rebound the basketball, score on layups in transition and knock down a lot of 3-pointers. Wednesday, Golden made sure everybody heard that last year’s 30.3 percent shooting on 3-pointers is completely unacceptable. When the Gators can’t score in transition, they’ll slow the ball down, spread the floor and run a half-court offense where players and the ball are constantly moving. There will be great emphasis on protecting the basketball, something the Gators haven’t done very well the last couple of years (728 assists, 798 turnovers). To make that work, Golden plans to use every means at his disposal to bring in players who are good fits for the style he plans to run. He will re-recruit players on the current roster including Colin Castleton, who could use a super senior year, go to the transfer portal to bring in plug and play types who can fit instantly and also recruit internationally. It’s all part of building a foundation for success that equals the expectations of the fan base. “You should expect to see a big, strong, deep roster that has a lot of skilled and unselfish players that are willing to put the team in front of themselves,” Golden said. Stricklin and his staff had a short list of potential coaches to work with when White departed – some of them high profile veterans and some up and coming young coaches like Golden (age 36). There was ample interest in the Florida job, but the one coach who kept checking all the right boxes was Golden. “As everyone is aware, there were no shortage of job openings at high major schools during this recent coaching cycle, including several in the SEC,” Stricklin said. “One thing I would like to share with Gator Nation, all the fans listening out there, because I think it's important, Todd wanted to be a Florida Gator. This was a place that he valued as much as we valued him. He shares our goals and our aspirations to win championships at the University of Florida.” Golden still hasn’t coached a game or recruited a player. He still has to fill out his coaching staff, hire analysts and a director of basketball operations. He has to hit the recruiting trail hard because the Gators could lose up to six seniors plus the underclassmen have the option of the transfer portal. There are only 24 hours in the day and Todd Golden might need 30 to accomplish each day’s tasks, but do understand one thing. He wants to be here. He wants to be a Gator and he loves the high expectations.

By KYLE CURTIS GatorBait Intern After last year’s underwhelming finish to the season, the Gators’ have had one of the most promising football offseasons in all the country. “It’s not a lack of players. It’s not a lack of talent,” said Derek Wingo, returning linebacker. “We have all the tools we need to be successful.” Every successful team has a successful leader in the eyes of the fan base, as well as the locker room. During last season, the Gators went lacking on a week-to-week basis for “The Guy” that could step up in times of need. There have been speculations and projections that perhaps quarterback Anthony Richardson has somewhat been designated as “The Face” of the team and stepped up to embrace that role. Derek Wingo, on the other hand, has a new and fresh take on the face of the team. “That’s something that will be a question this year,” Wingo recently said. “A lot of the guys that came back, we have kind of adapted to new morale this year. I think the biggest thing between last year and this year is that there won’t be a specific face. Rather, it’s going to be a group of guys who hold each other accountable and be able to lead successfully to get to our goals, such as the SEC and National Championship.” Wingo, a former top-100 recruit, is in line for a much bigger role this year. He has impressed the staff along with a new defensive mastermind at the helm in Patrick Toney. Wingo has lost weight during the offseason improving his speed and becoming a bit leaner. He says he is not as much worried about individual success as success for the team and getting better during the offseason. “The older guys have really been able to step up and take that leadership as a whole,” Wingo said. Wingo described the group approach of leadership growth from last year. He had praise for many of the top returning players, in particular, Justin Shorter. Wingo says Shorter is a relentless worker who continues to work on his routes and footwork even once practice is over. He says this kind of work ethic from seniors is contagious to the younger guys. Wingo is thankful for this new morale the team has adopted. “Overall, this makes the team amazing,” Wingo said. “Whenever something goes wrong you have guys on your left and right that are always willing to help.” Wingo was also not short on words about Richardson. After the departure of Emory Jones recently, quarterback seems destined to become Richardson’s job. Wingo says the team has embraced Richardson and everyone looks at him as a leader. Running back Nay’Quan Wright told the media after practice how much of an improvement Richardson’s game has made, but also bragged on his leadership qualities. With the new group mentality about leadership and shift in locker room morale, the job of “Face” appears to be open – but Anthony Richardson is closing in on it. And certainly appears there’s a leader in the clubhouse. Or maybe "leaders."

A little further dive into the shrimp and gumbo of his philosophy: “The best thing we are gonna do as a running back room is cheer for one another, play extremely hard, and play the guys that are most consistent.” Jabbar Juluke (center) brings a lot more than coaching running backs. (Loren Meaows photo) By LOREN MEADOWS GatorBait Football Analyst When you meet Jabbar Juluke, you’ll find that the opportunity to coach at the University of Florida is not something he takes lightly. “I’m excited for this opportunity to be at the University of Florida,” was one of his most resounding initial statements during a recent media availability. What became clear was it is not the opportunity to simply coach some of the premier athletes in the SEC, but the opportunity to mold men. And make more relationships. Juluke has a positive spirit that is clear from the minute you hear him speak. He is quick to give first-year head coach Billy Napier credit for his development as a football coach over the past four years. He states that its Napier’s “attention to detail, organization, and regiment that makes me excited to work for him and give him my best.” When looking at the coaching philosophy of Juluke, you find that it is rooted in hard work, responsibility and dedication. “We want competition every day. No one is going to be handed anything, we want to go out and work for it on a daily basis.” A little further dive into the shrimp and gumbo of his philosophy: “The best thing we are gonna do as a running back room is cheer for one another, play extremely hard, and play the guys that are most consistent.” Juluke stresses that he wants his backs to be “the best group of young men that you see both on and off the football field, in the community, and the locker room.” It is those traits that Juluke learned as a high school athlete under Coach Burton Burns at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. Burns, who recently finished a stint as the running back coach of the New York Giants, is the coach Juluke points to as his mentor in life and the coaching profession. Burns, who tutored a gifted group of backs at Alabama including Derrick Henry, was regarded as one of the top recruiters in the country known for his ability to develop relationships with high school players and coaches alike. “I try to emulate the things that he’s (Burns) done and the impact that he’s made in my life, and I try to pay it forward to the young men I’m working with,” he said. From Burns’ influence, it is apparent that Juluke has his finger on the pulse when it comes to dealing with his players. He is willing to offer a shoulder to lean on if necessary, but also does not hesitate to throw some tough love in their direction as well. He speaks of current Florida Gator Nayquan Wright’s willingness to accept a leadership role as the elder statesman in the running back room. He has encouraged Wright to remain dialed in mentally while dealing with the emotional grind of rehabbing a leg injury suffered last season. He says that as a coach you want to “make their weaknesses their strengths, and their strengths their weaknesses.” All in an effort to “not mess them up.” Referring to former protégé and physical freak Leonard Fournette with whom he has a lifelong bond. Or certain former running backs he has occasionally cautioned about the need for proper rest and nutrition and not the outside activities that college students like to indulge in. Juluke doesn't want to "mess them up." (Loren Meadows Photo) Certainly, this type of love was refined in the nine years that Juluke spent as a successful head coach at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans. He compiled an 80-39 record at Edna Karr capped by a perfect 14-0 mark and a Class 4A state title in 2012. Juluke guided Edna Karr to seven district titles and two state runner-up finishes during his tenure. During this time Juluke helped over 70 of his players earn college football scholarships as well. Regarded as one of the top high school coaches in Louisiana, Coach Juluke would begin his coaching career at Louisiana Tech where he was part of consecutive 9-win seasons and back-to back bowl victories for the first time in school history. While in Ruston, Juluke coached one of the NCAA’s most dominant rushers Kenneth Dixon. He would also gain a reputation as a tireless recruiter gaining the commitments of future NFL draft picks Carlos Henderson, Trent Taylor (wide receiver), and safety Xavier Woods. After a year at Texas Tech, Juluke arrived at LSU to coach a group of some of the school’s most decorated runners. As gifted as Fournette, Darius Guice and Darrell Williams were as a group, it was the bond he created with them that provided the lasting relationships. For Fournette it was “how to handle success, how to being a phenom. For Guice, it was “take your time” and allow the game to come to him. For Williams there was the constant encouragement of patience while the future Super Bowl champion waited his turn behind supremely gifted future first round picks. Juluke referred to himself as a “counselor” during his final years in Louisiana. The trio of Elijah Mitchell, Trey Ragas, and Raymond Calais were a close-knit group of roommates that dealt with the challenges of fatherhood during their collegiate careers. “I was marriage/girlfriend counselor” he said, while stating “he couldn’t say enough” about his former All-Sun Belt performers. Juluke said that he intends to bolster his relationships while in Gainesville. Even going as far as promising to have Leonard Fournette come speak to his player and don the Blue and Orange while visiting the Gators. “Recruiting is temporary, relationships are permanent,” he said. “I don’t worry about the ones I lose because they can beat me one time. “I worry about the ones I get because they can beat me every day.” It is relationships, even with those that may choose to go elsewhere the Juluke holds dear. Meanwhile, Juluke has over 4,500 contacts in his phone, all representing relationships, not wins and losses, not accolades, or disappointments. During his time in Gainesville that number no doubt is and going to grow.

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning: WHAT A CONCEPT: GOLDEN HAS AN OFFENSIVE PLAN Todd Golden wasn’t pointing fingers at anyone in particular when he was introduced to the Gator Nation at an O-Dome press conference. He didn’t have to. The numbers speak for themselves. When he began describing the kind of team he expects to roll out on the floor next year and every year thereafter, a couple of things stood out like your proverbial sore thumb: shooting 3-pointers, rebounding and cutting way down on turnovers. Start with shooting. “The team I think was around 30.5 percent (actually 30.3 percent) from the year on three, and the way that I like to play that's simply not going to be good enough,” Golden said. Rebounding: The Gators averaged 33.6 rebounds per game. Opponents averaged 35. Some of that can be attributed to injuries. Colin Castleton played all season with a torn labrum that will require surgery and caused him to miss six games. Backup center Jason Jitoboh missed the last 16 games of the season after sustaining an eye injury. Anthony Duruji played the last month of the season on a bad ankle and CJ Felder missed games because he was sick and then with a hip pointer. No matter the issue, this is an area that has to be addressed for the Gators to be better. “That was an area that was surprising to me when evaluating the team and the roster that they didn't have a lot of success in because I think the pieces are there, and I think the talent is there in terms of being able to get on the glass,” Golden said. Turnovers: Florida had more turnovers than assists in the 2020-21 season and last year they had only 12 more assists than turnovers. Remember this: As a senior point guard at Saint Mary’s, Todd Golden had the second best assist-to-turnover ratio in the NCAA – 3.68-1. “A lot of people have asked me what type of teams should they expect to see when the Gators take the floor next year?” Golden asked rhetorically. “I try to explain it, you should expect to see a big, strong deep roster that has a lot of skilled and unselfish players that are willing to put the team in front of themselves. Foundationally, we always strive to be elite in three areas: Defensively, rebounding, and taking care of the basketball. If we're able to do that, it will raise our floor and give us a great chance to be really successful and eliminate any unnecessary volatility we might have.” Defensively, the Gators were inconsistent. They had some brilliant games like the win over Auburn, but they had some games when the breakdowns were almost too many to count. It is the offense that has been stuck in a rut for much of the last seven years. How does Golden plan to improve the offense? “Offensively we're going to play fast, but not in a hurry,” he said. “We're going to try to push in transition, score early in the clock, hunt rim twos, catch and shoot threes. If we don't score in transition, we're going to slow it down and make you guard us in the half court and make you guard continuous player and ball movement, unique ball screen actions, and different things that I think are incredibly difficult to scout.” Continuous movement was a problem. Unique ball screen actions were, too. Florida’s pick and roll game was far too predictable and not all that difficult to defend. Opposing coaches thought Florida had good athletes that were held back by a way too simplistic scheme. Golden is somewhat of an analytics freak. He will bring in the staff he needs – “Whatever he needs, he’ll get,” athletic director Scott Stricklin said – and they’ll do the analytics to figure out what works well for the Gators offensively. One thing for certain, he’s got a plan to make it work and that has to be music to the ears of Florida fans who grew frustrated with inconsistent offense the last seven years. NAY’QUAN WRIGHT: “WE’RE GOING TO SHINE IN THIS SYSTEM” The competitor in Nay’Quan Wright begs to get out on the practice field this spring, but the injured ankle that he’s still rehabbing tells him to be patient, that his time will come. So, instead of going through the paces at each practice, Wright’s main focus is absorbing everything he can so he can be ready in the fall. “Right now I’m taking it step by step, day by day, and just continuing to believe,” Wright said Tuesday afternoon after the Gators finished their fourth practice of the spring. “I actually started running now. it’s going down the right path. I’m not worried or rushing.” He does whatever work the trainers allow him to do, but that does give him time to observe and he likes what he sees, both of the new offense that head coach Billy Napier is installing and the three running backs who are out there working every day – Lorenzo Lingard, Demarkcus Bowman and Louisiana transfer Montrell Johnson. Lingard and Bowman are former 5-star recruits who started their careers elsewhere (Lingard at Miami, Bowman at Clemson). Neither one got much of a chance to play in former coach Dan Mullen’s system. Johnson was the second leading rusher as a true freshman for Napier at Louisiana last year. Lingard and Johnson have breakaway speed while Johnson is a downhill runner who Wright says is “not running from no contact.” It’s still spring and the Gators won’t scrimmage for another week, but it’s a running back friendly system. None of the Florida backs were playing the last time the Florida offense was more run than pass with running backs getting the bulk of the carries. “We’re going to shine in this system but at the end of the day we have to show up every day and work,” Wright said. “Things can change. Right now Coach is a run-type of guy, a run type of offensive guy but that’s just something this program hasn’t done in a while. I think it would be great. Get the backs more featured and also the weapon receivers we have.” TRINITY THOMAS SEC GYMNAST OF THE YEAR The remarkable career of Trinity Thomas keeps earning more accolades. Wednesday, Thomas was named SEC Gymnast of the Year, the second time (2020) she has earned that award. Thomas has six perfect 10s this year, 14 for her career, and she is the third Gator and one of only 12 gymnasts all-time to win the Gym Slam: a perfect 10 in all four events. Thomas was one of five Gators who earned All-SEC honors. Also named were Nya Reed, Megan Skaggs, Alyssa Baumann and Leanne Wong. The Gators are the No. 2 national seed and will be the top seed at the Auburn NCAA Regional starting on March 31. GATORS SET RELAY RECORD AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS The 200 IM relay team of Adam Chaney, Dillon Hills, Eric Friese and Will Davis set the NCAA record with a time of 1:21.13 to capture the event at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta Wednesday. Chaney’s 20.19 backstroke was the third fastest split of all time while Friese swam a 19.36 butterfly to tie for the fastest split of all time. The Gators also got a seventh place finish in the 800 freestyle relay as they finished day one of the competition in second place with 64 points, 10 behind Texas. SWEET 16 West Regional 1 Gonzaga (28-3) vs. 4 Arkansas (27-8): Arkansas has to neutralize Andrew Nembhard, the best pure point guard remaining in the tournament. If he penetrates then Drew Timme will score in the mid-to-high 20s. Sag and Nembhard will kill the Hogs from three. JD Notae has to play great for Arkansas to win. I like the Zags. 2 Duke (30-6) vs. 3 Texas Tech (27-9): This is Duke’s boys against Texas Tech’s grown men. Duke has size and an enormous amount of talent, but the Blue Devils haven’t played any defense as ferocious as Texas Tech, which gives up only 60.2 points per game and holds opponents to 31.4 percent on threes. For Duke to win, Mark Williams has to control things in the paint. I like Terrence Shannon to dominate this game and for Texas Tech to win. South Regional 11 Michigan (19-14) vs. 2 Villanova (28-7): Nova just knows how to play the game. Unlike Tennessee, which disintegrated against Michigan, Nova won’t make stupid mistakes and lose a winnable game. Jay Wright will outcoach Juwan Howard and Collin Gillespie will make everyone on Nova better. Nova. Big. 5 Houston (31-5) vs. 1 Arizona (33-3): Houston will pack the paint and dare Zona to win the game from the 3-point line. The difference this game is probably hustle points and nobody gets to more 50-50 balls or runs down offensive rebounds like Houston. Houston in a grind it out squeaker. SEC FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL STUFF Alabama: Georgia Tech running back transfer Jahmyr Gibbs has been drawing excellent reviews as Alabama has begun spring practice. Running backs Jace McClellan and Roydell Williams are in black no-contact jerseys as they rehab from injuries. Auburn: Quarterback Dematrius Davis, a 4-star signee from the 2021 class, has put his name in the transfer portal ... Corner Ro Torrence, who played in 10 games last year after transferring in from Hutchinson Community College, is in the portal. Georgia: Former Florida assistants Erik Pastrana and Akeem Miskdeen have followed Mike White to Georgia. LSU: Former LSU associate athletic director Sharon Lewis has alleged that running backs/associate head coach Frank Wilson sexually harassed her and another woman. At his Wednesday press conference one day ahead of the Tigers opening spring practice, head coach Brian Kelly said, “We stand behind Frank Wilson.” Mississippi State: In explaining why he left New Mexico State (besides more money but he didn’t say that) to become Mississippi State’s basketball coach, Chris Jans said, “It’s a bigger stage, a bigger platform. You’re going to compete against the best players, the best coaches each and every night.” Missouri: Corner Snoop Reeves, a former 3-star recruit from Cocoa, is in the transfer portal. He didn’t record any stats in 2021. Ole Miss: Former Florida Atlantic special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jason Fairman has joined the Ole Miss staff as an analyst. South Carolina: Former South Carolina hoops coach Frank Martin is expected to be named the new HBC at UMass, replacing former Florida assistant Matt McCall, who was fired … Erik Stevenson, who averaged 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, is in the portal as a grad transfer. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: A couple of weeks ago, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby complained to Dennis Dodd, the fine college football writer for CBS Sports, that every day that passes without movement on expanding the College Football Playoff is going to it far more difficult to get the right deal done when the current 12-year playoff contract expires with ESPN. It’s well known that expansion could have gotten done months ago if not for the silliness of “The Alliance” – the three-conference group of the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12. Here is what bothers me most about the objections of commissioners Kevin Warren (Big Ten), Jim Phillips (ACC) and George Kliavkoff (Pac-12) and it goes beyond the money an expanded playoff would provide for the schools in their leagues. We have a problem that no one seems to talk about, which is the long term health of college football players. An expanded playoff could provide the kind of money that would allow everyone who plays the game extended healthcare beyond their playing careers. We hear all this talk about players getting paid to play the game. What I would really like to hear is about players getting health insurance for years after their college careers are over, for a lifetime if they suffered multiple concussions or serious joint injuries. I’ve been writing about college football since the 1960s. The injuries grow more frequent and more severe every single year. Steve Spurrier once remarked that the players are bigger, stronger, faster and they hit harder than they’ve ever hit but the field they play on stays the same size. Translation: There is no place to hide from the kind of hits a player takes over the course of a college career. What I would like to hear is for the commissioners of all 10 conferences plus the AD at Notre Dame to huddle up and decide on a plan to expand the College Football Playoff, adding what is expected to be another $1 billion in revenue to the sport. Then I’d like to hear these same commissioners do something that should have been done long ago and that is care for the health of the people who make the revenue which makes their jobs possible. I can dream can’t I?

“We were recruiting against Gonzaga, BYU and Saint Mary’s, all the top programs on the west coast. We had no facilities, no practice facility. We didn’t have a dedicated academic counselor so we had all these challenges but we were still able to navigate through it and build a top 20 team in the country last year.” – Todd Golden, University of Florida basketball coach When Todd Golden reflects on what he did in his three years as the head coach at the University of San Francisco, he can’t help but gush with appreciation for the opportunity that was afforded him three years ago when he was 33 years old with no head coaching experience. He went 57-36 in three years, took the Dons to their first NCAA Tournament in 25 years and he did it with only a fraction of the advantages he has now as the head coach at the University of Florida. When asked if it’s like going from Motel 6 to a suite at the Ritz Carlton, Golden grinned and replied, “I think that’s a decent way to describe it.” In saying that, Golden isn’t taking a shot at San Francisco but it is indeed like comparing apples to oranges. San Francisco is a small Catholic school with a small campus and a cramped 5,300-seat gym that was built in 1958. USF plays in the West Coast Conference, a nifty basketball-oriented league that most only know because its bell cow – Gonzaga – perennially makes deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. BYU is the league’s only football school but that comes to an end soon since the Cougars are off to the Big 12 where there will be more money and more exposure in a football-crazed conference that plays a high profile brand of basketball (three Big 12 teams in the Sweet 16). At Florida, the facilities are infinitely better and because it’s a football school that is part of the Southeastern Conference, the best collegiate sports league in the country with huge money resources, Golden knows this is an unprecedented opportunity to restore Florida to a championship level. As the hierarchy of college basketball changes with iconic coaches like Roy Williams and Mike Kyrzyzewski riding off into the sunset soon to be followed by many others, Golden is considered one of the new wave of young coaches that will take the game into the next era. There was no shortage of suitors for Golden, who chose Florida because there is a championship pedigree and high expectations. He believes UF is a place where championships still can and should be won. Billy Donovan brought championship basketball to the University of Florida. He won six Southeastern Conference championships, took the Gators to seven Elite Eights, four Final Fours and two NCAA championships in 19 years on the job. Those are Hall of Fame numbers and they raised the expectations of the entire Gator Nation, which considers itself championship starved after the last seven years with Mike White at the helm. Although he’s never come right out and said it, the pressure of high expectations had plenty to do with Mike White leaving Florida for Georgia, a place where the expectations are significantly lower and tradition is almost non-existent. Golden doesn’t have a problem with high expectations. If anything, he embraces them. He wants to win championships and he wants to recruit players who expect to play on championship teams. “Honestly, at a place like this they should have high expectations,” Golden said. “Like I mentioned, there's everything you need here to be really, really good and if they didn't have those championship aspirations and expectations, if Scott [Stricklin, athletic director] didn't want to do that, that would concern me. If he didn't think, hey, Todd, I expect you to compete to win SEC Championships, to do those things, or I just want you to be middle of the pack, that would have concerned me. I want those expectations. We're going to do everything we can to get there.” In seven years on the job, White got the Gators in the postseason five times (three NCAA, two NIT) but only once (2017) did he get the Gators past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. That Elite Eight team in 2017 was the only one that went through a season with fewer than 10 losses. While Gator fans could appreciate that White-coached teams always played hard and that there wasn’t a hint of a scandal, the style of play was borderline boring. This is an era of offensive innovation in basketball, but Florida basketball was known for too many people standing around, too many SCUDS fired up from beyond the 3-point line and way too many turnovers. In his first team meeting upon arriving in Gainesville, Golden made it abundantly clear how the offense is going to change. “Very rarely will we have any less than four guys on the court that can dribble, pass, and shoot at an insanely high level,” he said. The shooting part probably got the attention of the entire Gator Nation that grew frustrated with the lack of consistency from the outside. In White’s seven years at UF, the Gators lost 52 games that were decided by two or fewer possessions. Two or three made shots in each of those losses would have made all the difference in the world. So could a few extra rebounds. “The team I think was around 30.5 percent from the year on three, and the way that I like to play that's simply not going to be good enough,” Golden said. “We're going to have to go out and shoot the ball better to achieve the goals we want to achieve. Also, defensive rebounding. That was an area that was surprising to me when evaluating the team and the roster that they didn't have a lot of success in because I think the pieces are there, and I think the talent is there in terms of being able to get on the glass. I think if we can lift those two areas up a couple of pegs and stay consistent and get better in other areas, we should be back in the tournament next year.” Lifting those two areas will require a roster makeover. There were six seniors who played in the 2021-22 season, four of which (Colin Castleton, Tyree Appleby, Anthony Duruji and Myreon Jones) all have the option to return because of the NCAA COVID season rule. There are six underclassmen scheduled to return, but with the transfer portal, they could all seek a new place to play. Malik Reneau, a 5-star power forward recruit from Montverde Academy, has asked out of his letter of intent. Center Jalen Reed and combo guard Denzel Aberdeen are still signed, but they also could ask out of their scholarships. Golden’s commitment is to “build a fence” around the state of Florida to keep high-level talent in the state. That, he says, is a recruiting necessity. The transfer portal is another option to find plug and play types who can fill an immediate need. At San Francisco Golden used the portal for half his roster. Another seven players were internationals. There is a lot of overseas talent playing in the West Coast Conference and that’s an area Golden says the Southeastern Conference schools have neglected. At this point, however, Golden’s top priority is to re-recruit at least one of the players on Florida’s roster. Colin Colin Castleton averaged 16.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots per game last year while earning second team All-SEC honors for the second straight year. Castleton played the entire season with a torn labrum that will require surgery. There is no way to speed up the rehab process from the surgery so Castleton won’t be able to work out for NBA teams prior to the draft. That is an opening that Golden believes could work out in Florida’s favor. “Colin is a guy that I’ve spent a lot of time with over the past couple of days,” Golden said. “I’m trying to work to see if he has a desire to come back and use his extra year. The great thing is I have a great test case for him from my time at San Francisco because my point guard (Jamaree Bouyea) this past year was a guy that took advantage and used his fifth COVID year. He ended up having 36 points in the NCAA Tournament and will end up getting drafted now. It’s something that I can really easily explain to Colin and paint a picture of. He was intrigued by it. I’m hopeful these conversations go the right way and regardless, I want what’s best for him. “I’ll work hard to see what he wants to do, but again, being in a new program with a new cast it has to make sense for both sides. He’s got to be comfortable. He’s got to be excited about it.” No matter who is on the Florida roster next year, the players will be expected to live by a set of non-negotiable three core values that Golden will not compromise. He understands that Lon Kruger, Billy Donovan and Mike White all ran clean programs for which there was never a hint of an NCAA scandal, which can’t be said about SEC brethren LSU, Alabama, South Carolina and Auburn. The best way to keep the program on the up and up is to recruit the right way and once kids are on campus, hold them to high standards. “Number one, we're going to have the team first,” Golden said. “Every decision that me, my staff, and our student-athletes make is going to be for the greater good of the program and the team. Unselfishness is key to me. “Secondly, and this one is pretty simple, but I expect our guys to be prepared and work hard. That's just not from a basketball standpoint or a weightlifting standpoint, that's from an academic standpoint. That's from going out into the community and being with people. I expect us to be prepared and always ready for the challenge. “Lastly, I expect my student-athletes as well as my staff to have an attitude of appreciation. This is one of the best programs in the country. This is one of the best institutions in the country. We have everything we need here, and I won't take anything less than guys being super grateful for being a part of it.” The word appreciation sticks out. Golden said it several times during his press conference. He comes to Florida from a place that gave him an opportunity when he was young and untested. He appreciates the faith the people at San Francisco had in him just as he appreciates the faith Scott Stricklin and the University of Florida have that he is the right coach to lead the Gators moving forward. When Florida came calling, Golden already knew this was the kind of place he wanted to be. From his time as a point guard at Saint Mary’s at the same time the Gators were winning back-to-back national championships to the time spent as Bruce Pearl’s assistant at Auburn (2014-16), he knew all about the Gators and had a pretty good idea about Gainesville. Talking to Billy Donovan for 30 minutes Saturday, Golden knew he had found a place to call home for his wife Megan and two kids, Jake and Madison. In addition to letting Golden know that he would always be available to help in any way possible, Donovan also made it a point to emphasize that Gainesville is still home and will always be. That was a selling point for a coach who wants to be in one place well after his young children graduate from high school many years from now. Megan and the kids will settle in to a new home and while they’re adjusting to a new place to call home, Golden will hire assistant coaches and support staff – Stricklin says whatever he needs he’ll get it – and figure out how much of a roster rebuild he will have to do. Recruiting will be a priority and he will be selling whoever is willing to listen on a vision for Florida basketball in the future. “I’ll try to explain it, you should expect to see a big, strong deep roster that has a lot of skilled and unselfish players that are willing to put the team in front of themselves,” Golden said. “Foundationally, we always strive to be elite in three areas: Defensively, rebounding, and taking care of the basketball. If we're able to do that, it will raise our floor and give us a great chance to be really successful and eliminate any unnecessary volatility we might have.” If the Gators do those things, they will also raise the expectations of the fan base. Those high expectations had plenty to do with White leaving for Georgia. His 142-88 record was cause for anxiety among the Gator Nation. If he can repeat that at Georgia, he’ll be a conquering hero. At Florida, however, Todd Golden far beyond 142-88. He envisions a basketball program that can be mentioned in the same breath as some of the college game’s bluebloods. When Billy Donovan was laying the foundation for championship success, he asked recruits this simple question: Why not us? Why not Florida? Why not indeed. Todd Golden will be asking that question a lot in the weeks, months and years ahead. All the best plans in the world require the effort to make them reality and he’s ready to put in whatever work is necessary for his plans to succeed. He only wanted an opportunity and now he has it. “I really appreciate you guys for your belief in me and I will not let you down,” Golden said. The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Todd Golden’s words Wednesday were the first step on his thousand-mile journey. If it’s a typical journey, there will be bumps in the road, but there is something about this 36-year-old coach that compels you to believe that no bump in the road or obstacle will prevent him from making the journey both memorable and successful.

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning: “Regardless of the circumstances, regardless of the past, regardless of what hasn’t happened before, you really got a choice to make. You can complain and remain the same or you can wake up every day and make a decision and you can commit and work toward the possibilities.” – Billy Napier Three months since taking over as Florida’s head coach and four practices into spring football, Billy Napier sees players making the choice to put the complaints and the past behind them to work toward the future. He seems to be living by the old coaching adage that once you win over the hearts and minds of your players their bodies will follow. Only with Napier, this hearts and minds thing isn’t just about football. “I really believe in our players right now,” Napier said Tuesday evening after the Gators had finished their fourth of 15 allotted spring practices. “It’s all about a change in their thinking. If they can do that, they can change their lives. A lot of that has nothing to do with football but it’s where we’re at as a whole here.” The transformation from an under-achieving, undisciplined team of the past two seasons into a focused, motivated team is being embraced by the team. Even players who either can’t practice this spring or who are limited because of class schedules are part of the buy-in. Nay’Quan Wright, who suffered a broken ankle in the Florida State game, isn’t practicing this spring. It’s killing him to watch but he’s doing his part as a leader. Ventrell Miller, who is trying to graduate in the summer, has a class conflict on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so he’s only out there on Saturdays. Both are making their presence felt. “He has some leadership qualities,” Napier said about Wright. “We need the guy. We not only need the guy at running back – we’re missing the guy from that perspective – but we’re also missing his ability to affect the rest of the team. I would say in my short time Nay’Quan is one of the players I have the most respect for just because of his approach and overall attitude.” Miller suffered a torn labrum in the second game of the season in 2021. The leading tackler on the team in 2020, his absence was felt in a very big way, both in terms of on the field productivity, but leadership. When Miller was able to practice on Saturday, Napier noted “you could feel his presence.” Like Wright, Miller is a natural born leader who teammates follow. The Gators are still four practices away from a first scrimmage that will go a long way toward telling Napier just how much progress has been made and just how much more will have to be made for this to be a successful spring. For now, at least, progress is being measured in large part by the players’ acceptance of a total transformation of the football program. So often when there is a complete overhaul in a football program some players dig in their heels and refuse change while others are drug forward kicking and screaming while attempting to hold onto the past. Napier isn’t seeing that. “To be honest with you, we have had zero resistance and I think that’s probably the biggest compliment I could give the players is they’ve completely embraced every change,” Napier said. “I think the people in the organization have done a good job of establishing trust. There’s been really good communication. I think we’ve explained why we do what we do and how we do it and overall we’ve hired really good people, people that are experts at what they do and I think immediately when the players sense that they care for them and they can help them, that’s the reason we haven’t had much resistance at all. It’s probably the best thing about where we’re at right now, the reception from the players.” That’s not to say everything is perfect. Buy-in is one thing, but breaking habits formed in some cases over three or four years can be problematic. Instead of seeing this as a problem, Napier sees players who are at least making the effort to leave the old ways behind and embrace his far more disciplined approach. “I think we still have a ways to go relative to being on time, being engaged, some of the habits that need to improve, some of the self-discipline that needs to improve, but overall, we’ve got guys that are trying,” Napier said. “I think it comes back to trust. It's the straw that stirs the drink. I think that’s what we’ve established to some degree. We’re in the middle of the football component. I think you work a lot on intangibles in the offseason. Phase one and two is a lot about defining expectations, being consistent, being fair and for them to know you’re not going to blink and they got to do it a certain way. I think it’s important that we’re all on the same page within the organization. The staff has done a terrific job in that regard so yeah, there’s no question. Ultimately they’re going to get to a point where they trust what’s happening and they can wake up each day, come in and do the work and do the prescribed work the right way. I think that’s where we need to improve.” FABIAN’S TWO HOMERS LIFT UF OVER BETHUNE-COOKMAN, 3-2 Jud Fabian second home run Tuesday night, a solo shot to left field to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning, provided the winning margin as the 7th-ranked Gators (16-5) scored a 3-2 win over Bethune-Cookman at the Florida Ballpark. The two home runs were the ninth and 10th of the season for Fabian, who has gone yard four times over the last four games. Fabian, who leads the Gators with 10 homers and 25 RBI, had a double to go with a fifth inning solo homer as he raised his batting average to .320. Five Florida pitchers allowed just one hit on the night. Picking up the win was Phil Abner, who held the Wildcats hitless in two innings of relief to even his record at 1-1. Karl Hartman pitched the ninth to get his first career save. The Gators are idle until Friday when LSU comes to Gainesville for a three-game SEC series. DELBREY, LUGO COMBINE TO 2-HIT STETSON Lexie Delbrey and Natalie Lugo combined to limit Stetson to two hits Tuesday night in DeLand as the 6th-ranked Gators improved their record to 26-3 with a 7-0 win over the Hatters. Delbrey (9-1) gave up one hit in five innings while walking two and striking out seven. Lugo went the final two innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. The Gators backed the pitching with a 10-hit attack, led by Charla Echols, who had a 2-run homer and a run-scoring single. Reagan Walsh hit her team-leading fifth homer. Cheyenne Lindsey went 3-3 with an RBI while Kendra Falby had a single, a triple and a stolen base. The Gators will play host to Stetson tonight at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium (6 p.m., SEC Network+). GYMNASTICS: GATORS NO. 2 OVERALL SEED FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS The Gators own a rather impressive win over Oklahoma during the regular season but the Sooners still have the top average score for the season (198.140), which is ever so slightly better than Florida’s 198.135. That fractional difference earned Oklahoma the top seed in the NCAA Championships while Florida is seeded No. 2. The Gators will be the top seed at the Auburn regional which will take place March 30-April 2. Joining the Gators will be No. 7 Auburn, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 15 Denver, No. 17 Ohio State, No. 23 Georgia, No. 27 Southern Utah, No. 28 Iowa State and No. 36 Western Michigan. College Gym News issued its final regular season individual power rankings, which were dominated by Gator All-American Trinity Thomas, who has six perfect 10s this season and 14 for her UF career. Here is how the Gators stacked up: All-Around: 2. Thomas; 5. Leanne Wong; Vault: 1. Thomas; Bars: 4. Thomas; Beam: 2. Thomas; Floor: 1. Nya Reed; 2. Thomas UF MEN’S GOLF: GATORS FINISH THIRD The Gators posted their fifth straight top five finish Tuesday when they finished third at the Linger Longer Tournament in Eatonton, Georgia, 14 shots behind first place Georgia. Fred Biondi shot a final round 72 to finish in a tie for seventh at 6-under for the tournament. SEC FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL STUFF Alabama: Alex Tchikou, a 6-11 former 4-star recruit that was one of the top players in an outstanding 2021 recruiting class is joining 6-6 forward Keon Ambrose-Hylton and and backup point guard Jaden Quinerly in the transfer portal. Georgia: “Receiver and DB, we’ve never been this thin,” said Georgia coach Kirby Smart after Tuesday’s practice. Kentucky: Safety Vito Tisdale has suffered a torn meniscus and ACL and will miss the entire 2022 season. LSU: With the decommitment of 5-star center Yohan Traore, LSU has lost its entire basketball recruiting class since the firing of Will Wade and hiring of Matt McMahon. Missouri: New coach Dennis Gates was greeted by the transfers of second leading scorer Javon Pickett and 6-9 forward Trevon Brazile. Texas A&M: At the Aggies Pro Day, running back Isaiah Spiller ran a 4.69 in the 40 and tight end Jalen Wydermyer ran a 5.03, both time much slower than anticipated. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Sean Miller is coaching again at Xavier even though he was fired at Arizona when the NCAA handed down a Notice of Allegations stemming from the college basketball corruption trials that resulted in five Level I violations specific to Miller. He was fired last spring and hired on Sunday by Xavier. South Carolina was one of several schools that tried to hire Miller, oblivious to the fact that the Arizona case will go to the Independent Accountability Resolution Process and will likely result in Miller receiving a show cause and suspension for a number of games at Xavier next year. Arizona, the school that fired him, will likely have to miss the postseason in 2023, but those folks will laugh their silly heads off if Zona manages to win the NCAA title this year. That’s entirely possible since the Wildcats are a No. 1 seed and a ferocious defense and rebounding team. Juwan Howard has Michigan in the Sweet 16 and if the Wolverines can manage two wins this weekend, they’ll make the Final Four. Howard, if you recall, was suspended for a few meaningless games at the end of the regular season for striking a Wisconsin assistant and touching off a brawl. That the brawl was contained fairly quickly seems irrelevant. The fact that Howard, who has a history of thuggish behavior as Michigan’s coach, struck a coach and damn near incited something that could have resulted in something far worse, hit the coach is relevant. The fact that he got a slap on the wrist and wasn’t suspended for the postseason also is relevant. I’m bothered by both these situations because they tell me you can violate rules of ethics and conduct and the price you pay is minimal. There was no outrage by the national media when Miller was hired by Xavier or when Howard got off lightly. Oh sure, some were saying “Bad Sean!” and “Bad Juwan,” which is like a football or basketball player who commits a flagrant foul looking at his teammates, thumping his chest and saying, “My bad!” Both Sean Miller and Juwan Howard got off way too lightly. Defenders have been championing the two on talk radio claiming the damage to their reputations is irreversible. That so-called damage didn’t stop South Carolina from overlooking the fact that Sean Miller is a big-time cheater. It didn’t stop Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel and Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren from the kid gloves treatment of Howard. The Big Ten started out with nine NCAA Tournament teams. They’re down to two and Michigan is one of them. When, if ever, are we going to stop accepting cheating and thuggery as the price you have to pay for winning? Maybe I’m too old because I still think that cheating and starting brawls should result in tough punishment.

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning: FLORIDA DEFENSE: THE TIMES THEY ARE ‘A-CHANGING When it comes to Florida’s defense in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, there were far too many times when it seemed coordinator Todd Grantham outsmarted himself. Known for his NFL-style schemes that were diagrammed in a playbook thicker than the one Dan Mullen used for the offense, it wasn’t uncommon for the Gators to look dazed and confused. Too often, when they seemed to know what they were doing and where they were supposed to line up, they couldn’t make tackles or come up with a third down stop. Enter co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney, one of the first hires Billy Napier made when he took over as Florida’s head coach. “The first thing that we’ve got to do is play fundamentally sound defense,” Toney said. “The number one priority is how we’re playing the game.” Think back to the LSU game when the Tigers ran the same exact play over and over again and the Gators couldn’t stop it. LSU ran for 326 yards that day. Also think back to the 2020 SEC Championship Game against Alabama, when Mac Jones certainly didn’t look dazed and confused but the Florida defense did. Toney’s philosophy might be explained like this: Make the opposing QB think way too much. “First and foremost, from a defensive standpoint, we want to make the same things look different and different things look the same,” Toney said. “In today’s game the person you’ve got to make things hard on is the trigger man. You’ve got to be able to disguise and make him decide where the coverage is, where are the strengths and weaknesses and where the coverage issues are. We’re going to try to put in a defense that poses problems for the quarterback post-snap.” “If you look at every run, there’s a run-pass option to it. What everybody is trying to do in today’s game is get the ball handed off into a positive-numbered box, so you want to show population one way, maybe, and force them to throw the football that way or maybe force them to hand the ball into a loaded-box count. The quarterback is making a decision on runs and passes every snap, not just passes.” UF BASKETBALL: GOLDEN MAKES FIRST HIRE Todd Golden is already in Gainesville and he’s bringing Jonathan Safir with him from his staff at San Francisco. Safir has a master’s in sports management from Columbia and he’s considered brilliant when it comes to analytics, particularly when it comes to scouting both opponents and potential recruits. Florida assistant Akeem Miskdeen is reported to be joining former UF coach Mike White’s Georgia staff. UF BASEBALL: GATORS MOVE UP ONE SPOT IN THE POLLS D1Baseball Top 25: 1. Ole Miss 15-4; 2. Texas 17-5; 3. Arkansas 16-3; 4. Vanderbilt 17-2; 5. Tennessee 19-1; 6. Oregon State 14-4; 7. Florida State 13-6; 8. FLORIDA 15-5; 9. Oklahoma State 14-6; 10. Virginia 19-1; 11. Arizona 15-4; 12. Notre Dame 12-4; 13. North Carolina 17-3; 14. Georgia Tech 15-5; 15. Liberty 14-4; 16. Texas Tech 17-4; 17. Georgia 16-4; 18. Louisville 16-4; 19. TCU 14-5; 20. Texas State 18-3; 21. LSU 15-5; 22. Maryland 16-3; 23. Gonzaga 14-4; 24. Clemson 15-4; 25. UConn 14-3 USA Today Coaches Top 25: 1. Vanderbilt 17-2; 2. Ole Miss 15-4; 3. Texas 17-5; 4. Arkansas 16-3; 5. Tennessee 19-1; 6. Oregon State 14-4; 7. FLORIDA 15-5; 8. Virginia 19-1; 9. Arizona 14-4; 10. Florida State 13-6; 11. Texas Tech 17-4; 12. North Carolina 17-3; 13. Oklahoma State 14-6; 14. Georgia 16-4; 15. Notre Dame 12-4; 16. Georgia Tech 15-5; 17. Liberty 14-4; 18. LSU 15-5; 19. TCU 14-5; 20. Maryland 16-3; 21. Texas State 18-3; 22. Louisville 16-4; 23. Clemson 15-4; 24. Stanford 9-7; 25. Gonzaga 14-4 UF SOFTBALL: GATORS FALL ONE SPOT TO NO. 6 D1Softball Top 25: 1. Oklahoma 25-0; 2. UCLA 24-3; 3. Florida State 27-2; 4. Alabama 24-4; 5. Virginia Tech 21-3; 6. FLORIDA 25-3; 7. Duke 23-4; 8. Northwestern 19-4; 9. Arkansas 19-5; 10. Oklahoma State 21-6; 11. Oregon 21-4; 12. Kentucky 20-5; 13. Michigan 17-6; 14. Tennessee 20-8; 15. Washington 20-7; 16. Texas 21-9-1; 17. Arizona State 22-5; 18. Auburn 25-2; 19. Clemson 19-8; 20. Missouri 19-9; 21. Georgia 26-4; 22. Arizona 19-6; 23. UCF 26-7; 24. Ohio State 17-5; 25. LSU 20-10 THE SWEET 16: WHO’S LEFT STANDING East Region 3 Purdue (29-7): These guys are enormous (7-4, 6-10 up front) and they have one of the best pure point guards in the tournament in Jaden Ivey (17.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists). They pound it inside and foul people out (785 free throw attempts, 2nd best in the country) but when you sag to stop the inside game, they hit 38.8 percent of their three-pointers. 4 UCLA (27-7): The Bruins know how to win. They made the Final Four a year ago and the same guys that got them there are back again. Everybody knows you have to stop Johnny Juzang and Jaime Jaquez Jr. from scoring, but the guy who makes them go is point guard Tyger Campbell (11.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 41.5 percent on threes). Whoever beats the Bruins has to start by neutralizing Campbell, who can score but is at his best setting up his buds. 8 North Carolina (26-9): Here is everything you need to know about why North Carolina is in the Sweet 16. In two games, the Tar Heels have assisted on 51 of 62 made shots. They are the most unselfish team remaining in the tournament and they are the best passing team. If they pass like that the next two games they’ll be in the Final Four. 15 Saint Peter’s (21-11): These guys are playing with house money. They didn’t win the regular season in their conference (Iona did) and had to win their conference tournament. To get to the Sweet 16 they’ve knocked off No. 2 Kentucky and No. 7 Murray State. They don’t score a lot, don’t defend all that well and they aren’t a great rebounding team. But they’re here and they win. Friday’s games: 15 Saint Peter’s vs. Purdue; 8 North Carolina vs. UCLA I like: Purdue and North Carolina Midwest Region 1 Kansas (30-6): The Jayhawks have the easiest path to the Final Four. Wouldn’t Kansas making the Final Four be a slap in the face of the NCAA, which has hit Kansas with a serious Notice of Allegations? KU is standing by its man (Bill Self). Not the most talented team Self has had but good enough to get to the Final Four and maybe good enough to win it all if David McCormack can stay out of foul trouble. 4 Providence (27-5): Providence defense (54 points per game) is like hand-to-hand combat. The Friars aren’t a great shooting team but they compensate by grinding teams into the ground with their defense and they’re terrific rebounders. Nate Watson (13.5 points, 5.3 rebounds) has to play well for Providence to advance. 10 Miami (25-10): There are two secrets for Miami’s success: (1) The Hurricanes take care of the basketball (9.25 turnovers per game) and (2) they’re the oldest team in the field, average age of the starters 23 years old. Point guard Charlie Moore (12.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists) is playing at his fourth school (Cal, Kansas and DePaul are the others). 11 Iowa State (22-12): The Cyclones got into the tournament by the skin of their teeth (three straight losses to end the regular season) but they’ve scored two white knuckles wins over LSU and Wisconsin to make it to the Sweet 16. The Cyclones don’t score a lot, but neither do the teams they play. Boring, but so far it’s worked. Friday’s games: Kansas vs. Providence; Miami vs. Iowa State I like: Kansas and Iowa State South Region 1 Arizona (33-3): It took overtime against TCU and some whistles being swallowed by the zebras for Zona to get to the Sweet 16. Zona starts two 7-footers and brings another one off the bench. They are a ferocious rebounding team that makes up for a lack of outside shooting with tons of second chance points. Whoever beats the Wildcats has to at least stay even on rebounding. 2 Villanova (28-7): Collin Gillespie (16 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 41.5 percent on 3-pointers) is the best player on the best coached team still standing. This is a typical Jay Wright team. They rarely turn the ball over (10 per game), don’t miss free throws (team 82.3 percent) and they get after people defensively (62.9 points per game). Someone is going to have to beat Villanova, because Villanova won’t beat itself with silly mistakes. 4 Houston (31-5): Houston’s defensive strategy is classic. The Cougars wall up the paint and make it as close to impossible as it gets scoring inside, then they dare you to beat them with 3-pointers. Houston allows only 59 points a game and 37.48 percent from the field. The Cougars are also the best offensive rebounding team remaining in the tournament. 11 Michigan (19-14): I still don’t think Michigan should have gotten in, but here are the Wolverines one of two Big Ten teams still standing. If 7-1 Hunter Dickinson plays as well as he did against Tennessee (27 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 3-5 on 3-pointers), the Wolverines can make it to the Elite Eight. Thursday’s games: 11 Michigan vs. 2 Villanova; 5 Houston vs. 1 Arizona I like: Villanova and Houston West Region 1 Gonzaga (28-3): If it’s a fast game with both teams committed to running the floor, it’s next to impossible to beat the Zags. Slow them down and make them play half court and they struggle. Drew Timme can score on anyone but the glue guy is point guard Andrew Nembhard, who is the best point remaining in this tournament, bar none. He plays defense, he doesn’t turn the ball over, he finds the open guy and he makes shots, whether it’s beyond the arc or at the foul line. The later in the game the more lethal he is. 2 Duke (30-6): No pressure on these guys. Nooooo. Coach K is calling it a career so every game could be his last. Would you want to be on the team that didn’t send Coach K off without a national championship? 3 Texas Tech (27-9): These guys defend. It’s in your face for 94 feet and they are relentless. If they’re hitting shots, they can beat anyone in the country. If they aren’t making shots, they’re still in the game because of their defense but they’re beatable. 4 Arkansas (27-8): For Arkansas to make it out of the region and into the Final Four, the Hogs will have to play the way they played at home in beating Kentucky and Auburn. If they play like they did in barely beating New Mexico State, they’ll be back home in Fayette Nam watching the Final Four on TV. Thursday’s games: 1 Gonzaga vs. 4 Arkansas; 2 Duke vs. 3 Texas Tech I like: Gonzaga and Texas Tech ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Matt McMahon is LSU’s new basketball coach. He could have had any one of several vacancies out there that would have paid substantially more than the $575,000 he was making at Murray State, but instead he picked LSU, which is a bit strange. It’s strange because LSU basketball – and perhaps football – is headed toward the equivalent of nuclear winter because the coach he’s replacing (Will Wade) got hit with seven Level I (NCAA’s most severe) violations. Folks in Baton Rouge seem to think that LSU will be very fortunate if the basketball program is allowed participate in the postseason anytime before 2025. It makes you wonder how McMahon is going to recruit and how much LSU is going to pay him. His otherwise sparkling coaching record could be swimming with the bacteria on the bottom of the septic tank. Complicating matters are the football violations, one of which involves a football booster who allegedly embezzled $180,000 from a hospital to pay the father of an LSU player. LSU tried to keep the basketball and football violations separate by self-imposing sanctions for football, but when the NCAA included both football and basketball in its NOA, it meant the self-imposed sanctions were not enough. LSU will get hit with lack of institutional control, which means any violation in any sport, no matter how tacky or small, will rise to Level I. It’s not just football and basketball that are getting hammered, it’s the entire program. A lot of folks think it’s righteous and about time.

The Face Of Gator Football: Beginning to look like Anthony Richardson. (Chris Spears Photo) “It felt great, just being back. Running around practicing with the guys. Doing new stuff, it felt great. Lots of energy. Being back, that’s the most important part to me. It felt great.” -- Anthony Richardson. What do they call it? The “Face of Florida Football?” I’m not even sure what that term means, except for the perception that it’s the player who best personifies the Florida Gator football team -- what it ought to look like, sort of already does and what it will in the future. But would we even know “The Face” these days if we saw it? I think we got a glimpse of it this week. Billy Napier did, too. That’s one reason the new coach was semi-smiling. Wearing No. 15, perhaps not by coincidence, he was the human version of the Marvel character we all wanted Anthony Richardson to be — fair or not fair — as he stood out on the practice field. When Richardson finally came out of moth balls Tuesday and showed up on the deck of Billy Napier’s ship somewhat unexpectedly, we in the media were a tad surprised at what we saw. And Napier was as well, although he didn’t outright admit it. But you could see it Napier’s body language with the nods and restrained smile as I commented about AR15’s “good day” and ask for his response. “I agree with you. I thought he had a ‘good day’,” Napier replied. “And I was impressed with what I saw. His attitude has been good. He’s impressed me with how he’s taking information and his attention to detail. And today, to be honest with you, it’s the first time I’ve seen him throw the ball live. I didn’t get a chance to see him before because he was injured in bowl practice. It certainly comes out of his hand really well. There’s a reason why people think he’s got an opportunity to be a good player. It’s our job to help him become the best player he can be.” In other words, once Napier got a chance to look under the hood, he saw a ton of horsepower. Like a Bugatti Chiron? Well, maybe not yet, but probably more than the Dodge Durango Challenger AR15 that he drives courtesy of the NIL deal through Gator Collective with Gainesville Dodge. However, Billy knows that his strapping young 6-4, 225-pound QB will soon be driving a Rolls Royce or Lamborghini, or whatever he chooses. One reason for all the fuss about Richardson before he ever took a snap was that (#15) Tim Tebow had already declared him a freak -- the Comicon version of the heroic science fiction quarterback, able to leap tall buildings with a single bound. And then we saw him actually do it against South Florida before disappearing into moth balls with a gimp knee. “Did you see what I just saw?” we began asking each other last fall in semi-disbelief. Hold on here, you say. Let’s not reserve a spot for No. 15 (current roster) next to the old No. 15’s statue on Gale Lemerand just yet. First, Richardson’s got to win the job. And stay healthy. Which was beginning to look like a slam dunk until last year’s starter showed back up and sent the media scrambling, as if we all had a senior moment. And Emory Jones seem to say, “What about me?” Ooops. Don’t tell me we’ve got another QB Controversy!?? (Editor’s note: Emory removed himself Friday by electing to choose the transfer portal.) No wonder. When a Whack-A-Doodle Week of events began to unfold like it was April Fool’s and the Ides of March were all stirred into a Saint Patrick’s Day cocktail, anything seemed possible. Mike White to Georgia. Tom Brady back to the Bucs. And now on the first day of spring football, the Gators suddenly have five quarterbacks, including the one formerly on I.R. after knee surgery and another one who already seemed to have the Mayflower truck packed for his next stop. (Yep — Jones finished packing and will be driving it away soon.) You want drama? Sign up as a Gator fan – maybe even as a member of Gatorcollective.com. This stuff is starting to get interesting again. What I saw on the field renewed my conviction that AR15 is back and ready to take the torch from the likes of the Trask-Tebow-Wuerffel-Leak-Spurrier legacy and restart the fire. Let me tell you what I saw in the Face of Gator Football as I looked into it while he spoke. Character. Kindness. Strength. Determination. And Resilience. What I liked about watching his workout was the poise, accuracy, sense of wherewithal and mission, plus just the intangibles about how he walked, jogged and attended to his business at hand. I’m not sure I can define it, but I saw it. The late Chad Boseman was The Face of Black Panther. (Marvel photo) Perhaps the golden nugget in what Napier told the media was his positive comment about AR15’s ability to absorb and process new information. That means he will be likely have more tools available than to tuck and run when things go awry. Although he does seem to possess special powers. If I were going to assign a Marvel character to depict AR15 based on my limited knowledge of comic books anymore, I’m going with Black Panther, played by the late Chad Boseman, whose character was known for his “incredible speed, ability to sense fear and lies … and see in total darkness.” Back in my day he would have been Captain Marvel or Spider Man, but unfortunately there were no African-American heroic characters then. I realize that I’m extrapolating from a small sample size and expecting you Gator fans to take a leap of faith with me, but I’m OK with that. This is just a snapshot of what I saw, what I heard, what felt and what I see ahead. It looks pretty good. Let’s stick with the coach and the main quarterback for now. Coach Napier was impressed with Anthony Richardson's first practice. (Chris Spears photo) We asked AR15 to assess his first day of throwing in practice: “I was just throwing it and it felt good, looked good. Some passes weren’t great, but that will just come with repetition.” What did he think of Napier as a QB coach? “I can see that he knows a lot — he does certain things for certain personnel, so that’s a major component when it comes to helping out the team. Him being the mastermind of the offense -- I feel like that’s good.” How did it feel out there? “it felt great, just being back. Running around practicing with the guys. Doing new stuff, it felt great. Lots of energy. Being back, that’s the most important part to me. It felt great.” (If you’re keeping score, that was three “greats.”) Billy said he was impressed with the way you threw the football. What did you work on during the offseason? “Honestly, I was just making sure my lower half was right. Because I had surgery on my knee. That was pretty much my main concern. But this past spring break I went up to Jacksonville train a little bit to get my mechanics back in shape. My QB trainer (Denny Thompson) said I looked good. I felt good, so I just tried to showcase that today.” So, really you haven’t thrown a whole lot since last season? “Honestly, I didn’t. I really started throwing again toward the end of last month. I was pretty much like immobilized. But once I got out of it, I tried to throw as much as I could.” Happy to be back, but admittedly not to have missed Mark Hocke’s grueling training during the Identity Phase II of Coach Napier’s spring regimen. “Honestly, I'm kind of glad I wasn't a part of some of that stuff,” said Richardson. “Because, those runs that I seen them do, they did look kind of tough. But you know, it was kind of hard. I feel like it's helped us because you see guys moving around quicker. Guys are stronger. So it's helped us, but I'm glad I wasn't in some of that stuff.” So while we’ve seen a little, we’ve also seen a lot. Billy Napier has already won Day One. AR15, too. And at the end of the day, Coach Napier was wearing a smile. (Chris Spears photo)

A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning: THE SEASON ENDS MERCIFULLY; LET THE TODD GOLDEN ERA BEGIN Painful. That’s the only way to describe Florida’s 72-56 loss to Xavier in the second round of the NIT Sunday afternoon. All the injuries and the lack of consistent outside shooting caught up with the Gators (20-14) whose season came to a merciful ending in Cincinnati, officially bringing the curtain down on the Mike White Era. The moment the clock flatlined at 0:00 the Todd Golden Era officially began. Once again, the Gators played without Anthony Duruji (ankle) and CJ Felder (hip) so there was no help for Colin Castleton on the inside. Take Kowacie Reeves, who hit 3-8 on his 3-pointers, and the rest of the Gators were a combined 3-22 from beyond the arc. Too many injuries. Too many bad shooting nights. That is the story of Mike White’s final season as the Florida coach. Although he wasn’t on the sideline for either of the two NIT games, it was still White’s team and it ended with a loss, the same as the previous six seasons. The inconsistency of White’s seven years give way to the hope that new coach Todd Golden can reverse seven years of a program stuck in a rut. EMORY JONES TO THE TRANSFER PORTAL Nobody is certain what happened between Tuesday and Saturday, but at some point Emory Jones decided to put his name in the transfer portal. Tuesday he was talking about competing for a job. Saturday he was transferring. Did he decide after a few days of competing with Anthony Richardson, Jack Miller III, Carlos Del Rio-Wilson and Jalen Kitna that he wasn’t going to win the job so it’s best to cut the losses now? Or did he simply figure that there is no time like the present to pull the plug so he can get a head start on his next landing spot? My guess is it is a combination of the two. Emory Jones is a good football player, but I don’t think he throws the ball nearly as well as the other four guys. By choosing to enter the portal now, Jones can spend the next month and a half visiting potential transfer destinations. He graduates from the University of Florida in May, so it will be extremely helpful if he has a new place to play already lined up rather than spending a month visiting. There is a bit of method to this madness. The reason Jones didn’t transfer somewhere new in January is because he actually has two years of eligibility remaining since 2020 was a COVID year. He can take his one-time transfer and will be eligible to play next season at his new destination. If he then chooses a super senior year and has another destination in mind, he can transfer as a graduate. UF GYMNASTICS: TWICE THE CHAMPIONSHIPS, TWICE THE FUN This Florida gymnastics team has serious momentum heading into the NCAA regionals after the SEC Gymnastics Championships in Birmingham. Already with their fourth straight regular season championship, the Gators blew away the field in Birmingham with the second highest team score – 198.200 – in the 41-year history of the event. Second place Alabama (197.825) was .375 points behind UF and third place Auburn was even farther back at 197.225. This was a blowout. Using a football analogy, this was the equivalent of the Gators beating Auburn by 14 points and Auburn by 21. The Gators had the highest team totals for vault, balance beam and floor. Trinity Thomas won the all-around (39.825), vault (9.975) and floor (9.975). Leanne Wong won the balance beam (9.975), a rotation that the Gators scored a 49.700 with all six gymnasts scoring 9.90 or higher. Next up for the Gators will be the NCAA Regionals, which will be announced on Tuesday. Florida is likely to be sent to the Raleigh regional hosted by North Carolina State. MINUS KIKI SMITH, THE GATORS WERE IN TROUBLE AGAINST UCF Kelly Rae Finley isn’t about to use the absence of Kiki Smith as an excuse for the Gators losing their NCAA Tournament first round game to UCF. She doesn’t have to make excuses. We saw it for ourselves just how badly the Gators (21-11) missed their leader. They played hard and did their best against a very good UCF team, but without Kiki the Gators just aren’t the same team. So a storybook season ends for Florida, which was everyone’s pick to finish dead last in the SEC only to rally behind Finley, who along the way shed the interim tag. The Gators aren’t the only SEC team that didn’t survive the weekend: Ole Miss, Kentucky, Georgia and Arkansas also flamed out, leaving only South Carolina, Tennessee and LSU standing. UF BASEBALL: GATORS WIN OPENING SEC SERIES There was no shortage of power on display in Tuscaloosa over the weekend as the 9th-ranked Gators (15-5, 2-1 SEC) hit 10 home runs and won two out of three from Alabama (13-8, 1-2 SEC) in the opening SEC series for both teams. The problem for the Gators was the bullpen, which nearly blew the opener (Gators won 6-4) and allowed the Tide to come from behind in the last two innings Sunday to salvage one game in the series with an 8-7 win on Sunday. Wyatt Langford went 7-14 with three homers and six RBI for the weekend while Jud Fabian hit a 2-run homer in both the first and final games. Also homering for the Gators were BT Riopelle (2), Sterlin Thompson, Kendrick Calilao and Kris Armstrong. The Gators scored 26 runs and hammered out 41 hits in the three games. Hunter Barco had an outstanding (4-1, 1.72 ERA) had an outstanding outing in the series opener when he gave up four hits and struck out 10 over eight innings, but the rest of the staff had their struggles as the team ERA rose to 3.18. The Gators host Bethune-Cookman Tuesday and LSU next weekend. UF SOFTBALL: RUN-RULE WIN OVER AGGIES GIVES UF SERIES WIN Bouncing back from a 5-0 shutout loss on Saturday, Cheyenne Lindsey and Reagan Walsh each homered and drove in three runs Sunday to lead the 5th-ranked Gators to an 11-3 run-rule win over Texas A&M in College Station. Lindsey hit a 3-run homer as part of a 5-run outburst in the fourth while Walsh delivered a 3-run homer in the sixth that gave the Gators two out of three for the weekend. Elizabeth Hightower (8-0, 1.68) got the win for the Gators (25-3, 4-2 SEC), allowing eight hits, walking three and striking out four. She gave up single runs in each of the first, third and fifth innings. Next up for the Gators are midweek games with Stetson, in DeLand on Tuesday and Gainesville on Wednesday. UF MEN’S TENNIS: DOMINANT WEEKEND FOR UF MEN The No. 1-ranked Gators (14-2, 6-0 SEC) scored a pair of cruise control wins over the weekend, taking down Ole Miss (11-6, 1-3 SEC), 6-1, on Friday and then finishing off the weekend with a 7-0 Sunday shutout of Mississippi State (11-8. 1-5 SEC). The Gators have won nine consecutive matches. Next up for the Gators is a Friday road trip to face Arkansas (10-8, 1-4 SEC). OTHER UF SPORTS: With their 6-1 win over Missouri (6-12, 1-4 SEC) Friday and their 4-3 win over Arkansas (11-4, 4-1 SEC) Sunday, the 16th-ranked UF women’s tennis team (12-4, 4-2 SEC) have won four consecutive matches. The Gators will play host to Ole Miss (8-6, 2-4 SEC) and Mississippi State (9-8, 1-5 SEC) next weekend … Anabelle Fuller (8-under par) had a top three finish at the MountainView Collegiate Tournament in Tucson, Arizona but the Florida women’s team managed only a 6th-place finish, 15 shots off the winning pace of Texas Tech ... Fred Biondi shot 4-under Sunday as the Florida men’s golf team stood third, five shots behind Vanderbilt in the Linger Longer Tournament in Eatonville, Georgia … The 12th-ranked Gators evened their lacrosse record at 4-4 Sunday with a 10-9 win over Drexel in Philadelphia. The Gators will travel to Arizona State next Sunday. SEC COACHING CHANGES LSU: Jeff Goodman is reporting that Murray State coach Matt McMahon has emerged as the favorite to replace the fired Will Wade. Mississippi State: The Bulldogs have hired Chris Jans from New Mexico State, where he was 143-44 in five years. The Aggies were 27-7 this year, losing to Arkansas in the NCAA second round. Jans also coached one year at Bowling Green where he was 21-12. Jans spent six years as a juco head coach including a 32-5 season at Chipola. Missouri: Mizzou awaits approval from its board of trustees to hire Dennis Gates away from Cleveland State. The former Florida State assistant was 50-40 at Cleveland State. South Carolina: Now that Sean Miller elected to take the Xavier job over an offer from South Carolina, all eyes have turned to Furman coach Bob Richey and Chattanooga coach Lamont Paris. BAD DAY (WEEKEND, ACTUALLY) AT BLACK ROCK FOR SEC HOOPS And then there was Arkansas. That’s all that is left of the Southeastern Conference in the NCAA Tournament and the Razorbacks did their dead level best to give the league an oh-fer by going white knuckles with New Mexico State. The Razorbacks’ stay in the tournament shouldn’t last much longer. They play No. 1 seed Gonzaga Thursday night in the Sweet 16. If the game were played in Bud Walton Arena, you’d like the Hogs’ chances. Away from Fayette Nam? If I were a gambler I wouldn’t bet against the Zags. When the tournament began, there was a lot of talk that both Kentucky and Tennessee could duplicate what SEC football brethren from Alabama and Georgia did by making half of the Final Four. Kentucky couldn’t get past 15-seed Saint Peter’s and the Vols couldn’t find the ocean from the end of the pier when it came to shooting 3-pointers. LSU and Alabama died first round deaths. Auburn? Oh please. How could a team with that much size miss that many 2-footers? About the only thing we can conclude from the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament is that the SEC was vastly overrated. Rather than howl that Texas A&M was jobbed by the Selection Committee, in hindsight we should have been complaining that the league got at least two too many teams in to begin with. Of course, we can pretty much say the same thing about the Big Ten. Nine teams started the tournament and only two remain, one of which is Michigan. Sunday, the Big Ten was 1-4 with Purdue the only team advancing to the Sweet 16. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Thursday at the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, a biological male from the University of Pennsylvania who was ranked 452nd among male swimmers last year, won the 500 freestyle, beating three biological females, all of whom have won silver medals at the Olympics. Lia Thomas, whom many in the broadcast media are gushing over, is taking hormones to suppress testosterone as part of a transition from male to female. The hormones do make Thomas more feminine but cannot change biology and the physical advantages a male athlete has over a female. Reka Gyorgy, a biological female from Hungary who has represented her country in the Olympics and who has won All-America honors swimming for Virginia Tech, penned an open letter to the NCAA to protest that Thomas was allowed to compete as a female in the championships. Gyorgy wrote, “It doesn’t promote our sport in a good way and I think it is disrespectful against the biologically female swimmers who are competing in the NCAA … One spot was taken away from the girl who got 9th in the 500 free and didn’t make it back to the A final, preventing her from being an All-American. Every event that transgender athletes competed in was one spot taken away from biological females throughout the meet.” That Thomas and other biological males can compete as women and take away scholarships from biological women bothers me enormously. I’ve been writing about women’s sports for years and it makes me happy that talented, athletic women are afforded more and more opportunities to compete at the collegiate level. I’m bothered when I think that some 6-10, 250-pound biological male may decide to identify as a female and switch from men’s basketball to women’s basketball. Or that a bigger, stronger, faster male may elect to change genders and take away a scholarship for a softball or volleyball player or dominate in lacrosse. Don’t think it can happen? Well, did you think you’d ever see the day when the 452nd ranked male swimmer would decide to be a female, start taking hormones and then win an NCAA championship?

“This is an absolutely grand slam hire by Florida,” said Bruce Pearl. Florida’s new basketball coach comes to Gainesville eyes wide open, well aware that Mike White departed on his own volition after seven years of mutual frustration. Fans expected championships and an exciting brand of basketball. White wasn’t a bad coach, just that his seven years on the job produced no championships, stagnant offenses and double-digit losses in all but the 2017 when the Gators were within a whisker of the Final Four. There was mutual frustration between White and the fans and mutual relief when the divorce was finalized last week. White departed for Georgia, a school with zero in the way of tradition, a place where a 142-88 record will arouse the base. There’s that old saying if you aim low you’ll probably hit your target. At Florida, Golden isn’t aiming low. He knows the history of Billy Donovan’s six SEC championships, four Final Fours and the back-to-back national championships of 2006-07. He doesn’t see those as accomplishments of a bygone era, but instead a standard that can still be reached. “I think it’s one of the best jobs in America,” Golden said Sunday afternoon when he was interviewed during the Gators’ 72-56 loss to Xavier in the second round of the NIT. “I think it’s a place where you can perennially play for and compete for national championships. It’s the best school in Florida and it’s a place where there’s a ton of great players, great tradition and history.” After seven years of basketball limbo when the Gators existed somewhere between decent and championships, Golden’s words have to seem like a wonder-cure elixir. The 36-year-old former head coach at San Francisco, where he was 57-36 in three years while competing in the tough West Coast Conference – that’s where Gonzaga conducts its reign of terror while tuning up for another run in the NCAA Tournament – is thought to be one of the truly brilliant young coaches in the country. Some call him a potential Billy Donovan, who came to Florida after two years as the head coach at Marshall then spent the next 19 years transforming the Gators into a national powerhouse. One of the stops on Golden’s journey to Florida was at Auburn, where he was Bruce Pearl’s director of basketball operations one year, one of his assistants the next. Pearl bubbled over with excitement when asked about Golden after Auburn’s win over Jacksonville State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. “This is an absolutely grand slam hire by Florida,” Pearl said, a quote attributed to Tom Green of al.com. “Todd Golden is that next generation of brilliant young coaches.” Golden says the time he spent working for Pearl was the turning point in his coaching career. “The time I spent with Bruce I feel really completed me as a coach,” Golden said. “I had a great foundation getting to play and work for a coach like Randy Bennett (his head coach at Saint Mary’s where he was an outstanding point guard) and Kyle Smith (head coach at Washington State, but San Francisco before Golden). Getting to the SEC, spending time with Bruce and getting in on the ground floor of that rebuild and getting a great understanding of what it takes to win at a high level in the SEC and that really galvanized the fan base, really galvanized the campus, getting the right people on board and that hadn’t been done before. I learned a lot from him in my two years.” Auburn was a perpetual loser prior to Pearl. The Tigers are 124-43 since 2018 with two SEC championships and a Final Four appearance (2019). Florida is in far better shape than when Pearl took over at Auburn so this isn’t going to require a drastic turnaround for Golden although a makeover of the offense would be much appreciated. In so many respects, Golden is a basketball clone of Florida football coach Billy Napier. Napier plans everything down to the most minute detail, surrounds himself with great people, studies the analytics religiously and most importantly, realizes that coaching is all about people and relationships. That’s what Golden brings to the University of Florida and it’s exactly what UF athletic director saw in him. While all eyes of the media were focused on Baylor’s Scott Drew and Virginia’s Tony Bennett, coaches who have won national championships and are considered among the best of the best, Stricklin had already narrowed his search from a short list he began forming many months ago. When Dan Mullen’s flirtations with the NFL in December of 2020 became public knowledge, Stricklin put together a task force of his own people to come up with a short list in case the need to replace Mullen came about. When Mullen more or less went in the tank during the 2021 season and had to be fired, Billy Napier was at the top of Stricklin’s short list and had already been vetted. There were several inquiries into hiring White after the 2021 basketball season ended. Oklahoma is thought to be one of the schools that offered. Stricklin’s history tells us that was the origin of the short list that ended up headed by Todd Golden. The process for hiring Golden was certainly helped by associate athletic director Jay Jacobs, who was the AD at Auburn when Bruce Pearl was hired and when Golden was added to the staff. When San Francisco lost in overtime to Murray State Friday night in the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, Stricklin had people in attendance. Murray State’s fine head coach Matt McMahon had to be on the Stricklin short list, too, but the guy Florida had pinpointed was Golden. When San Francisco lost in overtime, 92-87, Golden was approached and within a matter of hours a deal was done to bring him to Florida. There was zero hesitation on Golden’s part to take the job. He knows the expectations but he also understands that Florida is indeed a place where championships can be won. “It’s a place where you can do that if you get the right people on board,” Golden said Sunday. “When this opportunity came about, I jumped at it as soon as possible.” Now that he has taken the leap to leave the Left Coast for sunshine, seashells, blue skies and rainbows, Golden’s first task will be to evaluate the personnel he inherits from a team that just finished 20-14. Of the seven Gators who participated in Senior Day against Kentucky a couple of weekends ago, Colin Castleton, Tyree Appleby, Myreon Jones and Anthony Duruji have a super senior season available. Castleton has been playing with a torn labrum that has made him play one-handed for the most part all season. He will have to have surgery and that could make him choose to return to UF rather than declare for the NBA Draft. Appleby and Duruji both have super senior seasons remaining. Of the two, Appleby is thought to be leaning to a return. Jones has two years of eligibility remaining. Then there are the underclassmen – juniors CJ Felder and Jason Jitoboh, sophomore Niels Lane and freshmen Kowacie Reeves, Toungthach Gatgek and Eijah Kennedy – plus the three signees that Golden is going to have to re-recruit. Of the signees, neither Malik Reneau, Jalen Reed or Denzel Aberdeen have asked out of their letters of intent. It is entirely possible there will be a mass exodus, but Golden definitely knows where to go get players. His San Francisco roster featured seven foreign-born players and seven who began playing collegiately somewhere beside USF. The portal, Golden says, will be one place he will be looking for sure. “The game of college basketball has changed more in the last two years than it had in the previous twenty,” he said. “The transfer portal, whether people like it or not, is a very important part of our profession now and our business and, as you mentioned, building rosters. I’m going to do my best to keep the guys within the program on board and get them to continue building stronger as we move forward. There are going to be some additions through the portal, and there’s going to be some guys that are really excited to come play at Florida.”