A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning: NO ARM TWISTING WAS NEEDED FOR NAPIER TO GET WHAT HE NEEDS “These jobs will chew you up and spit you out if you let them,” Billy Napier said as he stood off to the side of the podium where he had been introduced as the new head coach at the University of Florida. This is, he says, the reason he comes to Gainesville with an entire infrastructure plan that he is already in the process of implementing. It will involve what he calls hiring “an army of people” as everything from the personnel department to on campus recruiting to creative media to NIL and even more is addressed in a detailed, methodical and organized method. It is a comprehensive approach that has its roots in Nick Saban’s “process” at Alabama. It will cost money. Lots of it. But, when he first sat down with Napier to negotiate what it would take to bring him to the University of Florida, athletic director Scott Stricklin simply listened. The more he listened to Napier describe in graphic detail his vision of what it will take to bring the Gators up to the championship level of Alabama and Georgia in the Southeastern Conference, the more he knew he had found the exact coach he needed. “The more he went into detail about what he wanted and needed, it was an easy decision to give him what he needs,” Stricklin said following the Sunday afternoon press conference in which Napier was introduced as Florida’s new football coach. It’s not necessarily a blank checkbook, but it is what Napier will need to turn Florida into what he described as a machine that wins on the field, in the classroom and in preparing players for life after football. To build a program that could go 40-12 in four years at Louisiana, Napier sold athletic director Bryan Maggard on infrastructure that is unprecedented in the Sun Belt Conference and probably for 90-95 percent of the teams in the Group of Five. For that level, Napier’s Ragin Cajuns became a machine. At Florida and in the Southeastern Conference, it will take a lot more people than Napier had at Louisiana to fully staff the strength and conditioning, personnel, recruiting and analyst roles that it will take to compete. As he outlined what he felt was necessary, Stricklin sat across from the table and didn’t bat an eye. “I think in today’s era, in this college football dynamic that we compete in, it’s truly an organization,” Napier said. “We’re talking about a very specific plan and all these different areas that affect your ability to compete and in this league, you know the proof’s in the pudding. I think the two that played for the championship game last night, there’s evidence relative to the way that they’ve created their organization. “So we’re going to increase the manpower if that makes sense. We’re going to create very specific plans in personnel, recruiting, development, nutrition, strength and conditioning, sports science, the training room, name, image and likeness, our journey program which we’re going to build from the ground up. We’ve got a very specific plan here. Their willingness to create those resources and put the finances that need to be in place to do that … so that combined with the salary pool, they were willing to do what we wanted to do.” And what did Stricklin and the University Athletic Association do? “So they didn’t flinch, and certainly I think when all is said and done, we’re going to put together a truly elite group of people here that will impact the players,” Napier said. He knows exactly what he’s getting into. He knows fully well from his own observations and conversations that Florida does chew up and spit out coaches on a regular basis. Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen all had winning records. They were all fired and at the heart of their dismissal is one essential fact – they didn’t win enough. This is not a job for the faint of heart. Because the expectations are what they are here, it’s also not a job for someone who doesn’t have the resources it will take to reshape the program into what it will have to be. Facilities are in full upgrade mode. Now the support staff that it will take to run a championship-level operation are about to be put in place. Billy Napier isn’t a rock star like Lincoln Riley, who leaves the Oklahoma flatlands for Tinseltown and Southern Cal, where it will be far easier to make the College Football Playoff than it will be in the Southeastern Conference. Billy Napier’s southern accent is also genuine, as is every ounce of his demeanor. He won’t have to try to thrill people with a phony Southern accent and come across like a clown like Brian Kelly did when he was introduced to the LSU crowd at the Maravich Center. All Billy has to do is to be Billy. It’s working out pretty well so far. from the The College Football Playoff poll: 1. Alabama 12-1; 2. Michigan 12-1; 3. Georgia 12-1; 4. Cincinnati 13-0; 5. Notre Dame 11-1; 6. Ohio State 10-2; 7. Baylor 11-2; 8. Ole Miss 10-2; 9. Oklahoma State 11-2; 10. Michigan State 10-2; 11. Utah 10-3; 12. Pittsburgh 11-2; 13. BYU 10-2; 14. Oregon 10-3; 15. Iowa 10-3; 16. Oklahoma 10-2; 17. Wake Forest 10-3; 18. North Carolina State 9-3; 19. Clemson 9-3; 20. Houston 11-2; 21. Arkansas 8-4; 22. Kentucky 9-3; 23. Louisiana 12-1; 24. San Diego State 11-2; 25. Texas A&M 8-4 The Associated Press Top 25 poll: 1. Alabama 12-1; 2. Michigan 12-1; 3. Georgia 12-1; 4. Cincinnati 13-0; 5. Notre Dame 11-1; 6. Baylor 11-2; 7. Ohio State 10-2; 8. Ole Miss 10-2; 9. Oklahoma State 11-2; 10. Utah 10-3; 11. Michigan State 10-2; 12. BYU 10-2; 13. Pittsburgh 11-2; 14. Oklahoma 10-2; 15. Oregon 10-3; 16. Louisiana 12-1; 17. Iowa 10-3; 18. North Carolina State 9-3; 19. Clemson 9-3; 20. Wake Forest 10-3; 21. Houston 11-2; 22. Arkansas 8-4; 23. Texas A&M 8-4; 24. Texas-San Antonio 12-1; 25. Kentucky 9-3 The Coaches Top 25 poll: 1. Alabama 12-1; 2. Michigan 12-1; 3. Georgia 12-1; 4. Cincinnati 13-0; 5. Notre Dame 11-1; 6. Baylor 11-2; 7. Ohio State 10-2; 8. Ole Miss 10-2; 9. Oklahoma State 11-2; 10. Michigan State 10-2; 11. Utah 10-3; 12. Pittsburgh 11-2; 13. Oklahoma 10-2; 14. BYU 10-2; 15. Oregon 10-3; 16. Iowa 10-3; 17. Louisiana 12-1; 18. North Carolina State 9-3; 19. Wake Forest 10-3; 20. Kentucky 9-3; 21. Houston 11-2; 22. Clemson 9-3; 23. Texas A&M 8-4; 24. Arkansas 8-4; 25. Texas-San Antonio 12-1 SEC BOWL MATCHUPS Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, TX, December 22): Army (8-3) vs. Missouri (6-6) Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa, December 23): FLORIDA (6-6) vs. UCF (7-5) Birmingham Bowl (Birmingham, AL, December 28): Houston (11-2) vs. Auburn (6-6) Liberty Bowl (Memphis, TN, December 28): Texas Tech (6-6) vs. Mississippi State (7-5) Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Charlotte, NC, December 30): North Carolina (6-6) vs. South Carolina (6-6) Music City Bowl (Nashville, TN, December 30): Purdue (8-4) vs. Tennessee (7-5) TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, December 31): Wake Forest (10-3) vs. Texas A&M (8-4) Outback Bowl (Tampa, January 1): Penn State (7-5) vs. Arkansas (8-4) Citrus Bowl (Orlando, January 1): Iowa (10-3) vs. Kentucky (9-3) Texas Bowl (Houston, January 4): Kansas State (7-5) vs. LSU (6-6) New Year’s Six Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, January 1): Ole Miss (10-2) vs. Baylor (11-2) CFP Semifinals Orange Bowl (Miami Gardens) December 31): No. 2 Michigan (12-1) vs. No. 3 Georgia (12-1) Cotton Bowl (Arlington, TX December 31): No. 1 Alabama (12-1) vs. No. 4 Cincinnati (13-0) YOU CAN’T TELL THE COACHES WITHOUT A PROGRAM Louisiana stayed in house to replace Billy Napier. Getting the promotion was Michael Desormeaux, who coached tight ends and was the co-offensive coordinator. As a quarterback at Louisiana during his collegiate playing days, Desormeaux threw for 3,893 yards and 23 touchdowns while running for 2,843 yards and 16 more TDs. He’s a native of nearby New Iberia. Oklahoma has replaced Lincoln Riley with Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables, who spent 15 years working at OU under Bob Stoops. Contract details aren’t available yet, but considering he was making more than $2.5 million as Dabo Swinney’s DC at Clemson, expect Venables to be paid somewhere in the $6 million range. Things are getting messy at Miami. Manny Diaz is still the coach and is out on the recruiting trail. There is no athletic director in place although there are reports that The Ewe is willing to spend $3 million to lure Dan Radakovich away from Clemson. There are also reports that The Ewe is willing to give Mario Cristobal a 5-year, $40 million deal to leave Oregon to come home to his alma mater. Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated is reporting that Mario has until noon Monday or the offer is off the table. A sticking point for Mario might be the fact that any deal to land Radakovich might not be finalized until AFTER Mario makes his decision. Former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chip Long is expected to be named the OC at Georgia Tech. Lane Kiffin’s new deal at Ole Miss will pay $7.5 million per year. Under Mississippi State law, Kiffin can’t get a contract longer than four years. GATORS TRY TO GET BACK ON WINNING TRACK TONIGHT AGAINST TEXAS SOUTHERN The Gators (6-1) expect to resume their winning ways tonight (6 p.m., SEC Network+) against Texas Southern (0-7), coached by former LSU head coach Johnny Jones. The Gators suffered their first loss of the season on the road last week against Oklahoma (74-67), the first time this season UF has allowed 70 or more points in a game. Mike White will be hoping the Gators can clean up their sloppy play that was so costly against Oklahoma. UF committed 16 turnovers that Oklahoma converted into 19 points. UF also had its worst shooting game from the 3-point line, hitting only 4-24 (16.6 percent). The Gators also had only seven assists in the game for a negative assist-to-turnover ratio that has to be improved before conference play begins. Colin Castleton continues to lead the Gators in scoring (14.7 points), rebounds (10.1) and blocked shots (3.0). Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (11.9), Tyree Appleby (11.3) and Myreon Jones (10.9) also average scoring in double figures. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The College Football Playoff is set with four teams, two (Alabama and Georgia) from the Southeastern Conference, one from the Big Ten (Michigan) and one from the Group of Five (Cincinnati). SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who is perfectly fine with the playoff remaining at four teams, is pleased to have half the teams. The ones who shouldn’t be happy are the so-called “alliance” (Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12) who have been moaning and groaning about SEC dominance and opposing expansion of the playoff to 12 teams under the plan that was put forward back in the summer. The ACC and Pac-12 are shut out of the playoff as is the Big 12, which isn’t a member of the “alliance” and is scrambling to simply remain a power conference. If we had a 12-team playoff under the proposal from this past summer, the ACC and Pac-12 would have their champions in. Here is what the playoff would look like: Automatic qualifiers (Six highest rated conference champions): 1. Alabama (SEC); 2. Michigan (Big Ten); 4. Cincinnati (AAC); 7. Baylor (Big 12); 11. Utah (Pac-12) and 13. Pittsburgh (ACC). At-large (six): 3. Georgia (SEC); 5. Notre Dame (Independent); 6. Ohio State (Big Ten); 8. Ole Miss (SEC); 9. Oklahoma State (Big 12); and 10. Michigan State (Big Ten). First round matchups would be: 13. Pittsburgh at 5. Notre Dame; 11. Utah at 6. Ohio State; 10. Michigan State at 7. Baylor; and 9. Oklahoma State at 8. Ole Miss. The SEC would have three teams, the Big Ten three, the Big 12 two, independents one, Pac-12 one, ACC one and AAC one. Everybody would make a lot more money than they will make under the current 4-team format. But perhaps that’s a bit too difficult for the three commissioners who lead “the alliance” to grasp.

This was the football version of “you had me at hello” when Billy Napier said he will be coaching Florida’s quarterbacks and calling the plays since it frees him up to have two coaches working the offensive line. “I’ll be calling the plays here,” Napier said at his introductory press conference Sunday afternoon, just five hours after arriving from the University of Louisiana and a Sun Belt Conference championship. “I think it give us an advantage in my opinion. We’re one of the only teams in the entire country to have two offensive line coaches. We’ll have an offensive line coach and an assistant offensive line coach.” What a concept. It worked for Urban Meyer who won two national championships at the University of Florida with Steve Addazio and John Hevesy coaching the offensive line. That 2008 O-line that featured future NFL Pro Bowlers Mike and Maurkice Pouncey along with Carl Johnson, Jason Watkins and Phil Trautwein did the heavy lifting for a national championship team that averaged 43.6 points, 231.1 rushing yards (5.9 per carry), 213.9 passing yards (9.1 per attempt) and gave up only 16 sacks in 14 games. Throughout his time at Louisiana, Napier has gone with two O-line coaches. It has worked well enough in four years for the Cajuns to go 40-12 with 10, 11 and 12 wins in the last three seasons. The 2021 SBC championship team (12-1 record) has been working with Jeff Norrid as the O-line coach assisted by Darnell Stapleton, who at one time started on the Pittsburgh Steelers O-line with Maurkice Pouncey. “We will construct our staff on both sides of the ball and put a premium on the line of scrimmage – the offensive line, the defensive line,” Napier said. “The edge players will be very important. “And certainly when you’re coaching the offensive line, you’ve got to coach five players. Nobody’s got one coach coaching five DBs. I don’t know why you wouldn’t have two guys coaching the offensive line. I’ll coach the quarterbacks with the help from an offensive analyst and call the plays and we’ll have the advantage of having two offensive line coaches.” Imagine that. Something that makes sense. What we learned from Napier’s first press conference is that he makes an awful lot of sense. It’s what you would expect from someone that UF athletic director Scott Stricklin says is described by people who know him as “genuine, authentic, organized, detailed, disciplined, methodical, caring, competitive, hardworking, thoughtful.” Before we go further, let’s start with the “genuine” description. Billy Napier has a Southern accent, acquired while growing up in north Georgia and refined after years of coaching in South Carolina, Alabama and Louisiana. He doesn’t have to fake a Southern accent, unlike that recently hired coach at LSU, whose attempt to speak Southernese went over about as well as an attempt to speak Swahili to the locals in Tanzania after a single lesson from one of those “Speak in Ten Minutes” books. Who else but someone who is genuine would admit to the world that he learned just how much he didn’t know in 2011, when he landed a job as an analyst for Nick Saban after being fired as Clemson’s offensive coordinator by Dabo Swinney? “First of all, it was a unique time in my career,” Napier said. “Certainly I was in a very humbled place, I think any time that happens to you, but I’m thankful for Coach Saban giving me that opportunity. There’s no question. “I’d been in college football for 10 years at that point and in that one year I think I learned more than I learned in the previous 10, if that makes sense.” It makes perfect sense. There is a reason why Nick Saban has won more national championships (seven) than any coach in college football history. There is a reason why no coach in college football has more staff turnover than Nick Saban and yet Alabama keeps churning out championship teams. Napier left Alabama in 2012 for Colorado State, where he spent a year as an assistant with former Alabama offensive coordinator and Florida head coach Jim McElwain. He returned in 2013 to coach Saban’s wide receivers and during the next four years worked with future head coaches Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin, Mario Cristobal and Jeremy Pruitt. The 2016 Alabama team had Steve Sarkisian (now HBC at Texas) and Mike Locksley (now HBC at Maryland) working as analysts. During that one year working as an analyst and the four he spent coaching wide receivers at Alabama, Napier got fully indoctrinated to “the process.” We’ve all heard about Saban and “the process” but most people act as if it’s computer code for the next rocket launch at Cape Canaveral. Napier says it really is fairly simple. “I think really what it is it’s a very specific detailed plan for the players and the staff relative to who they are as people, who they are as students and who they are as football players,” he said while answering a few more questions after the formal press conference ended. “It’s that simple. The key is executing the process. It’s one thing to talk about it. It’s another thing to have the discipline to follow through and do those things each day. That will be the challenge is to get everybody in the building to do just that. That’s my job to create consistency, be fair and hold people accountable and create an environment where people want to do their job. They want to look forward to coming to work every day.” When he first arrived at Alabama back in 2011, he was exposed to “the process” the first time and it completely changed how he thought about coaching football. “Maybe you have these thoughts and these beliefs and convictions about how things should be done and then all of a sudden you walk into the building and you’re looking around and observing things and there it is,” Napier said. “I was 30 years old at the time. I remember telling Ali (his wife) if this was our first job in college football we would be ecstatic. So it’s almost like you had to take a step backwards so you could take a step forward and man, an incredible year. We won the national championship that year. We beat LSU in New Orleans in the Sugar Bowl. I would say this. Everybody wants to talk about these head coaches. You don’t realize the quality, the unbelievable, best in the entire profession in the building that you’re getting to interact with and work with each day, to have conversations with, to go back and forth with about ideas.” It was like getting a master’s degree in coaching and the four years he spent coaching wide receivers at Alabama, further ingraining “the process” into the core of his foundation were like a PhD. And now that he’s the head coach at the University of Florida, where coaches who don’t win championships find themselves seeking gainful employment elsewhere, an adapted version of “the process,” refined and fine-tuned at Louisiana, will be implemented, starting with the way he divides every football season into eight phases. “I’ll give you the quick version here – foundation, identity, spring practice, discretionary period, summer regimen, training camp, in-season and postseason,” Napier said. “Really what we try to do is to create some intensity and urgency for small periods of time. We have specific goals and objectives for each one of those and everybody in the building’s got things that they’re in charge of and what we’re trying to accomplish.” Recruiting is also broken down into workable phases. “So, we also break our recruiting calendar into six phases and that’s all well-defined for everybody in the building,” he said. “And, I do think we’ve gotten better at each one of those things, each one over the last four years.” It is recruiting that will require his immediate attention with the December signing date 10 days away. He’s not going to go at it with a fire all your guns at once approach that may or may not get results. For one thing, he doesn’t have a full staff yet and hasn’t done personal interviews with the current coaches on staff to determine who will have the option to stay on and who will need to find a new place to coach in 2022. Napier knows what the fans expect, but he threw out a bit of caution while explaining how he will go about it. “I think I know everybody wants to go pedal to the metal here and go a hundred miles an hour,” he said while preaching patience, adding, “So, we’re going to evaluate the situation a little bit this week, over the next 10 days or so, but you can expect us to be very conservative, very patient, trying to position ourselves for post-signing day to evaluate all the players that are left over, all the players in the transfer portal. “And then when we do have our entire staff and organization put together, position ourselves for some really strong weekends in January, and then try to close strong in February.” While this might not satisfy some who believe there is no time to lose on the recruiting trail, do understand the one part of “the process” that also reminds him of his late father, a long-time high school football coach who taught him that relationships are what matters most. Recruiting is all about building relationships not only with the athlete but with the parents and family of the athlete as well as his high school coach. This is not a fly by night approach which is why Napier is preaching patience at this point. He knows that if trust and respect are earned that the relationships will be built the proper way and the foundations for long term success will be put in place. It works for Saban and it worked for Napier at Louisiana, where after the Ragin Cajuns beat Appalachian State for the Sun Belt Conference title Saturday, he had to do one of the toughest things he’s ever had to do – say good-bye to kids who trusted him back in 2018 when he took the job. “It was a tough week in a lot of ways but I think there’s so many individual stories in that locker room,” Napier said. “That’s the thing. You pour your heart and soul into each one of those guys and the best thing about the job is to see them make progress as people. To have to leave right in the middle of some of those guys’ careers is tough.” He leaves his former team with a good conscience and in the good hands of Michael Desmoreaux, a former standout Louisiana quarterback who inherits a program where winning is expected. Now, Billy Napier arrives in Gainesville knowing fully well what the expectations are at the University of Florida – “These jobs will chew you up and spit you out if you let them,” he says – but prepared to deal with it methodically, systematically and with the goal of building something that won’t break. The three previous coaches came to Gainesville thinking they had the answers for sustaining excellence. All three of them – Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen – left with winning records but none of them won a Southeastern Conference championship or won enough games to last four full years. This is a tough job and it’s a tough place to coach, but we know from the 12 years of Steve Spurrier (122-27-1, six SEC championships, one national title) and the six of Urban Meyer (65-15, two SEC championships, two national titles) that it can be done here. There were other SEC jobs that Napier could have had – Mississippi State, Auburn, South Carolina and Tennessee all wanted him – but he chose Florida. A lot of prayer went into the decision to take the Florida job. During the 2021 season at Louisiana, the theme of the team chapel was the Book of Joshua. Sunday he pointed out the Joshua 1:9 where it says, “Be strong and courageous.” He arrives in Gainesville feeling strong enough to handle the job and courageous enough to lead the Gators. “You know, so it’s the right place at the right time, with the right people and the right leadership,” he said. And a plan in place that involves common sense and the Billy Napier version of “the process.”

Can Billy Napier turn out to be the best hire of the Big Three? (UL Photo) I’ll preface my comments by saying the procurement of Florida’s new coach by Scott Stricklin was beyond leader-in-the-clubhouse impressive. The employment of Billy Napier is looking like a home run hire – with the bases loaded in the ninth inning. Rule No. 1 for romance and the hiring football coaches: Beware of falling in love on the first date. I have a friend who, after divorcing in middle-age, had a habit of asking me: “Don’t you believe in love at first sight?” To which I would reply, “Yes! But not every week!” Seems like recently some big schools and big-name coaches were ready to marry 10 minutes after a blind date. It was like Wall Street panic set in on campuses, with ADs making a Black Friday lunge for coaching talent at beyond warp speed. Speed dating may be dangerous to the long-term health of athletic directors. This ain’t The Bachelor. Last weekend over 72 hours, it was almost like national signing day for coaches. I’ll be interested to see how the crop of recent signees turns out to survive this insane period of Las Vegas-style quickie marriages. Of course, this was all propagated by the early signing day frenzy that places schools in jeopardy around Thanksgiving, when they are at risk of not having a coach in place in time to reap their bounty of recruits (or not). So don’t blame the poor ADs for pushing down on the pedal. I’ll preface my comments by saying the procurement of Florida’s new coach by Scott Stricklin was beyond leader-in-the-clubhouse impressive. The employment of Billy Napier is looking like a home run hire – with the bases loaded in the ninth inning. Kudos to Stricklin for getting the guy he wanted when some of his critics (including me) mistook his deliberance for bewilderment. And while we don’t yet know the true financial details of Napier’s contract – doesn’t everybody get $95M ?? – it seems Florida may have retrieved some dough in order to settle up Dan Mullen’s severance package. And then some. Every new coach hired is a home run, until it’s not. Of course, lots of hard-hit baseballs eventually wind up as only warning track power flies, easily snared by awaiting outfielders. It’s a home run now, but will it be a home run in 2023 when the wind is blowing in from left field? The real pearl in this spate of new coaches might have been the one plucked out of the oyster patch in Lafayette, La. Only it got buried under an avalanche of other activity of coaching news and overshadowed because Napier worked in somewhat of an obscure environment. Oddly enough, as Paul Finebaum said on his show, Napier going to Florida was “the most under-reported story” of the week because of what happened hours later: Back-to-back shockers by USC and LSU. After the word began circulating that Lincoln Riley was LSU’s next coach and then him turning up as the Trojan’s doorstep, BOOM! That was bombshell #1. Bombshell #2 was Notre Dame’s all-time winningest coach doing an 11-minute drive-by goodbye to his Fighting Irish team and then LSU pulling off a smash-and-grab for its new coach, Brian Kelly. I don’t to want to be That Guy Who Said Their School Got The Best Coach. But based on my conversations, emails, talk show interactions, research and tea-leaves readings, it does seem Scott Stricklin was the winner of the coach-hiring sweepstakes. And no, I am not sending a marriage proposal to Coach Napier. It does seem, though, there are a lot of man-crushes on Florida’s new head coach. The two-time Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year stayed to coach his team. (UL/Adidas Photo) “Love the pick,” was the common refrain from many people I asked about the hiring of Napier. “Can’t find a single thing bad about him,” was another. “This is what people around Louisiana feared: Somebody hiring away the hottest coach in the country and him coming back to haunt LSU.” One big alumnus from another school (not LSU) told my friend Terry Bradshaw, “we’re glad he (Napier) is getting out of here because he’s building something special.” It was as though Napier had found the secret formula for the next nuclear weapon. On my show when I asked MrCFB Tony Barnhart which of the Big Three hires most impressed him most, he quickly responded: “Billy Napier by Florida.” Meanwhile, as I did my own diligence, not one person out of about 15 asked had a single negative thing to say about Napier – nor had they heard of anybody who had. “Great recruiter.” Tommy Bowden once said of Napier, ". . . like a Pitbull. He gets his teeth in one and he don’t let go.” Even The Goat, Nick Saban, praised Napier: "Billy did an outstanding job for us. He was a very good coach, great recruiter. Had great relationships with the players. He was a good teacher on the field. There's nothing bad I could think of to say about Billy Napier in terms of what he did here." Among those singing his praises are also Louisiana high school coaches, who said in a video what they appreciated about him was his tenacity on the recruiting trail, loyalty in doing things the “right way” and not bloviating about his interest in one of their players. That “loyalty” showed up when Napier told Stricklin that leaving UL before the Sun Belt title game was non-negotiable. He was staying to coach his team in the championship game — period! The bowl game? TBD. The term “gentleman” was invoked often to describe Napier. His ability to craft a winning program with limited resources and his consistency in posting three straight double-digit winning seasons put him on the horizon as a rising star. Not rising fast enough, apparently, for LSU, which told him “no thanks” when Napier went after the job. Conversely, there are unconfirmed stories about Brian Kelly having his agent Trace Armstrong reach out to Florida and being told Stricklin had no interest – perhaps if true, because he already had Napier? That, indeed, would be more gasoline on the fire for the already hot Florida-LSU series. Lincoln Riley being hired by USC allegedly happened in the middle of the night while nobody was watching as he apparently woke up and found that the tooth fairy had made him the Trojans’ coach. Home run! Except for small details about the transition. How are his neighbors going to accept a new USC coach with two dogs named Boomer and Sooner? Of course we believe everything Riley said about his Sunday morning epiphany, and for the first time since he’d been in Oklahoma, deciding to talk to another school about coaching there. And by the way, the check’s in the mail, and I’ve got some real estate deals for you in the Everglades. Brian Kelly: On his way to the SEC. (Fiile photo) As for Kelly, I appear to be in the minority, but I’m not all that impressed with his hiring. His resume is strong. And while he’s familiar with the SEC, having played a decent schedule that sometimes included top SEC teams, or meeting them in a playoff, it’s not the same. Lining up nine times a year, week after week, against the Alabamas, Georgias, LSUs, Floridas, Texas A&Ms and even Mississippis, Kentuckys, Arkansases or Mississippi States isn’t the same as Navy, Duke, Western Michigan, Bowling Green, etc. The so-called “Residual Impact” of playing an SEC schedule takes its toll on players in November, like the same heavyweight champion boxer fighting the No. 1 contender every month. It takes a toll on bodies. So mark that one down to remember. Kelly talks about “alignment” and how important it was at LSU in getting the president, AD, boosters, etc. on the same page -- and we get that. But let me warn him he’s not taking his car into to Firestone or Goodyear to get his wheels balanced. No matter, overall it was a coaching coup like none other, the likes of which will never be seen again. Here’s how unusual all this was: The last Notre Dame coach to leave for another college job was Thomas Barry, who in 1908 went to Wisconsin to coach football and baseball. The last Oklahoma coach to do so was in 1947, when Jim Tatum was hired at Maryland. It took Kelly and Riley only a matter of days. And, oh yeah, Florida has never hired a coach from that hotbed, University of Louisiana/Lafayette.

“Florida’s last three coaches all got fired in fewer than four full seasons. The program has gained a reputation as one that chews up and spits out coaches. The last two coaches have been fired during the season after a season that ended in the SEC title game. Meanwhile, Florida’s facilities have lagged behind the rest of the SEC’s for years. The expectations equal LSU’s or Oklahoma’s, but the resources have not.” – Andy Staples, The Athletic Sunday afternoon, the University of Florida will formally introduce Billy Napier as its latest football coach in the eternal search to find the next Steve Spurrier. Napier succeeds Dan Mullen, who took off like a rocket ship for his first 35 games (29-6 record) only to run out of fuel and drop back down to earth like space junk in his last 14 (5-9 record). Per athletic director Scott Stricklin, winning and losing wasn’t the most prominent factor in Mullen’s demise. There were off-the-field related issues, most of which have been kept hush-hush from the general public. One notable reason for Mullen being pink slipped was recruiting, a problem from the beginning that dropped off notably in year four as the losses began to mount. When expectations are as high as they are every year at the University of Florida, the only way to be certain to at least come close to meeting them is a steady flow of highly regarded talent and that just wasn’t happening. Some of the recruiting issues have everything to do with Mullen’s general distaste for one of the job’s necessities, but not all the blame can be pinned on him. Facilities have been a problem and while recent efforts such as the building of the new James T. Heavener Football Training Facility are helping to close the gap, until that new building opens in the spring of 2022, the Gators are going to be forced to sell hope instead of something tangible. This is why the hiring of Napier is so critical. When he was coaching for Dabo Swinney at Clemson and Nick Saban at Alabama, Napier made his mark as a relentless recruiter who delivered in a big way on signing day. When he took over the head coaching job at the University of Louisiana in 2018, the first thing Napier did was tour the state to repair frazzled relationships with the state’s high school coaches. From that good start, Napier kept bringing in recruiting classes that ranked among the very best in the Sun Belt Conference and the results were manifested on the field where the Ragin Cajuns are 39-12 in the last four seasons with a chance to win the conference championship Saturday against Appalachian State. Napier, it is hoped, can salvage the recruiting class of 2022, plus bring in some transfers to plug holes in the roster as a stop gap measure for next season. Then, with the opening of the Heavener Facility, Napier will have all the tools at his disposal to bring in the kind of athletes that will be required for the Gators to come close to matching the expectations of the fan base. So, how did Florida get into this mess in the first place? "We're not into bells and whistles. We're not getting into an arms race, and they're not an issue in my opinion affecting our success." – Jeremy Foley Jeremy Foley said that back in 2014 when he was still the Florida’s athletic director. On Foley’s watch from 1991 until his retirement in 2016, the Florida Gators were the dominant athletic program in the Southeastern Conference and an annual top five finisher in the Director’s Cup, symbolic of the nation’s best athletic program from top to bottom. When he succeeded Bill Arnsparger as the AD in 1991 at the age of 39, Florida’s reputation was a rogue athletic program where bending and often times blatantly breaking the rules was commonplace. During his 25-year run at UF, the Gators won 28 national championships including three in football (1996, 2006, 2008) and two in basketball (2006-07), all without a hint of an NCAA scandal. During the 1980s prior to Foley taking over, Florida was sanctioned by the NCAA twice in football, once in basketball. There are plenty of reasons to admire Foley for his accomplishments but none are more important than keeping the Gators out of the NCAA jailhouse, especially in the two most visible and prominent sports. But, there is also that teensy matter of facilities. It’s unfair to say that facilities issues had their beginning under Foley since UF has a long history of going cheap, but as one school after another in the SEC has upgraded and surpassed Florida in that respect, a lot of fingers get pointed at Foley. Florida dominated football in the SEC from 1990-2009 but since then the Gators haven’t won an SEC title much less a national championship. Better facilities, which in turn leads to better recruiting classes, are one of the chief culprits in the demise. In a 2014 USA Today article, Dan Wolken quoted one coach/administrator type: “It’s mind boggling. That place should have the best facilities in the country. How was that allowed to happen?” Actually, facilities that lag behind the rest of the SEC is not exactly a new trend. Back in 1966 Florida basketball coach Norm Sloan got one of those “Mama called” offers to come home to North Carolina State, where he had played basketball for the legendary Everett Case. Sloan, who had recruited a team capable of making the Final Four in 1967, didn’t want to leave even if it was his alma mater and Everett Case saying we need you. Sloan was making $15,000 a year and even though North Carolina State was offering more, it wasn’t about money when he went to athletic director Ray Graves to gauge how badly Florida wanted to keep him. At the top of Sloan’s request list was new carpet and new furniture in his office and the office of his assistant coaches. “He [Graves] looked me square in the eye and told me no to the carpet and furniture and maybe I ought to take that North Carolina State job,” Sloan told me at the Albert Pick Hotel in Greensboro on a March night in 1974 after North Carolina State had beaten Al McGuire and Marquette to win the NCAA basketball championship. Sloan’s replacement at Florida in 1966 was Tommy Bartlett, an assistant coach at Tennessee who was recommended by his old buddy Bob Woodruff, the UT athletic director who had been a teammate and Graves’ predecessor as the football coach at UF. That Florida basketball team in 1966-67 went 21-4, the best record in school history but the Gators could have and should have done better. The Gators had the tallest team in the country and enough talent to make the Final Four, but as nice a guy as Bartlett was, he wasn’t the kind of coach who was going to win championships. This was a Peter Principle hire. Bartlett rose beyond his level of competence and by 1973 he was fired. He went on to coach tennis at Chattanooga where his men’s and women’s teams won numerous Southern Conference championships. He should have been coaching tennis all along. Given the amount of talent Sloan left behind – the team included future pros Gary Keller (6-9) and Neal Walk (6-10) – a lot of very successful coaches would have jumped at the opportunity to coach the Gators, but Graves went cheap. When Bartlett was fired after the 1973 season, Graves turned to John Lotz, Dean Smith’s top lieutenant at North Carolina. Lotz brought Dick Grubar with him as his top assistant. They were promised that a first class arena would be built to replace ancient Alligator Alley, which was on the bottom rung of basketball facilities in the SEC. Lotz never got to coach a game in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, which was built on the cheap with an air-supported bubble dome. The O-Dome design was an attempt to stretch limited resources since UF was relying on state funds and booster contributions were grossly inadequate. Ground was broken in 1977 but there were construction delays caused by substandard concrete beams that had to be repaired or replaced. Lotz was Dean Smith’s best recruiter. At Florida he couldn’t recruit because of bad facilities. Again, UF was penalized by going cheap. When Douglas Adair Dickey was fired after a 4-7 season in 1978, the Florida search committee headed by president Robert Marston and prominent booster Warren Cason hired Charley Pell away from Clemson, where he was 18-4-1 in two years. Pell was hired for $79,000 a year and he took the Florida job without ever visiting and touring the facilities. Ward Pell recalls the first time she and Charley saw what they were getting into. Florida Field was a dump. The team locker rooms in Alligator Alley were cramped and 20 years behind the times. Yon Hall where athletes lived was in disarray. When they went to the stairwell to go up to the coaches offices on the West Side of Florida Field, the wallpaper was peeling off the wall. “I said to him, ‘Why in the Sam Hill are we coming to this place, can’t we call Clemson and see if they’ll take us back?’” she recalled. “And this was before we saw the head coach’s office.” When they opened the door to what would be Charley’s office, the first thing she saw was the sofa. “It was orange vinyl and it had duct tape covering up places where it was torn,” she said. “Ugliest thing you’ve ever seen and about that time in walks Joe Kines, who says, “You think this is bad, want to come to my office to see my desk?’” It was a metal desk hooked to the wood in the office by a screen door hook. The weight room was so small that football players went over to Gainesville High School to lift because Jim Niblack had a weight room that was better than most colleges at the time. Charley would fly down to Fort Lauderdale to sweet talk Wendy’s CEO Dave Thomas into donating the money to build and equip a modern weight room. “Before we ever started two-a-days in the summer of 1979, we had done 329 speaking engagements,” Ward recalled. “Three weeks before our first kickoff Charley had to kick 26 players off the team. Even during the season Charley was out there charming everyone and asking for money. It didn’t end there. We probably would have won a national championship by 1982 if he could have spent as much time coaching football as he did fund raising.” If not for Pell taking fund raising to a never before seen level at UF, the facilities would have deteriorated even further. Foley upgraded facilities on a regular basis, but it was always with an eye on keeping costs down. When Steve Spurrier went on the most successful 12-year run in UF football history – 122-27-1 with six SEC championships and the 1996 national title – Florida got away with below par facilities because the Gators were winning so much. There were calls even then for an indoor practice facility (wasn’t opened until 2015) but the response was always “it’s Florida, we have sunshine and good weather, why do we need an indoor facility?” Both UCF and Florida State had their indoor facilities open long before UF as did most of the schools in the SEC. When Florida did build an indoor facility it wasn’t without glitches. When Jim McElwain became the new head coach in 2015 he noticed that the facility being constructed was only 70 yards long. He demanded – and got – an agreement to expand to 100 yards. More money, more time and there was still another glitch. The hastily revised plan to build a 100-yard field didn’t include bathrooms or end zones. More money. More time. Rather than build a new basketball arena befitting of a national championship-caliber coach in Billy Donovan, Florida went ahead with a plan to gut and renovate the decrepit O-Dome. There were delays – heard that before? – because a local construction company had to be replaced by the Birmingham conglomerate Brasfield and Gorie. There were cost overruns said to go well beyond the announced renovation price of nearly $65 million. The renovated O-Dome is superior to what the Gators had before, but as one very prominent booster has noted while shaking his head, “This is nothing more than lipstick on a pig.” It should be noted that for $96.5 million Ole Miss built the state-of-the-art Pavilion and for $86 million the new Auburn Arena was built. Both are superior facilities to the O-Dome. Florida could have built something brand new that would have made recruiting so much easier, but as usual, cheap was the by-word. Foley had so many of the good qualities you want in an athletic director, but he was far too bottom line conscious and when he retired in 2016 there was no long range plan to upgrade the entire athletic plant to bring UF facilities into the 21st century. Since taking over in the fall of 2016, Scott Stricklin has prioritized facilities. He’s overseen the renovation of the softball stadium so that Tim Walton’s Gators have a facility befitting a program that has won two NCAA titles and made the Women’s College World Series 10 times since 2008. Where McKethan Stadium once stood a new standalone football facility is under construction and set to open in the spring of 2022. The Florida baseball team moved out to the west side of campus into a brand new stadium in 2020. There will be renovations to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and to the tennis facilities where the UF men won their first NCAA title in 2021 and where the UF women have won seven, the last one in 2017. There will be other upgrades as Stricklin brings the Florida athletic facilities to a level where UF can compete with the upper echelons of the Southeastern Conference. “Before Scott came along there was no long-range plan for facilities,” one prominent booster admitted. “When it comes to facilities as well as doing what we need to bring championships here, he gets it. He understands that kids are going to go where they have the best facilities. Our recruiting is way behind Georgia, Alabama, Texas A&M … they all have much better facilities than we do, but facilities aren’t the only thing. They have more analysts, bigger recruiting staffs, more support staff … they don’t go cheap.” Recruiting was never Dan Mullen’s strong suit but he was handicapped by facilities that continue to lag behind, a recruiting budget that is $2 million less than Georgia and far fewer analysts and recruiting/personnel specialists. Florida’s indoor practice facility needs work. The practice fields are poorly maintained. There is no separate dining facility for athletes unlike they have at Alabama, Georgia and just about every other top school in the country. Alabama has 36 full time recruiting people. At Louisiana, Napier has 12, which is more than adequate in the Sun Belt and still more than UF had under Mullen. There is no way Stricklin could have hired Napier without promises to upgrade every aspect of recruiting from facilities to analysts to support staff to the overall budget. Napier cut his recruiting and coaching teeth under Dabo Swinney and Nick Saban, the two most successful football coaches of the last 12 years. Swinney and Saban have administrations that understand how football is the engine that drives the entire athletic program. When they want something, cutting corners is not a consideration. It’s go first class or don’t go at all. Will Stricklin and Florida go first class with Napier? It is being whispered among boosters and others who know Napier that he gave Stricklin a list of demands that had to be met before he would agree to take the University of Florida job. That has a very Nick Saban type of sound to it, but it would figure that after one year as an Alabama analyst and three years as Saban’s wide receivers coach that Napier knows exactly what he wants and will not settle for anything less. If the Florida administration is willing to give Napier what he wants, it will be a sure sign that they want to put an end to the reputation that this is a place that chews coaches up and then spits them out. None of the three previous coaches – Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen – made it through a full four years on the job. The revolving door has to stop and one of the ways to do it is to upgrade facilities and budgets to the point that the head coach has everything in place to win. In Steve Spurrier’s day and during the six years Urban Meyer was the head coach, Florida was able to win championships on the sheer force of their personalities. To those who would think Florida should simply hire coaches with those Alpha-male personalities, consider the fact that even though Nick Saban is an Alpha male with a documented “process” that produces championships, it can’t be done without an administration that gives him the tools he needs to win at the highest level. Georgia has shown a willingness to give Kirby Smart whatever he wants and needs. Nick has won six national championships since Florida’s last one in 2008 under Meyer. Georgia has been to the College Football Playoff in 2017 and is on the cusp of its first national championship since Herschel Walker was running over people instead of for the United States Senate. For Florida to breathe the rarified air that Saban and Smart inhale, Napier has to be given what he needs to succeed. It will take a much larger cash outlay, but money should not be an object, not with a new SEC contract with ESPN that will guarantee a $17 million increase in the current conference distribution ($46 million) and the promise of a newer contract that will guarantee even more when Texas and Oklahoma join. Napier will have already been on the Florida job for a few months when the long-awaited James W. Heavener Football Training Facility opens in the spring. That $85 million facility is a step in the right direction and a sign that Florida will no longer operate on the cheap. If Napier is given the other things he needs to bring in the recruits, then there is a chance Florida’s performance on the field and on the recruiting trail can meet the expectations.

A few thoughts to jump start your Friday morning: SUNDAY, A NEW ERA BEGINS FOR FLORIDA FOOTBALL Sunday afternoon at a press conference at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Billy Napier will be formally introduced as the head football coach at the University of Florida. He’s 42 years old, 39-12 as a head coach and could be arriving in Gainesville on the heels of a Sun Belt Conference championship. By all accounts, Napier is a Nick Saban clone in the way he organizes things and goes about his daily business. It would be surprising if he arrives in Gainesville without every assistant coaching position already filled and without a plan to immediately recruit every player on the UF roster including the four who have entered their names in the transfer portal – Dante Zanders, Gerald Mincey, Khris Bogle and Lloyd Summerall III. He’s not going to run players off necessarily, but if he doesn’t get the right answers when he asks questions or sees any doubt about being a Gator, he won’t stop the screen door from hitting them backside on the way out. Billy Napier is Florida’s head coach because he wants to be a Gator, which is why he’s turned down Mississippi State, Auburn, South Carolina and Tennessee in the past. He is at a place where he (a) knows he can win and (b) has assurances that he will have every resource available to win. That means resources for recruiting that have been missing for quite some time are being made available. Napier isn’t a rock star hire like Lincoln Riley at Southern Cal and he’s certainly not the type to abandon his players with a championship on the line a la Brian Kelly. Napier made it abundantly clear before he was hired by Scott Stricklin that his players come first and that means finishing what was started at Louisiana this season. He will arrive in Gainesville fully focused and ready to begin piecing the Florida football program back together again. I’ve talked to quite a few people about Napier in the last few days and the near unanimous conclusion is that Florida has the right coach at the right time. I was told to look carefully at the two coaches who have influenced him the most – Dabo Swinney and Nick Saban. “Nick’s been at Alabama 15 years and Dabo’s been at Clemson 14,” one coach told me. “Billy is taking the Florida job because he plans to be there for the long term. It’s not going to be four years and out the door, that’s for damn sure.” THE SEC SOOTHSAYER No. 3 Alabama (11-1, 7-1 SEC) vs. No. 1 Georgia (12-0, 8-0 SEC): What we’ve seen on the field tells us the SEC Championship Game will be all Georgia. The Bulldogs lead the nation in defense (229.7 yards per game), scoring defense (6.9 points per game) and they’re third against the run (78.92 yards per game). A week ago Alabama’s offensive line did a dandy impersonation of a sieve when they allowed Bryce Young to get sacked seven times. That same OL is back this week and Bama may be without running back Brian Robinson (hamstring; 1,016 rushing yards and 14 TDs; 29 receptions for 2 TDs). Everything says Georgia wins and covers the 6.5-point spread. There’s just one teensy little problem. Nick Saban still coaches Alabama and he’s only lost one game since 2008 when he was the underdog. He still has Young throwing the ball (3,901 yards, 40 TDPs, just 4 picks), Jameson Williams catching it (61-1,261 yards, 13 TDs) and Will Anderson coming off the edge (14.5 sacks to lead the nation). Georgia fans are ready to go on a three-day bender if the Bulldogs pull this one off. Alabama fans think Georgia fans are tacky because they don’t know what it’s like to say been there, done that. Big game. Hard to go against Nick. The Sayer says sooth: Alabama 24, Georgia 20 CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES IN THE MINOR LEAGUES Friday night Western Kentucky (8-4) vs. Texas-San Antonio (11-1): UTSA saw its dream of a perfect season end last week with North Texas went beast mode between the trenches and ran for 340 yards. The good news this week in the Conference USA Championship Game is that Western Kentucky doesn’t run much (102.42 per game) but flings it all over the yard behind Bailey Zappe (4,968 passing yards, 52 touchdowns), the best quarterback you’ve never heard of. WKU is a 3.5-point favorite but the game’s in the Alamodome. The Sayer says sooth: UTSA 38, Western Kentucky 35 No. 10 Oregon (10-2) vs. No. 17 Utah (9-3): Two weeks ago Utah crushed the Ducks, 38-7, in Salt Lake. This is on a neutral field so it should be closer, but the Ducks couldn’t run the ball against Utah two weeks ago and they’ll have problems again, which means the game will be in the hands of Anthony Brown. Not a good sign for Oregon. Utah is favored by 2.5 points. The Sayer says sooth: Utah 28, Oregon 14 Saturday’s games No. 9 Baylor (10-2) vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State (11-1): Oklahoma State beat Baylor by 10 in Stillwater. This is at a neutral site and the Cowboys are favored by 5.5 points. The Bears couldn’t run the football against Okie State last time and they are going to struggle to run it Saturday in the Big 12 Championship Game. The Sayer says sooth: Oklahoma State 21, Baylor 17 Kent State (7-5) vs. Northern Illinois (8-4): Kent State coach Sean Lewis needs to win this game and get a job somewhere else because the Flashes open their 2022 season with Washington, Oklahoma and Georgia all on the road for paychecks. Lewis needs QB Dustin Crum to come up big against a Northern Illinois secondary that has given up 21 TDPs and picked off opposing QBs just once. Kent State is favored by 3.5 points. The Sayer says sooth: Kent State 33, Northern Illinois 20 Utah State (9-3) vs. No. 19 San Diego State (11-1): This is Blake Anderson’s high powered Utah State offense against San Diego State’s very stingy defense. Logan Bonner has thrown for 32 touchdowns but San Diego State’s secondary has 15 picks and the pass rush has gotten to the QB 36 times. San Diego State is favored to win by 6.0 points. The Sayer says sooth: Utah State 24, San Diego State 17 Appalachian State (10-2) vs. Louisiana (11-1): This is Billy Napier’s swan song against a team he’s already beaten 41-13 this season. The Sun Belt Championship Game is in Lafayette where the Ragin Cajuns are 14-2 in the last three years. When they played back in October, the Cajuns ran for 246 yards, threw for 209 and the defense forced four turnovers. Appalachian State hasn’t lost since that game and for some odd reason is favored by 3.0 points. Not on this day. Not in this game. The Sayer says sooth: Louisiana 35, Appalachian State 24 No. 21 Houston (11-1) vs. No. 4 Cincinnati (12-0): The pressure is all on Cincinnati. Win and the Bearcats are shoo-ins to become the first Group of Five team to make the College Football Playoff. Lose and they get a New Year’s Six bowl. They played in one of those last year. Houston has won 11 straight since losing to Texas Tech in game one. Houston has the best player you’ve never heard of in Marcus Jones, who plays both sides of the football and is the best returner in the nation. Jones has caught 10 passes for 109 yards and a TD, returned two punts for TDs and a 14.4 average, and has two kickoff returns for TDs and a 38-yard average. Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder (27 TDPs, 6 rushing TDs) is the best QB the Cougars will face and that defense is nasty. Cincy is favored by 10.5 points. Upset special? The Sayer says sooth: Cincinnati 27, Houston 24 No. 2 Michigan (11-1) vs. No. 13 Iowa (10-2): Now that Jim Harbaugh has finally beaten Ohio State, wouldn’t it be just like him to lay an egg in the game that can get him to the College Football Playoff? Iowa has forced 28 turnovers this year. The Hawkeyes allow only 2.97 yards per carry and they’ve picked off a nation-leading 22 passes. Can Michigan just line up and knock Iowa off the ball. If the Wolverines can, they win by more than the 11.5 points they’re favored by. If they can’t Iowa could score the upset. The Sayer says sooth: Michigan 17, Iowa 10 No. 15 Pittsburgh (10-2) vs. No. 16 Wake Forest (10-2): The over/under on this one is 71 so don’t expect a whole lot of defense to be played. Pitt’s Kenny Pickett has thrown for 40 touchdowns and run for four. Wake Forest Gump’s Sam Hartman has thrown for 34 and run for 10. Pitt is a 3-point favorite in a game that is probably decided by whoever gets the ball last. Wake’s Nick Sciba is 20-22 on field goals this year. If it comes down to a field goal, he isn’t going to miss. The Sayer says sooth: Wake Forest Gump 44, Pittsburgh 41 MOVING AND GROOVING IN THE COACHING WORLD Mickey Joseph, the wide receivers coach and ace recruiter who was offered a place on Brian Kelly’s new LSU staff, is the latest to just say no to the former Notre Dame coach. Apparently he prefers the uncertainty of working for Scott Frost at Nebraska to working for Kelly, who left Notre Dame with a College Football Playoff berth still in question. Kelly’s Notre Dame defensive line coach (Mike Elston) and running backs coach (Lance Taylor) apparently have elected to remain at Notre Dame instead of joining Kelly. With Mike Bobo out as the offensive coordinator at Auburn, HBC Bryan Harsin is expected to hire Arizona State offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Zak Hill. Hill was the play caller for Harsin three seasons at Boise State before taking the Arizona State position in 2020. Kentucky co-defensive coordinator Jon Sumrall is expected to be named the head coach at Troy today. Sumrall spent three seasons (2015-17) at Troy as the assistant head coach, linebackers and special teams coordinator for Neal Brown. Steve Addazio is out of a job at Colorado State. It wasn’t just the winning and losing that did him in (he was 4-12 with nine straight losses at the end of this season), but things like embarrassing the university with two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that got him ejected in the second quarter of Colorado State’s season-ending loss to Nevada. Addazio is a fine offensive line coach. He will be gainfully employed somewhere if he goes back to coaching offensive linemen. Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, who was the head coach at Mississippi State in 2018-19, is expected to be named the head coach at Akron. Bronco Mendenhall has resigned unexpectedly at Virginia after six seasons and a 36-38 record that including bowl eligibility in each of the last five seasons. Mendenhall was somewhat of a surprise hire when he left BYU to head east in 2016. He was in his comfort zone at BYU where he had led the Cougars to 11 consecutive bowl seasons and had a four-year run from 2006-09 that saw 43 wins. Mendenhall says he plans to step away from coaching to figure out his priorities moving forward with the next phase of his life. LEAVING ON A JET PLANE … OR MAYBE A TOYOTA CAMRY Here are six interesting names in the transfer portal: Adrian Martinez, QB, Nebraska: Martinez threw for 8,495 yards and 45 touchdowns and ran for 2,288 and 30 more TDs playing for Scott Frost. He’s been a turnover machine. He’s a tremendous talent but can anyone coach the turnovers out of him? Tayvion Robinson, WR, Virginia Tech: He started 30 games, catching 113 passes for 1,555 yards and nine touchdowns. A former 4-star recruit, he has two seasons of eligibility remaining. Ray Thornton III, S, Clemson: He’s a very talented kid who won’t see the field much in 2022 when Clemson returns 10 from the rotation in the secondary. Layne Hatcher, QB, Arkansas State: He has two years of eligibility remaining. At Arkansas State he’s thrown for 7,427 yards and 65 touchdowns. Aaron Brule, LB, Mississippi State: He has 151 tackles and eight sacks to go with one year of eligibility. Enzo Jennings, S, Penn State: He was a 4-star recruit out of high school who has four years of eligibility. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: One day after the conference commissioners met in Texas to discuss expanding the College Football Playoff, it is abundantly clear that SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is indeed the smartest guy in the room. Sankey knows perfectly well that the “alliance” of the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 has absolutely zero power. The threat of an 8-team playoff is bogus because ESPN wouldn’t have to pay a dime more than they do with a 4-team playoff. It’s going to be a 12-team tournament that very closely resembles the proposal Sankey put forward with the working group last summer because that’s the one that will make the most money. Sankey and the SEC will welcome but don’t need the extra cash. Everybody else does.

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning: GATORS ARE ROAD KILL AT OKLAHOMA Oklahoma set the tone in the first five minutes Wednesday night when they turned the Florida Gators (6-1) over six times. From that difficult start, the 14th-ranked Gators never seemed to get in synch for protracted periods of time as they dropped their first game of the season to the Sooners, 74-67, in Norman. “It was really tough early and definitely out of character in the first five minutes,” Florida coach Mike White said. “Credit the way they came out playing with a high level of aggression and intensity. They definitely threw the first few punches of the game.” Oklahoma parlayed that good defensive start into 13 Florida turnovers that were converted into 16 points. But it was more than just the turnovers. Oklahoma put tremendous pressure on Florida shooters with a very aggressive and effective game plan that saw the Sooner consistently knock the Gators out of their comfort zone shooting – “fighting for every inch on the court” is how White described it – particularly from the three-point line. The Gators missed all nine of their three-pointers in the first half and finished the game only 4-24. Only a couple of long threes late in the game by Tyree Appleby kept the Gators within striking distance. The Sooner defense was so disruptive that the Gators never could get into any kind of passing rhythm. On rare occasions when there were open shots, they tended to be rushed. Too many times when shots were contested, the Gators were guilty of not making an extra pass. “We have to do a better job of attacking some of those close outs,” White said. “We have to pass up some of those that aren’t great shots. We’ve got to get more on the interior with some of our cutting. We’ve done a pretty good job of that to this point. We didn’t get many easy ones tonight. Offensive rebound kickouts. I thought we had scenarios where we had it in the paint whether it was a cut or an offensive rebound or a post touch where we probably dribbled it one or two many times as they converged and put bodies in there. If you play better from two and make some decisions where you finish at the rim a couple more times it maybe opens up a little bit more from three. It all works together.” Phlandrous Fleming Jr. came off the bench to lead the Gators with 17 points to go with six rebounds, one assist and two steals. Colin Castleton had 14 points, 11 rebounds, four blocked shots and a steal. Appleby and Brandon McKissic each scored 11. Florida’s defense, which had been the calling card all season, had way too many lapses as the Sooners shot 49.1 percent from the field. When Castleton and Anthony Duruji got into foul trouble early on, it opened up the paint for Tanner Groves, who hit 8-11 shots and finished the night with 20 points and Jaydon Hill, whose thunderous dunk near the end of the game punctuated an 18-point night. Next up for the Gators is a Monday evening game with Texas Southern at the O-Dome. SEC BASKETBALL Wednesday’s scores: Oklahoma (7-1) 74, No. 14 FLORIDA (6-1) 67; No. 10 Arkansas (7-0) 97, Central Arkansas (1-7) 60; Georgia (3-5) 82, No. 18 Memphis (5-2) 79; No. 21 Auburn (6-1) 85, UCF (4-2) 68; Coastal Carolina (3-2) 80, South Carolina (5-2) 56; LSU (8-0) 66, Ohio (5-2) 51 Thursday’s games: Missouri (4-3) at Liberty (3-3); Lamar (1-6) at Mississippi State (5-1) NAPIER ON HIS COMMITMENT TO COACH THE FUN BELT TITLE GAME Stand up guy. That’s about the best way to describe new Florida football coach Billy Napier. When Scott Stricklin began negotiations to bring Napier from the University of Louisiana, one thing that could not be negotiated was the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game, which the Ragin Cajuns (11-1) play Saturday against Appalachian State (10-2), a team they’ve already blown out once (41-13) this season. “There was no question regarding coaching in the championship game,” The Daily Advertiser reported on Monday. “I mean, that was non-negotiable. “It’s also important for everyone to realize the commitment we have made to the players here and the staff here to really kind take a singular focus on trying to do the best job we could for this team … in our preparation this week. So there was never a doubt that we were going to coach in the game,” adding, “and … then when we’re done here Saturday we’ll move forward and start working on the challenges that are ahead of us.” Louisiana is expected to play in the New Orleans Bowl. Athletic director Bryan Maggard has left the door open for Napier to possibly coach the Ragin Cajuns in that game. KHRIS BOGLE IN THE TRANSFER PORTAL EDGE rusher Khris Bogle became the third Gator to put his name in the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday, joining defensive lineman Dante Zanders and offensive line Gerald Mincey. Bogle spent most of the season backing up Brenton Cox Jr., but still finished the season with 22 tackles including three for loss, 1.5 sacks and two quarterback hurries. A NAME TO REMEMBER FOR NAPIER’S COACHING STAFF Des Kitchings, the running backs coach for the Atlanta Falcons and a college teammate of Billy Napier at Furman is likely to join the Florida staff. Kitchings was a wide receiver/kick returner at Furman. He caught 118 passes for 1,972 yards and 12 touchdowns in his career. His senior season in 1999 saw Kitchings catch 48 passes for 911 yards and five touchdowns. He ran back 16 kickoffs for 527 yards (32.9 per return) and three touchdowns. Kitchings was drafted in the seventh round by the Kansas City Chiefs. Kitchings began his coaching career at Furman, where he was the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach from 2004-07. He coached running backs and special teams at Vandy in 2008-09, and served as the offensive coordinator in 2010. He coached running backs at Air Force in 2011 and then spent the next eight years at North Carolina State where he coached running backs and was the co-offensive coordinator in 2019. Kitchings coached running backs at South Carolina in 2020 before joining the Falcons staff. Kitchings could join the Florida staff as the running backs, tight ends or wide receivers and could very well be the special teams coordinator. During his collegiate days at Furman Kitchings was one of the most dangerous kickoff returners in Division I-AA. SAY WHAT? Brian Kelly has won everywhere he’s coached. He left Notre Dame as the winningest coach in school history, played for the national championship in 2012 and made the College Football Playoff twice. He never won a national championship at Notre Dame, a place where any year the Irish don’t win the big one is considered a disappointment. Now he’s the coach at LSU where his deal is 10 years for $95 million in straight salary with a yearly retention bonus of $500,000 and easily attained incentives that will pay him another $500,000. Check out these remarks at Kelly’s initial press conference at LSU. “I came down here because I wanted to be with the best. The resources here are outstanding. It starts with the alignment, excellence, the standard of expectations. You’re looked at in terms of champions here, and I want that. I want to be under the bright lights. I want to be on the Broadway stage.” Say what? LSU has high expectations, yes, but other than Alabama, there is no place in all of college football where championships are expected more than Notre Dame. While it is true that LSU has won three national championships since the last one by Notre Dame (1988) and the Tigers have four in their history, Notre Dame has 11 that it claims and another 11 that one organization or another awarded. Championships are expected at LSU, but Brian Kelly may discover that the pathway to a championship is a lot easier at Notre Dame, where there is no cutthroat SEC schedule nor is there a conference championship game. But, if he doesn’t win any championships, he’ll be comforted by the $10 million a year he’ll be raking in. FOOTBALL IN THE SEC Alabama (11-1, 7-1 SEC): Georgia is a 6.5-point favorite to win the SEC Championship Game. Brett McMurphy tweeted that this is only the sixth time since 2008 that Nick Saban has been an underdog. He’s won four of the previous five, the only loss to Florida in the 2008 SEC Championship Game. Georgia (12-0, 8-0 SEC): Georgia gave up 300 or more passing yards only once this season (to Tennessee, 332). In the SEC Championship Game, the Bulldogs will be facing Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, who has thrown for at least 300 yards in seven consecutive games. LSU (6-6, 3-5 SEC): Tommy Rees, Brian Kelly’s offensive coordinator at Notre Dame, has turned down an offer to work for Kelly at LSU as has Irish strength and conditioning coordinator Matt Balis. Also saying no to Kelly is Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford. Mississippi State (7-5, 4-4 SEC): At an awards ceremony, HBC Mike Leach tripped and nearly fell. Leach told WLBT television, “I reacted as I’d seen my players react. In that split second I thought to myself, ‘What would my players have done in that situation?’ and then immediately it mobilized and I was fine. I tell you what that shows. If you spend time with great people who are doing great things some of it will rub off on you because that was better than I deserve because a lot of people would’ve eaten it in that situation, but not me! I was blessed by the people that I get to deal with every day.” Ole Miss (10-2, 6-2 SEC): Tight end DaMarcus Thomas, who had one catch for six yards this season, has put his name in the transfer portal. Tennessee (7-5, 4-4 SEC): Defensive back Alontae Taylor is opting out of Tennessee’s bowl game to focus on preparing for the NFL Draft. Taylor finished the season with 60 tackles, six pass breakups and two interceptions, one that he returned 56 yards for a TD against Kentucky. Texas A&M (8-4, 4-4 SEC): Defensive tackle Marvin Leal, who is ranked as the No. 12 prospect and No. 1 defensive tackle on Mel Kiper’s Big Board, has announced he will be leaving for the NFL. Leal didn’t say whether or not he will play in the Aggies’ bowl game. Leal had 58 tackles and 8.5 sacks in 2021. MORE FOOTBALL STUFF Notre Dame is expected to promote defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman to head coach today per Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com. Freeman, 35, has been at Notre Dame only one season after serving from 2017-20 as Luke Fickell’s defensive coordinator at Cincinnati. New Mexico athletic director Eddie Nunez has pulled his name out of the running to become the AD at Miami. Florida State is in the market for a new athletic director to replace David Coburn, who announced he is retiring. Oklahoma is going to pay Bob Stoops $325,000 to coach the Sooners in their bowl game. New Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry, the former DC at Penn State, has hired Savannah State head coach Shawn Quinn. Quinn has coached in the SEC at LSU and Tennessee. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: We still don’t have an agreement to expand the College Football Playoff to 12 teams. The conference commissioners met Wednesday and left without an agreement. Everybody, it seems, wants expansion but the “alliance” of the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 seem to be hanging things up on automatic bids and possibly just an eight-team model. It’s amazing that these people are in positions of power. The sooner they can agree to a 12-team model, the sooner they can get negotiations going with networks. There are four years left of the four-team model. Greg Sankey says he’s quite content with four and why shouldn’t he be. What the SEC is going to be making whether it’s eight or 12 teams will dwarf what the other leagues can distribute and it will be substantially more once Texas and Oklahoma join the league. Sankey can afford to wait it out. These other clowns can’t.

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning: GATORS FACE A REAL TEST AT OKLAHOMA TONIGHT The last time Mike White and the Florida Gators crossed paths with Porter Moser was December 6, 2017 at the O-Dome. Moser was coaching Loyola of Chicago and the Gators were flying high at No. 5 in the nation although they had lost two straight games to No. 1 Duke and Florida State. Moser and the Ramblers shut down Florida’s high scoring offense that night and the Gators had all sorts of problems dealing with freshman Cameron Krutwig. The Gators never recovered from that 65-59 loss to Loyola although they did make the NCAA Tournament. Loyola went on to make the NCAA Final Four where they lost in the semifinals to Michigan. Moser has changed locales, but his Oklahoma Sooners (6-1) seem like a carbon copy of his teams at Loyola. White is still Florida’s coach, but the 14th-ranked Gators (6-0) play the game quite differently than the team Moser faced back in 2017. That Florida team had to shoot great every night or couldn’t win. The calling card for this latest Florida team is defense. The Gators get after people like no Florida team since Billy Donovan coached the Gators on a 30-game win streak to the 2014 Final Four. When Oklahoma and the Gators square off tonight in Norman (8 p.m., Bally Sports Sun TV), it will be an even tougher test than Ohio State was last week because this will be Florida’s first road game outside the state of Florida and first time playing in a hostile arena. Not only will the Gators have to contend with the Oklahoma crowd, but they will have to shut down a very good shooting team (50.1 percent) that rebounds the basketball very, very well. Oklahoma is tall and very physical. If the Sooners have an advantage it is their size which means the Gators cannot afford foul trouble, particularly to Colin Castleton (14.8 points, 10 rebounds), who will be charged with defending 6-10, 235-pound Eastern Washington transfer Tanner Groves (14.6 points, 6.3 rebounds). The advantage for the Gators is in the quickness department. The Gators run a 2-2-1 full court press about 80 percent of the time, dropping into a tight man-to-man that is designed to force opponents to set up their offense late in the shot clock and 3-4 feet further out than they are comfortable. The effectiveness is shown in opponents’ 3-point shooting. After holding Troy to a 2-16 game Sunday afternoon, the Gators are now holding opponents to 25 percent from the 3-point line. The Gators rank 10th nationally in the KenPom.com defensive efficiency analytics. Quick basketball note: Florida’s 71-68 win over Ohio State last week looks even better after the Buckeyes knocked off No. 1 Duke (6-1) Tuesday night. SIX NAMES THAT MIGHT BE ON BILLY NAPIER’S RADAR Tom Herman, Analyst, Chicago Bears: He’s set for life financially with his buyout money from Texas. When he was Urban Meyer’s OC at Ohio State, the Buckeyes won the 2014 national championship, averaging 511 yards and nearly 45 points per game. Florida winters are far more palatable than those in Chicago and being an OC in the SEC beats being an analyst in the NFL. Willy Korn, Co-OC, Coastal Carolina: When he played quarterback at Clemson, his coach was Billy Napier. He’s spent his entire coaching career working for Jamey Chadwell, first at Charleston Southern and then at Coastal Carolina. Chadwell’s offense is innovative, balanced and explosive. He’s 32 years old and thought to have a brilliant coaching future. If there is a question it is that he’s never coached or recruited in the SEC. Brent Key, OL, Georgia Tech: It’s assumed by many that Rob Sale will leave the Philadelphia Eagles to reunited with Napier at Florida, but if that doesn’t happen Key would be a rather nice choice to coach the UF O-line. If he stays at Georgia Tech he could find himself unemployed next year because Geoff Collins’ seat is blowtorch hot. Key and Napier were assistants on Nick Saban’s staff in 2016. Doug Belk, DC, Houston: No surprise here. Belk has had his name mentioned as the next Florida defensive coordinator dating back to Dan Mullen firing Todd Grantham. Belk is a Valdosta native whose Houston defense ranks sixth nationally (289.9 yards per game), fourth in sacks (41) and eighth in rushing defense (98.33). Belk was a graduate assistant for Nick Saban at Alabama while Napier was the wide receivers coach. It is widely assumed that Belk wants the Florida job. Houston plays Cincinnati for the American Athletic Conference championship Saturday. Tosh Lupoi, DL, Jacksonville Jaguars: He is a lights out recruiter and a rather good position coach. He worked with Napier on the Alabama staff from 2014-16 (first two years as an analyst, 2016 as OLB), and became the co-defensive coordinator (with Jeremy Pruitt) in 2017 when Alabama’s defense was No. 1 nationally. He shared the coordinator job with current Alabama DC Pete Golding in 2018 but left for the NFL after the Tide gave up 106 points in the last three games including 44 in the national championship game loss to Clemson. Would he come to UF in a non-coordinator role? As the D-line coach or linebackers? The Jags aren’t going anywhere this year so he could be available in a hurry. Derrick Ansley, DB, Los Angeles Chargers: He was on the staff with Napier at Alabama in 2016. He was the defensive coordinator at Tennessee working for Jeremy Pruitt in 2019-20. It’s doubtful Napier would bring him on as the coordinator, but his DBs at Alabama in 2016-17 intercepted 35 passes. The Chargers could be in the playoff hunt so that could work against him if he had an interest in returning to the college game. SEC BASKETBALL Tuesday’s scores: No. 13 Tennessee (5-1) 86, Presbyterian (5-3) 44; Texas A&M (7-1) 85, New Orleans (3-5) 65; Ole Miss (5-2) 75, Rider (3-5) 51 Wednesday’s games: NO. 14 FLORIDA (6-0) at Oklahoma (6-1); South Carolina (5-1) at Coastal Carolina (2-2); No. 18 Memphis (5-1) at Georgia (2-5); Central Arkansas (1-6) at No. 10 Arkansas (6-0); UCF (4-1) at No. 21 Auburn (5-1); Ohio (5-1) at LSU (7-0) MICHIGAN TO NO. 2 IN LATEST PLAYOFF POLL Everything is primed for Jim Harbaugh to make his first College Football Playoff. He’s finally beaten Ohio State to make his first Big Ten Championship Game. The win over Ohio State moved Michigan up three spots to No. 2 in the latest College Football Playoff poll. Now, all Harbaugh has to do is beat No. 13 Iowa (10-2) and Michigan will have its first Big Ten championship since 2004. Of the current top four in the poll – No. 1 Georgia, 2. Michigan, 3. Alabama and 4. Cincinnati – only Georgia can feel really good right now. Win or lose against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and Georgia will make the final four. If Michigan and Alabama win Saturday, they’ll be in the playoff. Lose and they’re out. Cincinnati could win against Houston in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game and still be leapfrogged by No. 5 Oklahoma State (11-1), which faces No. 9 Baylor (10-2) in the Big 12 Championship Game. And here is a scenario that is an absolute nightmare. Alabama beats Georgia, Michigan and Cincinnati lose, and Oklahoma State wins. Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma State would be in, but the fourth team? Notre Dame (11-1) doesn’t play a conference championship game and the Irish have lost HBC Brian Kelly to LSU. Per the process the CFP selection committee uses, not having Kelly could factor in the decision. From the CFP website: “Other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.” That could cost the Irish. The latest poll also marks the debut of Billy Napier-coached Louisiana at No. 24. The Ragin Cajuns play unranked Appalachian State for the Sun Belt Conference championship Saturday. The College Football Playoff poll, week four: 1. Georgia 12-0; 2. Michigan 11-1; 3. Alabama 11-1; 4. Cincinnati 12-0; 5. Oklahoma State 11-1; 6. Notre Dame 11-1; 7. Ohio State 10-2; 8. Ole Miss 10-2; 9. Baylor 10-2; 10. Oregon 10-2; 11. Michigan State 10-2; 12. BYU 10-2; 13. Iowa 10-2; 14. Oklahoma 10-2; 15. Pittsburgh 10-2; 16. Wake Forest 10-2; 17. Utah 9-3; 18. North Carolina State 9-3; 19. San Diego State 11-1; 20. Clemson 9-3; 21. Houston 11-1; 22. Arkansas 8-4; 23. Kentucky 9-3; 24. Louisiana 11-1; 25. Texas A&M 8-4 OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGH THE SEC Alabama (11-1, 7-1 SEC): Offensive lineman Pierce Quick and linebacker Jackson Bratton, a pair of sophomores, have placed their names in the transfer portal. Arkansas (8-4, 4-4 SEC): Defensive lineman Solomon Wright and running back Josh Oglesby are now in the transfer portal. Auburn (6-6, 3-5 SEC): Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo has been fired … A number of Tigers have entered the transfer portal – running back Shaun Shivers, wide receiver Elijah Canion, defensive end Caleb Johnson, offensive lineman Tashawn Manning and defensive back Ladarius Tennison. Georgia (12-0, 8-0 SEC): A number of Bulldogs are questionable for the SEC Championship Game with Alabama: Left tackle Jamaree Salyar (foot), running back Kendall Milton (MCL sprain), wide receiver Kearis Jackson (ribs) and safety Chris Smith (bone bruise). Kentucky (9-3, 5-3 SEC): Kentucky has extended HBC Mark Stoops through the 2027 season with a contract that is expected to bump his salary to somewhere in the $7 million range. Stoops made a base of $5.25 million but will make more than $1 million in incentive bonuses. Stoops was being linked to open jobs at Oklahoma and Notre Dame … Linebacker Jared Casey and running back Travis Tisdale have placed their names in the transfer portal. LSU (6-6, 3-5 SEC): New head coach Brian Kelly is offering substantial raises to his coordinators at Notre Dame (DC Marcus Freeman, OC Tommy Rees) to join him at LSU. Per one report, Rees has been offered a $400,000 pay increase. Mississippi State (7-5, 4-4 SEC): Either the Texas Bowl or Liberty Bowl seem the likely destinations for the Bulldogs. Missouri (6-6, 3-5 SEC): Entering the transfer portal are tight ends Daniel Parker Jr. and Messiah Swinson and defensive backs Ish Burdine and Chris Shearin. Ole Miss (10-2, 6-2 SEC): Quarterback Matt Corral will not be opting out of the bowl game. “If I’m healthy I’m playing,” Corral said … Linebacker MoMo Sanogo is now in the transfer portal. South Carolina (6-6, 3-5 SEC): Wide receiver Ger-cari Caldwell is entering the transfer portal. He has four years of eligibility remaining. Tennessee (7-5, 4-4 SEC): There are serious concerns that HBC Josh Heupel could leave for Oklahoma if the job is offered. Vanderbilt (2-10, 0-8 SEC): CB Allan George announced he will declare for the NFL … Wide receiver Cam Johnson (34-327, 4 TDs) has entered the transfer portal as have safety Brendon Harris and corner Gabe Jeudy-Lally. Harris has two years of eligibility while Jeudy-Lally has three. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Brian Kelly is a fine football coach, no doubt about it. He won two Division II national titles at Grand Valley State, resuscitated the program at Central Michigan, had an undefeated regular season (12-0) at Cincinnati and he’s the winningest coach in Notre Dame history. LSU thinks he’s worth a 10-year contract worth $100 million. Saban money. Maybe he will have Saban-like success in Baton Rouge, but I have to wonder if money is that important to him because it’s not out of the question that Notre Dame could squeeze into the final four and make the College Football Playoff. Kelly’s compensation package at Notre Dame was in the neighborhood of $7 million a year. He could have asked for and received a lengthy contract extension if he had wanted in South Bend. I know football is a business and Kelly made a business decision, but is $3 million more a year and a 10-year deal worth walking out on your team when a shot at the national championship could be on the table?

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning: FLORIDA BASKETBALL: NO. 12 IN COACHES, 14 IN AP Maybe someone forgot to tell the Florida Gators they are supposed to be a middle of the pack SEC team this year. Through six games, the Gators are not only unbeaten (6-0) but now they’re moving up rapidly in the national rankings, up to No. 12 in the Coaches poll, 14 in the AP. Seth Davis of The Athletic has the Gators No. 12 in his weekly power rankings while ESPN has the Gators at No. 13. This is rarified air for a team that lost two players to the NBA including leading scorer and first round draft pick Tre Mann, had four transfer out and another take a contract to play professionally in Russia. Mike White’s rebuilt roster is made up of players who have made defense the new calling card, led by seven grown men (top seven players are all at least 21 years old). They are so tough physically (we haven’t had that said about a Florida basketball team in years) that FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said they “out-Florida Stated Florida State.” Ohio State coach Chris Holtman said the Gators are as physical as any team the Buckeyes will play in the Big Ten. Now, no one is projecting the Gators to go unbeaten but through the first six games, we can see the making of a team that is going to be fun to watch. If the Gators can avoid injuries and keep Colin Castleton out of foul trouble or the infirmary, this might turn out to be a very surprising season. Also, keep an eye on freshmen Elijah Kennedy and Kowacie Reeves. Both of them can shoot and as they continue to figure out what’s going on defensively, they’ll earn more minutes and give White at least a nine or ten-man rotation. The Associated Press Top 25 poll: 1. Duke 7-0; 2. Purdue 6-0; 3. Gonzaga 6-1; 4. Baylor 7-0; 5. UCLA 6-1; 6. Villanova 4-2; 7. Texas 4-1; 8. Kansas 5-1; 9. Kentucky 5-1; 10. Arkansas 6-0; 11. Arizona 6-0; 12. BYU 6-0; 13. Tennessee 4-1; 14. FLORIDA 6-0; 15. Houston 5-1; 16. Alabama 6-1; 17. UConn 6-1; 18. Memphis 5-1; 19. Iowa State 6-0; 20. Southern Cal 6-0; 21. Auburn 5-1; 22. Michigan State 5-2; 23. Wisconsin 5-1; 24. Michigan 4-2; 25. Seton Hall 5-1 The Coaches Top 25 poll: 1. Duke 7-0; 2. Purdue 6-0; 3. Gonzaga 6-1; 4. Baylor 7-0; 5. UCLA 6-1; 6. Villanova 4-2; 7. Kansas 5-1; 8. Texas 4-1; 9. Arkansas 6-0; 10. Kentucky 5-1; 11. Arizona 5-1; 12. FLORIDA 6-0; 13. BYU 6-0; 14. Houston 5-1; 15. Tennessee 4-1; 16. Alabama 6-1; 17. UConn 6-1; 18. Southern Cal 6-0; 19. Memphis 5-1; 20. Auburn 5-1; 21. Wisconsin 5-1; 22. Michigan State 5-2; 23. Iowa State 6-0; 24. Michigan; 25. St. Bonaventure SEC BASKETBALL Monday’s scores: No. 9 Kentucky (6-1) 85, Central Michigan (1-5) 57; Missouri (4-3) 91, Paul Quinn 59; Vanderbilt (5-1) 75, Mississippi Valley State 36 Tuesday’s games: Presbyterian (5-2) at No. 13 Tennessee (4-1); New Orleans (3-4) at Texas A&M (6-1); Rider (3-5) at Ole Miss (4-2) GATORS IN THE TRANSFER PORTAL Announcing they will be leaving for parts unknown Monday were a pair of backups: defensive lineman Dante Zanders and offensive lineman Gerald Mincey. Zanders, who came to Florida as a tight end but switched to defensive end last spring, played in 12 games, registering six tackles and a half sack. He is a redshirt junior who has two years of eligibility remaining due to 2020. Mincey is a redshirt freshman with three years of eligibility remaining. He played in 10 games in 2021. A LOOK AT NAPIER’S COACHING STAFF AT LOUISIANA Here is Billy Napier’s coaching staff at Louisiana. Probably half the staff will stay in Lafayette, especially if athletic director Bryan Maggard elevates defensive coordinator Patrick Toney to the head coaching position. Patrick Toney, DC/OLB: He might be a candidate to succeed Napier. He’s been the DC the last two years when the Ragin Cajuns have forced 43 turnovers (18 fumbles, 25 interceptions). Louisiana only had 19 sacks in 2020 but 35 this season. Runs a 3-4 scheme. Michael Desormeaux, Co-OC/TE: He’s a native of New Iberia and a grad of the school. Can’t see him leaving. Tim Leger, Co-OC/WR: He is also the recruiting coordinator. He played collegiately at McNeese State, where he got his coaching start. Hard to imagine he’ll be coming. Jabbar Juluke, AHC/RB: He’s the former head coach at Edna Karr, a New Orleans powerhouse, and he worked for Les Miles at LSU. He’s an extraordinary recruiter and an outstanding on the field coach. It’s likely Napier will want to bring him along. Rory Segrest, AHC/DL: Got his coaching start under Gene Stallings, has coached in the NFL and in the SEC at Arkansas, where he coached the D-line and special teams. He’s a native of Waycross. Excellent recruiter. Jeff Norrid, OL: He worked quality control for Nick Saban at Alabama. He coached the O-line for Lane Kiffin at FAU in 2019 and for Willie Taggart at FAU in 2020. Unlikely that he’ll be coming unless Napier can’t convince Rob Sale to leave the Philadelphia Eagles. Galen Scott, ILB: He worked for Bud Foster at Virginia Tech and spent six seasons coaching at Memphis for HBC Larry Porter and then Justin Fuente. Doesn’t have any SEC experience but he’s a very good recruiter. Jeff Burris, CB: A former first round draft pick out of Notre Dame, he played 10 years in the NFL and spent three years coaching in the league with the Miami Dolphins. The NFL experience will resonate with recruits in Florida. Wes Neighbors, S: He played on two national championship teams at Alabama and worked as an analyst for Nick Saban. He spent two years coaching for Lane Kiffin at Florida Atlantic and worked a year for Charlie Strong at South Florida. Darnell Stapleton, Assistant OL: He started 18 games on the O-line with the Pittsburgh Steelers where he was teammates with Maurkice Pouncey and Max Starks. He was the O-line coach at Sam Houston State prior to becoming the assistant O-line coach for Napier. If he comes to Gainesville it’s probably as an assistant to Rob Sale. Chris Couch, STC: He was a grad assistant at Georgia Southern in 2013 and an analyst in charge of special teams at Tulane prior to Louisiana. Doubtful he will be coming unless it’s in an analyst role. Mark Hocke, AHC/Strength and conditioning: He spent six years at Alabama working for Scott Cochrane, one year as the head strength coach at Georgia, one year working for Jimbo at Florida State as the co-strength and conditioning coordinator and a year working for Kevin Sumlin at Texas A&M. He has been with Napier for three years. He’s probably a mortal lock to be coming to Gainesville. AS THE STOMACH TURNS … OR YOUR COACH IS HERE TODAY AND GONE TOMORROW About now, Scott Stricklin has to feel like the only athletic director on the planet who’s sleeping well. Scott landed Billy Napier in seven days and it didn’t require a lifetime supply of Pepcid AC to keep his stomach from erupting. Meanwhile Southern Cal backed up a Brinks Truck to Norman, Oklahoma to pirate Lincoln Riley away, ending their coaching search that began back in September. Riley is a glamour hire and it caught the college football world by surprise, particularly when they found out the entire contact and negotiation was done in less than 24 hours. That means Lincoln Riley was hardly the first choice. Meanwhile, LSU, which was open since mid-October, offered Jimbo, Riley, Dave Aranda and who knows who before hiring Brian Kelly from Notre Dame Monday evening. Brian Kelly is a fine football coach who has won big everywhere he’s ever coached, but his hire is a combination of sheer luck and desperation – sheer luck that Brian Kelly would actually say yes and desperation because Scott Woodward was running out of coaches who could be perceived as home run hires. It is also worth noting that Kelly informed his team that he’s leaving by text message. Is Lincoln Riley worth the estimated $110 million or so Southern Cal is going to pay him? Is Brian Kelly worth the $100 million LSU is going to pay him over the next 10 years? Obviously, they think so but if those guys are worth that kind of money, then how much are Nick and Dabo worth? And, who’s going to be the next coach at Notre Dame? Luke Fickell probably is drooling about the possibility, but it’s insane to think that he would leave Cincinnati when the Bearcats are on the verge of becoming the first Group of Five school to make the playoff. Matt Campbell of Iowa State wants the job. Would Notre Dame pull a stunner by hiring Bob Stoops? Speaking of Stoops, would Big Game Bob recommend his kid brother to take over at Oklahoma? Mark has hit the ceiling at Kentucky and he needs to go somewhere that he can win a lot of games consistently. Confused? Wait another 24 hours. COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY WEEK TEN Extinct Species List Les Miles, Kansas (Permanent replacement Lance Leipold) Randy Edsall, UConn (Permanent replacement Jim Mora Jr.) Clay Helton, Southern Cal (Permanent replacement Lincoln Riley) Chad Lunsford, Georgia Southern (Permanent replacement Clay Helton) Ed Orgeron, LSU (Permanent replacement Brian Kelly) Nick Rolovich, Washington State (Permanent replacement Jack Dickert) Matt Wells, Texas Tech (Permanent replacement Joey McGuire) Gary Patterson, TCU (Permanent replacement Sonny Dykes) Tom Arth, Akron Walt Bell, UMass (Permanent replacement Don Brown) Jimmy Lake, Washington (Permanent replacement Kalen DeBoer) Butch Davis, Florida International Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech Chip Lindsey, Troy Dan Mullen, Florida (Permanent replacement Billy Napier) Doug Martin, New Mexico State (Permanent replacement Jerry Kill) Rod Carey, Temple Skip Holtz, Louisiana Tech David Cutcliffe, Duke On Life Support Manny Diaz, Miami: Even though he finished strong to go 7-5, he’s on very shaky ground. About the only thing saving him is The Ewe hasn’t hired a new AD. Former players and boosters want Diaz gone and either Lane Kiffin or Mario Cristobal as the new head coach. Scot Loeffler, Bowling Green: He won four games including Minnesota. He also got kicked out of a game for multiple unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. If he survives it’s the win over Minnesota that bought one more year. Steve Addazio, Colorado State: If he survives until the end of the week it will be a shocker. Not only did he lose to a D1AA team and Vanderbilt in the same season, but he got kicked out of the Nevada game in the first half. Mike Bloomgren, Rice: They hate firing coaches at Rice, but they’re going to join the American Athletic Conference and the admin is thinking they can do better. If they want to do better then they should add a PE major. You aren’t going to win football games with MENSA candidates. Endangered Species List Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech: He got another year, which is a surprise. He’s fired his coordinators but they’re not the problem. The problem is not enough good football players. Steve Sarkisian, Texas: He wasn’t in danger of getting fired, but he did make the boosters happy when he beat K-State in the final game of the season. He can’t have a six-game losing streak next year and stay gainfully employed. Dino Babers, Syracuse: Syracuse is giving him one more year, but he knows anything less than seven wins and he’s a goner. Chip Kelly, UCLA: At 8-4 with a bowl game he’s safe for another year, but he can’t afford a step back, particularly now that Southern Cal has hired a rock star in Lincoln Riley. Seth Littrell, North Texas: It’s absolutely amazing what winning your last five games will do for your job security. Littrell had one foot out the door when the Mean Green started winning. As a result, he’s back for one more year. Phil Montgomery, Tulsa: He was on a collision course with the unemployment line when he won his last three games to stave off (again) firing. Justin Wilcox, California: He’s looking for a new place to coach even if Cal doesn’t fire him. Good coach. Bad place to be coaching. Jeff Scott, South Florida: The Bulls nearly kneecapped arch-rival UCF which would have been the biggest win in Scott’s two years on the job. They like the progress he’s making but he’s got to win games. The 2022 season will be critical. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: If you happened to catch the Bedlam game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State then you are well aware that Oklahoma State benefitted from some rather dubious penalty calls. Matt Hayes, one of college football’s most insightful writers, believes this is an omen of bad things to come for both Texas and Oklahoma if they stay in the Big 12 until 2025. Hayes says Texas and Oklahoma need to leave for the SEC at the end of this sports year in the spring of 2022. There is a practical solution for making this happen and it involves ESPN. ESPN should finance the buyout which would help the Big 12 pay buyouts for Cincinnati, UCF and Houston. Additionally, ESPN should offer a TV deal to the Big 12. It won’t be a deal of SEC proportions, but it would help stabilize the league. The SEC could also chip in by making sure the Big 12 remains a power conference even if the depleted league will be a bottom feeder.

Mike White was in a nitpicky mood as he surveyed the box score of Florida’s 84-45 win over Troy Sunday afternoon at the O-Dome. He didn’t look like a coach whose team is 6-0 out of the gate with impressive wins over Florida State and Ohio State. He certainly didn’t look like the coach of a team that has now moved up significantly in the rankings – No. 12 in the Coaches poll, No. 14 in the Associated Press. He wasn’t scowling. There really wasn’t anything to scowl about, but he knows very well that it’s still early in the season and the Gators are still a month away from the start of the 18-game Southeastern Conference grind. He also knows the Gators will be playing Oklahoma in Norman Wednesday evening, the first road trip outside the state of Florida for a team that is still trying to get the hang out of playing together. The win over Troy could have been a teaching video for high school coaches who want to implement a 2-2-1 zone press that drops back into tight man-to-man and actually ratchets up the intensity once the ball is over half court. The press is designed to force tempo and make the opponent start its offense late in the shot clock. The man-to-man? Well, that’s the bread and butter of this Florida team. Against Troy, the Gators played with the ferocity of schooling pirahnas. It was obvious in the first five minutes of the game the Trojans hadn’t seen anything close to this level of intensity in their first six games. In their win over Florida Atlantic just a few days more, they had scored 83 points, drilling 11 3-pointers in 20 attempts. You win a lot of games when you shoot 55 percent from the 3-point line, but against the Gators the Trojans struggled to get clean looks at the basket and when they did have an open look, the shots were rushed, almost in anticipation of a Florida defender flying at them. Troy shot only 32 percent for the entire game and an even worse 2-16 – 12.5 percent – from the 3-point line. You win a lot of games when you hold your opponent to 32 percent shooting, even more when they hit just 12.5 percent on their 3-pointers. You can read just about anything you want to into stats. Troy fans might think the Trojans simply couldn’t find the ocean from the end of the pier. The Gators – and everyone who saw the game whether in person at the O-Dome or on the SEC Network – know the bad shooting was all about Florida’s defense. And yet, there was Mike White, searching for something to nitpick. He found it. “We’ve got a pretty good defense,” he said, an understatement if ever there was one. “Defending the three is probably our best defensive category, I think.” It is. Opponents are shooting 39 percent over all from the field, but a wretched 25 percent on their 3-balls. “I haven’t studied the numbers but I will when I get home this afternoon,” White continued, “but two of 16 … you would have liked to have seen honestly, even though it’s a worse percentage, two for nine, two for ten more than two for 16. We lost some shooters a few times. We had a couple of lost rotations.” The men of Troy might have a hard time believing that. It is defense that is setting this Florida team apart from any team White has coached in his previous six seasons at Florida. The 2016-17 team that was a couple of shots away from the Final Four was very good defensively, but not this good and certainly not this intense from bell to bell. Some of it has to do with the fact the first seven players in White’s rotation are grown men, all of them at least 21 years old. Some of it has to do with the mindset of the four transfers – Brandon McKissic, Phlandrous Fleming Jr., Myreon Jones and C.J. Felder – rubbing off on the rest of the team. McKissic was a finalist for the Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year. Fleming was a two-time defensive player of the year in the Big South Conference. Jones was a solid defender in the Big Ten where if you don’t play defense, you don’t see the floor. Felder was one of the top shot blockers in the ACC and is perhaps the most versatile defender on the team as he can guard all five positions. These four added to point guard Tyree Appleby, athletic stretch four Anthony Duruji and big man Colin Castleton give the Gators a tenacious unit that gets after people and plays with a level of physicality that hasn’t been seen since Billy Donovan’s 2013-14 team that won 30 straight games and made it to the Final Four. In the Gators’ win over Ohio State for the championship of the Fort Myers Tip-Off, Buckeye coach Chris Holtman said Florida was so physical that “we just weren’t able to get to our spots offensively.” In their win over Florida State three weeks ago, FSU coach Leonard Hamilton, whose teams are known for their mortal combat style of defense, said the Gators “out-Florida Stated Florida State.” The Gators haven’t always shot the ball well this season, but they showed what they could do in the first half against Troy when they lit up the Trojans for 49 points, hitting 9-21 from the 3-point line. Jones hit his first three shots from beyond the 3-point line and scored all 12 of his points in the first half. It was part of balanced scoring that saw six Gators score in double figures with Jones and Appleby leading the way with 12 each. There will be nights when the Gators shoot lights out and there will be nights like they had against Ohio State when scoring was a grind, but White and the Gators know that if you play defense with intensity from start to finish you’re always in the ball game. White likes what he has seen of the Gators so far this season, but he is the first to tell you that it is a long season and they have to get better, especially once SEC play begins. “We’ve got good players, we’ve got good individual defenders, we’re tough, we’re older,” White said. “We’ve got good experience and we’ve got guys who are committed to defending. We’ve got a ways to go, too. I don’t know where we’re going to finish when it comes to the computer numbers but there is a lot to clean up and get better at. It gets tougher. You get in our league you better guard night in and night out against high level offenses.” The late, great Al McGuire, considered one of the great teachers of defense, once remarked that a team that wants to play defense can be very good, but a team that truly enjoys playing defense can be great. Mike White and the Gators might have one of those teams that truly enjoys getting after people on the defensive end. “You have good defenders who are committed to it, who enjoy it and embrace it you’ll have a good defense,” White said. Through their first six games, the Gators look like they’re having a lot of fun harassing opponents. Florida opponents? Let’s just say they don’t look quite so happy.

A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning: THE WEEKEND TRIFECTA Things are looking a whole lot brighter at the University of Florida after a weekend in which (1) the Gators not only beat Florida State to become bowl eligible but doomed the Seminoles to their fourth consecutive losing season; (2) hired Billy Napier from Louisiana as the new football coach to replace Dan Mullen; and (3) the basketball team remained unbeaten with an 84-45 thrashing of Troy. Nobody was certain if the Gators would show up and play hard against FSU or if they would mail it in. The 24-21 win had the usual elements of sloppiness (13 penalties, three interceptions thrown and three fumbles) and missed tackles, but somehow the Gators pieced together enough defensive stops with a fine job in relief at quarterback by Anthony Richardson. There was nothing pretty about it, but the effort was there even if the discipline wasn’t. Best of all, by evening their record at 6-6, the Gators will go to a bowl game that will give them a shot at avoiding a losing record, and more importantly, give them 15 practices that will allow new head coach Billy Napier a chance to evaluate his personnel. Napier is an up-and-coming star in the coaching profession that some say has the kind of it factor found in Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney, the two most successful head coaches of the last decade, who just happen to be two of his mentors. Napier is 32-5 in the last three seasons coaching the Ragin Cajuns and he’ll have a chance to close out his career in Lafayette next Saturday with a Sun Belt Conference championship. By all accounts, Napier is skilled at creating the kind of football culture that will not just endear him to the players on his roster but will act as a magnet for future recruits. Napier’s reputation is that he’s as good in the locker room with the players on his team as he is in the living room with the parents of the players he’s trying to recruit. Give Scott Stricklin an A+ for identifying his target and wasting no time to seal the deal. What the Gators did to Troy Sunday afternoon at the O-Dome was borderline abusive. Mike White has the Gators playing defense with the kind of intensity that hasn’t been seen around here in years. Troy managed just 2-16 from the three-point line. White was happy the Trojans managed to hit only two threes, but he wasn’t the least bit pleased that the Trojans managed to squeeze off that many shots. When the head coach thinks the defense can be better than holding the opponent to 12.5 percent from long distance, you know you’ve got a serious defensive team on your hands. Another good sign for this basketball team. The Gators had six players in double figures, none of them with more than 12 points. The way they share the basketball and work hard to get good shots, the Gators are going to be a whole lot better than anyone thought when the season began. IF THE PHONE DOESN’T RING IT’S ME … AND OTHER COACHING NEWS Florida has its head coach in Billy Napier. Southern Cal, which seemed to be spinning its wheels just a couple of days ago, shocked the world by hiring Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma Sunday afternoon. No financial details have been announced, but Riley said no to LSU which put a multi-year deal on the table that would have made Riley the highest paid coach in college football. Ah yes, LSU. The Tigers struck out on Jimbo Fisher. They whiffed on Riley. Dave Aranda turned down $9.4 million to stay at Baylor. Florida grabbed Billy Napier out from under their noses. And now it seems Scott Woodward is struggling to convince Iowa State’s Matt Campbell or Kentucky’s Mark Stoops that life is better on the bayou. Speaking of Stoops, Oklahoma named Bob Stoops its interim head coach when Riley left, which leads some to believe that baby bro Mark might be primary target or else Stoops’ former defensive coordinator Brent Venables, whose Clemson defenses annually rank among the best in the business. Some NFL people think Oklahoma will target Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, but he was 35-40 at Texas Tech before going pro. One splash hire that is being mentioned for Oklahoma is Lane Kiffin. His offense would resonate well in Norman and while on the whole he may rather be in Miami, chances are the Canes will stick with Manny Diaz. Virginia Tech thought it had a legitimate shot at Billy Napier, but Florida met all or most of Napier’s demands and Dave Clawson signed a contract extension with a big raise at Wake Forest. ECU coach Mike Houston and Notre Dame defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman might be the top candidates now. Duke fired David Cutcliffe, Washington State took the interim tag off Jack Dickert, New Mexico State fired Doug Martin and hired Jerry Kill, Sonny Dykes took the TCU job and Rhett Lashlee replaced Dykes at SMU. Confused? Wait 72 hours. The Associated Press Top 25 poll: 1. Georgia 12-0; 2. Michigan 11-1; 3. Cincinnati 12-0; 4. Alabama 11-1; 5. Oklahoma State 11-1; 6. Notre Dame 11-1; 7. Ohio State 10-2; 8. Ole Miss 10-2; 9. Baylor 10-2; 10. Oregon 10-2; 11. Michigan State 10-2; 12. BYU 10-2; 13. Oklahoma 10-2; 14. Utah 9-3; 15. Iowa 10-2; 16. Houston 11-1; 17. Pittsburgh 10-2; 18. Wake Forest 10-2; 19. San Diego State 11-1; 20. Louisiana 11-1; 21. North Carolina State 9-3; 22. Clemson 9-3; 23. Arkansas 8-4; 24. Texas A&M 8-4; 25. Kentucky 9-3 The Coaches Top 25 poll: 1. Georgia 12-0; 2. Alabama 11-1; 3. Michigan 11-1; 4. Cincinnati 12-0; 5. Oklahoma State 11-1; 6. Notre Dame 11-1; 7. Ohio State 10-2; 8. Ole Miss 10-2; 9. Baylor 10-2; 10. Oregon 10-2; 11. Oklahoma 10-2; 12. Iowa 10-2; 13. Michigan State 10-2; 14. BYU 10-2; 15. Pittsburgh 10-2; 16. Houston 11-1; 17. Utah 9-3; 18. Wake Forest 10-2; 19. San Diego State 11-1; 20. North Carolina State 9-3; 21. Louisiana 11-1; 22. Kentucky 9-3; 23. Texas A&M 8-4; 24. Clemson 9-3; 25. Arkansas 8-4 THE SEC WEEK 13 Alabama (11-1, 7-1 SEC): Was that 97-yard drive that Bryce Young directed to tie the game in regulation with 24 seconds remaining Bryce Young’s Heisman Trophy moment? He was sacked seven times in the game yet rallied Alabama to tie it, then win in overtime. Arkansas (8-4, 4-4 SEC): Sam Pittman, who is paid $3 million a year, has earned an additional $750,000 in incentives. Auburn (6-6, 3-5 SEC): The loss to Alabama marked the third straight game that Auburn has blown a double-digit lead in the second half … Auburn gave up six sacks to Alabama and managed only 159 total yards. Georgia (12-0, 8-0 SEC): Stetson Bennett warmed up for the SEC Championship Game by throwing four touchdown passes, two to freshman tight end Brock Bowers, in Georgia’s 45-0 win over Georgia Tech … Georgia leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 83 points and 6.9 points per game. Clemson, which ranks second, gave up 180 points (15 per game). Kentucky (9-3, 5-3 SEC): Las Vegas had the Wildcats a 3-point underdog heading into their rivalry matchup with Louisville. So much for the spread. Kentucky blew the doors off Louisville, 52-21, after which HBC Mark Stoops admitted he was irked about being the underdog. “Yeah, it pissed me off … look at the score.” LSU (6-6, 3-5 SEC): Lincoln Riley is gone to Southern Cal. Jimbo is staying put at Texas A&M. Billy Napier is signed, sealed and delivered to Florida. Lane Kiffin and Mark Stoops are on the Oklahoma short list. So, are the Tigers boxed into a corner with Matt Campbell? Mississippi State (7-5, 4-4 SEC): Quarterback Will Rogers finished the regular season with 4,451 passing yards (370.9 per game) and 35 touchdowns. Missouri (6-6, 3-5 SEC): Even though Missouri was drubbed by Arkansas 34-17, running back Tyler Badie ran for 219 yards to finish the season with 1,604. It was the fifth game this year with 200 or more rushing yards for Badie, who also caught 54 passes for 330 yards. Ole Miss (10-2, 6-2 SEC): Ole Miss doubled its win total from last year because of defensive improvement. A year ago the Rebels gave up 38.3 points and 519 yards per game. In 2021 the Rebels allowed 25 per game and 428.8 yards per game. Ole Miss sacked QBs 16 times in 2020, 40 in 2021. South Carolina (6-6, 3-5 SEC): Shane Beamer is likely to get a lot of votes for SEC Coach of the Year after improving the Gamecocks from 2-8 in 2020 to bowl eligible 6-6 in 2021. Tennessee (7-5, 4-4 SEC): Running back Tiyon Evans, who was the Vols’ leading rusher (525 yards) prior to the Vandy game, is in the transfer portal. Texas A&M (8-4, 4-4 SEC): The Aggies managed only 54 yards on the ground against LSU. Vanderbilt (2-10, 0-8 SEC): Vanderbilt finished 119th nationally in total offense and 118th in total defense. SEC BASKETBALL Sunday’s scores: NO. 23 FLORIDA (6-0) 84, Troy (4-3) 45; No. 10 Alabama (6-1) 96, Miami (4-3) 64; No. 13 Arkansas (6-0) 76, Pennsylvania (3-6) 60; South Carolina (5-1) 65, Rider (3-5) 58; Wofford (5-2) 68, Georgia (2-5) 65 Monday’s games: Central Michigan (1-4) at No. 10 Kentucky (5-1); Paul Quinn at Missouri (3-3); Mississippi Valley State (0-3) at Vanderbilt (4-1) FOOTBALL IN THE MINOR LEAGUES ACC: It will be Pittsburgh (10-2) and Wake Forest (10-2) in the ACC Championship Game. Pitt, winner of the Coastal Division, finished off its regular season with a 31-14 win over Syracuse while Wake Forest clinched the Atlantic with a 41-10 win over Boston College … Clemson (9-3) won’t win the ACC for the first time in years but the Tigers finished the regular season on a 5-game winning streak. Big Ten: Michigan (11-1) finally got the Ohio State (10-2) monkey off Jim Harbaugh’s back with a dominating 42-27 win over the Buckeyes. The Wolverines ran for 297 yards and held Ohio State to 64 on the ground. The loss may have eliminated Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud from the Heisman Trophy race. Michigan advances to the Big Ten Championship Game to face Iowa (10-2). The Hawkeyes are in because Minnesota (8-4) knocked Wisconsin (8-4) out of first place in the Big Ten West … Did Kenneth Walker do enough (30-138, 1 TD) to move to the front of the Heisman race in Michigan State’s (10-2) 30-27 win over Penn State (7-5)? Big 12: It will be Oklahoma State (11-1) and Baylor (10-2) in the Big 12 Championship Game. Oklahoma State eliminate Oklahoma from the game with a 37-33 come-from-behind win while Baylor finished off its regular season with a 27-24 win over Texas Tech (6-6) … TCU (5-7), which lost to Iowa State (7-5) will be coached next year by Sonny Dykes, who is leaving SMU. Pac-12: Oregon (10-2) and Utah (9-3) will meet for the second time in three weeks to determine the Pac-12 championship. Independents: Notre Dame (11-1) and BYU (10-2) have the top records among independents. Group of Five: Cincinnati (12-0) will face Houston (11-1) in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game. The Bearcats hammered East Carolina (7-5), 35-13, to finish the regular season unbeaten. Houston, which has won 11 in a row since a season-opening loss to Texas Tech, knocked off UConn, 45-17 … Texas-San Antonio (11-1) saw its unbeaten dream come to an end at the hands of North Texas (6-6), 45-23, but the Roadrunners will still be in the Conference USA Championship Game. Western Kentucky (8-4) made the title game with a 53-21 win over Marshall (7-5). ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The folks in the Pac-12 are hoping that Lincoln Riley taking the Southern Cal job will spark a football renaissance in a conference whose champion will miss the College Football Playoff. Again. It’s going to take more than Lincoln Riley at Southern Cal for the Pac-12 to get a media contract capable of competing with the SEC and the Big Ten. The Pac-12 is a financial bottom feeder and the television networks aren’t exactly thrilled at the idea of a big contract so they can televise thrilling matchups like Oregon

“There’s no timetable. We want to take the time we need to get the right coach. We’d love to have one tomorrow, but that’s probably not realistic.” – Scott Stricklin That was last Sunday when Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin was fielding questions about who’s next after announcing that he had dismissed Dan Mullen as his football coach. No one expected a head coach a day later, but it was clear that no matter how Stricklin tried to downplay the process for hiring a new coach that he understood he was on the clock. Stricklin grew up in the Southeastern Conference and cut his administrative teeth at Auburn, Kentucky and Mississippi State before arriving at Florida. He’s seen Tennessee turn coaching search fiascos into an art form and he was keenly aware that he couldn’t allow the perception that he was settling for a third choice, which is what happened in 2017. Chip Kelly and Scott Frost both had offer sheets in hand that they parlayed into contracts for the jobs they wanted so Mullen was the compromise hire. Bringing in Mullen from Mississippi State frazzled quite a few relationships, many of which won’t heal any time soon. There was no fiasco and no settling for a third choice when Stricklin hired Billy Napier from the University of Louisiana Sunday, just seven days removed from giving Mullen the pink slip. “I’ve followed and studied Billy Napier’s career with interest, and he became the primary target immediately after this position came open,” Stricklin said in a statement released Sunday afternoon. “We felt confident he would be an excellent leader for the Gators, which is why he was the only candidate I met with about the job. “Billy’s ability to bring highly-talented people together – players, coaches, and staff – along with his vision for having a strong, relationship-based culture is what made him such an attractive choice. Add in how detailed his plan is for player development, staffing and recruiting, along with a sustained desire to improve, and it’s easy to see why he’s been successful.” Stricklin got the coach he wanted and in doing so sent a bold message to Florida boosters, current Gator players and future recruits that the recovery from a disastrous 6-6 season will begin immediately. Napier will coach Louisiana in the Sun Belt Championship Game next Saturday, then he’ll arrive in Gainesville to be introduced next Sunday. If his coaching pedigree is any indicator – he’s worked for Dabo Swinney and Nick Saban – then you have to know plan to transform Florida into its current state back to a championship level program that can be sustained has already begun. In evaluating the shortcomings of Mullen and his staff, Stricklin was keenly aware of how recruiting had fallen off and the direction the program would be headed if something were not done immediately. By getting Napier signed, sealed and delivered quickly, there is a chance Florida’s floundering recruiting class can be salvaged. The early signing period begins on December 15, so Napier will only have a few days to create some momentum, but his reputation as a relentless recruiter and a winner – he’s 32-5 in the last three seasons – should help him persuade some highly ranked kids to at least give UF strong consideration. Among high school coaches in Louisiana, Napier’s reputation is impeccable. When he recruited for Dabo and Nick, he ventured into Florida on a regular basis so he’s not exactly an unknown in this state. The importance of Florida’s 24-21 win over Florida State Saturday cannot be emphasized enough because it made the Gators bowl eligible. With those 15 extra practice days the Gators get for the bowl game, Napier will have a chance to evaluate the UF roster to determine who wants to be here. There have been whispers for the last two or three months that quite a few players on the UF roster felt under-used or ignored so bowl practice might serve as a chance impress the new head coach. The extra practices should also give Napier an extended opportunity to re-recruit a few players who might be thinking seriously about entering their names in the NCAA transfer portal. There will be no shortage of players in the transfer portal and this will give Napier a chance to plug a few holes in the Florida roster, much the same way Mel Tucker did at Michigan State. Tucker added 21 players to his roster, most notably running back Kenneth Walker III, the Wake Forest transfer who will be a Heisman Trophy finalist. When he arrived at Michigan State, Walker wasn’t a household name, nor was left tackle Jarrett Horst (now injured), who was an All-Sun Belt selection at Arkansas State or former Florida corner Chester Kimbrough, a starter at MSU from day one. There is talent in the portal that can indeed supplement good recruiting of high school kids. A year ago, Napier had his choice of Auburn, Tennessee and South Carolina, but he held out another year at Louisiana waiting for the right job to come along. In Lafayette, he was an hour from Baton Rouge and already had the great relationships with high school coaches in the state, but LSU chose to ignore him, instead going after a home run hire that has never materialized. Jimbo Fisher, Dave Aranda and Lincoln Riley all turned LSU down, giving the impression that it’s Tennessee déjà vu in Baton Rouge. LSU had a full month head start on Florida but it only took Scott Stricklin seven days to find a replacement for Dan Mullen. LSU, meanwhile, just two years removed from a national championship, may be at a critical juncture in its attempts to hire a successor to Ed Orgeron. Florida has avoided the bad optics while getting a coach who seems to have all the qualities needed to pilot the football program back to a championship level. If this coaching search had lingered, it would have sent a very bad message but the speed in which Stricklin hired a coach that is universally acclaimed as a budding superstar should tell recruits, current players and both Florida fans and boosters that despite bad recent trends, the head football coach at the University of Florida remains a very desirable job.

Forget the aesthetics for just a moment. After a season filled where disappointment seemed to lurk around every corner, four losses that could have gone the other way if someone had made a play or two, two assistant coaches being fired and head coach Dan Mullen getting his pink slip on Sunday ahead of the Florida State game, the Florida Gators were one loss away from GPS coordinates on the exact location of rock bottom. This was a team that desperately needed a win and the Gators couldn’t be choosy. Any kind of win would do just fine, even the double ugly variety. If pretty was what you were looking for Saturday, then you would have been better off watching Chip and Joanna Gaines do a fixer-upper on HGTV rather than spending four hours of your life that you can never get back. It took FSU kicker Parker Grothaus to graze an onside kick attempt with 49 seconds to end the suspense of this mistake-a-thon. Grothhaus never intended to catch his cleat in the ball. He wasn’t supposed to kick the ball but give it a good fake while the other kicker charged in with a dribbler the other way. The Gators might have been bamboozled except Grothaus caught the ball with his cleat and the ball fell off the tee, about nine yards and two feet shy of the required 10 it had to travel for the Seminoles to legally recover. That was it. Game over. Florida 24, Florida State 21. It was ugly, for sure, but a win counts the same whether it’s dog’s butt ugly or the football equivalent of a masterpiece hanging in The Louvre. “A great win in a rivalry game,” is how UF interim coach Greg Knox described it. “What a big, big showing today. Was it our best? No, but it was a win and it was a great win.” Under normal circumstances, nobody would dare call this a great win, but the week leading up to this game was anything but normal. Nor was the game played on the field Saturday. How can you call a game normal in which the two teams combine for six interceptions, six fumbles, 22 penalties and what seemed like 22 delays while the ACC zebra crew went to instant replay? Florida’s share of the abnormality included three first half interceptions thrown by Emory Jones, a pair of near turnovers on fumbles that the Gators were fortunate to recover and 13 penalties for 107 yards including four on FSU’s final 16-play, 92-yard scoring drive. The Gators were inconsistent, undisciplined and downright fortunate but they won and that’s all that mattered. Instead of going down in flames for the fifth time since mid-October and instead of losing a one-score game for the fifth time this season, the Gators pulled their season even at 6-6, which means they will have a chance to finish with a winning record if they can win their bowl game. Florida State also threw three interceptions, fumbled four times (lost one), committed nine penalties for 89 yards and had two special teams gaffes that pulled the plug on whatever hopes the Seminoles (5-7) had of avoiding a fourth consecutive losing season. This won’t be a New Year’s Six bowl like the ones the Gators played in the three previous years (Peach in 2018, Orange in 2019 and Cotton in 2020). The bowl destination will be a bit less exotic – Birmingham is a possibility against a team from the MAC but Tampa for a matchup with UCF for the Gasparilla Bowl seems more likely – but where the Gators go will be someone else’s decision. Saturday, the Gators decided they wanted to go to a bowl game and that meant beating Florida State. “Who knows where it’s gonna be or when, but I can tell you this: they are excited about that,” Knox said. “They were excited about winning this game, a rivalry game, and they knew that it meant going to a bowl game. That senior class wanted it.” The senior class had to want it. The Gators had to want it. Otherwise they couldn’t have overcome all those mistakes. There were way too many of them, pretty much a trademark of a season gone bad. In most games this season the mistakes were the calling card of the inconsistent Gators, but against FSU the Gators managed to overcome their own self-inflicted wounds. It could have been a whole lot different if the Gators hadn’t left points on the board in the first half. The Gators should have gone into the locker room at least 10 points ahead but it was 7-7. It was almost fitting. How could we have a Florida football game in which the Gators didn’t empty a couple of clips into their feet? Here is what the Gators had to overcome in the first half. Three consecutive drives ended with Jones completing a pass to the Seminoles. Leading 7-0, Rashad Torrence picked off a McKenzie Milton pass at the FSU 44 only to have the Gators give it back on the very next play. This wasn’t Jones’ fault but a mistake by an offensive lineman who whiffed his block on a flea flicker. When Jones tried to throw, he was hit, causing the ball to sail wide over an open Xzavier Henderson and into the arms of a Seminole defender. On Florida’s next possession, Jones held the ball too long and then stared down Jacob Copeland before throwing into double coverage at the FSU 32. Had he looked across the middle a couple of seconds earlier, Trent Whittemore was wide open and an interception could have been avoided. The third and most costly of the three picks came at the end of a methodical drive that began on the UF 25 and proceeded 15 plays to the FSU nine where it was first-and-goal. Jones never saw Malik Davis in the clear in the left flat. An easy pass probably would have scored a TD. Instead he threw threw into traffic in the middle of the end zone where he was intercepted. When Jones threw short and into the back of an FSU defender (Jacob Copeland had him beaten) on Florida’s first possession of the third quarter, Knox made the switch to Anthony Richardson. The quarterback switch didn’t bring Florida’s mistakes to an end, but at least it did energize the Gators who were able to put enough points on the scoreboard to win the game. Richardson drove the Gators to a field goal, threw a touchdown pass to Justin Shorter and then led them on the 10-play, 68-yard drive that produced the game-winning touchdown with 12:36 left in the game. The last touchdown drive was the one in which the play calls from the bench were designed for Dameon Pierce and the senior running back from Bainbridge, Georgia, playing in his final game in The Swamp, came through when the Gators needed him the most. Pierce finished the game with 62 yards but 49 of them came on this drive in which he had to score the touchdown twice. Pierce got the first four carries on the drive, slashing through the FSU defensive front for 38 yards and three first downs. It was his fifth carry that fans will remember. On a first-and-10 at the FSU 13, Pierce looked like he was shot out of a gun until he ran into a pack of Seminoles at the five. Somewhere in the pack, Pierce’s helmet came off, which under the rules means the play is dead. Pierce just ripped through the defenders and kept on powering into the end zone. Flags flew and the TD was waved off with Pierce charged with a personal foul for continuing to play once he was helmet-less. Thanks, in part, to an unnecessary roughness call on the Seminoles Florida got 10 of the 15 yards back on the next play. Two plays later, Pierce bolted in from three yards out. “Man, I don’t know how it [the helmet] came off,” Pierce recalled after the game. “I just knew I was three yards from the touchdown so I got there. I don’t know why it’s a flag. I don’t know why you want me to stop running if I’m in motion, I see the goal line and I see the end zone. I’ll do that 50 outta 50 if it ever happens again.” The Seminoles scored two touchdowns in the game’s final 9:46 to make a game of it but they got plenty of help from the Gators. The defense was pretty much a no-show for the only time the entire game on the first drive that cut the lead to 24-14. The defense forced the Seminoles to dink and dunk their way for 16 plays when they narrowed the margin to 24-21, but the Gators aided and abetted with two offsides calls, a pass interference and an unsportsmanlike conduct. The bad news is the Seminoles got a TD. The good news is they ate up most of the clock moving the ball down the field. And then came “The Near-Whiff at Ben Hill Griff” that saved the day, giving the Gators a win in a close game for a change. This was Florida’s fifth one-possession game of the season, but the first one the Gators claimed the win. Prior to beating FSU by a field goal, UF had lost seven straight one-possession games, one of the chief reasons why former head coach Dan Mullen lost his job a week ago. Perhaps it was simply a case of about time. About time the Gators won a close one instead of losing the white knucklers. About time the other team made more mistakes at critical times instead of the Gators. Whatever it was, it was a win that set off a locker room vibe that Pierce said has been missing for the previous couple of months. “The vibe was back in the locker room,” Pierce said. I feel that vibe and I feel very confident that way now. I probably couldn’t say that three or four weeks ago, to be honest, but the only thing that matter is that we were who we are as a team and as a program, and, you know, hopefully we just going to carry that over to the bowl game.” The bowl game. Those that see a trip to Birmingham or Tampa to lesser-known bowl games against teams from directional schools or non-power leagues as beneath a school of Florida’s pedigree should think again. The bowl game allows 15 more practices. The bowl game allows whoever is the new coach to evaluate underclassmen who could be on the UF roster next year if they don’t hit the transfer portal. For the underclassmen, bowl game practices could prove to be their auditions for 2022. As important as anything, the bowl game gives the Gators a chance to finish with a winning record and a modest two-game winning streak. That may not sound like much, but when you’ve endured the hills, valleys, pain and agony of 2021 like this team, you need all the positive momentum you can grab. Knox, who is now 2-0 as an interim head coach (he won Mississippi State’s bowl game in 2017), wasn’t about to let go of the moment. Getting the win was important to him. He’s not likely to be retained by the new coach and his family is about to be uprooted. Winning against FSU and going to a bowl game can only help him land on his feet. He didn’t sound at all concerned about his future, however. He gave all the praise to the kids, particularly the seniors who could have mailed it in but instead chose to stand and fight it out. He said he knew when the Gators walked out of their hotel Saturday morning that they would give him everything they had. “I think it was the fact that we had a great senior class with some leadership,” Knox said. “They understood the situation they were in and we talked about opportunity in chaos. In a chaotic situation that started Sunday with Dan getting dismissed and me being put in place and then all the things coming from the outside that I think they pulled together and made them stronger. It made me stronger because I pulled with them and we held this thing together. And today, all right, when we watched our highlight video we came out of that meeting at that hotel I knew when we walked out of that room they were ready to play and they were.” In the locker room after the game there was plenty of celebration and Knox got a Gatorade bath, but he made it a point to emphasize exactly what had happened on the field. “This was a message for life,” Knox said. “This was a life message that when things don’t go your way, you just keep pushing. You persevere and push through. That was the message Friday night – opportunity in the midst of chaos. A chaos situation but there’s an opportunity in it. We had an opportunity today to come out, correct the mistakes and get a win and we did that.” There was plenty of chaos Saturday. Given what has transpired this season it seems rather impossible to think the Gators could make it through an entire ball game without adversity and chaos. This time, unlike those previous disappointments, the Gators made one more play and finished on the plus side of the scoreboard. From an aesthetical point of view, the game stunk, but for a team that needed something, anything, to lift them up, getting a double ugly win was ever so beautiful. The Gators beat FSU and the seniors went out winners their final game in The Swamp. In so many ways, it doesn’t get much better than that.