It’s a generous offer. “I’ll give you one series and then I’m out,” Florida Gators quarterback coach Brian Johnson joked with the media on Wednesday night. Johnson’s remark came after being asked what the plan would be if Florida’s quarterback room were to be plagued by ailments – whether it be from Covid-19 or injuries. If it really came down to it, playing the former (and now 33-year old) Utah Utes quarterback might be a solid last resort. But until then, thanks, but no thanks, Coach Johnson. When Johnson isn’t fantasizing about being back out on the playing field, he’s busy coaching a deep room of quarterbacks in Gainesville. Returners Kyle Trask and Emory Jones, are joined by early-enrollee Anthony Richardson this fall. And as a unit, Johnson and his trio of signal callers are making the most of the offseason that has given them so little. “Depth is a huge advantage in any year,” Johnson said. “But particularly in a year with such uncertainty going forward.” Elsewhere in the SEC, it seems that most teams are burdened with the near-impossible task of finding a starting quarterback with a shortened fall camp and the discussion of depth is well off of the radar. Meanwhile, in Gainesville, camp has been rampant. Yet, the severe urgency of finding a starting quarterback and building an offensive regime hasn’t found its way into Florida’s fall camp. Instead, the Gators have a good idea of what’s to be expected from their offense. In turn, that has left room for Florida’s quarterbacks to give other areas of their game attention. For Trask, that meant focusing less on how his body moves, and more on what makes it move. “Kyle has done a tremendous job thus far just in terms of taking things to the next level,” Johnson said of Trask. “From a leadership stand point, from a football stand point and he’s done a great job with his body. He’s down probably 10-12 pounds. He’s looking lean.” According to Johnson, after Trask broke his foot in 2018, the Texan-bred quarterback gained 10-12 pounds. Trask himself admitted to feeling a little heavy towards the end of last season. Getting that weight off, through what Trask described as “eating the right things and drinking a ton of water” has improved his “suddenness in the pocket and escapability” – something we didn’t see a ton of in 2019. Instead, Trask’s counterpart, Emory Jones, was the more elusive of the two in the pocket. And like Trask, Johnson has also seen Jones make a leap in production despite the nontraditional offseason. “Emory is a very special talent,” Johnson says of the redshirt sophomore. “He’s got a ton of juice in his arm. He’s continued to get better and better. His arm strength has never been a problem. It just all comes down to him putting it all together. He can be dynamic and change the game with his legs as well.” Though Jones’ sample size is small, the tested backup went 25-for-38 last year, totaling 267 yards and three touchdowns. A good series to hone in on is Jones’ drive against Auburn in 2019 after Trask took a low hit that looked scarier than it ended up being. After Trask’s injury silenced the a sellout crowd, Jones drove 51 yards down the field in a 5-for-7 effort that ended in a field goal -- proving he is ready if needed. “It just all comes down to him putting it all together,” Johnson said of Jones. “He can be dynamic and change the game with his legs as well.” Rounding out the group is true freshman and early-enrollee Anthony Richardson. To date, Richardson has garnered great praise from Florida’s staff. “From what I’ve seen so far, he picks things up really fast, which is great,” Mullen said of Richardson last week. “He’s taken a lot in and learned a lot from our ability to have all these different meetings. He’s picked things up really fast.” On Wednesday, Johnson echoed Mullen’s sentiment saying, “He’s obviously got a ton of God-given ability and he’s a really fast learner.” By the sounds of it, Johnson and Florida’s quarterbacks are expecting to pick up right where they left off in 2020. Two quarterback systems aren’t for everybody. It just so happens that it fits Mullen’s scheme perfectly. “We just try to preach to those guys that when the other guy runs on, you run off. And we use it to our advantage,” Johnson said. Across the conference, it’s likely we will see a lot of different quarterbacks running onto the field mid-drive. And for most, that will stick out as a sign of instability under center. But if you see Kyle Trask, Emory Jones, Anthony Richardson or even Brian Johnson trot out to the huddle, rest assured, the Gators are right where they want to be.

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning: The talking points out of Athens in the next few days will say the Florida Gators are now only favored to win the Southeastern Conference East Division because Wake Forest grad transfer quarterback Jamie Newman has joined a growing list of players to opt out rather than play an abbreviated schedule. While it’s true that Georgia ranked fourth in both the Coaches and Associated Press preseason polls, a lot of very highly regarded football people had pegged the Florida Gators as a team more likely to win the SEC East and play for the league championship in Atlanta even before Newman elected to shut it down. With or without Newman, here are five reasons why the Gators should have been favored to end Georgia’s three-year reign at the top of the East: 1. A brand new offense, a new offensive coordinator and no spring practice to teach it. Todd Monken is the new offensive coordinator and while Poodle fans have been drooling, it’s not exactly like Monken has been a staple on guru lists. During his three years as the OC of the Tampa Bay Bucs, his teams ranked near the bottom of the NFL in rushing and near the top in turnovers. Baker Mayfield digressed last year in Cleveland when the Browns finished 26th in turnovers, 22nd in yardage and 20th in points. 2. Newman, who has never exactly wowed anyone with his football intellect, didn’t get a spring practice in which to learn the new system. When he was at Wake Forest, Newman redshirted as a true freshman, got in 22 snaps as a redshirt freshman, then got four starts as a third-year sophomore. He started 12 games last year as a fourth-year junior but became the starter only because Sam Hartman got hurt before game one. There is every good chance Hartman would have won back the starting job if Newman had remained at Wake Forest this year. 3. Georgia lost O-line coach Sam Pittman to Arkansas (new HBC there) and new O-line coach Matt Luke has to find four new starters. Without a spring practice or without those summer workouts, chemistry and continuity will be tough to find for a bunch of newbies. 4. Weeks two through seven of the schedule are brutal – 10/3 11th-ranked Auburn; 10/10 Tennessee; 10/17 at 3rd-ranked Alabama; 10/24 at Kentucky; 10/31 Open; 11/7 8th-ranked Florida. Those games with Auburn, Alabama and Florida are all very losable games. Tennessee as a sandwich game between Auburn and Alabama is no walk in the park and Kentucky on the road the week after Alabama could be brutal. I like the Gators to win big in Jacksonville. 5. Dan Mullen has had 2020 targeted since he first arrived on the UF campus as the head coach in December of 2017. He’s carefully built a roster that has the talent and SEC depth at every position. He’s got the best QB in the SEC returning in Kyle Trask, speed to burn at the skill positions, a potentially excellent offensive line with the addition of Stewart Reese and what promises to be one of the nastier defenses in college football. At the very worst, the Gators are the second best offense in the SEC and the second best defense. Georgia may have a great defense, but even with Newman, the offense wouldn’t have been in Florida’s league. A THEORY STRAIGHT FROM THE GRASSY KNOLL: Perhaps you bought the hype about Jamie Newman like the fine folks at Athlon, who named him their preseason All-SEC quarterback. If you’re smart, you didn’t even have him ranked first, second or third team. That’s all irrelevant now that Newman has opted out to prepare for the NFL Draft. That raises the question: Why would Newman, projected at best as a mid-round selection, opt out when he could play his way into a higher selection? If your answer was Covid-19, which Newman cites as his reason, then please march to the corner, put on the dunce cap and assume the position with your nose against the wall. If your answer was he was afraid to get hurt, then join your pals in the corner. Those are the excuses that are being made at the moment, but there is a better explanation that, while highly speculative, has a very good chance of being true. Here it is. Against Atlantic Coast Conference defenses that were ranked in the top 50 nationally last year -- #6 Clemson, #42 Virginia Tech and #48 North Carolina – Newman was 36-75 passing (48%) for 493 yards (a below average 6.57 yards per pass attempt) and 3 touchdowns with 5 interceptions. In those games he ran for 93 yards on 43 attempts (2.16 per carry) for 2 touchdowns. In the other five ACC games against defenses ranked outside the top 50 Newman was 90-150 (60%) for 1,136 yards (7.57 per attempt), good for 9 touchdowns and 4 picks. In those other 5 ACC games he ran 84 times for 312 yards (3.74 per carry) and 3 touchdowns. So in eight games in a conference filled with bad defenses, Newman still didn’t light it up. In the four non-conference games Newman played, only one of which was against a top 50 defense (Michigan State #19 in the bowl game), Newman was 94-136 (69.1%) for 1,239 yards (9.1 per attempt), good for 15 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He ran 52 times for 169 yards (3.25 per carry) for a touchdown. To put it quite mildly, Newman was very good against average to bad defenses, somewhere between below average and terrible against good ones. The ACC produced four defensive backs (two from Clemson) that were drafted last year, only one in the first round, the rest in the fourth or later. Good defenses played zone against Wake Forest last year. Newman couldn’t read a zone spelled CAT if you spotted him the C, the A and the T. Had Newman elected to play for Georgia this year, he would have faced six defenses that were last year ranked among the top THIRTY (#9 Florida; #14 Missouri; #20 Kentucky; #21 Alabama; #23 Tennessee; #28 Auburn) in his first seven games. All six of those teams should rank among the best 25 defenses in the country in 2020 and the SEC is absolutely LOADED with exceptional defensive backs. So here is what Poodle fans will call a grassy knoll conspiracy theory: It would have taken a brilliant season for Jamie Newman to rise higher than a third round draft pick in 2021 and he probably wouldn’t have come anywhere close to brilliant against that schedule, meaning his draft stock would drop like your basic rock. Being that he will be a combine warrior with all the measurables (6-4, 230 and likely a 4.6 40) and a strong arm, Newman can probably go in the third or fourth round based on size and athleticism. If you buy into the grassy knoll conspiracy theory, then Newman made a business decision. Quite frankly, from a standpoint of dollars and cents, it’s the right choice if that, indeed, was the reason for the opt out. There is every good chance he would have been embarrassed by SEC defenses. This way, he doesn’t have to get embarrassed until he faces NFL defenses next summer in training camp. THEORIES FROM THE GRASSY KNOLL, PART DEUX: Justin Fields, who spent his freshman year at Georgia before transferring to Ohio State, where he led the Buckeyes to the College Football Playoff last year, has been spotted at Georgia practices. That’s because the Buckeyes aren’t playing football this fall, but leave it to Poodle fans to believe that Fields wants to play football so badly this fall that he will transfer back to Georgia. Donkeys will fly first. Let’s start with the obvious. Fields would have to get a waiver from the NCAA to transfer and the NCAA is going on a furlough starting in the next few days. At a time when players from 54 Division I schools can’t play football, many of whom are thinking to transfer somewhere, Mark Emmert decides the NCAA has to save money and so they furlough THE ENTIRE STAFF. Brilliant thinking. Intelligent thoughts die quickly in Mark Emmert’s brain. They can’t stand the solitary confinement. And for obvious, part II, Fields isn’t going to play football for anyone, not even Ohio State, which is planning to play in the spring. Even without playing this fall, he will be one of the first three players taken in the 2021 NFL Draft. Justin Fields has a functioning brain and only someone whose brain had gone dead (Mark Emmert perhaps?) would decide to transfer to a school with a new offense, new coordinator and four new offensive linemen. RIP JOHN THOMPSON: Here is how I want to remember the late John Thompson, the former Georgetown basketball coach who died earlier in the week. On his desk at Georgetown was a deflated basketball which JT used to tell his players “this is what your life will be like if all you’re here for is basketball.” In his 27-year Georgetown coaching career, only two Hoyas failed to graduate. I met JT back in the 1970s when he was first beginning to turn Georgetown basketball into the beast of the Big East. He was a huge man – 6-10 and probably a biscuit or two shy of 300 pounds – but he had this I’m in charge demeanor about him. He didn’t have to say he was in charge. You only had to watch him or hear him say a few words. In our first conversation, I noticed that JT kept priming me with questions. He genuinely wanted to know me. That’s why he was a great recruiter because he could make you feel comfortable talking about yourself. In 2006 and again in 2007 when the Gators won back-to-back NCAA basketball championships, I got to spend a few minutes talking with JT on the Sunday prior to the Monday championship game. Both times I asked what it would take for the Gators to win – in 2006 vs. UCLA and in 2007 vs. Ohio State – and both times he gave me a 5-minute scouting report that blew me away. He expected the Gators to win and they did. He loved the teamwork and cohesion of the Gators and he loved Billy Donovan, who he remembered all too well as Rick Pitino’s deadeye 3-point shooter who led Providence to the Final Four in 1987. JT and Billy were Providence guys so quite naturally, they liked each other. I didn’t ever talk to him again after that 2007 Final Four, but I will never forget him standing like an oak tree on the sideline with that white towel draped over his shoulder, almost daring opponents to beat the Hoyas. I will also never forget how he valued education and how his guys graduated. The sports world needs more John Thompsons. RIP TOM SEAVER: Back in 1966 Tom Seaver was the lone bright spot for the AAA Jacksonville Suns of the International League. The Suns weren’t very good (68-79 that year) but Seaver went 12-12 with a 2.85 ERA. It was his only season in the minor leagues. A year later he went 16-13 with a 2.76 ERA for the New York Mets, who finished last in the National League with a wretched 57-94 record under the direction of the forgettable Sally Parker. In 1969 Seaver went 25-7 with a 2.21 ERA as the Amazin’ Mets managed by Gil Hodges won the National League championship then shocked the baseball world by knocking off the Baltimore Orioles in five games to win the World Series. In a 20-year Major League career, Seaver went 311-205 with a 2.86 ERA and 3,640 strikeouts. He threw 61 complete game shutouts and 231complete games overall. In his prime Seaver was as tough a competitor on the mound as you could find. Off the mound, he was a gentleman who answered even the dumb questions – and there were plenty of them – without showing his annoyance. He should have been annoyed at the Hall of Fame voting. A first ballot selection, Seaver was named on 425 of 430 ballots. The five guys who didn’t vote for him could be classified as certifiable idiots. Seaver died Monday at the age of 75 due to complications of dementia.

Come hell or high water, global pandemics or social issues off the field, the Florida Gators football team seems to be headed for a football season. Dan Mullen and his squad held their first scrimmage on Friday, a month ahead of kick-off for the 2020 SEC football season. So how does Mullen think it went? "Ugh. We have a ways to go.” As Mullen goes on to point out, this was the first time the Gators had fielded live football since December. Florida defeated Virginia in the Orange Bowl on December 30, 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic stalled sports before spring practice could begin and it wasn’t until late July that the entire team was able to be back together. So understandably, there was some rust to shake off as tackles were allowed. “We haven't played football in a while. So like yes when you talk about the operation, and not the operation of, 'Hey, are we doing this or that?' but we had missed tackles, we had too many balls on the ground fumbling because you're going live football. “Just the overall, 'Are we ready to play a game?' I mean that's the first time we've tackled or done anything since last December, and we've got a little ways to go.” There wasn’t a ton of attrition on defense and on offense, primarily only the receiver unit and running back unit suffered significant losses. So perhaps it isn’t a coincidence that those are the two areas Mullen singled out first as what impressed him in the weekend’s scrimmage. “I was pleased with some guys. I thought our backs ran the ball well. Really pleased with—I want to say, Malik Davis to me looked like the Malik Davis I saw when I got here before I became the head coach. I haven’t see that in a couple years. I’m think, 'Boy, he’s really back to where he wants to be.’ Davis has long seemed the “what if” guy in not just the running back unit, but on the Gators roster overall. He came in as a loaded recruit but suffered a season ending injury seven games into his freshman year, 2017…and then had it happen again three games into the 2018 season. His third year, Davis appeared in 12 games but totaled only 86 yards and a touchdown on 34 rushes, playing behind senior standout Lamical Perine and the young phenomenon Dameon Pierce. Still, according to Davis’ official Gators bio, “despite the [2017] injury, he ranks fourth in UF’s history for the most net rushing yards by a true freshman since 1996 as he’s behind Earnest Graham (654 yards, 1999), Jeff Demps (605 yards, 2008) and DeShawn Wynn (540 yards, 2003). Mullen went on to say, “I was really impressed with Nay’Quan Wright running the ball. Young receivers I thought really for their first time being in the Swamp, some of it’s not - some of the redshirt freshmen guys it’s not. But really in that big scrimmage situation, I thought those guys stepped up, played well.” On the defensive side, with many starters returning, Mullen used the scrimmage moreso to evaluate younger talent. “The young safeties I thought came up and really hit. And our young D-linemen, those guys know they’re going to have to play this year and in that situation I think they’re learning, they’re developing, they’re getting opportunities. I was pleased with our freshmen D-linemen. And Jaelin Humphries, who's almost a freshman because of the injury last year. He almost missed the whole year pretty much. He's kind of in that crew.” Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham also used the scrimmage as time to asses the secondary especially. Three of last year’s four main safeties have returned—Donovan Stiner, Shawn Davis and Brad Stewart—as well as defensive backs Kaiir Elam, Marco Wilson and Trey Dean, all of who started during 2019 at varying DB positions. “The biggest thing is when there is continuity both in coaching and in players. It leads to consistency in play,” explained Grantham. “I’ve been real pleased with Stiner and the way he’s kind of moved forward. Obviously, Shawn is a guy who can flash, too. Those guys have done a really good job. We’ve brought some young guys in. The good thing about the scrimmages is you’re able to see a guy like [safety Rashad] Torrence and [defensive back Mordecai] McDaniel and kind of see those guys and how they can play when the lights come on. I’ve been pleased with all of those guys as far as their ability to continue to develop. Now, we’re not where we need to be, but they’re certainly working in that direction.” There was only one injury during the scrimmage according to Mullen; freshman corner Fenley Graham. It was originally believed to be a contusion but was determined to be a fracture in his forearm. Mullen expects Graham to be out “for a couple of weeks.” The Gators have one more scrimmage between now and the opening day on September 26. That scrimmage is scheduled for Monday, September 7, Labor Day. That’s time, says Mullen, to work out the kinks, but does acknowledge there are limited actual opportunities. Fall camp to this point has been primarily installation. The next week of practice will focus on situational football. While this past Saturday proved there’s still a way to go though, Mullen says the attitude and grasp of the scheme was where it needed to be. Now comes the test of putting it all together.

“Last year, we asked him to do everything, and I thought he did a great job. He was one of our premier playmakers on the team. Now you get into Year 3 right now, where now he knows how to run routes.” -- Dan Mullen Dan Mullen likes to call his hybrid linebackers at the STAR position “Unicorns.” My grandkids know what this means, but I had to look it up to be sure: “A Unicorn is a mythical creature, someone amazing who is hard to catch or simply a very rare find.” See, I think Mullen should have reserved that Unicorn love for Kyle Pitts, who could turn out to be the best tight end in America this season —“someone amazing who is hard to catch or simply a very rare find.” Kyle Pitts won’t be hard for Kyle Trask to find. He's got a large, familiar "84" blinking on his back and chest. And he certainly wasn’t hiding last season. The red-shirt junior from Philadelphia returns as the top receiver by a million miles with 54 catches in 2019—43 of them from Trask. On the other hand, the Gator offense still isn’t up to speed by Mullen’s standards, ranking 29th in total offense nationally last season. Trask rated 22nd in the country passing and fourth among SEC quarterbacks in yardage. Pitts was 12th among SEC receivers. This could be a breakout season for both Kyles. There is still much work to be done, although the two Kyles didn't get any work together Friday night. Mainly Mullen said he wants to "make sure we're ready for football when it comes." Part of that is keeping stars healthy. By all reports -- including Mullen -- Kyle1 has shown marked improvement in his maturity as a quarterback with far better knowledge of the offense. We've not seen No.84 work yet. In a late Friday night scrimmage, Mullen held him out. "I didn't give Pitts any reps -- I know what he can do," Mullen told the media Saturday. Translated: Unicorns should be protected from physical harm. Kyle2 had a productive scrimmage. On Friday night, Mullen saw the evidence of team rust. He was pleased with his running backs and "the older guys," but concerned about the rust. "We haven't played football in a while, so we missed tackles, put the ball on the ground, etc," Mullen said. Mainly he said he wants to "make sure we're ready for football when it comes. We have a ways to go," he said, pointing out that the first game was just four weeks off. This could be a breakout season for both Kyles. By all reports -- including Mullen -- Kyle1 has shown marked improvement in his maturity as a quarterback with far better knowledge of the offense. Mullen says his QB’s ability to check in and out of plays will help make the install of the offense better and quicker and that Trask has become a stronger leader. Kyle2 has been lighting up practices with jaw-dropping acrobatic catches. The Gator coach described the Pitts’ catch made in Tuesday practice as “ridiculous.” He gets effusive when speaking about what makes his “Athletic Dude” such a weapon. “Obviously Kyle’s a mismatch. That’s what we want in a tight end, is a guy that creates problems all over the field,” Mullen said. “If you look at Kyle, people wonder, OK, from one year to the next … well he played a lot more flexed out his freshman year. A lot more as a receiver. It really helped him to learn to be a great receiver and a route-runner and play in space at that time.” On Friday night, Mullen saw the evidence of team rust. He was pleased with his running backs and "the older guys," but concerned about the rust. "We haven't played football in a while, so we missed tackles, put the ball on the ground, etc," Mullen said. Mainly he said he wants to "make sure we're ready for football when it comes. We have a ways to go," he said, pointing out that the first game was just four weeks off. “Last year, we asked him to do everything, and I thought he did a great job. He was one of our premier playmakers on the team. Now you get into Year 3 right now, where now he knows how to run routes.” If Pitts were a baseball player they might call him The Toolbox, because he’d be a 5-tool player. He runs, he catches, he hits hard, he blocks and he creates mismatches which dictate how the other players are defended. Oh yeah, and he executes crispy, clean routes – which might be a sixth tool. Unicornish perhaps? Much more than merely an “Athletic Dude.” If I were Kyle Trask I’d never let Kyle Pitts out of my sight on campus, let alone on the field. Because No. 84 is the ticket to a great future for both of them, including an SEC East ride and some big NFL dollars. We’ll no doubt see and hear about the Kyle-to-Kyle Connection, which is Mullen’s equivalent to Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance or—more era appropriate—the Gator version of Brady-to-Gronkowski. Over-hyped? Of course! But if you don’t get this, shut up, listen up and learn. Mullen was effusive in talking about Pitts’ role. You can understand why. Just look at his numbers last season and then project what’s possible with this kind of improvement: “He’s become a much more physical point of attack blocker and he creates mismatch problems for people out there on the field.” Let’s be honest here and point out that Pitts benefitted greatly from the wide receivers around him in ’19. Gone are five of the most reliable Gator seniors ever, taking their games to Sunday NFL level and already competing well. Second-round pick Van Jefferson is balling out with the Rams and may start. Sixth-rounder Freddie Swain is making noise out in Seattle. Seventh-round pick Tyrie Cleveland looks like he’ll make the Denver Bronco roster if for nothing more than his high acumen and hustle on special teams. And this is not even counting Josh Hammond on the Jaguars’ roster or the early success of RB/receiver Lamical Perine with the Jets, a very productive pass-catcher. Let’s emphasize again that 43 of those 54 team-leading catches by Pitts were from Trask – only eight from the departed Feleipe Franks and three from the rising star Emory Jones. So yes, Kyle1 has proven he knows full well how to find his unicorn, Kyle 2. Now stir in a little magic and let’s enjoy watching… ''... someone amazing who is hard to catch or simply a very rare find.” This just occurred to me: Maybe since Mullen has dubbed the players at STAR as the “Unicorns,” perhaps if Pitts has the year that some of us are projecting, DC Todd Grantham could “loan” that moniker to Pitts for a season in exchange. Kind of like seeing who earns the right to wear No. 1. Mullen joked about the thankless job of assigning numbers and asked if I wanted the job. "Sure," I said, but he never acknowledged my affirmative answer. First think I'd do was take a page from the NBA's jersey messaging and right above Kyle Pitts number put "Unicorn."

Florida Gators Head Coach Dan Mullen is adamant that there is no set depth chart yet for the Gators 2020 season…and when it does come time to put one together, he is looking for a unicorn. “We’re still formulating,” Mullen told local media on Tuesday. “We haven’t even had a scrimmage yet, so we’ll start, what we’re trying to do is we’re still installing.” Florida will have a scrimmage this weekend, but Mullen’s laissez-faire attitude about the depth chart is nothing new. And as it relates to Todd Grantham’s defense—particularly the secondary—that’s not necessarily a bad thing. One of the perks of Grantham’s system is the ability to constantly motion those on defense. He doesn’t want to pigeon hole any given player into one position because then he can’t move them around and disguise looks. As such, many of those 11 players—especially in the secondary—are important for what they bring in given situations versus first or second string. In the secondary this coming season, there will be new looks with old faces. Trey Dean will move primarily back to safety, according to Mullen, after spending the first half of the 2019 season at nickel. Safety was Dean’s first and most comfortable position. With the departure of 2019 senior Jeawon Taylor, that particular unit can use another experienced safety to round out the foursome that splits the majority of the reps (Taylor, now Dean; Shawn Davis, Donovan Stiner and Brad Stewart). When Dean was pulled from nickel last season, corner Marco Wilson was moved over to man the spot for the remainder of the year. But linebackers Mohamoud Diabate and Amari Burney also have been given snaps at the spot, with Burney even starting there for the Orange Bowl win against Virginia. The nickel is technically a fifth defensive back—thus the name—and is close to the line. He’s definitely the closest DB to the football. Lined up several yards off of the corner and flanking the defensive end. The sheer placement of the position makes the player half cover DB, half linebacker. With that in mind, Mullen and Grantham can began to pluck players from other units and create a subset that is tailored to the roster. "The reason for us that we've got to have multiple guys be ready to play the nickel position, and guys to move to safety, is so that we can try to match the best person on the best person. You know, I mean, if they're going to have a premier route-runner in the slot all day long, we're going to have to be able to have a Marco [Wilson] be able to go cover that guy, be able to move him there. “Then have a big blocker…at the point of attack, we've got to get a bigger body in there to go, be able to take the run. I think a lot of that, you see the guys moving, playing the different positions, it's for us to be able to matchup against whoever we have to play throughout the course of the season." Wilson has long been lauded as one of the leagues best corners, and deservedly so. He’s tenacious which makes it difficult for receivers to get space for a catch. But that tenaciousness can also show itself in a physicality that draws flags from that outside corner position. Wilson told GatorBait Magazine before the Orange Bowl that he’d rather play corner than nickel. It makes sense. Every NFL team is going to employ two corners. Not every team will have a nickel. But those that can play the position are in higher demand since their skills are at a premium. One could argue that spending a year as a nickel in Grantham’s defense is what got Chauncey Gardner-Johnson drafted and on the field so much for the New Orleans Saints his rookie year. So while corner is the “sexier” position, Wilson’s skill sets really do lend themselves more towards that nickel position; or as the Gators call it, the STAR. “The reason we call it the STAR, and the deal is, you've got to be a star player because you've got to be able to do multiple things,” explains Mullen. “So, like you said corner is kind of a cool deal, but we don't ask them to do as much as we ask the STAR to do. We need somebody that, obviously the more you can do—very much like that utility guy on offense—the more you can do, the better you are at that position, and I don't have to sub a lot of different guys, right? “So, you want somebody that is a great cover guy, that can be physical at the point of attack, that can rush off the edge. But those guys, you know, they're kind of unicorns, right? You got to go try to find them, and there's not a lot of them out there. You do see one, and it's a pretty special deal, you've got to be excited that you have one.” While Mullen and Grantham like to have versatile players that can be moved around to different positions, one spot that should be already set this fall is at corner with Kaiir Elam. The upcoming sophomore received first hand, big-game experience when he started in place of CJ Henderson who was opting out ahead of the NFL Draft. In his limited action during the 2019 season, Elam finished with 11 tackles, four pass breakups and three interceptions—including one that sealed the Orange Bowl win. "I think he's done a great job, I think he's really, to me, shown a lot of maturity,” Mullen said of Elam. “That's the one thing I'm really excited about him. He's a guy that got some experience, he got to play a bunch as a freshman, more as the year went on obviously. You know, a lot of guys that do that get into kind of a sophomore slump. They kind of look and say, ‘hey, didn’t you see me play as a freshman last year. I was freshman All-whatever.’ “That’s great if you were All-whatever, that’s better, but freshman All-whatever means of the couple of guys that played means you were best of the couple of guys that even played. A lot of guys struggle with that, but I love his maturity of what I’ve seen from his growth and maturity of not being satisfied or any thoughts of, ‘hey, this is where I am at and I did a great job last year, look at me.’ He is one of the hardest-working guys out there. He comes and works hard every day to make himself better. He is real student of the game. He’s a much better player now than he was last year.” With a little less than a month to go now until the 2020 season kicks off, Dan Mullen, Todd Grantham and the Florida Gators still have a lot of questions—at least on paper. But the talent to create positive production is there. Having it come together is like finding a unicorn.

We remember that 88-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter by Lamical Perine that sealed the win over Auburn. It was a thing of beauty, just like that third quarter 75-yard touchdown run by Dameon Pierce that gave the Gators the momentum they needed to knock off South Carolina. We remember that perfectly thrown pass from Kyle Trask that Josh Hammond caught for a 34-yard touchdown that broke open a tight game on the road with Missouri in the third quarter. Yes, we remember the spectacular runs and passes, but do we remember how Nick Buchanan got leverage on Auburn’s nose tackle and rode him down the line to create the crease for Perine? Do we remember how Brett Heggie and Stone Forsythe executed their blocks perfectly on the left side of the South Carolina defense to spring Pierce through a hole wide enough to drive a truck through? Do we remember how Richard Gouraige and Forsythe sealed off the left side so that Trask had all the time he needed to find Hammond wide open at the Missouri two? Of course we don’t remember all the times when the O-line got the job done, but everyone remembers when they make a mistake. The O-line can deliver 10 straight plays but let them give up a sack or fail to open a hole on third and short and everyone points a finger of blame and screams for the head of the offensive line coach. While we remember Perine’s run and Trask’s 64-yard TDP to Freddie Swain against Auburn, people still talk about how Trask was twice sacked and stripped of the football by Derrick Brown. We remember when the Gators couldn’t convert short yardage runs against Georgia because the O-line couldn’t create a crease. We remember the mixup on the O-line in Baton Rouge which forced Trask to throw off his back foot, the result of which was a game-sealing interception by Derek Stingley Jr. There is this universal tendency to give praise the guys who create touchdowns except for the guys on the offensive line who made it all possible. When things go badly, however, long boney fingers are pointed at them as if they are the only ones who failed to execute. A year ago John Hevesy started the season with an O-line that had a collective 24 starts under their belts. That ranked 127th nationally, not exactly what you want when you consider going an entire season against SEC defenses. They had to learn on the fly yet somehow they blocked well enough for the Gators to average 33.23 points and 430.5 yards per game. The last time the Gators averaged more than 430 yards per game was 2009. Trask averaged 8.3 yards per pass attempt, the first time a UF quarterback has averaged more than 8.0 since 2009. He also threw for 2,941 yards and 25 touchdowns, again, the best marks by a Florida quarterback since Tim Tebow in 2009. Although the Gators averaged only 129.77 yards per game on the ground, that wasn’t completely the fault of the offensive line. The strength of the Gators was a group of receivers that featured four who will earn NFL paychecks this fall and an all-interplanetary tight end in Kyle Pitts, who is back this season. Head coach Dan Mullen has always adjusted his offense to the personnel and that meant the 2019 Gators were going to be more pass-heavy. Despite the inexperience on the offensive line and going against some fierce pass rushing units, Florida gave up only 25 sacks, or one for every 19 pass attempts. It is not making excuses for Florida’s 2019 offensive line when you use the term “work in progress.” They were a unit that started out very slowly but got consistently better as the season progressed. It’s particularly noteworthy that the 2019 unit had to adjust on the fly to a brand new quarterback when Feleipe Franks went down for the season with a dislocated ankle at the end of the third quarter of the Kentucky game. Franks added a different dynamic to the offense than Trask, but the O-line adjusted and allowed Mullen to play to Trask’s strengths as an accurate passer. While Trask carved up opposing defenses with his quick, on target passes, the O-line got in enough critical blocks to spring Perine (twice), Pierce and Hammond for runs of better than 60 yards and all four of those long jaunts came at critical moments. Things should be better in 2020. For the first time since he arrived, Mullen and offensive line coach John Hevesy have the combination of experience and depth to call this a real SEC O-line. “Much deeper this year than last year, obviously,” Mullen said Tuesday after the Gators finished practice. “My first year here we had a bunch of older, veteran guys – some guys who played some football – so I don’t know that our depth was great, but our experience in kind of that top group was really good. Last year’s group was really young.” Youth and inexperience are a thing of the past. The Gators return three full-time starters (Heggie, Forsythe and Jean Delance) who combined for 37 starts last year. Also returning are two part-time starters (Gouraige and Ethan White) who worked their way into the lineup as 2019 progressed. Additionally, the Gators have three (T.J. Moore, Tanner Rowell and Griffin McDowell) who played in every game as reserves. The Gators have four redshirt freshmen (Will Harrod, Kingsley Eguakun, Riley Simonds and Michael Tarquin) who know the system and got in games last year, plus there are three true freshmen (Joshua Braun, Richard Leonard IV and Gerald Mincey) who have great promise. What should make this group infinitely better is the addition of Mississippi State graduate transfer Stewart Reese, who started for Mullen and Hevesy at Mississippi State in 2017. He brings 34 career starts to the table, most at right guard or right tackle. “There are some talented young players,” Mullen said, assessing his O-line. “I mean, we only lost one senior off of last year’s offensive line and we had Stewart Reese transfer in as a grad transfer. So really that depth, the group that you played last year is back which creates a lot more depth on the offensive line. Plus, some news guys, so it is much deeper.” What Reese brings to the table is immeasurable. He’s a mature 5th-year guy who already knows the basics of the Florida offense since foundationally it’s the same one Mullen and Hevesy were running at Mississippi State. Besides having a much shorter learning curve, Reese brings the kind of flexibility the Gators may need due to injuries and certain players possibly missing games if they test positive for Covid-19. Reese played right guard for Hevesy in 2017, but he has starting experience at every position on the O-line except center. He’s a very intelligent player (kiniseology major whose goal is to be a doctor) who most have penciled in at left guard but could just as easily supplant Delance (last year’s starter) at right tackle since that’s where he started 13 games at MSU in 2018. Mullen knows what the Gators are getting in Reese and while he won’t come right out and say the big guy (6-5, 345) is the key to improved play, it’s fairly obvious this is exactly who the Gators need to make the O-line successful. “I think this, one, he understands what we expect in the program, so that’s not a shock for him, there’s no change there,” Mullen said. “It’s been two years since he has kind of run the system and we’ve tweaked some things, but I think there’s a lot of familiarity and he’s played a lot of football. I mean, a double-team is a double-team block, you know what I mean? If I’m on the lock-side of a pass protection, I’m on the lock-side of a pass protection. Even some of the stuff, I think it’s coming back to him pretty quickly, which is great and a little different than a regular grad transfer because it’s a guy who has played in the system before.” The only missing starter from last year’s unit is center Nick Buchanan, who started 25 games in two years after three nondescript seasons prior to Mullen’s arrival. Replacing Buchanan in the middle seems the biggest question mark, enough so that Mullen says he is working five different players there in the preseason. Because of his experience – he was a backup for Buchanan and might have been the 2018 starter if not for injuries – Heggie (6-4, 330, RSR) would seem to have the upper hand at center, but he’s played both guard positions and has a good bit of experience working beside Forsythe (6-7, 329, RSR) on the left side. White (6-5, 360, SO) is 40 pounds lighter than he was when he arrived on campus at UF. He played right guard mostly last year, but Mullen and Hevesy have him working now at center. Hevesy likes to stack the middle of his O-lines with wide bodies that have good feet to counter the SEC trend of monstrous interior defensive linemen. Any combination in the middle of Florida’s line that would include Heggie, White and Reese would seem to be ideal based on what we’ve seen from Hevesy in the past. A freshman who could squeeze his way into the interior rotation is Leonard (6-2, 320, FR) who is a power blocker with good feet. Mullen didn’t elaborate on the others he has working at center but the likely candidates are McDowell (6-3, 300, RSO), Rowell (6-2, 290, RSR) and Eguakan (6-4, 300, RFR). Forsythe seems a lock at left tackle. By season’s end last year, he seemed comfortable both in the run game and handling speed guys coming off the edge. It’s hard to imagine that he won’t be back there this year. Who backs him up is a question that has to be answered but there are options including Moore (6-5, 310, RJR), Harrod (6-5, 334, RFR) and Braun (6-6, 335, FR). Braun seems to be the left tackle of the future but he will have to earn his way onto the field this year, most likely by starting out on special teams. Right tackle is another story altogether since it was problematic last year. The incumbent is Delance (6-4, 313, RSR), who was adequate and sometimes quite effective in the run game last year. However, his struggles with speed guys off the edge were well documented and he will have to show major improvement in that area to hold onto his starting spot. It’s entirely possible that if Delance loses his starting job at right tackle he could be moved inside where he’d be taking on bigger, less mobile players. It is also possible that Delance could become the chief backup at both tackle positions. The name most have circled to take over at right tackle is Gouraige (6-4, 300, RSO). After apprenticing at right guard, where he got starts last year while getting some snaps at both tackle spots, Gouraige seems poised and ready to start on the outside. That could change if Hevesy elects to go with Reese at right tackle. If that’s the case, Gouraige most likely starts at right guard, a place where he already has a level of comfort. Another name to remember at right tackle is Tarquin (6-5, 300, RFR), who was highly thought of coming out of high school and now has added strength and weight. This is another position where Braun could factor as a backup. It’s almost a full month before the Gators strap it on for their season opener in Oxford against Ole Miss, so Hevesy has plenty of time to find a group he’s comfortable with. Hevesy’s history is to cross train as many as possible to offer flexibility in the event of injury. With classes on campus beginning next week and the increased possibility of players testing positive for the virus, it has never been more important to have players who can plug in and play at different positions. It is critical for Hevesy to find a core group of about eight dependable players but eight can seem like several more when you have cross trained players who can play multiple positions. Reese has started at four positions. Heggie, Gouraige and White can play at least three each. Forsythe and Delance can play both tackle positions and it’s entirely possible Delance will move to the inside if Reese is moved out to right tackle. By season’s end in 2019, the Gators were an adequate but not great offensive line. A year older doesn’t necessarily make you a year better, but the experience gained last year combined with the addition of Reese is cause for optimism. Instead of young guys learning on the fly, Hevesy has experienced guys who know what is expected of them and he has more depth than he’s had in his previous two seasons. Another reason for optimism is the size and strength in the middle. Neither Heggie nor White at center would need as much help with nose tackles as Buchanan, a very smart and mobile guy who lacked ideal size (6-3, 292) to cope with most of the monsters in middle that you find regularly in the SEC. Also, a year ago, the Gators didn’t have the power in the O-line to consistently convert on short yardage or to grind and eat up clock in the fourth quarter. These guys should be able to grind out first downs and that will be a huge improvement. Despite deficiencies in size, depth and experience in the first two years of the Mullen regime, the Gators have averaged better than 30 points and 400 yards per game both seasons. Those are the best offensive numbers since the Tebow years and they should improve this season. There was this television commercial in the 1960s that made famous the line “It’s what’s up front that counts.” That might hold particularly true for the Florida Gators in 2020 because if the offensive line comes through in a big way, the Gators could supplant Georgia atop the SEC East and challenge whoever comes out of the West for the league championship.

Expectations are different this year. Gone are the bloated predictions that the Florida Gators could make it to the Final Four, replaced by a team that from top to bottom of the roster is probably the most talented and versatile in Mike White’s five years on the job. The Gators won’t start the 2020-21 season – whenever it begins – ranked sixth like they were last year. If they do begin the season ranked in the top 25 it will be somewhere in the bottom third, which means far less pressure. No matter where the Gators start the season, however, they have a chance to win the SEC championship and go a long way in March. The reason is quite simple. Mike White finally has a team athletic enough to play a 94-foot game. Last year, the Gators were only capable of playing a full court game for short stretches due to personnel issues. This year, they’ll have the quickness, athleticism and depth to play it bell-to-bell. “Going into this season I feel like for the first time in a while we'll have a high level of speed, quickness, and athleticism from our whole roster, and I think we'll be very deep,” White said recently on a Zoom conference call. “We look forward to playing fast, pressing, and just playing to our strengths." The place where change will be the most obvious is at the point where transfer Tyree Applebee (6-1, 170) takes over for Andrew Nembhard, who has transferred to Gonzaga. Nembhard is a fine player but his game is more suited for a deliberate, half-court style while Applebee will thrive in up tempo situations. Not only is Applebee a blur with the ball in his hands but a tenacious open court defender with a keen sense of anticipation. As a sophomore at Cleveland State in the Horizon League, Applebee averaged 17.2 points and 5.6 assists per game. He nailed a highly respectable 38.9% of his 3-pointers. Nembhard was good for 11.4 points per game last year and his 2-year total of 377 assists is impressive but he took a lot of shots, nailed only 30.8% of his 3-pointers and was a liability in press situations. White has other options at the point, too. Tre Mann (5.3 ppg), who struggled much of last season after suffering a concussion in the November tournament in Charleston, is healthy and has added some much-needed muscle to his 6-5 frame. He will split time between the wing and the point. Ques Glover (5-11, 182) struggled in half-court defensive sets as a freshman but he’s a very good open court player and a capable scorer (4.4 ppg last year) when it’s up tempo. Freshman Neils Lane (6-5, 206) can defend the point and both wings, plus adds a bigger body at the point when White needs some size in the lineup. “Now at the point we'll be very, very fast,” White said. “We'll be deep and talented, but not as proven. Not as experienced.” Up tempo defensively favors Noah Locke (6-3, 207), Mann and Scottie Lewis (6-5, 189). Locke (10.0 ppg) is better known as a streaky 3-point shooter who can carry the team when he heats up but he’s a tough defender who can guard people 3-4 inches taller. He’s a terrific deep shooter in the secondary break. Mann is more scorer than shooter. He’s an excellent driver and better defensively in the press than he is in the half-court. Lewis (8.5 ppg/3.6 rpg) is an elite defender who can lock down anyone. If he can continue to improve as an outside shooter he will be a nightmare to guard due to his 40-plus inch vertical. A wild card on the wing will be Russian import Samson Ruzhentsev (6-7, 192), a pure shooter with seemingly unlimited range. The Gators have some options with All-SEC Keyontae Johnson (6-5, 229), who finished last season as the leading scorer and second leading rebounder (14.0 ppg/7.1 rpg) while shooting a most respectable 38% from the 3-point line. Johnson can play the high post, run the baseline or go out on the wing depending on the situation. He’s always defended well in the post but last year showed that he’s capable of handling quick players on the wings. Another player who gives UF options is Louisiana Tech transfer Anthony Duruji (6-7, 220), who averaged 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds as a sophomore before transferring. He plays above the rim and can play all three front court positions. Had he been eligible last season, Duruji would have been in the starting lineup from day one. Omar Payne (6-10, 230) slumped the last month of his freshman year but showed in the Auburn game (19 points, 11 rebounds) what he’s capable of doing. Payne (3.8 ppg/3.7 rpg) is a good straight up defender who can play the safety and protect the rim in a full court press scheme. His backup figures to be Jason Jitoboh (6-11, 285) who kept earning quality minutes off the bench last year after he shed about 30 or so pounds. The Gators added a long-armed juco in Osayi Osifo (6-7, 225), who can play power forward or center. Florida has applied for an NCAA waiver for Michigan transfer Collin Castleton (6-11, 231), who has two years of eligibility remaining. With the added size, the Gators should be able to go half-court when the situation demands, but White has made it abundantly clear he wants to play the tempo game. “Playing fast is really in my DNA,” White said. “It’s what I want to do. It’s what our guys want to do. I know it’s what our fans want to see.” ELSEWHERE IN THE SEC ALABAMA: The big question for Alabama in Nate Oates’ second year on the job is can Villanova transfer Jahvon Quinerly, a former McDonald’s All-American, adequately replace Kira Lewis Jr., who will go high in the first round of the NBA Draft? If Quinerly can get the job done, Alabama should be significantly improved over last year’s 16-15 record due to experience at the other four positions. The Crimson Tide also got a helping hand up front in the offseason when 6-10 Yale center Jordan Bruner (10.9 points, 9.2 rebounds) decided to spend a grad transfer year in Tuscaloosa. When John Petty Jr. (14.5 ppg/6.8 rpg/44% on 3-pointers) withdrew from the NBA Draft the Tide got the best defense stretcher in the SEC. The Tide also return 6-9 Alex Reese (8.8 ppg/4.8 rpg) and 6-7 defensive stopper Herbert Jones (7.9 ppg/6.4 rpg) along with sometime starter and explosive scorer Jaden Shackleford (15.0 ppg/4.5 rpg). If Quinerly can distribute the ball and get the job done on defense and Bruner can supply some rebounding, the Tide is going to be a serious contender for the SEC title. ARKANSAS: You’ve heard that old saying “You can’t tell the players without a program?” Well, that’s what it will be like if you’re an Arkansas fan this season. Second-year HBC Eric Musselman has added four graduate transfers to go with the three transfers who sat out last season and four 4-star freshmen. Gone are last year’s leading scorers Mason Jones (22.0 ppg/5.5 rpg) and Isaiah Joe (16.9 ppg/4.1 rpg). Desi Sills (10.6 ppg/3.0 rpg) is the only returning player who factored last year. The grad transfers are 6-7 Justin Smith (10.2 ppg/5.2 rpg at Indiana); 6-9 Vance Jackson (11.1 ppg/5.3 rpg at New Mexico); 6-6 Jalen Tate (13.9 ppg/5.4 rpg/3.6 apg at Northern Kentucky); and 6-7 Brandon Kimble (4.8 ppg/5.9 rpg at Mississippi Valley State). The transfers who sat out last year are 6-1 JD Notae (15.5 ppg/6.2 rpg/2.4 apg at Jacksonville U); 6-9 Abayomi Iyiola (10.8 ppg/7.6 rpg at Stetson); and 7-3 Conner Vanover (7.5 ppg/3.0 rpg at California). Of the freshmen the two to watch are point guard Khalen Robinson and wing Moses Moody. There is plenty of talent. If the Hogs can find some chemistry they’ll be NCAA Tournament good. AUBURN: The bad news is the Tigers lost their best six players including leading scorer Samir Doughty (16.7 ppg/3.9 rpg), rim protector Austin Wiley (10.6 ppg/9.3 rpg), assist man J’Von McCormick (11.7 ppg/4.0 rpg/4.4 apg) and stud freshman Isaac Okoro (12.8 ppg/4.0 rpg). The good news is Bruce Pearl signed a stud recruiting class led by 5-star point guard Sharife Cooper, 6-10 4-star center Dylan Cardwell and three other 4-star, all of whom should start. Auburn will be one of the youngest teams in the country but the talent is good enough for the Tigers to make the NCAA Tournament. The biggest concern for Auburn is the long arm of the NCAA. Former Auburn assistant Chuck Person got caught up in the college basketball corruption scandal and it could lead to the Tigers going into the NCAA jailhouse. It’s entirely possible they will get hammered. GEORGIA: Leading scorer Anthony Edwards (19.1 ppg/5.2 rpg) and glue guy Rayshaun Hammonds (12.9 ppg/7.4 rpg) have gone pro, leaving behind a vertically challenged roster headed up by 5-10 point guard Savhir Wheeler (9.0 ppg, 3.6 apg). They were the gang that couldn’t shoot straight (30% on 3-balls) last year and they probably won’t be any better this year. The Bulldogs will rely heavily on 4-star recruits K.D. Johnson (6-1, 180) and Joshua Taylor (6-9, 210). Tom Crean might be SEC coach of the year if he can match last year’s 16-16 record (5-13 SEC). KENTUCKY: Last year’s starting lineup will be playing for pay either in the NBA or on another continent which means John Calipari will play with one of the youngest teams in the country. What else is new? The only returning player with any experience is sophomore Keon Brooks Jr. (6-7, 205). Kentucky’s 6-man recruiting class was one of the two or three best in the country, headed by 5-stars Devin Askew, Terrence Clark and B.J. Boston. The other guys are mere 4-stars. Kentucky added grad transfer point guard Davion Mintz (6-3, 185) who averaged 9.7 points for Big East champ Creighton last year. Kentucky will require serious contributions from the kids, but the key to success will be the NCAA approving the transfer waiver of former Wake Forest star and All-ACC Olivier Sarr (7-0, 260), who averaged 13.7 points and 9.0 rebounds for the Demon Deacons. The NCAA should approve since Sarr left Wake when Danny Manning was fired as head coach. If Sarr’s in the middle, Kentucky will be formidable and a likely top five team. LSU: On paper the Tigers have the makings of a team that can make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament. The paper they’re most concerned with, however, is the one they’ll get from the NCAA that probably disqualifies them from anything in the postseason. Mark Schlabach of ESPN has leaked documents that, if proven true, should put the Tigers in the NCAA jailhouse for some time and banish Will Wade with a lengthy show cause. Any team that has 6-9 Trendon Watford (13.6 ppg/7.2 rpg), point guard Javonte Smart (12.5 ppg/3.5 rpg/3.9 apg) and a freshman class that’s one of the best in the country (5-star Cam Thomas, three 4-stars) is going to be really good but will it matter if the NCAA decides it’s time to neuter the Tigers prior to March? It’s not really a question of if the Tigers go down, just a matter of when. MISSISSIPPI STATE: The top four scorers from last year’s 20-11 team – Reggie Perry (17.4 ppg/10.1 rpg); Tyson Carter (13.9 ppg/3.1 apg), Nick Weatherspoon (11.6 ppg/3.5 rpg) and Robert Woodard II (11.4 ppg/6.5 rpg) have departed so the Bulldogs will be very young. The building blocks will be D.J. Stewart (8.5 ppg/2.5 rpg) and 7-footer Abdul Ado (5.7 ppg/6.7 rpg/1.9 bpg). Davion Smith, a 4-star point guard, heads up a 5-man recruiting class. Break even would be a great season. MISSOURI: This should be one of the SEC’s most improved teams. All five starters from last year’s 15-16 team return, the key being 6-10 Jeremiah Tilmon (10.1 ppg/5.9 rpg), who pondered bolting to the NBA. For Cuonzo Martin’s team to make a run at the NCAA Tournament, they’ll have to shoot better than last year’s 29.7% from the 3-point line. The Tigers play great defense but there are too many nights when they can’t find the ocean from the end of the pier when it comes to shooting. OLE MISS: What Kermit Davis Jr. did in the offseason would qualify for a basketball version of the show Extreme Makeover on HGTV. Davis added two grad transfers in Romello White (6-8, 235 from Arizona State) and Dimencio Vaughn(6-5, 220 from Rider) and Samford transfer Robert Allen (6-8, 230), who will petition the NCAA for an eligibility waiver. White averaged 10.2 points and 8.8 rebounds at Arizona State, Vaughn averaged 14.8 points and 6.6 points at Rider. Allen averaged 14.1 points and 7.0 rebounds at Samford. Additionally, Cal State-Bakersfield transfer Jarkel Joiner (6-1, 180), who averaged 18.6 per game at his previous school, is eligible after sitting out last year. About the only familiar face in the Ole Miss lineup will be Devontae Shuler (11.7 ppg/4.5 rpg/3.3 apg). If all the new parts of the puzzle fit together, the Rebels should contend for the SEC title and make a run in March. SOUTH CAROLINA: AJ Lawson (13.4 ppg/3.7 rpg/1.9 apg) flirted with the NBA but elected to come back for his junior year. He is the key to the Gamecocks improving on last year’s 18-13 record. They won’t be big, but Frank Martin’s teams are always tough defensively and quite competitive no matter how big they are. If Jermaine Cousinard (12.1 ppg/2.8 rpg/3.1 apg) can shoot straight (29% on 3-balls) and 6-11 Wildens Leveque can defend and rebound in the middle, the Gamecocks will be good enough to scare the bejabbers out of everyone on their schedule. TENNESSEE: By season’s end last year, 6-9 John Fulkerson (13.7 ppg/5.9 rpg) had played his way into second team All-SEC honors. He’s back along with SEC Defensive Player of the Year Yves Pons (10.8 ppg/5.4 rpg/2.4 bpg) and guards Josiah-Jordan James (7.4 ppg/5.5 rpg) and Santiago Vescovi (10.7 ppg/3.3 rpg) to form the nucleus of a team that will be in the SEC title hunt and should make a deep run in April. A name to remember is former Arizona State transfer Uros Plavsic, a 7-0, 262-pound banger. Rick Barnes added a pair of 5-star freshmen guards – Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer – to an outstanding recruiting class. TEXAS A&M: The Aggies shocked everybody in Buzz Williams’ first year on the job by going 16-14 including 10-8 in the SEC. They will be better this year thanks to the return of 6-7 Savion Flagg (10.4 ppg/5.1 rpg/37% from 3) and the addition of Quinnipiac grad transfer Kevin Marfo (6-8, 250), who averaged 10.2 points and 13.3 rebounds per game last year. If 4-star freshman recruit Hassan Diarra (6-3, 180) can take over at the point and the Aggies can make a few shots (29.4% from 3) the Aggies should be better than last year. They aren’t ready to challenge for the SEC title yet, but they will win more than they lose and make life miserable for opponents. VANDERBILT: Any hope of a good record last year went down the drain when Aaron Nesmith (23 ppg through 14 games) went down with a season-ending injury. Second leading scorer Saben Lee (18.6 ppg) has graduated, leaving Jerry Stackhouse with a young, and not so impressive roster. He does have a future stud in Scottie Pippen Jr. (12.0 ppg/2.8 rpg/3.5 apg), who kept getting better as the season progressed. For the Commodores to improve on last year’s 11-21 record, they’ll need Pippen to keep improving and major contributions from transfers DJ Harvey (6-6, 235 from Notre Dame) and Quentin Millora-Brown (6-10, 230 from Rice). The recruiting class was quite average.

I can’t be alone here. I yearn for a college football season in 2020 — just like thousands of college students across the country. Like them, a major part of my “college experience” stems from what takes place on Saturdays in the fall. The reality is, those who say that college will be the best four years of your life are those who spent their Saturdays in the stands. College isn’t college without college football. The sport celebrated 150 years last season. In 1918, it survived World War I in tandem with the Spanish flu. Disrupted, maybe. But not canceled. Meanwhile, for months, college football has teetered on the cusp of life and death in 2020. In some parts of the country, it’s already died. In other parts, like the Southeast, pulling the plug isn’t an option. Greg Sankey, commissioner of the SEC, and his ACC and Big 12 counterparts have kept the college football season on life support. Holding on to hope, if you will. And to date, it seems that recovery is possible. On Tuesday, Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen announced that his football program has seen zero positive Covid-19 tests since early-July. “We gotta be smart in our decision making, we gotta be smart in what we do,” Mullen told the media Tuesday. “We’ve shown that playing football is safe, now we have to make smart decisions when we’re not playing football.” Mullen’s comment came just hours after the University of Alabama reported over 500 positive tests following the university’s opening week of the fall semester. Before Alabama’s announcement, photos from Tuscaloosa and Auburn circulated social media. College-aged students crammed into bars and restaurants. And finding a mask in the picture was like an unfair game of iSpy — in some pictures, there weren’t any. And while seeing fellow football-loving college students act in such a selfish way was frustrating, I was curious to know if my peers at the University of Florida would be any different. With classes starting August 31, many students began returning to campus this last week. And on Wednesday night, I made the drive from Ocala to Gainesville to take a look at the college scene in Alachua County. My 441 drive from Ocala to Gainesville is probably one of my favorite trips. Getting into Gainesville means crossing over the two-mile stretch of Payne’s Prairie. During the school year, I’ll leave my house earlier than needed just to catch the sunrise views over the prairie. And everyone knows the sunsets are just as breathtaking. Every evening locals park on the right-of-way of 441 and sit atop their cars to watch the sun drop into the vast marsh. Wednesday night was no different. Hundreds of cars lined the highway, hugging the fence line that separates the wildlife from civilization. College friends who haven’t seen each other for months grouped together, mask-less, to take in the scenery. Once on campus, the social distancing efforts weren’t any better. Soccer, volleyball, corn hole and football were played on the rec fields. And no one wants to wear a mask while exercising — even if you’re exercising in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. I slid into The Swamp on three wheels, making it into Gate 18 three minutes before closing time. Meanwhile, everyone else was funneling out of the stadium. Seeing the home of the Florida Gators’ football program double as a gym and photo opportunity for students on Wednesday evening was concerning in the most ironic of ways. If not careful, a gym and photo opportunity will be the only purposes Ben Hill Griffin Stadium serves this fall. To avoid that, what transpired at midtown when I grabbed dinner has to be done with caution. Every student at UF knows that the Social at Midtown is the place to be on a Wednesday night. With five dollar macaroni and cheese and five dollar “liquor pitchers”, the Social makes a good chunk of change come hump day. And its rooftop bar is the place to be. Except, I couldn’t get to the rooftop. Not because it was closed in wake of Covid-19, but because it was at capacity. Downstairs, state regulations were closely followed. There was appropriate spacing between tables, employees were wearing masks and alcohol could be served only to a table. The part of me that strives to find the good in people is the same part of me that gives students and the Social the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps social distancing measures were being followed. Yet, seeing the number of students get frustrated when they were denied access upstairs tells me the mentality of Florida’s student body isn’t where it needs to be as we get ready to start the fall semester on Monday. I have great faith in UF’s leadership. University President Kent Fuchs has been tireless in his efforts to bring students back to campus in the safest way possible. And that’s to be expected from the leader of the seventh-ranked public university in the nation. But it isn’t solely the leader that makes UF a top college in the country. It’s the student body too. And if ever there was a time to lead by example, it’s now. But I can’t be alone here. Despite months of everyone preaching isolation, we can’t stand alone now. As we return to classes Monday, the sake of college football, for the sake of the health of us all and for the sake of the orange and blue, please act responsibly.

As a journalist, I work in words. They are my craft and my career. But there are moments the words don’t reach. And even in attempting to apply them to situations, my words are pointless. Florida Gators Head Coach Dan Mullen spoke with local media today. It was intended as a (virtual) press conference on fall camp the day before a scrimmage. Instead, Mullen spent a large majority of the time to apply 1,978 words on social injustice, civil unrest and how he and his team are navigating it from their position. With that in mind, we yield the floor to Mullen. Here is everything he had to say today on the subject. Have you spoken to team about Jacob Blake's shooting, and how does it affect you? "Well I think, yes, we've talked about it as a team. You know, it's stuff we've talked about in the past, even before this. We talked about it today as a team. How it affects me personally, I think one of the things that I look at, is, to me, a shame is, you look at a football team. How that football team works and the respect that everyone has for each other when they're on a team, it's a pretty special deal. You know, I don't think people get as, maybe, when you're in a locker room or on the field, within the players and teams I've been on, you know look at out team here, we talked about this today. You see guys that have a lot of respect for each other, and they're less concerned about where you're from, what religion you are, what your socio-economic or racial backgrounds are. Very concerned about you go hard and do things the right way, and guys go hard, try their best to do things the right way, and everybody's different talent levels. You know, if you do that, you have great respect for all your teammates. So look at that, I do see, I see, I think, you know, I mean one of the hard things is the world, you turn on any news channel, and its extremes, right? And I don't know that we're in extremes, I think a lot of people are probably in the middle, but I think a lot of people maybe are ignorant about a lot of things that go on. A lot of people get extremely emotional about things that go on, which, and they are very emotional things, but I think it's really important that people educate themselves. You know, there's a lot of ignorance in the world. That doesn't mean, being ignorant, people don't look at people and say 'This person is a good person or a bad person,' there's good, there's bad people in the world. There are a lot of bad people in the world. There's also a lot of ignorant people in the world and one of the best things we can do is try to educate ignorant people, best thing you can do is try to educate yourself and try to understand other people, and try to become educated. The best way to respect somebody is to try to educate yourself about them, and if you do that, you have a chance of spreading a positive message. Spreading a great message of respect and love to other people in the world more than kind of hatred, ignorance, or those type of things, and I think it is... Those are obviously terrible, scary things and you know what I’ve never been in that situation, thankfully. I hope I never am and I think it’s terrible that people that are in those situations are even in them. I think the better we can educate ourselves the better off we’ll be.” How can you educate those people? “I can’t, I don’t want to speak for all of our student-athletes but I can speak for me. I think we talk about them and I’m sure, they speak for themselves and we encourage them to do that. We encourage them to, we have a great platform, we have a platform just by the world we’re in. We can help people better understand things. We can help people by trying to become educated about other people, to try to learn about other people, to try to learn about other people’s backgrounds, to try to learn and respect other people’s backgrounds and not just draw assumptions. It’s really hard to do. Change is uncomfortable for a lot of people. Change is really uncomfortable, I don’t want to change, I like what I have. To change I have to get outside my comfort zone and change is extremely uncomfortable. People have to try to get a little uncomfortable and people to have to try to go learn about other people. Go expand your horizons. Go expand what it is. Don’t just look at something and judge other people or don’t look at someone who is different than you and judge them, go learn about everything. I’ve become very educated over the last couple of months. You know what, I would probably look at things and then go form an opinion. Now I look back and I’ve changed my opinions on a lot of things. What it’s taught me is to be very cautious. When something happens you’re going to form an automatic opinion but the smart thing to do is educate yourself and make sure your opinion is well thought of and why you would do what you would do or why you believe in what you believe and challenge yourself to think about those things. In every aspect of life.” What’s an example of change you have made? “I think just in little things. You look, right, and one thing, you just read, there was great little thing I just read just to make you think, is when Black Lives Matter comes out and people want to fight and say All Lives Matter and, you know, right? You look at that and say OK, I can see how that makes sense, and then you go educate yourself and go back and think about different things. Someone wrote an article, I don’t know, I saw somewhere where the Boston Marathon bombing came out, oh the Boston Strong shirts came out, right, well, why isn’t everybody strong, why does it only get to be Boston that gets to be strong, right? When you think about to me in the terms of that, where it does, of course all live do matter, but that’s not what we’re talking about right now. We’re talking about this specific situation where we’re seeing racial injustice has happened and we’re trying to draw light to that. We’re not saying other things aren’t important, we’re trying to draw light to this. When you can draw on things from a lot of examples, like people all the sudden want to jump and say Ok, well what about this, I have to be on a side, no, just educate yourself. We’re trying to do is educate ourselves about the social injustices happening. It doesn’t mean, when you say Black Lives Matter it doesn’t mean I’m forgetting about other people. It means I’m focusing on the social injustice issues that we currently have in our country and let’s focus on that. That’s what it pays attention to. Maybe instead of people jump to other conclusions. It was a really educational thing to think about and really a different way to think for me when you do it is making sure what is the message trying to get across here.” Did your guys discuss not practicing? "No. I mean our guys love football, they want to play football. I think, you know, that's something that, right? I mean, our guys love playing football and so I think they like to play football. Now they have a great opportunity right now, a lot of time to use their platform and do other things, and we discuss that outside of football. I think our guys, they really enjoy being out there practicing, getting ready for a football season. But I think they're very conscious about using the platform that they have to do it. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. But we had a great discussion about it after practice, great discussion about everything, after practice. And I think we'll still have more. We've had some in the past, we had some today. We need to have more. We've got to find even better ways to do it, have good discussions within our team on things moving forward. But I don't think it ever crossed over, that football is kind of its own deal. Football practice is its own deal, that's a separate entity." Are players more distant with everything going on? "Well, I think it's been going on for a while. I think, I don't know, me personally, I've always felt the football field is a very safe place for guys. That's kind of their safe place is when we're out there doing football and playing football. You are kind of away from the rest of the world, so I do think a lot of the issues maybe come outside of that when we're not doing our football time. That's not something I've noticed over the last couple of weeks, that's something I've noticed since I've been coaching. There's all kinds of things that have happened throughout my time coaching. This isn't the first time we've dealt with, I mean first time we've dealt with a major pandemic, but there's all kinds of different situations and things that happen within teams, within programs and in the community and all that stuff. I've always felt football is kind of a safe place.” When Mohamoud Diabate came in players said it changed their mind shift after being around him. Did you see that? “I don’t know if I saw a shift in the locker room, but I'm not in there 24/7 with the players. I think it’s been great. With Mohamoud. .. you look at people’s background, being Muslim. I think that’s every educational to people to go learn those ways. One of the great places that I got to coach as a young coach was the University of Utah. You get out there and you have a giant LDS community. You get to learn about the religion and the background and the people. And there was a Polynesian community. I got to learn a lot about the Polynesian community and some of those things. I’ve always been someone who loved to learn about different cultures. My mom is a British citizen. My mom is not a US citizen, she’s a British citizen. I had family that way. She taught classical ballet and theater. I was around the theater a lot. You think about different worlds? Think about football and the theater. You get to learn about different people and get to respect different ways, different thoughts, different beliefs. I really enjoy learning about different people and different cultures and different ways. You know what? I get frustrated with myself when I make (inaudible) of different things, but we all are at times. I get really frustrated when I make (inaudible) about things. Why would I not process this and and think about this in a better manner? It happens to everybody." How do you make sure everyone on the team feels heard? "Well that's interesting. That is a good question. We're working on different ways to constantly do that. Because the one thing is people are very comfortable in very different settings. Some guys are great getting up and talking in front of the whole team. Other guys maybe don't like those things. Other guys don't like to talk. Other guys maybe are very introverted. They're very private about their feelings. So we're trying different things, I think in person obviously. I will say this: the one thing that we decided on today we don't need to do is Zoom meetings. That's what we decided. There's just no personal aspect of opening up on a Zoom call, unfortunately. That's what the guys felt. So we're going to try and experiment in even different ways -- just more ways to go. The one bad thing, a lot of times you get a lot of that stuff during training camp and then the altered training camp has made it a little bit difficult this year. But we're going to continue to try and bring guys together closer as a team. And also, find good ways for us to use our platform to educate people. That's a big one to talk about. It's one thing to have a platform, it's one thing to make a statement, but how do you make change? And what's the best way to do that and make meaningful changes? And that's one of the things that everybody's working on."

“I only wish you had known how he learned to run and spin on a dime and run all over players trying to tackle him.” Beth Dupree. Sometimes in this morass of mental anguish that assaults our brains these days, we fall victim to sieges of nostalgia as we crave the tender yesterdays like mothers’ milk. Was it really that sweet? And for a moment we are transported into a safer, simpler time as a respite with a happier ending. I need to go there today. While I remain thankful for every crumb of college football thrown our way — almost hour by hour, day by day — please let me escape the medical analysis of Coronavirus and the options of opting out and whether we are in danger of losing tailgating. I just don’t want to lose the season. So let’s put it on pause and return to yesteryear for some football memories. As we wavered back and forth pondering whether college football would make it through August, I received an unexpected email which harkened me to the past. Last week I heard from the younger sister of the late Larry Dupree, arguably one of my top ten favorite all-time Florida Gator football players. She revealed how he first fashioned his style of running. “I only wish you had known how he learned to run and spin on a dime and run all over players trying to tackle him,” wrote Beth. “Lol! I was his first football. He was 13 years old when I was born.” She went on to explain that Larry would grab her up in his arms when she was about to get a spanking and, dodging trees and bushes in the woods out back, cart her to safety, out of harm’s way. Larry was not Tebow-famous, but his warmth and sincerity, his emergence out of the small-town dirt of Macclenny -- plus his raw talent and spectacular selflessness -- still radiate with those of us who were fortunate enough to have known him personally and bask in his inspirational talent. Watching Dupree run with the football was a joy to behold. However, unless you saw the All-American tailback that he was from 1961-64, you probably won’t fully appreciate that. I referred to him as: “Country strong and country tough. He never missed a game because of injury – even played against Georgia the week his stillborn child was born to him and his wife Denise.” Quoting from my last column on him: “He could find more angles than a geometry professor, slicing and slashing, stopping and starting his way around and through defenders. He also ran with power. His fame was somewhat muted by time and circumstance, buried by the archives of headlines about the Tim Tebows and Danny Wuerffels and all that national championships bring. Yet Dupree was one of the best football players to ever set foot on Florida Field. Ask anybody who ever saw him play.” Former Gator quarterback Tommy Shannon, MVP of the 1962 Gator Bowl team that beat Penn State, once told me, “Larry Dupree is still the greatest Gator football player I ever saw.” And since he had a great vantage point, turning around to hand off or pitch out the football to No. 35 hundreds of times, Tommy would know. (By the way, we must not downplay Shannon’s reputation for stellar judgment as one of the key partners in the foundation of Outback Steakhouse.) A random e-mail from Beth Dupree and her beautiful reminiscence reminded me of Larry’s remarkable career and validated my memory of what I wrote more than six years after his death in June 2014: “Larry Dupree is not somebody soon forgotten.” Some of his greatness has been blunted by the shadows of time: “Three-time All-SEC. All-American. At a school which produced runners like Emmitt Smith, Errict Rhett, Fred Taylor, Neal Anderson and John L. Williams, even the stats of an All-American can get lost. Dupree’s numbers were not fattened by an extra season or an extended schedule, and they won’t reflect Dupree’s greatness. However, his were yards made the old-fashioned way: He earned them, finishing second all-time on the Gator yardage list (1,725 yards) at that time.” As Beth recalled she was there to watch him from the beginning: “I only got one spanking in my life that I deserved and ‘Bubba’ (as she called Larry) wasn’t there. If he heard Mama or Daddy raise their voice at me, he scooped me up, tucked me close to him and ran like lighting through the woods behind our house. He dodged pine trees, palm bushes and blackberry bushes with thorns. When we reached a safe distance, we would stop and he would sit me somewhere safe. If it was blackberry season, he’d pick me some berries. If not, he could always find me some wildflowers. We would wait long enough for Mama or Daddy to not be mad and we would head back home.” Soon “Bubba” was emerging as a bonafide star at Baker County High, dodging tacklers instead of bushes and trees. It was in a game against Bradford County in Starke that I first spied him on a Friday night circa 1960. I was writing high school football for the local newspaper, the Sun, assigned to cover the Tornado powerhouse in a game against the team from Macclenny. My recollection was: “Dupree jumped off the page immediately. I had never seen anything like him. As memory serves, Dupree scored three -- maybe it was four – touchdowns from 50 or more yards out that night. I do remember one of them came just one play after he was helped off the field following a blow to the head. (That was his version of concussion protocol). One play later he was back and breaking it for 60-plus yards. It was one of the most remarkable performances I’d seen by a high school football player. Sometimes you can smell greatness even if you can’t describe it.” One of the best parts of my job all these years has been reconnecting with people I’ve known and written about, either through them, loved ones, or friends. It reaffirms and validates my recollections and extends relationships. I particularly enjoyed the feeling of jubilation expressed by Beth, who remembered the joy of returning from their journeys through the woods: “Only on the return trip, I was on top of the world on the shoulders of my hero! So when he played football, after the reporters were done talking or getting pics of him, he would always come find me and I rode off the field on the top of the world again. God, what I wouldn’t give for one more ride on his shoulders!” And then she added this note of gratitude: “Thank you Buddy for all you ever wrote about him. When I am missing my brother really bad, I want you to know, the obituary that you wrote is a great comfort to me.” I could never appreciate any comment more than one like that. That is what I will take from today, this week, in the face of uncertainty and into future weeks when I am reeling from doubt and my passion is flagging because of the troubles that seem to be encroaching on us all. And it reminds me of why I got into this business in the first place: For the gratitude of people like Beth and authenticity of people like her late brother. Thank God for the recollection of yesterdays.

It took less than 10 seconds for the conversation to turn to Area 51 conspiracy theories…but in a way, that’s fitting, considering the current state around the NCAA, transfer waivers and general handling of college football amidst a global pandemic. Florida Gators Head Coach Dan Mullen has never been shy about calling out the National Collegiate Athletics Association. Whether at Mississippi State or in Gainesville, the Gators coach uses his platform to point out any perceived discrepancies in the rulings of the governing body. While meeting with the media twice during the Gators first week of 2020 fall camp, Mullen yet again didn’t shy away from the topic, while also addressing some legitimate concerns over changes in both the NCAA and college football. But let’s start with the Area 51 reference. If the SEC, ACC and Big XII are able to pull off any semblance of a football season this fall, it will be independent of the NCAA. The College Football Playoffs already hold that distinction, not being a NCAA sanctioned championship. But this season would—in theory—prove the ineptitude and insignificance of the organization and furthermore prove that the Power 5—or at the very least, the Big Three of the Power 5—can operate without the weightless oversight of the Association. Justin Shorter, the Penn State receiver transfer, has a decent case when asking for a NCAA waiver to play immediately. He left a situation at Penn State that was proven to be toxic by other transfers. As if that isn’t enough, the Big 10 won’t even be playing football this fall. Jordan Pouncey comes from Texas, who is still scheduled to field a team, but he moved to a different conference and infinitely closer to home (Winter Park, Florida). Neither waiver should technically be a problem based on the NCAA rules and regulations…yet Florida has yet to hear anything. On Monday, Mullen told reporters, “hopefully we get something back here soon from the NCAA, but like I always say with those, that's out of our hands with that timetable, how that works." With that in mind, I had to ask, could Mullen and company not go full rouge and put Justin Shorter and Jordan Pouncey on the field? “I thought you were going to give me some weird out-there scenario, like Area 51 theories or something like that. Sometimes the NCAAs are like that, maybe." He’s right; sometimes it does seem like the NCAA waiver process is decided by aliens—zapped of common sense by the New Mexico sun—who are just randomly pushing buttons on their wrecked mothership and those wavelengths go back to the NCAA office and are badly interrupted into English. And that’s how the waiver’s are handed out. Joking aside though, Mullen did stay diplomatic when weighing that possibility. “The NCAA's still the governing body for college athletics, so we try to follow their procedures, their rules, everything they have in place for us as we continue to move forward." Still, he didn’t miss the opportunity to put that same governing body under the microscope for some of those decisions. Most recently, linebacker Brenton Cox. The Georgia transfer seemed a long shot to receive a waiver for the 2019 season due to it being an intra-conference transfer and the fact there were no extenuating circumstances. Still, Mullen was confident at the time due to other waivers that had been granted. But the approval never came, Cox had to sit the entire 2019 season and in August of 2020, Mullen would still like answers. “I think he's worked hard. He's done a great job for us. He's done a great job in the classroom since he's been here, had over a 3.0 GPA every semester that he's been here. Really worked hard in the offseason program and I've seen him, I mean—last year was, unfortunately didn't get his eligibility, the waiver from the NCAA, which, you know, I mean that's a question, I mean, [would] love to see some transparency on how all those things go through, the why and what causes it.” The NCAA scrutiny has increased ten-fold in the past few weeks, including in this publication. For as boring as the legalities of it are compared to who is lining up in the slot, it is crucial, for the organization is theoretically the bedrock of college football. If the NCAA is losing it’s power and that power is shifting elsewhere, it should be the biggest story in the sport because it is the sport. Which is why for as tough as Dan Mullen has been on the NCAA at times, he also has understandable concerns and questions for what a future without them would look like. In spearheading the #WeWantToPlay movement, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawerence and Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields also asked for an eventual creation of a College Football Players Association. "Use our voices to establish open communication and trust between players and officials; ultimately create a College Football Players Association," the movement demanded on August 10th. Lawerence and Fields—presumed Top 10 picks in the 2021 NFL Draft—will be gone next football season. This is more for those that will come after them. But given the constant turnover in the sport, Mullen has serious questions about the structure of a PA. “I think players getting a voice is really, really important and having a voice. How that is done is a very unique deal. Who’s running the players association,” Mullen asked. “Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields? Would be the presidents of the Players Association? How does that work? Is it a voted-on board? Who votes? Who’s the representative from each team? How are they represented in all those deals? Those are really interesting things to investigate of how that would work behind all of the scenes for that.” In the NFL and NBA, the Players Association’s are ran by current players: JC Tretter and Chris Paul respectively. The MLBPA is ran by former player Tony Clark. All three are credited with setting protocols for each sports season to be played amidst COVID-19 and getting the season off the ground. But one could argue that trying to build a foundation for something while the ground beneath you is constantly moving, wouldn’t be ideal conditions for anything that hopes to be long lasting. Additionally, it should be noted, that in professional sports, athletes can play for years—even decades. Tretter is entering his eighth year in the NFL and Paul is playing his 15th season in the NBA. College football experiences turnover every three to four years. It’s not uncommon for presidents of any organization—or for that matter, our own country—to be rotated after a term of that length. But it is easier for college players to decide to go pro after a good year. Or maybe even retire from the game after an injury. Finding a voice to set a consistent message would be tough. It’s why Mullen says, “I think that would be the most important thing to find out.” After years of being in the sport, he also has a few other questions. “Are they paying dues to an association? I think there’s a lot of things. I am certainly for a player’s voice…is the players association there to protect the players or to exploit the players even more. I don’t know those answers. I don’t know about it. Who’s the president of it? Who’s representing them? Those are the questions, right? Who’s behind it? Somebody I would imagine is behind it. Maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know.” While Mullen can’t control the NCAA or all of college football, he can control the Florida Gators bubble. So he does feel proud that within that, the Gators have created a sense of freedom and openness for players. For every eye roll that comes when a Florida player post a questioning message on social media, there is a win for Mullen and staff who have encouraged and cultivated an atmosphere in which players know they can speak up and be heard. “I think out players understand in our program that they have a great voice, that they’re very open, they’re allowed to speak their mind. We have a leadership committee. We have a lot of different opportunities for guys to talk and share…and we listen to our players’ voice a lot. I ask our players a lot about what we do within our program because I want to get their feedback on things. “We have guys on our leadership committee who are on the Southeastern Conference leadership committee. I know their voices are heard. A lot of the things that we put in place, if you ask the league, have come out of those meetings. I do think there is in that term a player’s voice that way. Whether that goes with the NCAA, whether it’s just conference by conference, I’m not sure of how that would work. Is it done as all of college football? Is it a conference by conference deal? How does that work?” You’d have better luck at charging Area 51 than finding someone with answers right now on how to adapt something like the Gators leadership committee to all of college football. You’d have better luck at discovering aliens really are controlling the NCAA waiver process than discovering a sense of needed transparency from the Association itself. But as Mullen tells his team, “worry about what’s important now. Don’t worry about what’s not important right now.” So with that in mind, Dan Mullen is keeping his attention on the Florida Gators, getting waivers for those waiting and providing support for each of the young men in the building. “I’m all for whatever gives the players the best voice in making sure that we always address their needs in college football.”

They say, "If you believe it, you can achieve it." So I thought maybe, just maybe, if I scouted each team Florida is set to play in 2020, we just might get to see the Gators play them. @ Ole Miss – September 26 The first game of the season is never pretty. For proof, see Florida’s lackadaisical win over Miami last season. Interestingly, for the second year in a row, Florida will play its first game of the season with a first year head coach on the opposing sideline. Last year, Manny Diaz had recently taken over the reins of the Hurricanes’ program. This year, the Gators will step in front of the “Lane Train” at Ole Miss. Unfortunately for first-year head coach Lane Kiffin, his experience running championship-winning offenses doesn’t make up for his lack of experience rebuilding an offense in the midst of a global pandemic with no spring camp. All of this, being at the expense of the Rebels, is good news for the Gators. Offensive notes: Lane Kiffin is burdened with a quarterback battle in Oxford. Sophomores Matt Corral and John Rhys Plumlee are both gearing up for a heated battle. Corral boasts pro-style characteristics, while Plumlee offers dual threat capabilities. Rest assured, Kiffin has molded high-caliber offenses around both types of signal callers. Last season, Florida seemed to have had better success against pocket passers… those not named Joe Burrow, of course. Defensive notes: Like the offense, the Rebs’ defense will be completely rebuilt. Co-coordinators DJ Durkin and Chris Partridge have a full plate. A 4-3 implementation is expected from the pair of coaches. However, Ole Miss’ personnel is very different compared to last season. The Rebels’ defensive line took the biggest hit in the offseason as it graduated five players and transferred one more. Fortunately for guys like Kyle Trask, the Rebels don’t improve much, if any, in the defensive backfield. The Rebels’ secondary was the worst in the league last season. And though that means they can go nowhere but up, it’s bound to be pretty porous – especially in week one. Vs. South Carolina – October 3 Truth be told, I never disliked Will Muschamp. Yet, there was no denying he wasn’t fit for the job in Gainesville. Too big for his britches, as I like to say. I always thought his gig in Columbia, South Carolina, was a good fit for him. And to date, I can’t put my finger on why he hasn’t gotten it figured out there. However, if there’s a year for him to do it, I think it has to be this one. Offensive notes: Muschamp, who prides himself on stout defenses, entrusts Mike Bobo with the Gamecocks’ offense. And this year, Ryan Hilinski returns after a decent debut season. And the addition of blue-chip recruit MarShawn Lloyd could give South Carolina a break in the backfield – one they desperately need after graduating four running backs last season. Defensive notes: But about that stout defense: it should be pretty good. Despite losing Javon Kinlaw to the draft, Muschamp’s defense returns two former five-stars to the defensive line: Jordan Burch and Zacch Pickens. The Gamecocks also boast a talented tandem in the defensive backfield with Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu, who had three interceptions in USC’s upset over Georgia last season. @ Texas A&M – October 10 The Gators and the Aggies have played one another just four times. And from their first matchup in 1962, to their most recent in 2017, neither team has ever won back-to-back contests. Texas A&M found itself to a big win over Florida in 2017 where the Gators sported their “swamp green” uniforms for the first (and hopefully the last) time. Typically, a trip to College Station for opposing teams isn’t the best of times. Kyle Field boasts a capacity of 102,000+. Hence being the “Home of the 12th Man”. But this fall, with reduced capacity, the Aggies are only allowed to have 11 on the field this year. Offensive notes: The signal caller who led the Aggies to a win in The Swamp in 2017 will be the same guy taking snaps this October. Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond is the most experienced passer in the league. However, in this situation, “most experienced” doesn't equate to “best”. Jimbo Fisher, now in his third season at TAMU, is still figuring out how to make the best out of his inconsistent, but veteran quarterback. Thankfully, this season the Aggies not only return Mond, but they also return their leading rusher, leading receiver and four offensive linemen. Defensive notes: The Aggies have never been known for their offense. But since joining the SEC in 2012, TAMU’s defense hasn’t been all that jaw dropping either. Years of mediocracy leaves lots to be desired of the Aggies’ defense. And 2020 could be the year that defensive coordinator Mike Elko and his crew answer the call. Though the Aggies lost their leader in sacks to the draft, seven of the Aggies’ eight best tacklers return to the roster in 2020. Vs. LSU – October 17 Whether it’s played here or there, the location of the Florida-LSU game has proved to be pivotal in recent years. The Swamp and Death Valley prove year in and year out to be two of the most hostile environments in college football. But when 100,000 people is trimmed to 25,000, a hostile environment becomes a mild one, at best. It just so happens that it’s the Gators who will be without home-field advantage despite playing at home this season. So, in mid-October, when the reigning national champions come to town, it will boil down to talent vs. talent. Offensive notes: Just as being the worst in the league in something and having nowhere to go but up, when you’re the best in the league in something, you have nowhere to go but down. And that’s undoubtedly the case for the Tigers’ offense come the 2020 season. Not only is Heisman winning quarterback Joe Burrow gone, but championship winning passing coordinator Joe Brady has also left the bayou. Not to mention, the Tigers are also without their leading running back, a talented wide receiver and four offensive linemen. However, the offensive pieces that LSU will return are talented ones. But to expect Ed Orgeron’s offense to be as explosive as the one he pieced together in 2019 is all but realistic. Burrow’s incumbent, Myles Brennen has massive shoes to fill. And with just 70 career passes, no one knows if he’s capable of doing it. Defensive notes: Defenses win championships. Isn’t that how the saying goes? It wasn’t the case last season for the Tigers. LSU’s defense was never bad, but there were situations in which they weren’t good. Nonetheless, when the going got tough, Dave Aranda’s defensive unit found ways to buck up. But you won’t find Aranda, who took the head coaching job at Baylor, on the LSU’s sideline come October. Likewise, you won’t see a single starting linebacker return for the Tigers in 2020. A pair of defensive linemen and a pair of defensive backs have also left Baton Rouge. A lot rests on the shoulders of Bo Pelini, who is back at LSU for his second gig as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator. Vs. Missouri – October 24 There isn’t much to say about the Tigers of Missouri. It seems there never is. But that’s how they like it. Flying under the radar is their specialty. And it’s helped them sneak up on the Gators more than once. With new head coach Eliah Drinkwitz and a lack of spring camp, there’s a lot of guesswork involved with the Missouri Tigers. However, hopefully come week five when Mizzou comes to Gainesville, the Gators will know a little more about the Tigers. Offensive notes: To reiterate, when it comes to what the Missouri Tigers might look like this year, your guess is as good as mine. Admittedly, I didn’t watch much Appalachian State football last season. I have no idea who this Drinkwitz guy is or what he does. I do know, however, that he has a quarterback battle on his hands. After graduate transfer Kelly Bryant went one-and-done at Missouri last season, the Tigers are left with TCU transfer Shawn Robinson and sophomore Connor Bazelak, who is coming off of a torn ACL. Out wide, the Tigers are split with two returners and two newcomers. In the offensive backfield, Missouri returns its two feature backs in Larry Rountree III and Tyler Badie. Assuming that the Tigers’ puzzle-of-an-offensive-line can get a push up front, Rountree and Badie are likely to prosper. Defensive notes: If anything can go right for Drinkwitz in his first year, it’ll come from the defensive side of the football. The defensive line is returning four starters in 2020. And linebacker Nick Bolton also returns in 2020 as the Tigers’ leading tackler from 2019. However, the losses of Cale Garrett and Jordan Elliot leaves a large hole in Missouri’s rush defense. As for the secondary, Missouri shocked the league with the second-best secondary unit in 2019. However, both corners are gone this year. Nonetheless, two senior safeties will be expected to lead the defensive backfield in 2020. @ Georgia – November 7 This year’s battle on the St. Johns River will be a little less scary in 2020. Not because of Georgia’s depleted talent (though that, too), but because the game is set to be played in the first week of November. This is compared to a traditional Halloween-weekend showdown in Jacksonville. Nonetheless, not much else has changed. If Dan Mullen and the Gators want to take that next step, they have to beat the Bulldogs this year. And I think that 7-point difference that Mullen likes to point out has shrunk considerably over the offseason. Offensive notes: For whatever reason, there is no hung jury when it comes to Wake Forest transplant Jamie Newman. Deliberations were quick: Newman was determined to be the new face of Georgia football as early as May. He even garnered Heisman attention. How a new quarterback, a new offensive coordinator, a new offensive line coach and a spring without practice spells offensive success is beyond me. Nonetheless, Jamie Newman is here. As is offensive coordinator Todd Monken and offensive line coach Matt Luke. And none of their jobs are about to be easy. Monken is burdened with piecing together an offense that is without a returning quarterback, as well as its two leading rushers. Meanwhile, Luke is now without four offensive lineman, including former five-star Cade Mays, who elected to transfer to Tennessee despite starting in every game in 2019. Defensive notes: The question marks surrounding Georgia’s offense is made up for on the defensive side of the ball. Though Georgia lost a handful of talent to graduation in the offseason, the losses could have been significantly worse than what they were. And fortunately for the Bulldogs, they boast great depth on the defensive side of the ball. So, while it isn’t the news Florida fans want to hear, their SEC East rival will boast a very talented defense – perhaps the best Kirby Smart has produced in Athlens. However, Georgia will face Auburn and Alabama within the first three weeks of the season. So between the Tigers and the Crimson Tide, both who have above average offenses, the Gators should have a decent sample size to get an idea of just how talented Kirby Smart’s defense will be in 2020. Vs. Arkansas – November 14 Laura Rutlege called Arkansas her “surprise team” in the SEC for 2020. Though, she admits it’s because the Razorbacks can go nowhere but up. Arkansas hasn’t won a SEC contest since 2017. But that was before the Razorbacks added Sam Pittman, Barry Odom and Feleipe Franks. Pittman is an energetic guy who will have his coaching debut against Georgia – where he had been the offensive line coach since 2016. Likewise, when the Razorbacks come to Gainesville in mid-November, assuming he wins the quarterback battle, Feleipe Franks will be motivated to once again shush the crowd in The Swamp. Offensive notes: Feleipe Franks… that’s the offensive notes. Last fall the Razorbacks’ quarterback situation was about as muddy as they come. Four different quarterbacks had starts for Arkansas in 2019. But as one could imagine, if four different guys started, it must’ve meant none of them were any good. And truth be told, that was the case. But now with Franks on the roster, the ‘Backs have a signal caller that has proved he can be a starting quarterback in the SEC. And fortunately for the former Gator, Arkansas returns each of its starting receivers. Further, Rakeem Boyd returns to Fayetteville this fall with an opportunity to be one of the best running backs in the league. Defensive notes: Muddy quarterback play can only take so much of the blame for Arkansas’ dismal year in 2019. The Razorbacks’ defense ranked 110th in the FBS for total defense. To help navigate the waters of a program-wide rebuild, Sam Pittman called upon Barry Odom to head the defense. And for Odom, it won’t be an easy task. The Hogs lost five of their leaders in sacks. And the defensive line as a whole is depleted and bound to be filled with inexperience. The immaturity on defense bleeds into the secondary that will be without its best safety, Kamren Curl, who declared for the NFL Draft last season. However, two returning corners might help Odom when it comes to passing defense. @ Vanderbilt – November 21 I’ll go to my grave believing Derek Mason isn’t a bad football coach. I think if he were to be paired with any other team in the country, he might find some success. But when you’re in a position where you not only battle a SEC schedule each year, but you also battle your home stadium being overrun with fans of your opponent each week, the gig can’t be easy. Being said, in 2020, with reduced stadium capacities, it will be interesting to see if Vanderbilt fans are still the minority on Saturdays. And that’s genuine curiosity… I mean it as nice as I can. Really, I do. Offensive notes: As it sits, there are five quarterbacks on the Commodore’s roster. And it seems that none of them have a true leg up in the race. Two members of the quarterback room are freshmen, while the other three are juniors. But the real question for Vandy’s offense is who is going to fill the void of Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who was the Commodores’ one-man band for years. Keyon Brooks will likely be the one to fill Vaughn’s hole in the backfield. And Brooks contributed just 252 yards and a single touchdown in 2019. And in Vandy fashion, if Brooks wants to see any leap of production, he needs to hope that the offensive line, which returns just one full-time starter, does its due diligence. Defensive notes: To no surprise, considering Derek Mason’s defensive mindedness, Vanderbilt has some defensive talent. The Commodore’s secondary sees a lot of returners in 2020. Tae Daley accounted for three of Vandy’s six interceptions in 2019. And he returns in 2020 looking to build on a 2019 campaign that also saw him as the third-leading tackler on the roster. Up front, the Commodores return three of their best players. And a handful of Vandy’s linebackers could muster up some NFL attention this season. Vs. Kentucky – November 28 I’m glad this one is at home. Thanksgiving weekend in Lexington just doesn’t seem my speed – mostly because cold weather and I aren’t best buds. Nonetheless, Thanksgiving week looks a little different this year without Florida State on the docket. However, finishing the season with three straight SEC East opponents will require Florida to stay sharp through the season’s end. And Kentucky, in my opinion, shapes up to be a possible trap game for the Gators. Offensive notes: Kentucky fared pretty well in 2019 considering its circumstances. For the majority of the season, Lynn Bowden took snaps for the Wildcats. And in his surreal 2019 season, Bowden was Kentucky’s passing leader, receiving leader and rushing leader. He has since moved on to the NFL. However, Terry Wilson, who led Kentucky to a win over Florida in 2018, is set to return after a patellar injury that prematurely ended his 2019 campaign. Assuming Wilson is 100%, he not only offers the same dual threatedness that Bowden did, but he also adds a legitimate passing threat. Defensive notes: Mark Stoops’ defense, especially up front, could be among the best in the league. The Wildcats aren’t exempt from losing out on talent. They will be without Calvin Tayler and TJ Carter. However, Kentucky has an appropriate mix of talent and experience to plug the holes up front. Jamar Watson is slated to have a big year -- one so big that has drawn comparisons to Josh Allen. As for the secondary, the Wildcats silently led the SEC in passing defense last year. And to their advantage, the Wildcats will return most of their secondary in 2020. @ Tennessee – December 5 “Hey Alexa, does it snow in Knoxville in the start of December?” I did my research. Snow isn’t likely, but it’ll definitely be chilly. And again, unlike a normal fall schedule, Florida will play half of its SEC East opponents in the last three weeks of the season. Being said, if the battle for the SEC East comes down to this game, for whatever reason, some Florida fans might be dealing with some jitters. Not that I expect Tennessee to be THAT improved in 2020, but a cold game in Knoxville could be cause for a slow start. Offensive notes: Jeremy Pruitt and the Volunteers return Jarrett Guarantano for his fifth and final year. Typically, a quarterback with that much experience would have fans excited. However, Tennessee is still waiting on Guarantano to make the leap and prove that he has what it takes to be a starting quarterback in the SEC. However, if Guarantano is still unable to make that stride in 2020, backup Brian Maurer gained some experience last season, and it was enough to make some Tennessee fans clamor about the future. However, the loss of Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway at receiver is pretty significant for the Vols. On the ground, Tennessee returns Ty Chandler and Eric Gray, who each had bouts of success in 2019. And with an experienced offensive line boasting NFL talent, Pruitt and the Vols should see more production on offense in 2020. Defensive notes: Up front, Darnell Taylor was a machine for the Vols. And finding someone to replace his presence on defense is one of Tennessee’s biggest needs this coming season. Thankfully, Tennessee’s depth at linebacker could give defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley a little room to play and move guys up onto the defensive line. But the return of Henry To’o To’o and Quavaris Crouch are big for the Vols rush attack. As for the secondary, the loss of Nigel Warrior is a tough pill to swallow. Nonetheless, Ansley is once again saved by depth. The Vols’ secondary has the numbers to be successful, if nothing else.