While not a longstanding rivalry, the Florida-LSU matchup has become must watch TV full of fingernail biting drama over the past decade. BY: KASSIDY HILL GATORBAIT COLUMNIST STAY SAFE! The Florida Gators are a rival rich school; a program that can’t even agree on their biggest foe because there are so many. It’s what comes from being strong across a stretch of decades. You catch other programs at their peak and weakness, becoming the game they circle on their calendar as important. And then, like the Gators program currently, you find yourself with five legitimate huge rivalries. There’s FSU, obviously, and Georgia, of course, along with Miami and Tennessee. Over the last 10-12 years though a new rival has emerged, packing years and years worth of hate and loathing into a relatively short period of time. The animosity that has arisen between Florida and LSU was quick and intense, edged on by instant classic moments and games that altered the course of National Championships runs. It was the Tim Tebow, Brandon Spikes, Jacob Hester years that lit the match, with dueling national championship teams and punts following Pick-Six’s and fake field goals that earned the Mad Hatter his reputation. But as the matchup rolled into the 2010 years, it became clear this was more than a flash in the pan. Florida-LSU was becoming a heated rivalry that would come to define the programs over the next decade. 2012-MATT ELAM VS OBJ The 2012 game set the tone for what would become a marquee game. It was a Top 10 game (Florida 10/11—LSU 4/3) and was the ninth straight year as a Top 25 matchup. Both teams were undefeated, making it an easy choice as the CBS SEC Game of the Week. Tigers wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was the extent of the offensive firepower. The two defenses though were stocked with future NFL talent. As such, it’s not much surprise that scoring was at a premium. At halftime, LSU led 6-0, courtesy of two field goals. The second half began much the same way—in fact, the game ended with 25 total drives, 14 of which finished with a punt, eight coming on three-and outs. By the time the third quarter began, Matt Elam had already become a hassle for OBJ, sticking on him all day like white on rice. When Kyle Christy punted the ball away following the Gators first stalled drive of the second half, OBJ took it from the LSU 10-yard line. He made one cut, then another, before zipping towards the sideline with intentions of going out of bounds. Marcus Maye was on his hip but didn’t have the right angle to bring him down just in case. Then came Elam. He flew in like a rocket, meeting Beckham’s body as they both dove through the air, the returner aiming for the sideline and away from the defender, Elam with target lock on his opponent. The two popped up facing each other, each pausing to see what the other would do. OBJ reached out and condescendingly patted Elam’s helmet. Elam folded his hands beneath his face and told Odell Beckham Jr. it was time to take a nap. The Gators second drive of the third quarter, Will Muschamp put the ball in Mike Gillislee’s hands and essentially, the game. Gilly delivered on an eight play drive that ended in the first touchdown of the game. LSU tried to immediately answer with a 56-yard bomb to OBJ. But yet again, Matt Elam was right there. In front of the Florida sideline and alum stands, Elam wrapped Beckham in a vise, pulling at the ball as the two fell to the ground together. By the time OBJ’s knee touched the grass, Elam had the ball back. The Gators got the ball back, went 77-yards for Gillislee to score again and that was all she wrote. Florida went on to finish the season 11-2 with a trip to the Sugar Bowl as the No. 3 team in the BCS. Odell Beckham Jr. and Matt Elam both became first round picks. While Elam is no longer in the NFL, OBJ credits a lot of his success to the Gator safety. "That play still lives in my mind all the time," Beckham Jr. told Daily News in 2015. "The next time I saw Matt Elam, it was at the draft. I was like, 'Man, I just want to thank you.' I had been through so much that year already. That was just the icing on the cake. Either I could take it or just build up from there. It made me absolutely stronger.” 2013—THE 6-1-1 FORMAT DEFINES THE RIVALRY Following the SEC conference expansion to add Texas A&M and Missouri, schedule realignment conformed to what’s known as the 6-1-1 format. This means each team plays the other six teams in their division, one permanent cross division opponent and one rotation cross division opponent. (i.e. Florida plays the other six teams in the SEC East, one team from the SEC West that remains the same and rotates each year amongst the other SEC West teams). This was done to maintain “traditional rivalries” like Alabama-Tennessee on the “Third Saturday in October” and Auburn-Georgia which is “The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.” This is when Florida and LSU became official permanent opponents, much to the chagrin of then Tigers head coach Les Miles. He vocally opposed the matchup, feeling it was unfair for LSU—and by proxy Florida—to draw a perpetually tough rival while Alabama got to face a team that had been on the downslide since Phil Fulmer. He had a valid point, but when Muschamp took the dissent and said he didn’t mind, Miles looked like he was whining. The needling laid a foundation that would come to blows in 2016. 2015—THE MAD HATTER Les Miles did this again 2016-THE HURRICANE GAME It all hit the fan in 2016. It would honestly take another 1,500 words to recap what went down leading up to the 2016 Florida-LSU game but we’ll try to summarize it here shortly. The game was scheduled to be played in Gainesville that year. Leading up to the matchup, Hurricane Matthew was bearing down on Florida. The Gators and Athletic Director Jeremy Foley wanted to cancel the game and worry about rescheduling at a later date; you know, when they were done worrying about a natural disaster in the imminent future. LSU said Florida was running scared from the game. The Tigers and Athletic Director Joe Alleva asked for the game to be moved to Baton Rouge that week. Foley said losing a home game hurt more than the school but also the surrounding local businesses. Alleva said play the game or forfeit. Stricklin again was like, “sorry man, I can’t take your call, Jim Cantore is walking in my office.”** **I made up that last part but it explains the seriousness right? The programs finally compromised. They each lost a late season cupcake and played in Baton Rouge in November. Gainesville got both the 2017 and 2018 game. And by the time the Gators rolled in to the bayou, the heated but respected rivalry had turned into pure hatred. Players from the two squads even met at midfield during warmups and got into a pregame skirmish that was one coach pulling guys away from turning into a full-blown fight. At halftime, LSU was up 7-3. Caleb Brantley had already forced one fumble in the redzone to save a second Tigers touchdown. The Tigers started the third quarter moving the ball right down the field. Running back Leonard Fournette rushed down to the 3-yard line to make it 2nd and goal. The next play, quarterback Danny Etling took the snap and ran a bootleg to his right. Fournette went out ahead as a blocker/possible pitch option, but Gators defensive end Jordan Sherit tripped up the Heisman contender and rerouted the play. Etling pointed his nose towards the pylon and was looking to score. Freshman Vosean Joseph met him there. Joseph leveled Etling, without even lowering his shoulder, then stood over him as Etling sat confuddled on the grass. The Tigers ended up settling for a field goal attempt…and then botching the hold, leading to nothing. Out trotted Austin Appleby and the Gators, taking over from their own 2-yard line. Appleby dropped back in the pocket, set his feet in the middle of the “U” in LSU’s endzone and let one rip. Then freshmen Tyrie Cleveland pulled in the 50/50 ball around the 38-yard line, shook off Donte Jackson, and practically strolled the remaining 62-yards to the endzone, accompanied only by teammate Antonio Callaway. Florida was up 10-7 and we had a ball game. But of course that all paled in comparison to how this game concluded. Florida held the ball for 7:45 and scored a field goal to milk clock in the 4th quarter then immediately got the ball back after LSU fumbled on the kickoff return, milking it for another minute off the clock. Les Miles and the Tigers got the ball with 3:24 to play and down by six. They took 12 plays to march 73 yards down the field before stalling at the 1-yard line. Miles took a timeout and the clock showed 0:03 to play. Etling lined up under center, took the snap, turned and tossed it to Derrius Guice. The running back leaped, looking to go over the top and into the endzone. He was pulled down into a scrum but the bayou Bengels in attendance went nuts, knowing he’d made it far enough. But wait! The Gators defense was jumping up, running to the sideline and celebrating. They said they stopped him, that he had never broken the plane. Upon further review, it’s clear to see Sherit and Marcell Harris had met behind Guice and grabbed his feet. They pulled him back and down, keeping him from the endzone. McElwain stormed the field, his staff gator chomped and UF players jumped into the stands where their family waited. UF was going back to the SEC Championship with the win, but more importantly, had gone on the road to the toughest environment in college football to play a home game, had heard taunts and ridicule all week, then won in the toughest way possible. 2018-THE PICK SIX AND RETURN OF THE SWAMP The 2018 LSU game was a perfect day for Florida Gators fans. SEC Network’s SEC Nation was in town, set up on the Plaza of the America’s, Gainesville was packed, the 2008 National Championship team full of it’s superstars were on the field for a 10-year reunion, Tim Tebow was inducted into the Ring of Honor and the sold out crowd spilled into the parking lots as thousands of others decided if they couldn’t get a ticket they’d at least watch within shouting distance. For all intents and purposes, it wasn’t a well executed game on either side. There were sloppy moments, interspersed with successful plays and Lamical Perine. The biggest factor, arguably, was The Swamp. “I want to thank Gator Nation and all our fans, our student body for the atmosphere," said Mullen following the game. “There's a Florida I know and there's a Florida I love and I know our players love, and I'll never forget all the former players that are, right now, celebrating with our guys. There's a certain Gator standard that they expect the team to live up to, but they also expect the Gator Nation to live up to — and it was that way tonight.” And despite seeing a Florida 14-10 halftime lead fall behind to a 19-14 deficit, The Swamp never let up. The 90,283 in attendance were at full throat for the entire 60 minutes, complete with one of the best “I Won’t Back Down”s yet. The Gators had begun the second half with an interception and saw LSU score on their first drive of the 4th quarter. But then, The Swamp exploded when tight end and former lefty pitcher Lucas Krull took an end around, tossing it back to quarterback Feleipe Franks within the 5-yard line. It raised the din even further when Perine finished the drive for a touchdown. Florida had the lead back at 20-19. With 2:21 to play and Florida still ahead by one, Tyrie Cleveland and Kyree Johnson stopped a Tiger punt returner at his own 12-yard line. That’s where Joe Burrow and friends took over. A 6-yard pass moved them slightly down field before an incomplete pass went no where. Then came “the play.” It was 3rd and four from the LSU 18. Burrow dropped back, looking to his right. He had a receiver wide open. Stephen Sullivan was there with the sideline to help. But Burrow—who a year later would most likely not make the mistake—threw inside of Sullivan instead of leading him away. Brad Stewart—a Lousiana native who was jilted by his home state school—was tracking the receiver, reading Burrow and waiting in place for just such a mistake. Stewart picked the ball out of the air, hoofed it back 25-yards before diving for the pylon. Touchdown. Vosean Joseph grabbed the ball and punted it into the stands a la Brandon Spikes, got an unsportsmanlike flag that not a single person the field cared about since the 2008 team was celebrating with the current team on the sidelines, and Florida went ahead 27-19. Technically the football play would have been to go down on one knee so the offense could run out the clock. And if LSU had scored and added a two-point conversion to tie, then it would’ve been a problem. But that didn’t happen. Because when Burrow did get the ball back after throwing his first interception all season, he promptly threw another one, this time to Donovan Stiner. The game was over. Florida had defeated No. 5 LSU 27-19 and The Swamp had returned to its former glory. 2019-TOE TO TOE WITH THE BEST Under normal circumstances, it would feel weird to include a loss on this list. No matter what your kids tee-ball coach tries to sell, there is no such thing as a moral victory. But Florida-LSU has always been weird and an exception to all rules—concrete or arbitrary. The 2019 game was the first back in Baton Rouge since the goal line stand. Yet again, it was a Top 10 matchup (No. 7 Florida vs. No. 5 LSU) and College Gameday was in town for the night game in Death Valley. It’s the toughest place to play in college football, especially at night; Mullen and crew were facing the nation’s best offense and had a green quarterback themselves at the helm. And by games end the eventual Heisman Trophy winner and National Champions had won, defeating the Gators 42-28. But for a rivalry that had been defined by the defense for the past decade plus, this one was nothing but offensive fireworks. Trask played toe-to-toe with Burrow, answering every strike until the end when a pick play resulted in an interception. Mullen called the best game of his career, at a point even taunting Ed Orgeron by going to Van Jefferson three times in one drive with the same play. The lead Florida held in the third quarter was one of the only times all season the Tigers trailed. A late score from LSU padded the score but the game was within reach for so long. Yes it was a Florida loss. But when examining the Florida-LSU rivalry and how it’s grown the past decade, it can’t be forgotten. The week of the 2018 game, I was walking out of a Tuesday night post practice media session. Feleipe Franks and some of the receivers had stayed behind to run drills, as they often did, and walked out at the same time. I was chatting with receiver Van Jefferson, who was in his first season after transferring to Gainesville. "Are you excited for this weekend," he asked. "Oh gosh yes," I replied. "This is my absolute favorite game and weekend of the year." "Really," he remarked, noticeably shocked. "Absolutely. The fans are nuts on both sides, it's always crazy and the entire town feels like its going to explode." Franks nodded his agreement and we continued to fail to put into words for Jefferson what the weekend would be like. For what it’s worth, while Miles was justified in his argument back in 2013, I love the Florida-LSU game. As a fan of college football and all that makes it great, few embody it like this annual grudge match. The two programs are eerily similar, though neither would ever admit that. They both suffered way too many years of mediocrity, flashing enough promise to create hope but never enough to be sustainable, watching from afar as Alabama and Tennessee and the likes ran the conference. Then in the past couple of decades, both began to build their dominance. As a powerhouse that wasn’t created in the Bear Bryant and Joe Paterno decade, they each came to the big boys table with a bit of an edge. Other programs—at the direction of their history—keep their mouth shut, their uniforms classic and their nose out of other teams business. Florida and LSU aren’t afraid to talk smack. They do so boldly, albeit cockily at times, but back it up on the field giving them the leeway to jeer. And they have more fun than anyone else. Florida and LSU aren’t afraid to hit hard and laugh at you as you pull yourself up; they play with a swagger that is scoffed at by other teams on the surface and secretly envied. They know you don’t like them and they don’t care. Their stadiums are notoriously difficult to play in because they hold rapid fans and noise, casting a spell that makes them almost magical. And one of them has to be DBU, right? College football and the SEC are better when Florida and LSU annually take the field, line up across from the team that is their equal in many ways and then attempt to pummel them into oblivion.

Honoring the iconic moments around the Florida Gators program that has set the Gator Standard. BY KASSIDY HILL GATORBAIT COLUMINST STAY SAFE! The Florida Gators like to use the term “Everything School.” In the seven year history of the Capital One Cup, honoring the best all sports athletic program in the country, the Gators have won three cups (two for mens sports, one for women’s). So while football and basketball pay the bills, there are countless other sports/athletes/moments that contribute to the Florida Gators winning reputation…and massive presence in the Olympics. BASEBALL SWEEPS LSU FOR THE TITLE The Gators baseball team and Kevin O’Sullivan have consistently had some of the best teams in the country, so it’s somewhat shocking that it wasn’t until 2017 that they won a National Championship. The stocked teams in 2012 and 2015 feasibly had better chances. But that 2017 squad was a group of destiny. After tying with LSU as SEC Champions, the Gators kicked off their regional runs. Alex Faedo—an hour after being taken as a 1st round pick by the Detroit Tigers—came out as the closer and struck out three to send the Gators back to the College World Series. It was the stand in Omaha though that became stuff of legend. After advancing to the final round, UF was faced yet again with their SEC foe, LSU. In Game 2, with a Game 1 win under their belt, Florida carried a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning when the Tigers trimmed it to 2-1. From Nebraska, here’s how FloridaGators.com writer Scott Carter described what followed: "The Gators led 2-0 in the seventh when LSU's Zach Watson led off with a single. Exit UF starter Tyler Dyson, and enter closer Michael Byrne. Josh Smith greeted Byrne with an RBI double to trim the lead to 2-1 and put the tying run on second base. Jake Slaughter followed with a single to put runners on first and third. Up stepped Michael Papierski, who grounded into a 4-6-3 double play as Smith crossed the plate with the tying run. Not so fast. Umpires ruled that Slaughter's slide interfered with UF shortstop Dalton Guthrie at second base. Per NCAA rules, a runner cannot advance on an interference play, resulting in Smith having to stay at third. Byrne then retired Beau Jordan on a fly ball to center field and the Gators escaped the inning with a one-run lead.” Florida added four runs to their padding, so when the scoreboard showed two outs, there might not have been a lot of worry in the park of mostly LSU fans and handful of Gator fans. Second baseman Deacon Liput fielded a ground ball, threw to first baseman JJ Schwarz for the easy out and then it was all over but the dogpile. There are legions of talented athletes that have come through University of Florida. But there’s something special about an Olympian. Even if they don’t medal in the world games (although Florida has had many of those), just reaching that point means they already beat out thousands others. The past decade, UF has seen numerous former Gators represent their country and coaches Gregg Troy (Swimming and Diving) and Mike Holloway (Track and Field) head up the USA teams in their respective fields. But two guys specifically have torn up the record books. HOLLOWAY: THE FASTEST GATOR ON LAND Grant Holloway dominated while at Florida. He won three straight Indoor and Outdoor NCAA Championships in the 60 meter hurdle, two championships in the 110 meter hurdle (2017 & 2019) and is the current NCAA record holder in both of those events, as well as the 4x100 meter relay; and his NCAA record for the 60 meter hurdle is also an American record, in case that wasn’t enough. But Holloway had his sights set on something even bigger. In October 2019, after having two months in which he admits “I just ran like sh*t,” Holloway went up against the reigning Olympic and World Champion in the 110 meter hurdle. He finished in 13.10 seconds, capturing the world title as an underdog. With the American flag around his shoulders, he gave an impassioned winning speech, finishing it with a gator chomp. DRESSEL: THE FASTEST GATOR IN THE WATER Caleb Dressel is coming for Michael Phelps’ crown as the United States best swimmer, and he’ll jet away so fast that no one will be able to stop him. In the 2016 Rio summer Olympics, Dressel—along with Phelps, Nathan Adrian and former Gator Ryan Lochte—earned a gold medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. Then he began collecting medals and records faster than they could be created, often breaking records held by Dressel himself. In 2016, he broke the American record for the 50 and 100-yard freestyle. In 2017, at the NCAA Championship, he broke the 100-yard butterfly and freestyle records, while tying his 50-yard freestyle record setting time. At the 2017 World Championships, he won seven gold medals—becoming only the second male swimmer, behind Michael Phelps, to do so—while also setting the American record for the 50 meter butterfly, the split time in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay, the 50 meter freestyle, the 100 meter butterfly and he reset his 100-meter freestyle record for good measure. At the same event in 2019, Dressel won six gold medals. He went ahead and set an American record in the 100 meter freestyle, broke Michael Phelps world record in the 100 meter butterfly and helped the 4x100 relay team set a new world record time while he was at it. Yet it’s 2018 for which Dressel will live in Florida Gators lore. Swimming in his orange and blue cap for his final collegiate year, Dressel won all three of his races and a relay national title. He broke the American record in the 50 yard freestyle…three times, in the same day. Then he sat a new American record in the 100 yard butterfly, because why not. Dressel was asked how he pulled off the feat at the 2018 championship and gave the best answer possible: “I wish I had answers,” Dressel said. “A good quote I’ve learned over the years is, ‘I don’t know.’ I really don’t. I just try to do what I’m told.” Both men were expected to be huge contenders at this years summer Olympics in Tokyo. They will not continue to train as COVID-19 has forced the Olympics to be rescheduled for summer 2021. BACK TO BACK SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS Much like the baseball program, the continued dominance of the Gators softball program under Tim Walton makes it seem like every year can potentially be a National Championship year. That's the mood you want with your teams, but still, it wasn't until 2014 that the Gators won their first Women's College World Series. Taking the title meant defeating SEC foe Alabama—who had won the title two years prior—and facing off against Jackie Traina, one of the nation's best pitchers. But Walton's squad had faced her before and after winning Game 1 against the Tide, they felt they had her figured out. And they were right. In Game 2, Traina gave up five runs in 1 1/3 innings before being pulled. The Gators dominance with the bats also was an unlikely source to justify one of Walton's gutsiest decisions. After pitcher Hannah George had led the way much of the season and in postseason, Walton elected to sit her for Game 2 and start Lauren Haeger instead. He wanted to rest his ace in case a Game 3 was necessary. The decision paid off and Rogers—named the series MVP—was able to come in during the 6th inning with a lead to nab the save as Florida won it's first National Championship. A year later, the Gators were back in Oklahoma City and boasting an even better record than the year before. This time, they were forced into a Game 3 by the Michigan Wolverines. Haeger was back though and dueling as the USA Softball Player of the Year. She pitched seven innings, giving up five hits and only a run while striking out five. She was the Gators best slugger at the plate as well. With yellow flowers in their hair for their friend Heather Braswell—the 12-year old who was taken from them by cancer—the Gators honored her legacy and defeated Michigan 4-1 in Game 3 for a back-to-back title.

Buddy Martin Blog While we’re sitting around waiting for The Coronavirus to get the hell out of here so we can move on with rebuilding our lives from the devastation of death, pain and sickness that has afflicted this world, we ought to take a minute and focus on how to make things better when life returns to near normal. What else can we do except pray, hope, dream, stay home and wash our hands? But how much longer can we roll the dice on when “normal” will return and whether or not there will be a football season? My wife and I have been riding out five weeks of Self Quarantine, and I have continued to write for and edit GatorBait Magazine, call to check on friends and hang out a little on social media. I have continued a dialogue with many Gator fans while broadcasting the online digital Buddy Martin Show Monday through Thursday night. And inevitably finding myself day-dreaming about these topics: 1. College football overhaul. Now is the time for college football to make the hard choices about the size of the playoffs, weed out some of the 130 FBS schools (maybe to 100) and expand the playoffs. Do it right now, not after the contract runs out in six years. 2. More and more, how embracing the traditions of CFB on various campuses has brought deeper meaning and appreciation of the game, which underscores the unique difference between college and pro. Why not emphasize it more and utilize it to attract and bring alumni back to campuses from behind their 58-inch TV screens on Saturday? 3. Finally, wake up the media and fans to some of the story lines that may not be as sexy on social media, instead of fanning the flames of controversy to get more online hits? It’s OK to salute the champions and celebrate the winners, but give us the backstories of unsung and unlikely heroes whose contributions to the game need spotlighting more often. Like the story of Florida’s Kyle Trask. GATORBAIT FILE PHOTO Every coach who has ever exhorted his players to be patient, wait their turn and “be ready” when called upon should invoke a Kyle Trask commemoration. I believe that speaks to the issue of “character” which coaches love to reference. This even-handed, unselfish, highly-tolerant demeanor of Trask is the stuff team camaraderie is born of and it paid huge dividends for Dan Mullen when his starting quarterback went down. All coaches should bottle it for the future. I did a little checking on Trasks’ background, asking sources if Kyle had ever deviated from that magnanimous Good Dude norm. Nobody could remember him going off script, even while being exiled to the bench. Once Kyle did get temporarily dejected for a day, when he wasn’t invited back to the second round of the Elite 11 in Texas. The reason? Only scholarship players were invited and Kyle hadn’t been offered yet by Doug Nussmeier and Jim McElwain. He soon got over it. A “gym rat” who feeds off the joy of football and the chance to compete, Trask snapped back by throwing, throwing, throwing -- either through the tire in the back yard or with friends, former teammates at Manvel High School in Manvel, Texas (among them QB D’Eriq King) and his forever faithful go-to guy, brother Haden. When they would drive trips with their dad Michael and stop for gas, the brothers would hit the asphalt for a game of pitch-and-catch. Blessed by the number of snaps he was allowed to take with the No. 1 unit – it’s how both assistant coach Brian Johnson and Mullen run their “quarterback room” – Trask was standing by on ready that night when Franks went down and they handed him the ball. And the keys. Talk about coming into a pressurized situation, on the road vs. an SEC opponent, down by 11 points, and driving the team in for a touchdown with a classic option pitch to Lamical Perine, leading Florida to a huge win that would result in the Gators’ first 11-win season since 2012 … the word for it is “epic” I believe. I don’t know what the big-boy SEC media was watching that night but they must not have had their TVs tuned to ESPN to see Trask outscore the Wildcats 19-0 as the Gators pulled off the 29-21 victory in Lexington. The Kyle Trask Era had begun. A week later against Tennessee, in his first start since he was a freshman at Manvel, Trask completed 20x28 for two touchdowns and it was on. While I don’t want to make it sound Tim Tebow-like or suggest that they add a fourth statue out front of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium yet, it’s worth remembering that remarkable performance. What amazes me is how some so-called “experts” in the media continue to have amnesia about the numbers Trask posted in 2019 and the brilliant way he played, throwing for just under 3,000 yards passing for 70 percent average and 25 touchdowns. Meanwhile, no matter when they play CFB again, Kyle Trask will be a story. Finally, he is beginning to emerge in the minds of media folks. I recently asked a group of guests on The Buddy Martin Show to name their top All-SEC preseason quarterback. It was 100 percent Trask, either No. 1 or maybe 1A. “A near-perfect teammate,” said Steve Spurrier. “Kyle is my pick for pre-season All-SEC quarterback,” said Laura Rutledge of ESPN (she added four more also-rans). “He’s a guy you can count on to take care of the football. Secondly, he’s super talented. His story is so good, and what he did probably deserves some kind of plaque or recognition. But aside from that he’s really good!” I thought it may be a reach to start now on the Kyle Trask-for-Heisman movement but after talking to one of the Heisman honchos, maybe not. “He’s going to be on the Heisman Watch list,” said Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, state chairman of the Heisman Trophy Committee. “And he’s going to be the main guy on one of the main teams.” So if there IS a football season in 2020, it’s and going to be fun to see if the national limelight shines on the Gators and the Accidental Hero. It seems so long ago that we feel like pinching ourselves for a reality checkup. Without knowing what the health projections are for this world, it’s tough to isolate on something as small as sports, although many of us will be crawling the walls by Labor Day if there’s not at least a shot of even an abbreviated schedule. I’m already on record as suggesting that college football needs to be condensed either way. More and more I see CFB being a made-for-TV game and even more critical need for skinnying up the FBS to about 80 teams with a 10-game Power Five-Only schedule and a 16-team playoff with eight major-revenue games to offset some of the red ink. As Dr. Tony Fauci says, there CAN be football but without many — or ANY — crowds. Frankly, I don’t think there is any way there WON’T be some kind of college football in 2020-21, even if it’s in the spring. For those people who wonder how basketball can be played at the same time as football? Weeknights for hoops, weekends for football. It’s time for mother to re-invent out of necessity. And to continue on with the Kyle Trask story. GATORBAIT FILE PHOTO

WHAT AWAITS GATORS AS THE NFL DRAFT APPROACHES C.J. Henderson: When it comes to coverage skills, he might be the best corner in the draft which is why his stock keeps improving. Mel Kiper has moved him up to the 12th player taken in the first round by the Las Vegas Raiders. Somewhere between 12th and 15th seems likely. He runs great (4.38 at the combine), has a great vertical (37.5 inches) and the kind of size the NFL likes in its corners (6-1, 204). There are questions about his ability to wrap up receivers and put them on the ground but no questions at all about his ability to cover. Jonathan Greenard: He probably didn’t run as well as he hoped at the combine (4.87 40 which isn’t bad but isn’t great either) but there is a ton of tape on him making play after play behind the line of scrimmage. He missed the 2018 season at Louisville with an injury but against better competition as a grad transfer at Florida he had an exceptional year and played his best football against the better teams. He’s got a quick enough first step that he can project as a hand on the ground DE or an OLB in a 3-4 alignment. He’s a late second to mid-third round guy whose draft stock is enhanced by being such a high character guy. Jabari Zuniga: Any apprehension the scouts had about his injury-filled 2019 season was dispelled at the combine where he ran a 4.64 40 and had a 127-inch standing broad jump. Athletic guys who are 264 pounds who can run and jump like that not only get drafted but get a chance to play from day one in the NFL. He plays the run well and when he’s healthy he can beat tackles off the edge. Most mock drafts have him going in the third round but the right team with a need for an edge rusher might take him in the late second. He won’t be on the board after the third round, though. Count on that. Van Jefferson: Figure Jefferson will go in the third round, which means he’s a top 100 draft pick. At the combine it was discovered he had a fracture in his foot, which should be well healed by now. No combine workout might have hurt him except for the fact he showed the scouts what he can do every day at Senior Bowl practice. It doesn’t hurt that his dad Shawn is a former NFL wide receiver who is currently the wide receivers coach of the New York Jets. The fact he’s been around pro football all his life will ensure he won’t last beyond the third round. He can catch, runs precision routes, blocks like a demon and loves special teams. Lamical Perine: Perine figures to go somewhere between the late third and late fifth rounds. He followed up his good Senior Bowl practices with a solid combine. Although he ran a 4.62, scouts know there is 40 speed and football speed. They’ll see the tape of long runs against Auburn (88 yards) and Virginia (61) and know he can outrun very fast DBs once he gets into the clear. He will go ahead of a lot of running backs who had a higher college profile because he’s an exceptional pass catcher. Running backs who don’t fumble and who can catch the football make NFL teams. Tyrie Cleveland: Most of the mock drafts have him going in the sixth or seventh rounds. He ran a 4.46 and had a 39.5-inch vertical at the combine which will certainly help him. He’s a legitimate 6-2 with big hands and that will help also. He didn’t catch as many passes in his UF career as scouts would like to see, but the scouts also see the way Florida spread the ball around and know that when the ball came his way he caught it. He is an exceptional blocker which will help him along with his willingness to play special teams. Tommy Townsend: Punters (a) rarely turn NFL eyes at the combine and (b) rarely get drafted but Townsend has stats and tape that will get him into more than one NFL camp as a free agent. Making a team depends on hang time and the ability to drop a downable ball inside the 15. Freddie Swain: Swain had a very good combine where he ran a 4.46 40 and had a standing broad jump of 124 inches. He did well enough at the combine that scouts wanted to see more of him at pro day. He still has a chance to find his way into the last two rounds, but he will get multiple free agent contract offers. The tape doesn’t lie, particularly of games like Auburn where he showed he can blow by DBs who are going to get paid to play on Sundays. Swain won’t get drafted as a punt returner, but the fact he caught punts and didn’t fumble showed he can concentrate and bring the ball in under pressure. He played on Florida’s other special teams, too, so he’ll be on somebody’s roster next year. Josh Hammond: Hammond didn’t get invited to the Senior Bowl nor was he invited to the combine. His chances of working his way into the last couple of rounds of the draft were hurt when UF cancelled his pro day so he didn’t get to show the scouts how precisely and smoothly he runs pass routes. It’s highly unlikely that he will be drafted, however, there is plenty of tape on him catching the ball, blocking and playing special teams. There is always room on a roster somewhere in the NFL for a spare receiver who is happy to play special teams. WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE GROUP OF FIVE SCHOOLS? According to Forbes Magazine, Florida State University averaged $96 million in yearly football revenue with an average of $40 million per year in profit for the fiscal years 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18. FSU’s profits were ranked 15th best among Division I schools but they pale in comparison to the University of Florida, ranked ninth with three-year average revenues of $117 million with an average profit of $69 million. Just down the road from Gainesville is the University of Central Florida, which is one of the largest schools in the country with a student population of more than 69,000. UF had more profit from football than UCF’s entire athletic budget – somewhere north of $56 million – in the 2017-18 fiscal year. Over in Tampa, the University of South Florida athletic department looks 90 minutes down I-4 at UCF with envy. USF had a budget of $48.4 million in 2017-18 and doesn’t have facilities in the same league as UCF. Both UCF and USF would kill to be in the same league with FSU when it comes to budget and revenue. What Florida budgets and makes off athletics is a pipedream, which emphasizes the dilemma that faces Group of Five schools. Without big TV contracts and conference networks to stroke big checks every year as they do in the Big Ten and SEC, the Group of Five schools operate on a relative shoestring compared to their big brothers in the Power Five conferences. It’s not an insult to call the Power Five schools The Haves and the Group of Five schools The Have Nots. With the corona virus shutdown of collegiate athletics, every sports program in Division I is taking a serious hit, but The Haves will survive if college football cranks up in the fall or even as late as February. That can’t be said about The Have Nots. Even delaying the season until February will teeter a good many Group of Five athletic departments on the verge of insolvency with many of them having to consider seriously scaling back or suspending large portions of their scholarship sports programs. Per USA Today, a cancellation of the college football season would be a $4.1 billion hit to college athletics. Most, if not all of The Haves would survive to play another year. Most, if not all of The Have Nots would be sucking wind and a good many would go belly up. Football is the economic engine that drives the train of Division I football playing athletic departments and that is precisely why the commissioners of the American Athletic, Mountain West, Sun Belt, Mid-American conferences and Conference USA have sent a letter to NCAA president Mark Emmert requesting temporary relief from financial aid requirements while at the same time asking for a moratorium placed on any new schools trying to move into Division I. The letter by these commissioners was sent on behalf of all 350 schools in Division I, even those that don’t have football although the non-football schools don’t face the imminent threat of tanking without football. Under current NCAA rules, every Division I program must sponsor at least 16 varsity sports and it is scholarships that is at the heart of the letter from the Group of Five commissioners. They’ve asked for at least a temporary suspension of rules that require Division I schools to offer a minimum of 200 athletic scholarships per year or spend at least $4 million a year on scholarships. The commissioners requested that the schools be allowed to provide at least 90% of the maximum number of scholarships for football since it will be football that allows them to regain their financial footing. Also asked for is a lifting of the rule requiring an average of at least 15,000 in actual or paid attendance at football games. Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson stated these requests are being made to give schools the ability to find creative solutions to the financial dilemma they will be facing in the very near future. “How can we maintain the sports that we have but not fund or spend what we have spent in the past?” Thompson asked. What was not addressed in the letter to Emmert was the potential for endless lawsuits should 90% of all football scholarships get funded while scholarships to women’s sports, 99% of which operate in the red, get curtailed. Title IX is a beast that hasn’t been dealt with but it will. And, if scholarships for men’s sports get cut back while all women’s sports funded, there is the potential for another round of lawsuits. Whatever decision Emmert and the NCAA make probably won’t satisfy everyone, but the Group of Five commissioners will need immediate help to keep their athletic programs afloat. Before there was such a thing as the corona virus there was a need for Division I to reorganize, a need that will still be there when the threat of the virus is over and done with and things begin to return to some semblance of normal. This, however, isn’t the time to make decisions about which schools other than those in the Power Five conferences should play in Division I and which ones need to set their sights lower to Division IAA. For now, Emmert and the NCAA need to come up with a survival plan. Get through this year and then tackle the other issues. RANDOM THOUGHTS: I’m not making this up. Former Georgia running back D’Andre Swift compares himself to Christian McCaffrey. I’ll believe that when I see it … A number of NFL teams are making changes to their uniforms but the Indianapolis Colts will keep the same look. For some reason I can’t ever see the Colts, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers or Green Bay Packers making any changes to their uniforms. To do it just wouldn’t be right … I’ve been to a number of baseball’s new ball yards, but the two stadiums that stand out the most to me are Dodger Stadium and Camden Yards. As for the NFL, if you’ve never seen a game at Lambeau Field, you’ve missed out on something special. I’d rather see a game at Rupp than at Cameron. Kentucky fans are at least courteous. Duke fans are obnoxious. The best place to see a game was once Carmichael Auditorium at UNC. The Dean Dome is okay, but it’s not the same as Carmichael.

MORE CONSEQUENCES OF THE CORONA VIRUS This could be subtitled “How the Corona Virus Completely Shifted the Landscape of College Athletics.” And if you had a subtitle to the subtitle, it would read, “It’s All About the Money and Football.” In his very timely piece about how the College Football Playoff landscape seems destined to change because an expanded playoff can help make up the lost revenue, Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports can foresee an 8-team playoff as soon as the 2022 season with the possibility of further expansion to 16 teams. Thamel writes, “The 2020 season – whatever that looks like – is certainly not going to be the place where we see a different postseason format. Those familiar with the system say that putting changes in place for the 2021 season would be virtually impossible.” Thamel backs this up by a poll by WatchStadium.com that showed 88 percent of athletic directors are in favor of expanding the playoff. The current playoff generates $470 million with each of the Power Five leagues receiving something around $70 million each, which distributes at $5.5 million. The Group of Five conferences get some crumbs and for all practical purposes, they’re frozen out of the current playoff. Expand to eight teams and it would be impossible to keep at least one Group of Five teams out of the playoff. Try expanding without giving the Group of Five teams their seat at the table and watch how quickly Congress gets involved to bust up the playoff. Another outcome of an eight-team playoff would be the guarantee that all five power conference champs would get their champion in. The Pac-12 would be all for expansion since only two of its teams have made the playoff since its inception. Estimates for the revenue produced by the eight-team playoff would be in the neighborhood of $850 million, and that’s considered a low-end estimate. How the money is divided will be a serious debate because not only will the best team from the Group of Five command one of the eight quarterfinal berths, but the Group of Five as a whole will demand – and get – a lot more money than they’re currently getting. Could the eight-team format be bypassed for 12 or even 16 teams? One Power Five athletic director speaking to Thamel said, “I think we should do 16. If not, at least 12. That’s what everyone wants. That’s where the value is. Athletes want it, fans want it and TV wants it.” That same AD went on to ask the question, “Has a [healthy] player sat out of a playoff game yet? Well, why don’t we play more of those.” More playoff games also mean the Group of Five could demand a second seat at the playoff table. It’s something that will have to be considered, but whether it’s an eight- or 12-team format or all the way to 16, it’s going to mean more money. At time when a global pandemic is threatening the foundation of the current economic model of college sports of which football pays the freight, something has to change. There will be some bickering, yes, and the Power Five schools will claim – perhaps rightly so – that the UCFs and Boise States of the world stand a snowball’s chance in hell of winning a national championship, but expanded playoffs will provide the carriage and glass slippers that currently don’t exist for a college football Cinderella. There will still be bowl games because while a trip to Shreveport might not send chills down the spine of SEC teams or SEC fans, folks in the Sun Belt or Conference USA or some league with a lot of directional schools will find opportunity to play the slots at any one of the dozen or so casinos in North Lousiana’s answer to Las Vegas rather appealing. ESPN is very aware that the Belk Bowl had better TV ratings than all but one college basketball game last season so it wants bowl games to continue. Therefore the 7-5 teams will still get their extra 15 days of practice and a trip to some “exotic” locale like Shreveport. One last comment about the Thamel piece. When the playoffs expand, the athletic directors favor first round matchups on campus. That will be a real selling point since expanded playoffs will mean more out of pocket expenses for fans traveling to see their team play and a home playoff game would be a real boon for local economies of hosting schools. THE PERFECT TIME TO SHRINK DIVISION I When college football cranks up again, whether that’s the fall or February, it’s almost certainly going to be a 10-game schedule. It has to be 10 for a couple of good reasons. The Big Ten (Plus Four), Big 12 (Minus Two) and Pac-12 all play nine-game conference schedules. The SEC and ACC both play eight conference games. There are four cross-conference rivalry games in the SEC that have to be accommodated: Florida-Florida State, Georgia-Georgia Tech, South Carolina- Clemson and Kentucky-Louisville. Then there is Notre Dame, which is not a member of a conference but has standing rivalries with Southern Cal and Stanford from the Pac-12 and Navy from the American plus plays give ACC teams per year and one or two from the Big Ten. Southern Cal and Stanford aren’t going to drop that game that would be their 10th. Notre Dame would still have to drop two games on its schedule, but Notre Dame, Stanford and Navy won’t be part of them. Everywhere in Division I, schedules will have to be altered. Florida would certainly drop its opener with D1AA Eastern Washington and would likely axe South Alabama, leaving New Mexico State (November 12) and FSU as the non-conference teams on the schedule. Although South Alabama is probably a much better game than New Mexico State, South Alabama also has to drop two games. Since Southern Miss is a bus trip game and UAB comes to Mobile to play in USA’s brand new on-campus stadium, Florida and Grambling are the likely teams axed. The schools that will be hurt the most are the ones that need these will take a beating for a paycheck games the most, but all this will do is re-emphasize that Division I is bloated and needs to shrink. What better time to do it than following a 10-game 2020 season? There are currently 130 teams in Division I. A reduction of 30 teams would not only strengthen Division I but would make Division IAA stronger as well. That is not taking into account the possibility that quite a few of the bottom feeders in Division I will even have a football program moving forward. I have long contended that eight 12-team leagues would be the ideal setup for Division I, but with three 14-team leagues (SEC, ACC and Big Ten Plus Four) that eliminates the 12-team concept. The teams in the Big Ten Plus Four and SEC rake in very large end of year checks thanks to the success of their networks so try convincing two teams from each of those leagues that it would be in their best interests to find a new conference to play in. It has been suggested that the current 65 Power Five teams stick together, but watch the lawsuits fly and count the hours until someone in Congress starts calling committee hearings with the intention of inclusion or else if it’s just the teams from the five most prosperous conferences and Notre Dame in their own division. The Mountain West and American would need to be in. Army would need to join the American to make that a 12-team league. The Big 12 Minus Two would need to expand. Whereas Notre Dame is a good fit in the Big Ten Plus Four, no one in that league is going to volunteer to leave so that the Fighting Irish can join. And, ND already plays five ACC teams yearly but there are 14 ACC teams already. So, Notre Dame to the Big 12 Minus Two and BYU also to make it a real Big 12. Imagine the religious rivalries. The Mormons (BYU), Catholics (ND) and Baptists (Baylor) all in the same league with whatever denomination TCU (Texas Christian University) is. You would still have room for one more 12-team league and that could be made up of the best from Conference USA, MAC and Sun Belt. Everybody else would have to go to D1AA. REALIGNMENT NEEDS TO HAPPEN, BUT IT WON’T Adding Texas A&M made sense when the SEC expanded since it put the league in the homes of a state with 27,000,000 residents. Adding Missouri might have made sense from the standpoint of putting the SEC footprint solidly in the Midwest, but putting Mizzou in the SEC East has never and will never make sense, not when the closest schools are Vandy and Kentucky, both more than six hours of non-stop driving at 70-plus miles an hour away. Now that Missouri has grown comfortable with its big SEC paycheck (nearly $46,000,000 last year), there is no interest in changing leagues in Columbia even if Mizzou makes far more sense in the Big 12 Minus Two. Nebraska makes more sense in the Big 12 Minus Two than it does in the Big Ten Plus Four, but the $51,000,000 check that it earns from being in the same league with Ohio State and Michigan trumps going back to the old league where Nebraska always felt like a country cousin to Texas and Oklahoma. West Virginia makes more sense as an ACC school but it makes more money in the Big 12 Minus Two (about $8,000,000 more) than it would in the ACC. One league that definitely needs to realign is the American where, other than South Florida an hour or so down I-4, UCF’s next closest opponent is ECU, some 643 miles away. Temple and Houston are 1,547 miles away. The league logistics are terrible but what should UCF and USF do? As much as a league that would include Florida Atlantic and Florida International might make sense from a standpoint of fan appeal for travel, FAU and FIU are light years away in terms of competitive potential. Cincinnati and Memphis begged the Big 12 Minus Two to join and were turned down, just as UCF and USF made their big pitches without success. Essentially, the American has horrible logistics but until someone comes up with a better idea, it’s the league they’re stuck with. Realigning would be the smart thing to do for several conferences, but unless paychecks from networks shrink substantially, we’re not going to see much shifting except when Division I elects to shrink by 30 or so teams. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY AND FOOTBALL Football is the engine that drives college athletics and the money potential of expanded playoffs will force an expanded playoff while offering a lifeline to some but not all of the Group of Five schools. A consequence of an expanded playoff could mean a permanent 10- or 11-game schedule to accommodate the extra weeks of the playoff. It’s going to mean the end of paycheck games for Division IAA which could result in the NCAA allowing a real spring game so the Division I teams can bring in a D1AA team instead of some glorified scrimmage. Since 1990 we’ve gone from the Bowl Alliance to the BCS to the four-team playoff. In each case, money was the driving factor just as it’s going to be once again. The idea of an expanded playoff system will initially be about replacing the lost revenues from sports cut short by the corona virus, but in the long haul it will be about being able to continue to fund all those non-revenue sports. Except in occasional instances – like Duke, Kansas and Kentucky basketball – football income dwarfs what is made in basketball and any other sports. Without football, the other sports don’t exist. So it will change. It will expand, sooner and not later, and as always it will be about the money and football. You can’t have one without the other.

The Gators were “scared”. The Tigers were “greedy”. Jeremy Foley and Joe Alleva were “liars”. But prior to all the name-calling, Hurricane Matthew continued to churn along the Atlantic Ocean, flattening Haiti before making landfall in the Northern Bahamas on October 6, 2016 -- a Thursday. That following Saturday, there was a football game to be played in Gainesville. Yet, it never was. That same Thursday that saw the Bahamas get pummeled, shortly before the clock struck 4 p.m., the SEC announced the postponement of the Gators-Tigers matchup slated for noon on Saturday. Naturally, Alleva and LSU offered to be gracious hosts for the Gators that weekend. However, Foley never considered playing the game in Baton Rouge as-scheduled due to travel difficulties Florida could have faced. Following the postponement, one of the most entertaining (and embarrassing) public displays of drama ensued -- dragging the SEC and the names of the respective athletic directors in the process. Neither team shared a common open-date. They did, however, each play an FCS opponent on November 19. And it was quickly made obvious that clearing November 19 for both teams was the best option for rescheduling the game. And so the SEC paid UF’s opponent, Presbyterian, its $500,000 guarantee and LSU’s opponent, South Alabama, its $1.5 million guarantee. The slates were clean. LSU would travel to Gainesville and play the football game that could have conference championship implications. That easy, right? Except it wasn’t. Leaning into Jim McElwain’s moral claims about the lives lost due to Hurricane Matthew, LSU’s Alleva clamored that Tigers fans deserved a home game that Saturday. Sending the Tigers to Gainesville would mark their third consecutive conference game on the road. As Foley claimed, Alleva and his athletic department were “never a true partner”. Eventually, the Gators agreed to move the matchup to Baton Rouge -- meaning UF lost a projected $7.8 million in revenue after losing out on two home football games. For the Gators, though the move initially looked like a lose-lose. It was later announced that LSU would cough up the 2017 Gators-Tigers matchup and agree to play it in Gainesville. This meant Florida would host their cross-division rival in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018. With that said, the move looked like a lose-win-win. But when all was said and done, it ended up being a lose-win-win-win for Florida football. And a couple of brave fans were prepared to weather the storm of hostile Tiger fans in Baton Rouge on that November Saturday. And fortunately, they survived to tell their stories today: “We were playing away in one of the most hostile environments in the country, and if I remember correctly, it was one of Austin Appleby's first starts as QB1. I remember thinking that the Gators were going to choke it away. LSU had gotten to our 1-yard line, and it was going to be over with. Because Fournette was out (or maybe because Vosean knocked his head into another dimension), they messed up the pitch back to the RB, and he hesitated for that split second, then our D-Line just ate him up. From our seats, we couldn't really see where he landed, but we saw our D-Line celebrating and the rest is history. Right after that play, we were able to just hop down a few rows to go to the fence bordering the end zone, and all the players were walking around, taking pictures, celebrating. It was one of the best sports moments I've ever had in my life, and I'm glad I made it there to witness in person. One of my best friends slept in and missed the game, and I still make fun of him to this day (sucks to suck, Cole).” -- Bruno Lulinski, a senior at UF in 2016 “It was a crazy game back and forth the whole game.  Didn’t feel like either team played all that well minus a few huge defensive plays and the one massive pass that won it for us.  Going into that final goal line stand, we knew that there was no way we could stop them again at the goal. That was the loudest that the fans were the entire game leading up to that final possession.  It was fairly dead in there (so much louder this year for a night kick). The play happened, and from our perspective we had no clue, but the place went silent and suddenly you saw our guys jump up and we went absolutely nuts.  We stayed up there for a solid 25 minutes hugging and high-fiving every fan. Apparently I nearly knocked my one friends over, which was terrifying given the steepness of the stadium. The best part was then walking down the mile long (or so it felt) ramps chanting “It’s great to be a Florida Gator for at least 15 minutes on repeat.  I felt bad for the one or two lsu fans up there with us who put up their hoodie and put their heads down.” -- Tim Boehlein, an undergrad at UF in 2016 “First, the fight between the teams before the game totally amped up our players and fans. We were ready for blood, and our tiny cheering section was going to cause problems if the game got close. Our offense looked weirdly competent early on, but we couldn’t score. This was the Jim McElwain era, we were starting a transfer from Purdue at QB, and our offense was notorious for being awful. We fell behind early on, hit a field goal, and played really, really good defense. Then, Appleby hooked up with Cleveland for a huge, long touchdown, and I felt like we might have a shot... I mean, you couldn’t feel worse about the situation. They had first and goal at the 7, 30 seconds to go. We wouldn’t get the ball back if they scored, and they had Guice and Fournette just waiting to plunge down our throats. Then, somehow, we stopped them short on second down, and held tough on third. They called a timeout with a few seconds left and I’ve never heard a stadium louder or more amped than in that moment. Despite the players looking like ants from my seats, I felt like I was right on the field. Then the place got eerily quiet before the play. Guice was in—I thought this was good, at least it wasn’t Fournette. Even hampered by an injury, I thought we couldn’t stop Fournette. They handed it off and you could CeCe Jefferson get around the edge and pull Guice back as he jumped. We just didn’t know if he cleared the goal line. When the refs signaled that he hadn’t, our section erupted. I was hugging and high fiving people I’d never met and jumping and screaming and just generally going insane. Meanwhile the rest of the stadium as dead silent. We’d come into Death Valley – in a game that should’ve been at home – and we’d won. I really don’t remember much after that. I remember the long walk down from our seats and chanting “It’s great to be a Florida Gator” the whole way.” -- Sam Lack, a UF junior in 2016

EXPECT COOLER SEATS, FEWER FIRINGS FOR NEXT YEAR AT LEAST Nothing makes athletic directors squirm quite like firing a football coach, unless you’re at Duke, of course, where what the football coach pales in comparison to what they fork out annually for Coach K. Firing a coach means two things: (1) you were wrong about the guy to begin with because you’re the guy who convinced the boosters he was going to win and he didn’t; and (2) you have to smooth things over with those same boosters you convinced to write big checks to hire the guy to come up with wads of cash to pay for the buyouts (assistants get some buyout money too), which then leads to begging for more money to bring in some new guy who, about 90% of the time, will make more money than the last guy. Complicated? You betcha! Relief from all these stomach-churning decisions and consequences that normally have athletic directors going through a jar of Tums a day in November will come this year in the form of the corona virus. Athletic departments all over the country are already being squeezed by the shutdown of their schools and the slowdown of the economy. And because of those issues, you can almost bet the farm football will be played this fall although it’s probably going to be a 10-game schedule. Fewer games means more lost revenue. At the heart of the matter is money so something will have to give at most schools not named Texas and Texas A&M (only God and the Longhorns have more money than the Aggies). In Austin and College Station, good economy or bad economy the rich folks – and there are tons of them – will write big checks because in the state of Texas only the Baptists have more influence than whoever is the football coach and it’s a close call at that. For everyone else, there will be a money squeeze. The checks coming in from the Big Ten and SEC Networks, for example, are going to be skinnier because of the shutdown in the spring. Imagine what it’s like in the Big 12, ACC and Pac-12 where the annual checks from TV and bowls can’t begin to compare with their big brothers in the Big Ten and SEC. The easiest place to save a boatload of cash will be holding onto the football coach for a year or at least until people return to the stadiums and the revenue streams from the networks and television are back to normal. Here’s a good example. When UCLA fired Jim Mora Jr. with a game left in the 2017 season, the cost of doing business was a $12 million buyout. Enter Chip Kelly with a five-year deal worth $23.3 million. Kelly has had two straight losers and unless someone sprinkles some magic woofie dust (I stole that from Lou Holtz) on the UCLA program, bad will go to worse in the fall. If Kelly is fired any time in the first four years (this will be year three) for any reason other than serious NCAA violations, a check for $9 million will have to be written to send him on his merry way. Remember also that UCLA had to stroke a check for more than $4 million to pay off Steve Alford, perhaps the 20th next John Wooden, then spent a boatload to hire Mick Cronin from Cincinnati, who, of course, got more money than the school was paying Alford. UCLA is by no means broke, but it is in the Pac-12, which paid $31.3 million to each school as part of its revenue-sharing plan. Compare that to the Big Ten which divvied up $759 million to its 14 member schools or the $660 million distributed by the SEC. This tells us that firing Kelly is not an option. UCLA can’t afford it and neither can most of the schools in the Power Five conferences. It’s even worse in the Group of Five. A typical Group of Five School operates on an athletic budget that is less than the Big Ten or SEC distribute from network, television and bowl money. South Florida’s entire athletic budget for the 2017-18 year was a little more than $45 million, a year in which every SEC school got a $43.7 million check from the conference. Every Big Ten team got a check for a trifle more than $50 million. The obvious place to save bucks will be by holding on to the football coach and his staff even if the AD knows we may discover Elvis faked his death and moved to Michigan before the present head coach turns the program around. Because of a rather hefty endowment, Vanderbilt really shouldn’t worry about such trivial matters as buyouts for football coaches, but the school tries to operate on a shoestring budget compared to the rest of the SEC. That’s obvious if you’ve ever been to a football game at Vanderbilt Stadium. There are high school stadiums in Texas that are nicer. Derek Mason is one of the nicest guys in the world and one crackerjack of a defensive coordinator but he’s 27-47 as the head coach and without spring football and an offseason to teach four new quarterbacks the offense or to figure out how to replace Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Jared Pinkney and Kalija Lipscomb, all three of whom will be paid to play football in the fall, Vanderbilt is doomed to another four-win season. The chardonnay and brie for tailgate set at Vandy even realizes that Mason isn’t going to get it done, but they’re not exactly rushing to the interim AD – they may not have a full-timer until the fall – to write big checks for buyout money and to hire a new coach. Figure Mason’s magic number is going to be three. Three wins and Mason probably keeps his job with the excuse that the cancellation of spring football and offseason programs put him at an even bigger disadvantage than usual. Vanderbilt could dip into the endowment money to fire Mason, upgrade its facilities and hire someone who could actually win (James Franklin did it before Mason; David Cutcliffe at Duke, Pat Fitzgerald at Northwestern and David Shaw at Stanford all do it with academics that are every bit as demanding at Vandy), but history tells us that won’t happen. Every time it appears Gus Malzahn’s head is on the chopping block at Auburn, he does something totally silly like beat Alabama and Nick Saban. As much as the alums would love to pink slip Gus, they won’t ever do it in a year in which he beats Nick Saban, which is why he’s coaching in 2020. When you see the number of quality defenders lost to the NFL and the need to replace five starting offensive linemen, this would normally be one of those years that Malzahn would be sweating bullets. Well, as many bullets as you can sweat when you know that if they fire you, you and your fam will have to squeeze by on $27 million buyout money. Even as fanatical and sometimes down right stupid as the Auburn alums can be when it comes to their football coaches, the combination of an economy that is on hold, a likely shortened schedule, reduced revenues from the SEC and a $27 million buyout means Gus doesn’t have to put a for sale sign in his front yard until at least December of 2021. One of the great myths is that Will Muschamp’s seat is hotter than a pepper sprout (thanks Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra for that line) at South Carolina. First off, AD Roy Tanner likes him and so do the alumni. Second, the buyout is a $15.58 million unless Will runs afoul of the NCAA, which isn’t going to happen. Some folks say that the reason he’s never won big is because he recruits like a Boy Scout. Third, Tanner has the built-in logic of Muschamp didn’t get to install a brand new offense in the spring under new coordinator Mike Bobo, whose offenses at Georgia when he was Mark Richt’s OC were always very productive. Muschamp isn’t in trouble and the corona virus ensures he won’t be whenever this season is played. 2021? Then he can sweat. We will see similar logic applied all over the country when the 2020 season comes to a screeching halt. Corona virus economics are going to keep more than just the aforementioned coaches on the job for another year. It’s a whole lot easier to deal with another year with the same old same old from the same old coach than it is to pay millions in buyout money when revenues are taking a hit all over the place. One last thought. If the college football season is reduced to something like 10 games, in addition to lost revenue for home games there will be millions lost in revenues from CBS, ABC, ESPN, Fox and NBC for television broadcasts. Iowa State has already announced its coaches and athletic staff will be getting reduced paychecks due to the lost revenue. That might be commonplace throughout college sports in the coming months, but you aren’t going to hear too many coaches moan and groan. Do you really think Nick Saban would miss 10% of the $8 million or so that Alabama pays him? Or that Dan Mullen would have Megan hold bake and garage sales to compensate for a 10% cut from the $6.1 million he’s scheduled to make? Coaches coach. Even if their salaries were cut in half they wouldn’t storm out of the building and march down to their local New York Life recruiter to see if there are any openings for a potential certified life underwriter. The coaches would still coach because that’s what they (a) do well and (b) can make the most money doing.

It seems long ago. Like the rest of us, however, now he looks for hope. You might question some of the things Jeremy Foley has done, but hiring Billy Donovan can't be one of them. It was a happy night for celebrating Billy Donovan Court. (Photo by Chris Spears, GatorBait) When the history of Florida Gator sports is finally written, they won’t have to call in the forensic experts to find the fingerprints of Jeremy Foley. They’ll be all over it, everywhere. For nearly 34 years – 24 as the director of athletics -- Foley helped chisel off the veneer of a loser and shepherd in the period of Resurrection and Reconstruction: Respect, national championships and The “It’s Great to be a Florida Gator” era. “Lost the arms race … never hired a great football coach … should have never let Spurrier get away in the first place.” Yada, yada. It comes with the job. These past 40 years have been the Best of Times and the Worst of Times for the University of Florida sports program – far more bests than worsts -- and the common denominator for that was the inveterate Red Sox fan who started out in the ticket office and wound up leading the UF athletic department out of the shadow of Armageddon and into the national limelight. Extreme cycles. The New England Yankee finds those cycles of fortune as inevitable as the harsh winters and the soft, glimmering summers of his native New Hampshire. In baseball lexicon, if Foley had modeled Ted Williams and wound up hitting .400 at Florida, he would be a Hall of Famer. Which, by the way, by any metrics you want to choose, he certainly will be a Hall of Famer. Believe it or not, Foley actually stepped aside all the way back in 2016 and took the “emeritus” title as his friend Scott Stricklin took the mantle. It’s been that long. I found Jeremy in the quiet solace of his UF office, contemplating everything, and yet nothing, because there is no “there there” yet during this unnatural pause. But it was a good time for him to reflect on his past work for a 45-minute phone conversation as GatorBait drilled down on the modern history of Gators sports – football and basketball in particular. Like the rest of us, Foley is hoping against hope, praying for miracles, exhaustively searching for silver linings, quietly worried and concerned about family, friends and business associates – just looking for an escape hatch out of the abyss of fear and gloom. But yet with a measure of grace and the wonderment of all that life has offered, feeling impelled to offer encouragement. Pondering that unanswerable question. The only hypothetical he might even allow himself to address personally is “…if I was in Scott Stricklin’s shoes.” By the way, if you pity the uncertainty of Stricklin’s pathway, consider the optics of what it looked like to the graduate of Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y. When he saddled up as interim AD replacing Bill Carr in 1986 and then went on to become senior associate AD to Bill Arnsparger’s reign in 1987 during what would evolve into one of the darkest eras of Gator sports. The UF was just emerging from of the mire of a near-Death Penalty from the NCAA. Foley rose to the rank of athletic director in 1992 — just in time to catch the tailwind of Steve Spurrier’s sail and help usher in the “It’s Great to Be….” period. As we took a deep dive into the past 20 years, and in particular the “Four M’s Decade” (Meyer, Muschamp, McElwain and Mullen) from 2010-2019, Foley was careful not to claim the success that wasn’t his, giving full credit to Stricklin for the Dan Mullen hire and declining to really say why he didn’t go after Mullen when Urban Meyer departed. He didn’t really dodge it, but he never fully addressed it. And maybe the guy didn’t ask him the right questions. The two hires Foley made after Meyer didn’t work out, even though Muschamp looked like he had the proper credentials and background to succeed at Florida and even spent some key formative years in Gainesville, playing touch football in his back yard and imaging he was Tony Lilly, the All-SEC Gator defensive back for Charley Pell and Galen Hall (1980-93). “All sports is peaks and valleys – incredible peaks and incredible valleys,” Foley said philosophically. Certainly that has been his journey at Florida, but it’s probably a little too soon to be making judgments about Foley’s era in the heat of Resurrection and, maybe, semi-Reconstruction. Everybody has been operating under a yellow flag. When that Restart Button is pushed here one day, the University of Florida should be in a good lane and ready to challenge for a spot in the top five or ten among college football teams. And that is due, in part, to the New Hampshire guy. Here is part of what we discussed in a brief Q&A: MARTIN: Yeah, hypotheticals are almost impossible to attach an answer to. And I wouldn't ask you to do that. But I will ask you for a gut feeling. You've always had a good gut in terms of figuring things out loud, knowing you all these variables, or we don't have any idea about how you think the odds are 50/50. There'll be a football season or less. FOLEY: I think the worst thing you do right now is try to guess when obviously you can't have your head in the sand. September is a long ways away. And so you don't want to be over reactive. There's things that have to be done now in terms of budgets for next year and trying to stay in touch with your coaches and student athletes. As the situation of the fall becomes clearer here in May, early June, then then you then you react to what is presented to you as opposed to trying to guess what may be presented to you. That makes sense. So I think that's where Scott's at. And, you know, if I was still in it, sure. That's what I would do. MARTIN: What does it look like from your hypothetical position in Stricklin’s shoes? FOLEY: I mean, you think about, you know, if there is no football and you know what kind of decisions we need to make? … or if it's a reduced schedule, what kind of decisions we have to make? But you can also drive yourself crazy. Try to forget every single scenario, and I don't think it's productive. I think there'll be football at some point time. And whether that's September or another time. What's going on with the virus? Certainly if and when -- everybody is obviously praying for this for a lot bigger reasons than in sports … for a vaccine. And that's the game changer. But, you know, the social distancing that we're all going through right now, it’s going have an impact. I mean, how will the virus subside substantially, not only in this state, but around the country ... I don't have enough knowledge to know my background. Again, I just think you have to hope and pray that this scene turns and people who are sick get better. (I asked him what went wrong with Muschamp and why things didn’t work out.) FOLEY: Muschamp was cheerful. Everybody in the building loved him. He's a really, really good guy. Worked his tail off. And you talk about the pedigree. He was a defensive coordinator in this league and was and going to be somebody’s head coach. The leading candidate at Texas. I know the people of Texas saw something in him. It was an extremely well done rebuilding effort done on the high road. (7-6 in 2011). The second year we go eleven and one. And this looked like we had turned the corner. And then for whatever reason, it just it didn't pan out. (4-8 in 2013) His third year obviously that was the low point where we went for eight incredible number of injuries. You know, lost two quarterbacks. Now, it's a tough business and things are going south to turn around. It's really hard to build it. It's really hard to keep it at the top … Forever is not working. Negativity gets so loud and you can't move on to new players. It just feeds on itself … It starts impacting your recruiting and it's almost impossible to turn it around when the noise gets that loud because the recruits, they don't come. And again, at all the players position. So it was well-intended decision, it didn't work out. And sometimes they don't. It was unfortunate, obviously, for Will, his family, his staff and Gator Nation, obviously, because of the turmoil. MARTIN: And when you didn't go after Dan the first time around. What were your thinking? FOLEY: You know, there's no perfect formula, no coaches. You look back on some things you did definitely. You know, we went in that direction. We had a coach, Mac, that at that time we felt was the direction to go in. And now, obviously, hindsight is 20/20. But, you know, Coach Mac did get us to Atlanta a couple times. And then Danhas done an incredible job changing the culture, has done an incredible job with his staff. I think the sky's the limit. Scott Stricklin wanted to hire Dan -- Dan and Scott had a good relationship at Mississippi State. Dan did an incredible job at Mississippi State. He is an incredibly good head coach. He was here to help us win two national championships. He's done a great job and the future looks bright with Dan and Scott.

A near perfect basketball season gave the Florida Gators one of the best win stretches of the last 10 years. BY: KASSIDY HILL GATORBAIT COLUMNIST STAY SAFE In the history of Florida Gators basketball, no stretch of time will ever be as magical as the back-to-back National Championships in 2006 and 2007. But the Final Four run in 2014 was still certainly momentous and was arguably one of the brightest spots in Gator athletics this past decade. There were so many individual plays and runs that amounted to the perfect SEC season and the 36-3 overall record. Early season losses against Wisconsin and UCONN rose questions about whether the team—full of veterans—had enough consistency to go far (to their credit, both were true road games against Top 15 teams). After returning Scottie Wilbekin from a five game suspension though, the offense began to mesh and run with a purpose towards wins over ranked Kansas and Memphis. Once the SEC play kicked off January 8, the Gators were on a mission and no one, no All-American and no Cinderella was going to get in their way. IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE, IT’S PATRIC YOUNG When the Gators rolled into Knoxville, they were looking for their 16th straight win in the season. They’d handily defeated the Vols 67-41 earlier in the season but UT strengthened as the year went on, even going as far as the Sweet-16 in the NCAA Tournament. In the back half of the home and home during the regular season, Tennessee worked their way back in the second half to pull within one with less than five minutes remaining. The Gators found two shots beyond the arc but the Volunteers wouldn’t go away. With 1:40 remaining and on their end of the floor, Patric Young took over a possession that changed the game and possibly even the season. Scottie Wilbekin took a jumper that was blocked and Young grabbed it off the bounce. The big man turned around for a jumper of his own but it bounced off the rim. He had already stepped back to transition to defense when he noticed the miss. He shot back from the top of the key and his body parallel to the ground, Young dove his 6’9” frame through two Vol defenders and grabbed the ball. He flipped it back to Kasey Hill just before his body went out of bounds. That shot didn’t fall either but it gave everyone a chance to reset, leading to Wilbekin earning a trip to the free-throw line to ice the game. The play encapsulated what this team was becoming and set the tone for the remainder of the season. A roster of guys that were talented individually but unstoppable together, who were willing to give every last ounce of effort in order to advance as a team. It was such a teaching moment that Kentucky Wildcats coach John Calipari showed the clip to his team. "What are you willing to do to win a game?" Calipari said he asked UK players at the time, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. "I know what he's willing to do. I saw it.” Said Young, “That play is a little microcosm of what it means to really want to win and doing whatever it takes. It's not always about scouting reports or not always about defensive sets or rotations. A lot of this game is about 50/50 balls and effort.” Florida of course did get that 16th win and so many more. And while watching Patric Young sacrifice himself to make the play necessary, we knew special things were coming for the Florida Gators that season. MICHAEL FRAZIER FOR THREE It was a late season game—February 19—and the No. 2 Gators were in a grudge match against the Auburn Tigers who were 4-8 in the SEC to that point. The Tigers led by eight at half and had an answering punch from any Gators swing. As the second half rode on, tension sifted its way through the O-Dome. The Rowdy Reptiles began the yell of desperation and fans began to stand, realizing that this game wasn’t going to be won easily. There was 0:41 remaining; there had been two timeouts, blocked shots and no baskets perpetrating the 1:25 before. Patric Young got a defensive rebound and the Gators came charging down the floor with little time and down by two. Casey Prather shot a pass to Michael Frazier—the young sniper on a veteran team. The O-Dome was vibrating with anxiety, anticipation and noise, just unbelievable noise. As everyone barreled towards the basket, Frazier stopped quick just short of the arc. He rose and with his perfect form, sank the 3-pointer for a 1-point lead. The eruption seemed to shake the court right into the air. The early season baseball game going on next door was interrupted as spectators recall hearing the din of the roar. It continued through Auburn’s timeout and gained a slight strain of worry as the Tigers tied the game again with a free throw. Then it grew again as Chris Denson missed his second shot from the charity stripe and as Young along with Scottie Wilbekin hit all five free throws they received in the waning seconds to secure the 71-66 win. This reporter has spent a lot of time covering games in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center the past decade. No singular moment has ever compared to the cacophony that exploded when Michael Frazier hit that shot. REVENGE IS BEST SERVED WITH A CHOMP At the end of the 2013 season, Marshall Henderson was lighting up the SEC and college basketball. He made enemies like it was an art form and spared no feelings along the way. When Ole Miss beat Florida in the 2013 SEC Tournament final, Henderson gator chomped towards the Florida bench, the fans, anyone who would look, a favorite taunt by Gator opponents. But the Florida players didn’t forget about Henderson. When No. 2 Florida pulled off a nail biter 75-71 win in Oxford on February 22, Scottie Wilbekin skipped across the court with his tongue out and gator chomping towards Henderson and the Ole Miss fans. It was revenge, relief and a realization that this team was clicking on all cylinders. THE HAT TRICK Kentucky is the perpetual foe for Florida basketball, the Goliath that any other team must slay for hopes of a successful season. Florida might be too strong to be considered a plucky David but the giant Cats still consistently stands in UF’s way. In 2014, Billy Donovan, the four seniors and the sharp shooting young guys ran roughshod over UK. Just a few days after Calipari showed his players the clip of Young’s Superman dive, the No. 3 ranked Gators rolled into Rupp Arena to face the No. 14 Cats…and yet Florida was a 3.5 point underdog. Rupp worked its voodoo and Kentucky led for much of the game. But the veteran Gators chipped away at the freshman laden Cats and with 8:14 to play, Wilbekin hit two free throws that took the lead. Casey Prather followed with a jumper and Florida never relinquished the lead, leaving with a 69-59 win. Three weeks later, Florida welcomed Kentucky to the Stephen C. O’Connell Center for the regular season finale. The Gators had not lost a game since the UCONN defeat and were looking to finish out the season with a perfect SEC record. This time the Cats were the underdog (8.5). Florida never trailed and led by double digits for the majority of the game, cruising to a 19-point win. The scoreboard was secondary to the day’s festivities though. The forward focused Billy Donovan was all smiles, relishing in a celebratory moment while cutting down the net, before slinking to the back of the group to watch his players with an even bigger smile. Young and Will Yeguete held up a fan made sign that read “18-0 and more to go” while Prather and Wilbekin took victory laps. The four seniors, the group that had elected to return together in hopes of doing something special, then congregated at the center of the court. The bulking basketball players lowered themselves the hardwood and collectively kissed the Gator head logo. Then, in a moment encapsulating what had carried them all season, the four linked their arms and stepped off the O-Dome floor one last time, together. The third time was almost the charm for the Wildcats. The SEC Tournament saw Kentucky begin to gel in the way all Calipari teams seem to do at the perfect time. And in the tourney championship, the two unquestioned top teams in the league faced off yet again. UK never led but kept it close. Hanging on to a 1-point lead with a minute and a half to go, the Gators defense stayed at the basket and kept any sort of Cats run at bay. By this point, Florida was guaranteed a high seeding in the NCAA Tournament and could have feasibly held on to a No. 1 seed even with a loss to the top ranked Cats. This was about pride and proving something to the rest of the SEC and the rest of the country. When the clock hit 0:00, the expressions on the faces of the seniors, the embrace between best friends Young and Yeguete in total jubilation, it was clear this win was just as important as all the others. They had swept Kentucky and remained perfect in every SEC game. No matter what would come in the NCAA Tournament, no one would ever be able to take from them what they had just done. THE FINAL FOUR For three years, the Gators had made it to the Elite Eight only to get beaten in one fashion or another. But in 2014, they were the No. 1 overall seed and had Casey Prather on the cover of Sports Illustrated to prove the hype. UF played worthy of the seeding with easy work of their first three opponents, defeating all by double digits. The day that Florida beat Dayton to advance to their first Final Four since 2007, the Gators returned home to a pep rally already fit for champions. Fans and students lined the gates at the Gainesville Regional Airport and stuck their hands through the chain link fence for just a touch of their hoops hero’s. The team joined the celebrations in progress at mid-town, allowing themselves one short hour to commemorate their accomplishment. One could argue that to that point they hadn’t won anything. That there was no reason to celebrate just yet and that there was still much more for which to play. But this team, the majority of this roster, they had returned needing to rid themselves of the sour taste that was left after three straight Elite 8 losses. On that night, the monkey was off their back and no matter what happened the following week, they could point to the Final Four hardwood that would eventually go up on the practice room wall and remember the season they went farther than most teams can imagine. It’s why the four seniors high-fived fans and took pictures and sang the fight song. It’s why they went to the back patio at 101 Cantina (R.I.P.) and popped champagne bottles, spraying it over the packed crowd and they laughed and they cheered. It’s why one of them flopped down in his car in exhaustion, looked at me and through the biggest smile asked, “can you believe we did it?! The Final Four!” On a personal note, being a reporter means staying unbiased and that’s something I feel I’ve done throughout my career. But while I can remain objective about the game and even the players within it, it’s impossible to cover a team and not get to know the people that make up the roster. You’re there for life defining experiences and ask them to open up to you. Sometimes, you even become good friends. That day was one of the few I wasn’t covering the game. Instead I got to join those I’d come to consider friends and watching them celebrate that win remains one of my favorite memories of the past decade. We know the story of what came next. The Gators headed to Arlington for the final round of March Madness. The four teams left in the dance were: Florida, the only two teams to beat Florida that season (Wisconsin and UCONN) and the team Florida had beaten three times that season (Kentucky). The Huskies beat the Gators 63-53 in route to the finale where they were crowned National Champions over Kentucky. Florida returned home to Gainesville early. When they landed at the airport, there weren’t as many fans as there had been the week before, but they were still there. The shouts were less joyous and more comforting, but they still rang out. And as the pain of coming so close only to fall short has lessened over the years, we look back at that 2013-2014 season and smile. It was the greatest stretch of UF basketball during the 2010 decade and will remain one of the finer seasons in Florida Gators history.

The last decade for the Florida Gators Football team ended on a high note. The success was born out of a hundred different moments. But two of the most important moments arguably came from an impassioned speech and emotional reaction that were controversial at the time but inspiring in the long run. BY: KASSIDY HILL GATORBAIT COLUMNIST STAY SAFE! When Dan Mullen came gator chomping off the plane on a tarmac in Gainesville, illusions of grandeur and dreams of a new era were immediately born for Florida Gators fans, players and staff alike. And despite an early 2018 loss to Kentucky for the first time in over 30 years, Mullen’s Gators reeled off five straight wins including victories over ranked Mississippi State and LSU. A loss to rival Georgia was painful but not a shocker. The loss to Missouri though? The lackluster performance from Feleipe Franks after a slightly inconsistent but overall solid season to that point? The lay down by the defense? That was a shock. Players from that 2018 team later said it was as if Georgia beat them twice. Heading into that Top 10 Cocktail Party, whispered talks of the playoff had begun. It was feasibly possible and a win over Georgia would mean likely only the SEC Championship stood in the way. After the loss, the season was over in so many minds. What else was there to play for, and therefore, what reason was there to even attempt a win over Missouri? Following the 38-17 loss, Mullen was asked just that; what else is there to play for? It was an understandable question in that moment, a softball as it’s known in the business that allows the coach an open ended opportunity to present a challenge to his team. Dan Mullen dispensed with just the cookie cutter answer though. This was more than a moment for a stock response. It was an opportunity to set the tone for the program he hoped to run and the attitude he wanted from his team from that day forward. “We get a great opportunity to see where we’re at as a program right now. More than just as a team, as a program. You know, when things get tough, how are we? This is when you gotta buckle down and the toughness comes through, right,” he began. “I mean there’s, we got three more games to go play here in the regular season and then we get a bowl game and we get to go see what we’re all about as a team and you know what this team’s made of where the program’s at a little bit with all of us pushing and moving forward cause there is still an awful lot to play for as the season goes on. Most important, everybody in that locker room, hopefully, play for each other, play for the Gators, play for the team; I’d be really disappointed if people didn’t wanna play for themselves.” Dan Mullen thrives on passion. It’s what endures him to fans and makes foes hate him knowing that they’d love him if he was theirs. It’s what brought him chomping off that plane and almost got him into a fight with Derek Mason and it’s what helped fuel his team to late wins over Mississippi State and LSU that 2018 season. He didn’t try to tamp it out of players like previous staffs but instead expertly manipulated it towards a positive trajectory. It’s what led him to challenge the reporter who asked the question to any sort of competition and issued a mantra that would come to define his team and program. “They keep score. Someone wins and someone loses. I don’t care what we’re doing. You wanna thumb wrestle me right now, I’m gonna kick your ass,” he lamented as the room chuckled. But Mullen was serious as he motioned for someone to come forward and answer his challenge. “Come on up, I gotcha. You wanna go run stadiums? I’ll kick your ass. You’re gonna keep score and someone’s gonna win and someone’s gonna lose, I wanna beat your ass.” With a somewhat exasperated voice he continued. “If we don’t have that attitude in the locker room, you’ve got a problem. What are we even doing? There’s a lot to play for. Namely you put the ball down next week and someone’s winning and someone’s losing on that field. If that ain’t enough, boy, never mind representing too. You gotta represent the Gators, you got pride in the University, you got pride in the program, seniors playing their final games coming up. individual, either you’re a competitor or you’re not. That’s all I need, right? That is all I need. Certainly I hope that rubs off and that’s the attitude of every single guy in the locker room.” The next week, unknowingly to the rest of the world, it was rubbing off on the guys in the locker room—one in particular. Feleipe Franks had had the unwavering support of Dan Mullen the entire season. But he was pulled against Missouri after going 9-22 for a mere 84 yards. Backup Kyle Trask came in and went 10-18 for 126 yards and a touchdown. By that point it was a losing effort but the performance from Trask was promising. When Trask suffered a season ending foot injury in practice the following week, Franks received the break that can make a difference in a legacy. The kid who had never been afraid to leap before looking, who relied on his heart more than his head, he finally had a coach who didn’t see that as a deterrent but instead cultivated it, asking Franks to turn the pain into passion. He asked him to remember “there’s a lot to play for. Namely you put the ball down next week and someone’s winning and someone’s losing on that field.” As I wrote about the act at the time; “Franks has faced criticism his entire playing career in Gainesville. From worries that he was being started too early to assertions after losses that he was absolutely being started too early, to being started then benched then put in again only to be pulled again, to moans when he was named the starter this season as fans publicly called for Kyle Trask and Emory Jones to receive a shot instead. He’s heard it all, stuck in a vacuum that comes with being the starter at University of Florida. That’s part and parcel with being the quarterback at Florida as Dan Mullen continuously reminds Franks, helping him learn the nuances of the position off the field.”Dan Mullen warned Franks leading up to the South Carolina game that fans had wanted to see Trask and they were probably going to boo him. Fans did just that in the first quarter when Franks and the Gators found themselves facing a 3rd and 19 on the very first drive. But still, “there’s a lot to play for” and that’s the attitude Franks kept in mind. After being down by two touchdowns, Franks ran in a score to tie it at 14. After emerging from the scrum of his celebratory teammates, Franks turned towards the home crowd that had booed him the first two drives and shushed them. It was quick but unquestionable. The Gamecocks and former coach Will Muschamp went up again, this time 31-14. But a fire had been lit under the teams emotional leader and he had something to prove. And he did just that. The Gators reeled off three touchdown drives. On the final one, Franks threw his body into the line, taking hit after hit. They kept him out, but the next snap, he flew his 6’3” body through a hole and past the pylon. Florida went ahead for the winning score, 35-31. “A lot of people are gonna like me and a lot of people are not gonna like me. And maybe that’s something I shouldn’t have did. But at the same time I’m emotional player, I wanna win as much as anybody in the world,” said Franks after the game. “I’m a competitive guy, emotional guy and that’s the way I play my game and you know, so I do apologize for that but it’s just great to get another W.” After being down 31-14, Florida went 4-0 to finish the season and outscored opponents 166-39 during that time. Feleipe Franks played arguably his best ball while in a Gator uniform and made easy work of Idaho, Florida State and the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines—who had a Top 2 defense to boot. In the moment, a huff of indignation at Franks’ shushing would have been understandable. And he apologized for it immediately following the win. Yet his heel turn also saw him finally embracing the passion that had kept him at odds with the fanbase for so long. He was taking his coaches advice and playing “to beat your ass.” He brought his team along with them and they went on one of the most impressive streaks to end the season. And as Chauncey Gardner-Johnson predicted after the South Carolina game, a lot of that coming success can be pinpointed to Feleipe Franks shushing his fans. “It’s his team. A lot of people have doubted him since he’s been here, talking crazy about him. But that’s on him, he’s shushing the crowd telling them ‘we’re not going anywhere and I’m going to continue to lead this team.’ He led us to a victory today.” It was the same passion with which the Gators began the 2019 season. And when Franks went down with a season ending injury against Kentucky, Kyle Trask finally got the shot that he’d had to conced to Feleipe the season before. Florida finished the season 11-2 and in the Top 10 for the second season in a row. There are plenty of moments from that 2019 run to pull out and examine as pivotal. But there’s one in particular that is easily overlooked but telling. Kyle Trask has always been the shier of the quarterback group. Hesitant to speak more than necessary in public and shuttered with his feelings. His teammates say they see him open up more in practice and during games, but there’s little question that Franks was the emotional leader while Trask was more reserved. If this was truly going to become Kyle Trask’s team—and as the season went on it became clear that was the case—then he would need to find some of that passion that had driven his teammate, that his coach had asked for in everything down to a thumb wrestling match, and channel it into his role at quarterback. So against South Carolina in 2019, during a game where boo’s of disgruntled Gamecock fans rained down as hard as the rain from Tropical Storm Nester, Trask ran in a touchdown, turned towards the South Carolina student section and shushed them. They weren’t his own fans this time, but the situation was markedly similar and purposely done as Trask revealed after the 38-27 win. “Yea I had to do one for Franks right there,” laughed Trask. Feleipe Franks didn’t announce his decision to transfer until after the regular season was over. He supposedly didn’t even make up his mind until the Sunday morning following the FSU win. But one has to wonder, if that was the moment he knew it was ok to leave. Related: Thank you for the memories Feleipe When Dan Mullen stood at the podium following an embarrassing Missouri loss in 2018, he asked for his team to fight for nothing but the pride in winning. To unabashedly let their passion fuel their game. When Feleipe Franks shushed his own home crowd in a comeback win against South Carolina, he put Mullen’s message into action and turned the Florida Gators not only into contenders but a team that finally believe they deserved to be contenders. Then when Kyle Trask brought Florida back after being down against the Gamecocks again in 2019 and shushed the crowd, he proved he was ready to take responsibility of every single aspect Mullen and Franks had embedded in the team leader role. Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask leave The Swamp after wins—Photo Credit: Alex Shepherd It’s a new era for the Florida Gators, one that looks poised to be legendary for them in this new decade. When we look back in 10 years on whatever is to come, don’t forget what started it all at the end of this past decade. Anytime, anyplace, anywhere, the Florida Gators became a team ready to beat your ass and shut you up in the process.

THOUGHTS OF THE DAY: APRIL 10, 2020 FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL, BASEBALL: RECRUITING WILL TAKE A HIT “Recruiting is the lifeblood of any program, so you can’t put anything above that” – Pete Carroll How many thousand times have I heard quotes similar to that one in the more than 50 years I’ve been writing about sports? Obviously, there is more to college football than recruiting, otherwise Carroll or Nick Saban or Urban Meyer would have won a bunch more national championships. Just as obvious, recruiting is also the lifeblood of college basketball. On a consistent basis nobody outrecruits John Calipari yet he’s won only one national championship. To put Coach K in perspective, he’s been at Duke 40 years and has won only five national championships. Very few college baseball coaches outrecruit Vanderbilt’s Tim Corbin or Florida’s Kevin O’Sullivan. Between the two of them the former Clemson assistants and best buddies have won a grand total of three NCAA titles. Neither great recruiting nor great coaching guarantees championships, but as the late, great Al McGuire once told me, “It’s a lot easier to coach Secretariat than it is to coach a donkey.” A lot of great recruiters can’t coach a lick. In his three years as Florida’s head coach, Ron Zook blew FSU and Miami away on the recruiting trail but in those same three years, Zooker lost more than half as many games (14) as Steve Spurrier lost (27) in the 12 previous years. Zooker was a great recruiter and might have been a decent head coach if he had spent a few years learning the trade at a place like Toledo or Ohio U instead of learning on the job at UF. By the same token there are great X and O guys who are lost balls in the tall weeds when it comes to recruiting. When you hear that magic cliché “greatest coach to never win a national championship” they’re usually talking about that guy whose teams always seem to over-achieve because they don’t have good enough talent, doesn’t matter the sport. No matter how you want to define your sport, however, the consistent winners will be the coaches who bring in outstanding talent. That doesn’t necessarily mean a load of 5-star guys – Jay Wright at Villanova and Tony Bennett at Virginia come to mind in basketball; Tom Osborne for football – but it means recruiting talented kids who fit the system. Great coaches with a great system who find the right players always win big, but finding the right players for your system is still recruiting, isn’t it? And this brings us to recruiting vs. the corona virus. Any way you look at it, college football, basketball and baseball are going to take a hit. If the virus is eradicated fairly soon, the hit won’t be long term but we’ll see how the recruiting landscape changes in the coming months. Since the University of Florida is my chief concern, I’ll narrow my focus to the Gators. Football recruiting vs. the corona virus: When the virus shut things down, Dan Mullen had commitments from 13 rising high school seniors, a class that Rivals ranks third nationally and 247Sports fourth. The Gators have 19 seniors and it’s entirely possible 3-4 kids will either depart the program or leave for the NFL. So, it will be a class of 23-25 signees, which means Mullen is at the halfway point and he’s going to be doing battle with the likes of Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Gus Malzahn and Dabo Swinney for the players who will fill out this class – that is, if all 13 of the committed kids stick. Typically, where Mullen and his staff would gain a good bit of momentum would be during the June camp season. Since the head coach can’t recruit off campus in the spring, the June camp season is critical. I’ve always contended that the two most important aspects of football camps are (1) getting kids on campus for 24-48 hours during which time they get to know the entire coaching and support staff as well as come to grips with all the non-football aspects of being a Gator that will factor into their college experience; and (2) the coaches will get a chance to see how a kid responds to coaching while competing and interacting with other kids equally as talented. Camp season is also when coaches get to see that kid who was listed 6-5, 250 in his high school program and discover he’s really 6-2, 220 or see that kid who was 6-2, 220 has grown three inches and put on 30 pounds since the previous November. I remember Florida’s 1999 recruiting class that included a defensive tackle out of Maryland named Tony Charles. He was listed something like 6-4, 270 in high school but when he showed up at Florida he had mysteriously shrunk and was perhaps 6-1 to go with 237 very skinny pounds. Charles never made it to Florida’s June camps so how he was even recruited remains one of life’s great mysteries. Thanks to camp season, Jim McElwain offered a scholarship to the backup quarterback from Manvel, Texas who had never started a varsity game and then didn’t start one as a senior. Kyle Trask threw at camp, wowed the coaches with his football IQ and passed the eyeball test when it came to prototypical size for a pocket passer. The same folks who laughed at McElwain offering Trask aren’t laughing now, that’s for sure. When you throw in no spring football at the high school level with no camps in June, Mullen is going to have to trust the instincts of his assistants far more than ever before. And it won’t just be Mullen doing it. Every coach in the country faces the same issues and it’s going to result in chances taken on certain recruits and a lot of kids getting overlooked at the highest levels since they didn’t get a chance to show up on a campus to show what they could do. Florida has the advantage of having won 21 games the last two seasons and that will override many of the disadvantages of no spring football and no camps. Winning does cure a lot of ills. A big season in the fall will help Mullen fill out his class with highly ranked players, but in some cases it will be a reach. We won’t know for another year or two just how much corona affected the quality of Mullen’s recruiting. Basketball recruiting vs. the corona virus: As it stands right now, Mike White is in great shape. He won’t have a single senior on his roster with all 13 scholarships filled. If there is no attrition, whether early departures to the NBA after the 2020-21 season or transfers, then White can afford to go a year without signing anyone. That is a rather huge if, however, particularly should Scottie Lewis, Keyontae Johnson, Andrew Nembhard and Anthony Duruji have the kind of years that the elevate their NBA Draft stock. There is also the matter of the pending NCAA legislation that will grant one free transfer without the penalty of sitting a season. Transfers are already at epidemic levels in college basketball without the rule change. Where the corona virus will hit White and probably 95% of all the coaches in Division I is the elimination of the AAU circuits, whether that’s Nike, Adidas, Under Armour or independents. The premier AAU circuit is the Nike EYBL, which stages a few weekends of “league play” where teams battle it out for a spot at the Peach Jam in North Augusta, SC. At the Peach Jam, games are played on four courts simultaneously in the same building. It’s a who’s who of the best college coaches in the country who line the courts. In four days they can see nearly every good kid in the country who plays the Nike circuit. Adidas and Under Armour stage big events and there is that free-for-all in Las Vegas where several hundred games will be played in tournaments over a seven-day period. This is where the bulk of college basketball recruiting is done since it is when college coaches get to see kids going head-to-head against equal or better talent and see how well they play together when suddenly they aren’t the only stud on the team. Added to the importance of the AAU circuit is the early November early signing period when most of the kids with the talent to play in the Southeastern Conference will sign. In an ideal scenario, White will hold onto all but a couple of his current roster. Losing two is manageable, but losing four and without the advantage of seeing who fits his system on the AAU circuit? That could spell real trouble a year or two down the road. Baseball recruiting vs. the corona virus: Summer on the travel ball circuit is where Kevin O’Sullivan makes his recruiting living. He’s such a keen evaluator of talent and the summer circuit enables him to see if that pitcher who routinely threw it past a dozen hitters at the high school level can do it against what is essentially an all-star roster. Does that power hitter who routinely went deep on smaller high school fields get it out of the yard or does the ball die at the warning track? Since his arrival at UF, O’Sullivan has routinely made the sharpest evaluations which is why the Gators have been in the national championship hunt for eight of his 13 seasons on the job. The recruits O’Sullivan is bringing in for the 2021 season are the fourth-ranked class by Perfect Game. Typically that kind of class might result in half going pro but the Major League Baseball Draft might be fewer than half the normal 40 rounds. That should mean fewer high school players selected and more of a premium on proven college talent. The way it looks right now, O’Sullivan will only lose two underclassmen – Tommy Mace and Jack Leftwich. Florida figures to be loaded in 2021. Where things could get painful is 2022 when O’Sullivan could have as many as 11 draft-eligible players. Without the summer circuit in 2020 in which to evaluate the players he wants to recruit, it is possible we could see a dip in talent in 2022.

Back when he was a rather hot commodity as a head football coach, former Ohio State assistant Lou Holtz was considered the most likely candidate to replace Wayne Woodrow Hayes whenever Hayes elected to hang up his whistle. Hayes still hadn’t been fired yet for punching a Clemson player on the sideline of the Gator Bowl and Holtz was still making a name for himself at North Carolina State when asked if he would like to be Hayes’ successor. Without a moment of hesitation, Holtz replied, “You never want to be the guy who follows a legend but I wouldn’t mind being the guy who follows the guy who follows the legend.” Holtz never did replace Hayes nor was he ever HBC at Ohio State, but he did try succeeding a legend at Arkansas in Frank Broyles in 1977. He lasted seven years and while he won a lot of games (60-21-2), he felt he was never fully appreciated or accepted by the Arkansas faithful. At Florida, we’ve seen how difficult it is to replace a legend. In football, neither Ron Zook nor Will Muschamp were able to duplicate the success of the legends they replaced. Zook lasted less than three full years after replacing Steve Spurrier, who left after the 2001 season for the NFL, and Muschamp managed only four years after he replaced Urban Meyer in 2011. More recently and in basketball, Mike White has been faced with the game of constant comparisons since taking over for Billy Donovan after Donovan left for the NBA after the 2014-15 season. In some respects, replacing Donovan the legend is the more difficult task because the state of Florida is one of the top three states when it comes to producing football talent. It’s entirely possible to win a national championship in football with a roster made up 90 percent or more of home-grown Florida talent. Maybe it could happen in basketball, but the only two national championships ever won by a collegiate team in this state – back-to-back by UF in 2006-07 – were won without a single Floridian in the starting lineup. If you’re going to win and win big in basketball at the University of Florida, you better be able to recruit the entire country. Donovan began the decade by making three straight Elite Eights (2011-13) and one Final Four (2014). He went 120-30 in those four years before things cratered in 2015 (16-17), prompting his departure to the NBA. White has put together a nice body of work (108-65 record) but with only one Elite Eight appearance (2017) to show for it the natives grow restless. Compounding things is the just finished 19-12 season in which the Gators began ranked sixth nationally, predicted by many to challenge for the Final Four. Like it or not, a 19-12 record only causes the Donovan shadow to lengthen. When the media posts their predictions for the 2020-21 season, expectations won’t be nearly as high for White and the Gators but this could actually be a better basketball team from top to bottom of the roster than the one White finished the COVID-19 shortened season with back in early March. Kerry Blackshear Jr. will be playing professional basketball somewhere next year and reserve Dontae Bassett has transferred to Weber State. Everybody else is back including starters Keyontae Johnson (6-5, 235), Andrew Nembhard (6-5, 193), Noah Locke (6-3, 205) and Scottie Lewis (6-5, 180). Lewis considered declaring for the NBA Draft but elected to return for his sophomore season, in part because he knows the UF roster will be stronger than last year and the Gators will have a chance to put the disappointments behind them. Tre Mann (6-4, 180), Omar Payne (6-10, 225), Jason Jitoboh (6-11, 280) and Ques Glover give White a strong core group to work with. The additions of Anthony Duruji (6-8, 220) and Tyree Appleby (6-1, 165), both of whom are eligible after sitting out a transfer year, and a three-player recruiting class led by sharpshooting Russian Samson Ruzhentsev (6-8, 205) will give White a lot of moving parts that should allow him the flexibility to play any style he wants. The roster is experienced, athletic and capable of putting together the best season UF has had since White made the Elite Eight his second year on the job. Nobody knows better than Mike White what expectations are at Florida. The Gators practice in a building that for all practical purposes is a monument to Billy Donovan. The Gators play their home games on an O-Dome court named after the UF legend. Comparisons are inevitable and the only way to silence them is to put the legend in the rearview. For that, he must win and win big. He has the roster to do it next year.