DYNAMIC DUOS IN UF FOOTBALL HISTORY Spurrier to Casey: Their debut season together was 1964 when Spurrier took over as the starting QB in the fifth game of the season. Spurrier’s numbers were rather modest – 943 passing yards for six touchdowns – but Casey established himself as a legitimate star by catching 47 passes for 663 yards and four touchdowns. In 1965, Ray Graves opened up the offense considerably as the Gators became the most wide-open team in the SEC. Spurrier threw for 1,893 yards and 14 touchdowns while Casey caught 58 for 809 yards and eight TDs. That season against FSU, with the Gators trailing 17-16, Spurrier rolled out to his right to throw a square out pattern to Casey but when he noticed no safety in the middle of the field, he motioned Casey to break the route and head for the end zone. Spurrier threw the perfect pass for a TD to seal the two as true legends. Reaves to Alvarez: They became legends on the third play of the season opener with Houston when Reaves threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Alvarez as the Gators beat Houston 59-35, the start of a 9-1-1 season that was one of the greatest in UF history. You have to wonder what might have happened if Florida hadn’t made a coaching change after the 1969 season. In that wide open 1969 offense, Reaves threw for 2,896 yards and 24 touchdowns and Alvarez caught 88 for 1,329 yards and 12. Reaves threw for only 30 more TDs in the next two seasons under Doug Dickey but finished with a then NCAA record 7,549 career passing yards. Alvarez caught fewer passes (84) combined in his next two seasons than he did as a sophomore but finished his career with 172 catches for 2,563 yards and 19 TDs. Cameron and Ortega: They were teammates from the time they were in high school at Coral Gables through four years at Florida. Ortega was already committed to UF when University of Miami coach Fran Curci committed a true recruiting blunder, which caused Cameron to decide to go to UF along with Ortega and teammate Randy Talbot. In 1974, Cameron led the Gators with 185 tackles while Ortega had more than 100. Ortega finished his UF career with 357 career tackles while Cameron finished with more than 300. The two of them earned All-American honors in 1974. Anderson and Williams: From 1982-85 Neal Anderson and John L. Williams combined for 5,643 rushing yards (Anderson for 3,234, 30 TDs; Williams for 2,409, 14 TDs). They were at their best in the 1984-85 seasons. Anderson ran for 916 yards and seven TDs in 1984 while Williams ran for 795 yards and three TDs while also leading the team in receiving (21-276, two TDs). In 1985, Anderson ran for 1,034 yards and eight touchdowns and caught 25 passes for 349 yards and one TD. Williams ran for 659 and two touchdowns, catching 44 passes for 369 yards and three TDs. Williams and Oliver: In the history of college football there might have never been a safety combination that had two safeties who hit as ferociously as Jarvis Williams and Louis Oliver, both first team All-Americans in 1987. They were downright scary. That season Oliver, a former walk-on from Belle Glade, intercepted five passes and broke up 19. He was a first team All-America selection in 1988 also. Williams, who finished his career with 10 interceptions, was a two-time All-SEC performer (1986-87). Matthews to Jackson: Do you ever remember a better combination on a slant pattern than Shane Matthews to Willie Jackson. It seems it was automatic any time Steve Spurrier dialed up that play. It’s rather amazing that they became so good together when you consider that Matthews began the Spurrier era in the spring of 1990 as the sixth string QB and Jackson didn’t arrive until the fall, the last player signed because he was (a) a legacy and (b) local from P.K. Yonge. Jackson became Matthews’ top target in 1991 when Shane threw for 3,130 yards and 28 touchdowns and Jackson caught 51 for 725 yards and 10 TDs while leading UF to its first SEC title that counted. The next year, Matthews threw for 3,205 yards and 23 touchdowns while Jackson caught 62 for 775 yards and eight TDs. Wuerffel to Doering: Wuerffel to Doering stands out not just because of the “Doering’s got a touchdown! Oh my!” play that stands as one of the two or three most remembered plays in Florida football history, but because they were so locked in as a combination. They were great on the slant but even better on the fade in the end zone. Wuerffel was a redshirt freshman when he threw the game-winning TDP to Doering against Kentucky. That year he threw for 2,230 yards and 22 touchdowns while Doering, a former walk-on, caught 43 for 533 yards and seven TDs. In 1994, Wuerffel threw for 1,754 yards and 18 TDs, with Doering catching 35 for 496 and seven TDs. They went off the charts in 1995 when Wuerffel threw for 3,266 yards and 35 touchdowns while Doering caught 70 for 1,045 yards and 17 scores. Grossman to Gaffney: When we knew this combination was going to be special was in Florida’s 41-9 win over LSU (and Nick Saban) at The Swamp in 2000. Leading 10-3 with 36 seconds remaining in the half and Florida facing third and goal at the LSU nine, David Jorgensen snapped the ball over Rex Grossman’s head. Grossman chased the ball down at the 22, whirled and threw to Gaffney running two yards deep in the end zone for a TD that stunned the Tigers, who went on to lose 41-9. This was the fifth game of the season. Grossman was the starter from that point onward, finishing the season with 1,868 passing yards and 21 touchdowns. Gaffney was his favorite target, catching 71 passes for 1,174 yards and 14 TDs. The next season they were even better. Grossman should have won the Heisman when he threw for 3,412 yards and 34 touchdowns while Gaffney caught 67 for 1,193 yards and 13 TDs. Tebow and Leak: How do you make an offense designed for a dual threat QB work when your starting QB is a conservative non-runner? In 2006, that’s what Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen had to figure out so they let Chris Leak throw the prettiest spirals you’ve ever seen and brought in Tim Tebow to be the single wing tailback who got tough yards and occasionally threw a pass. Two QB systems usually don’t work, but this one did because Leak and Tebow cared more about winning than personal stats. When we knew it was going to work was the Tennessee game (21-20 UF victory) when Tebow converted a fourth-and-one when all 107,000 in Neyland Stadium knew he was going to run the ball and then Leak followed that up with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Baker to win the game. That season Leak threw for 2,942 yards and 23 touchdowns (Tebow 358 and five) while Tebow ran for 469 yards and eight touchdowns (Leak 30 yards and three) as UF won the national championship. Tebow and Harvin: This has to go down as one of the greatest offensive duos in the history of college football. Whether in the running game or the passing game, they scared the bejabbers out of defensive coordinators. In the 2007 season, Tebow won the Heisman Trophy, throwing for 3,286 yards and 32 touchdowns while running for 895 and 23 more. That same year Harvin averaged 9.2 yards per carry (764 rushing yards) and scored six TDs while catching 59 passes for 858 yards (14.5 per catch) and four more TDs. They were actually better in 2008 although the numbers didn’t reflect it due to more offensive options. Tebow threw for 2,746 yards and 30 touchdowns while rushing for 673 and 12 more. Harvin averaged 9.4 per carry (660 yards) for 10 touchdowns while catching 40 passes for 644 yards (16.1 per catch) and seven more as they led the Gators to the national championship. THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX What if the NCAA, at the recommendation of its members, cancelled all sports in the fall and then rescheduled everything for the spring and summer of 2021? A radical thought, certainly, but something that should be considered particularly in light of the fact that the two cash cows – football and men’s basketball – will have to have their seasons or else we could be facing serious insolvency problems. Let’s start with one prominent uncertainty. Quite a few schools are considering the postponement of the start of their academic year until January 2021 if significant progress isn’t made in the next month toward an eradication of the corona virus. While there are numerous promising reports of the effectiveness of drugs such as hydroxychloronique or hydrochloronique in combination with azithromycin and research groups that have moved at warp speed in developing and testing successfully a vaccine, it will take time to get things under control. So what if a large number of schools cancel classes until January? Can the NCAA do to find a solution to prevent its Division I schools from going bankrupt? Starting basketball in January wouldn’t be that far-fetched an idea. There have been folks begging for that for years. Football? Shorten the season to 10 games and start it in March. Spring pro leagues such as the old USFL showed it’s not such a bad concept. Run the fall and winter sports next spring then run the spring sports in the summer months. Sure, you would have a lot of sports going simultaneously, but at least the two sports that make money – football and men’s basketball – would be preserved and with it, the budgets of most NCAA athletic programs at the Division I level. RANDOM THOUGHTS: The NCAA voted to extend the eligibility of all athletes from spring sports who had their seasons interrupted by the virus and did not extend another year of eligibility to winter sports such as basketball and gymnastics. Personally, I would have preferred to have championships played in sports like basketball and gymnastics, but this was a money decision all the way. It stinks for the kids who won’t get to see if they could have hoisted a conference or national championship trophy … NFL executives are planning for the season to start on time. We’ll see how that works … During the stoppage of the Major League Baseball season, veteran players will be paid $4,775 per day for 60 days. Nice work (or lack of) if you can get it … ESPN predicts college football’s top 25 defenses to start 2020: (1) Georgia; (2) Clemson; (3) Ohio State; (4) LSU; (5) Alabama; (6) Oregon; (7) FLORIDA; (8) Washington; (9) Auburn; (10) Penn State; (11) Michigan; (12) Wisconsin; (13) Notre Dame; (14) Miami; (15) Iowa; (16) TCU; (17) Baylor; (18) Utah; (19) Cincinnati; (20) Texas A&M; (21) Pittsburgh; (22) Kentucky; (23) Appalachian State; (24) Texas; (25) Tennessee.

LOOKING AHEAD: THE RECEIVERS WILL BE FINE Van Jefferson, Freddie Swain, Tyrie Cleveland and Joshua Hammond will all earn an NFL paycheck next season. At most places losing for receivers to the NFL would be devastating news. At Florida it will be business as usual. That’s not to say Dan Mullen wouldn’t love to have all four of them back for one more season, but he’s got more than enough returning talent to go with talented newcomers so that the Florida offense isn’t going to miss a beat. When the preseason magazines come out in a couple of months, the Gators won’t have the top ranked receiving crew in the SEC – that will be reserved for LSU which returns Biletnikoff winner Ja’Marr Chase and Terrence Marshall and Alabama which returns Devonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle – but Florida’s receivers will take a backseat to very, very few groups anywhere in the country. Nobody in the league – or the country for all that matters – has a better tight end than Kyle Pitts (54-649, 5 TDs), who is a nightmare matchup and by season’s end we’ll probably be saying the same thing about Trevon Grimes, who is ready to become the go-to guy on the outside after two years of learning to play the position the right way (59-855, 5 TDs). If Kadarius Toney can stay healthy, the Gators have the ultimate make you miss guy in the slot. Jacob Copeland (21-273, 2 TDs) should double his production as well. Will this be the year Rick Wells finally puts it together and shows he can do in games what he does in practice? If those were all the Gators had in the receiving arsenal, Dan Mullen would have more than enough to put defenses on their heels but sophomore tight end Keon Zipperer (3-31, 1 TD) should get his number called often and Mullen is ever so high on the three redshirt freshmen – Ja’Markis Weston, Trent Whittemore and Dionte Marks – who impressed last year working with the scout team. Texas grad transfer Jordan Pouncey should figure in the plans and it’s expected that Penn State transfer Justin Shorter will get a waiver for immediate eligibility. Incoming freshmen Xzavier Henderson and Ja’Quavian Fraziars have the talent to play immediately. If Leonard Manuel is able to qualify, he will be a final talented addition. So, if Jefferson, Swain, Cleveland and Hammond could play one more year, UF might have the most stacked corps of receivers in the country, but there is no need to fret. Florida will be just fine. GATORS IN SEVEN-ROUND CBSSPORTS.COM MOCK DRAFT Only five Gators go in the seven-round mock draft composed by Josh Edwards of CBSSports.com. This isn’t an impressive body of work, not because only five Gators are drafted but his overall analysis and placement seems a bit off from the evaluations of other experts. C.J. Henderson: Dallas, first round, pick 17 Jabari Zuniga: Cincinnati, first pick of round three, pick 95 Jonathan Greenard: Tampa Bay, third round, pick 76 Van Jefferson: Philadelphia, third round, pick 103 Lamical Perine: Jacksonville, fifth round, pick 165 FIVE DISAPPOINTING TEAMS FOR 2020 PER COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEWS Pete Futiak, the longtime proprietor and analyst from collegefootballnews.com says these five teams will be in for disappointment in 2020 (one from each power conference): Florida State: “The Noles have to improve one of the nation’s worst pass defenses, the boatload of penalties have to slow down, and the offensive line that was a disaster when Jimbo Fisher left – and Taggart was never able to fix – is still a question mark until the practices finally kick in.” Minnesota: “They have to go to Wisconsin after playing at Maryland, and they get Illinois and Michigan State on the road in back-to-back weeks. Throw in the date at Nebraska, and the home game against Michigan, and forget about another 11-2 run.” Baylor: “The Bears lost six key parts who’ll either be drafted or will play a big role in NFL training camps, and eight starters have to be replaced on defense.” Southern Cal: “Road games at Stanford – who should be a whole lot better – Utah, Oregon and up the road to UCLA are rough enough, but the Trojans also have to host Arizona State, Cal, Washington and close out the regular season against Notre Dame.” Georgia: “The Bulldog talent level isn’t a problem after years of phenomenal recruiting, but there’s still a whole lot of work to do with ten players showing off at the NFL Combine and with at least 13 starters expected to be off the Sugar Bowl-winning team. And that’s the problem everyone has to deal with – there’s no spring football to figure out all fo the parts of the puzzle that have to fit.” SOME SEC BASKETBALL STUFF Graduate transfer Kevin Marfo (6-8, 250), who led the nation in rebounding last season at Quinnipiac, has committed to Texas A&M. That is a huge pickup for Buzz Williams. The Aggies have also sent out an offer to Ernest Ross (6-9, 205, Alachua, FL Santa Fe), who is one of Florida’s top targets. Johnny Juzang, last seen nailing some critical shots that helped Kentucky rally to beat Florida at the O-Dome, has put his name in the NCAA transfer portal. Juzang’s father says homesickness (he’s from California) is the reason but it also might have something to do with the fact Kentucky has signed Terrence Clark, B.J. Boston and Cam’Ron Fletcher, all of whom are shooters who play the wing. Tennessee picked up a big time grad transfer in E.J. Anosike, who averaged 15.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game last year at Sacred Heart. Alabama got a commitment from 2021 Canadian wing guard prospect Joshua Primo (6-4, 175, Mississauga, Ontario), who many project as a one-and-done. This might be a dicey signing because there is a very good chance there won’t be a one-and-done rule in place in 2021 and high school players will be eligible to be drafted. Alabama forward Herb Jones will explore the NBA Draft but won’t hire an agent. Unless he’s listening to some true idiots, he will be back next year. Count on it. Auburn freshman Isaac Okoro has declared for the NBA to no one’s surprise. He’s projected as a lottery pick by most experts. Auburn also got bad news on the recruiting trail when stud center Cliff Omoruyia (6-10, 220, Maplewood, NJ Roselle Catholic) committed to Rutgers. That leaves Auburn without a big man in the 2020 class to replace graduated Austin Wiley. Georgia’s Rayshaun Hammond is planning to enter the NBA Draft but won’t hire an agent so he can come back if he doesn’t get the news he’s looking for. He’ll be back unless he listens to people who were dropped on their heads too many times as infants. Georgia backup center Rodney Howard (6-11, 250) is transferring to Georgia Tech. Unless they change the transfer rules, he’ll have to sit a year. Vertically challenged Ole Miss is losing some size. Carlos Curry (6-11, 235) is transferring out. He’s already had a redshirt season and will certainly apply for an NCAA waiver. Expected landing place is UAB, coached by former Ole Miss boss Andy Kennedy. Vanderbilt took a double hit when both Aaron Nesmith and Saben Lee announced they are leaving for the NBA. Nesmith will hire an agent so there is no turning back for him. Lee hasn’t announced his plans so there is a possibility he could see the light (no one has him on the draft radar) and come back. Vanderbilt grad transfer Matthew Moyer (6-8, 230) has landed at George Washington. Mississippi State’s stud power forward Reggie Perry has declared for the NBA. He averaged 17.4 points and 10.1 rebounds per game last year. He figures to be a late first to mid-second round selection. TIGHT SPHINCTERS AT ARIZONA AND LSU Tomorrow night HBO will be airing its documentary “The Scheme,” which is the tale of how agent/runner Christian Dawkins found himself caught up in a recruiting scheme that involved Adidas and a bunch of high profile college basketball programs. Dawkins was at the epicenter of the college basketball scandal that the FBI investigated and resulted in convictions in federal court trials in New York. When this is aired, there will be some very tight sphincters in Tucson and Baton Rouge, because documentary includes audio exchanges between Arizona HBC Sean Miller and LSU HBC Will Wade. When this audio is presented before the NCAA Committee on Infractions, the result is likely to be nuclear winter at Arizona and LSU. Per Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated, the NCAA has already delivered a Notice of Allegations to North Carolina State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Southern Cal, TCU and South Carolina. A Notice of Allegations may have already been received at Creighton and Auburn. Expected to receive their NOAs quite soon are Alabama, Arizona, Louisville and LSU. RANDOM THOUGHTS: The basketball world is saddened by the loss of Les “Big Game” Hunter, who helped Loyola (Chicago) stun the world in 1963 by beating Cincinnati and preventing the Bearcats from winning a third straight NCAA championship. Hunter averaged 17 points and 11.4 rebounds that season as Loyola became the first team with four black starters to win the NCAA title … Texas has elected to stick with Shaka Smart for one more season. Although AD Chris Del Conte said Texas winning five of the last six games impacted the decision, the corona virus most likely had plenty to do with it since he couldn’t travel to interview anyone … Former Gator Demarcus Robinson agreed to a one-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs … My friend Gary Parrish is the best basketball writer in the country, but I strongly disagree with his latest NBA mock draft which has the Golden State Warriors taking Lamelo Ball with the first pick in the first round. I don’t doubt that Lamelo is talented, perhaps more talented than older brother Lonzo, just that I can’t see the Warriors putting up with dad LaVar Ball, who is certifiable … ESPN basketball analyst Doris Burke, probably second only in analyzing a game to Hubie Brown, has tested positive for corona virus. The good news is most of the symptoms have gone away and now she’s feeling 100% better … The NCAA may not vote to allow an extra year of eligibility to athletes due to the cancellation of spring sports seasons. The reason? The cost of the scholarships since all spring sports are non-profits. It probably would have little effect on a school like Florida, whose athletic department runs in the black, but would have quite an effect on schools in the non-power five conferences ... Here is what I would like to see golf do if the world seems back to normal by August 1. Schedule all four majors two weeks apart. There is plenty of time to make the plans now so the courses can get ready. I’d go Masters, PGA, US Open and then British Open. Imagine the interest that would be generated if someone got hot and maybe won the first two or even three.

The only thing that seems certain is the uncertainty. While the entire world copes with the rapid spread of the coronavirus COVID-19, daily life and activities have been put on pause. One of the first things to be put on pause—understandably so—was school. By proxy that meant all sporting events and football related activities saw widespread cancellation and/or a long-term inconclusive hiatus. As the man responsible for a large portion of spring and offseason related activities for the Florida Gators football team, Strength and Conditioning coach Nick Savage had to quickly and as efficiently as possible upturn his entire plan for the Gators. “Once this all kind of started, my advice to them in our last team meeting was 'if we're going to do this, we're going to do it the right way.' And what I mean by that is practice proper sanitary things, the whole social distancing. I encouraged them to stay at their house and things like that,” explained Savage while speaking on a teleconference call with local beat reporters on Friday afternoon. The Florida athletic areas save the academic center and training/medical room are completely closed until at least April 15. That means Savage himself is working from home. Now his focus has become keeping his team safe and healthy physically and mentally, even from afar. Related: Spring football canceled, UF athletics shut down till April 15 “First and foremost as this kind of got going, our No. 1 priority in really all of this is obviously the health and safety of the student-athletes. And then the families. So we have a checklist of items that me and my staff do daily or weekly, whatever it may be in terms of communication. “I talk to, I send out one team text a day, whether it's motivational or actually goal-oriented where they have to do something. And I call one to two position groups a day, basically, so I hear and see their face. I'll call them or I'll FaceTime them. I want to hear their voice or see their face at least once a week to make sure I'm not missing something through text message. Long-winded answer is obviously we text daily and then I will have multiple calls to a percentage of the athletes every single day and by the end of the week I have hit everyone.” Once he’s certain their mental health is where it should be, Savage checks bookmarks and thresholds for their physical progress done in social isolation. As explained by the Florida UAA, "per NCAA rules, any film review or instruction with teams is not permitted at this time, but coaches and strength/conditioning staff are allowed two hours of daily interaction with regard to team activities, as well as unlimited communication with student-athletes to check on their well-being. The interaction does not allow for monitoring physical activities, such as remotely watching or directing workouts, so no virtual coaching." Since Savage and his staff can’t actually watch these workouts, he’s having them follow a blueprint that was drawn up when the NCAA and University of Florida first sent student athletes home. *The UAA recommended all athletes return home but the dorms remain open for those that couldn’t. Savage said all but a few have returned home in recent weeks. Those still on campus are required to work out individually or with only their roommates, per the guidelines set for the whole team. “I call it an umbrella, everything they’re going to be encountered with on a football field I need to make sure we take into account in terms of programming,” explains Savage. “That’s from flexibility, mobility, strength training, conditioning, skill acquisition, which is their football skill, predominantly their position itself. We can kind of give them a blueprint of what they need to get done each day and obviously each week. Some things are done daily, other things are done once a week, sometimes twice a week. It’s dependent on the week and where they’re at. Everything that they would be expected to do on campus, for the most part physically speaking, I’m expecting them to do to some shape or form at their house, in their backyard, wherever they’re at away from everyone. The stuff we sent them home with was basically a generic workout if you have no equipment. Based on what you have, how big your house was or how big your yard was we could tweak it along the way.” The tweaking has led to some creativity. Before their office was closed, the strength and conditioning staff videoed themselves doing all of the different workouts they were assigning to the team. Then the posted them on a private YouTube page with hyperlinks so each player could see what they were being asked to do. From there, Savage talks of each guys situation being different: some have full gyms in their house. Some are working with what they find in the yard. But its lead to each one doing what they can to be prepared in whatever way they can be for when football returns. And its provided moments of brevity for Savage as he watches what his players are using for workouts. “Typically, it’s family members or pets. It’s been the best. We’ve had everything from buckets and hoses and potting plant pots you would put plants in. Family members, pets, we’ve had a whole bunch of things. It’s been refreshing.” As has become a tradition for the Gators program of late, guys posted pictures and details of their gains and losses from offseason winter workouts. Sustaining that at home is possible, says Savage, but must be intentional. “You can do enough at home as long as intensity and volume is high enough to at least maintain what you did. Now one thing they got to do really a good job of that goes away pretty quickly is obviously their conditioning level. Things like that. If they sit on the couch the whole time and don’t do any exercises and don’t run, that’s not a really good recipe. Through communication I don’t foresee that being a problem at this point. “But a lot of it is a credit toward Coach Mullen and how he's built the program, because guys know, they've created routines and habits inside the building that now, at this point it remains the same and still in the same fashion even though they're outside the building. I think guys really bought into that.” No one yet knows when student athletes will be allowed to return in full to the campus and more so, football related activities. Schools and the SEC will continue to monitor CDC guidance. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has offered several alternatives including a modified schedule for fall camp to compensate for the loss of spring practices. No matter the solution, Florida Gators Strength and Conditioning Coach Nick Savage promises one thing will remain the same. “How me and my staff operate along with Coach Mullen, once again what is the safety and health of our student-athletes? When we do that in terms of training that’s our No. 1 priority, as well. Development and performance all comes behind the health and safety of student-athletes.”

WHEN GAME PLANS CAME TOGETHER PERFECTLY About a week prior to the Gators flying out to Arizona to begin their final practices and preparation for the 2006 national championship game against Ohio State, co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison confided in me as we walked from the Sanders Practice Field on the Florida campus to the west side of The Swamp. “We can beat them with a four-man rush,” Mattison told me, confident that I wouldn’t be going into detail about what he was telling me. “They won’t be able to handle our guys on the inside and that will free up our guys on the outside. If we blitz it will be just to keep them off balance.” Mattison coached Florida’s defensive line. Basically, he went into the game with a five-man rotation: Steven Harris, Ray McDonald and Joe Cohen handling the two inside positions with Derrick Harvey and Jarvis Moss on the outside. Over on the offensive side of the ball, Dan Mullen had a pair of game plans ready to go. Knowing the Gators had a decisive speed advantage, one plan had the Gators going vertical in the passing game if the Buckeyes tried to go bump and run with the wide receivers Dallas Baker, Bubba Caldwell and Jemalle Cornelius with Percy Harvin and Cornelius Ingram working the middle of the field. The second game plan was based on Ohio State playing its safeties well off the line of scrimmage. If that were the case, Mullen’s play calls would shift the passing game to shorter routes to receivers who would be wide open beneath the safeties. Both Mattison and Mullen were confident their game plans would work very well after watching film of the Buckeyes’ 42-39 win over Michigan. In what some called that overused “game of the century,” Mattison and Mullen saw an Ohio State team that had been exposed on both sides of the ball. After what Mattison had told me that day after practice in Gainesville, I watched a replay of every Ohio State game and I came to the conclusion there was no way the Buckeyes could handle Florida’s D-line, which would leave the linebacking crew of Brandon Siler, Earl Everett and Brian Crum free to make tackles. I was convinced the Buckeyes couldn’t run the football on the Gators nor could they keep Heisman Trophy QB Troy Smith upright without going max protect. That, of course, would play into Florida’s hands because it would reduce the Buckeyes to two and three-man routes. The only receiver Ohio State had that I was remotely concerned with was Ted Ginn Jr. and while he had world class speed, I thought Florida had faced better and snuffed out receivers in guys like D.J. Hall of Alabama, Dwayne Bowe of LSU and Chris Davis of FSU. What I saw of the Ohio State defense told me the Gators could run the football well enough to set up the passing game and that there was no way the Buckeyes could cover the Florida receivers. I had no idea how the Buckeyes could cover Dallas Baker or Percy Harvin. Three days before the January 8 (2007) game at University of Phoenix Stadium (now State Farm Stadium) in Glendale, I caught Mattison for a couple of moments after the Gators finished practice on a late, chilly afternoon. I asked him if he was as confident now as he was in Gainesville. He patted me on my back and just grinned. It was the kind of gesture that told me he knew in his heart of hearts what was going to happen in three days. The night before the game, I wrote that I expected Florida to win by 10 or more points. I actually believed the Gators would win by more than that but I stayed conservative in my prediction. A lot of people told me I was absolutely nuts but I didn’t waver in my belief that Florida would dominate this game. It wasn’t based on being a Gator. It had everything to do with what I had seen every single game the Gators had played and having watched every game on replay that Ohio State had played. I thought Ohio State would have been a slightly better than average team in the SEC because I was convinced the Buckeyes didn’t have the speed to cope with the Gators much less the better teams in the SEC. Game day. On the way to the stadium, Mark McLeod saw the dome of the stadium from 20 miles out as we drove into Glendale. He remarked, “This looks like the mothership has landed.” It did look like something from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Bob Redman started humming the music from “Close Encounters.” When we got to the stadium, I got a call from an Iowa radio station that had been in contact a few days before asking if I would come on the show with a pregame analysis of Florida’s chances against the mighty Buckeyes. I think one of the hosts spewed his coffee through his nose when I said, “I’ll be shocked if Florida wins by less than 20 points.” They couldn’t stop laughing and asked if I had ever watched the Buckeyes. I answered, “I’ve seen every single game they’ve played and I don’t think they can stay with the Gators.” More howls of laughter. I then told them that if the Gators lost or simply won in a squeaker that I would come on their show the next day and all their callers could tell me what an idiot I am. Game time. The stadium was probably 70% Ohio State. Because there was no Big Ten Championship Game at the time and the Buckeyes were unbeaten and ranked #1, all the Ohio State people had a week to buy up all the tickets, which were going for $1,400 for nose bleeders and more than $2,000 for anything where oxygen wasn’t pumped in. There was such an overflow in the media that most of us were in the corner of the south end zone. When Ted Ginn Jr. ran the opening kickoff back for a TD (Reggie Nelson was clipped right in front of a zebra who conveniently forgot to toss his yellow hankie), the Ohio State people went absolutely nuts but that didn’t last long because Brandon James not only ran Ohio State’s kickoff back 33 yards but another 15 was tacked on for a facemask. What Mullen saw on Ohio State’s first defensive stand told him he would be going with the short underneath game. The Buckeyes were playing their safeties a good 25-30 yards off the line of scrimmage and their corners were giving a huge cushion. Three straight passes from Chris Leak – five yards to Harvin, two to Cornelius and three to Baker gave a first down. A four-yard run by DeShawn Wynn was followed by a little 11-yard swing pass out of the backfield to Billy Latsko. Tim Tebow came on and bulldozed middle linebacker James Laurinitis, who was supposed to be all-interplanetary but in fact wasn’t as good as half the middle linebackers in the SEC. The Buckeyes gave Baker such a cushion at the 14 that Leak made an easy throw that Baker caught, juked a defender and went in for the touchdown. When Ohio State got the ball back, Smith threw incomplete to Ginn, who was smothered by Tremain McCollum. Smith was flushed from the pocket for a four-yard gain on second down, then was sacked by Harvey on third down for a seven-yard loss. Florida rushed only four on the play and Smith not only was under duress but all the receivers were covered. It was that way the entire game. Thanks to an Ohio State personal foul, Florida got the ball on the Ohio State 49 after the punt. It took the Gators five plays to score, but the Mullen game plan showed just how vulnerable the Buckeyes were when Leak connected with Ingram in the middle of the field, behind the linebackers and in front of the safeties. That 20-yard completion put the ball at the OSU seven. Two plays later, Harvin scored on a four-yard jet sweep to put the Gators up for good. On Ohio State’s ensuing possession, Smith was sacked again by Harvey and again on a four-man rush. Harvey was so quick off the ball that OSU’s All-American left tackle false started on the next play. The drive ended two plays later when Smith, under pressure from what seemed like the entire UF D-line was picked off by Reggie Lewis. Florida drove 10 plays for 71 yards and a two-yard TD run by Wynn, a Cincinnati native. Leak had a 20-yard completion to Ingram and a 19-yarder to Cornelius on the drive, both easy throws to wide open receivers yards in front of the Ohio State safeties. Ohio State was so fearful of Florida’s speed that the Buckeyes stayed in a soft zone the entire game with the safeties looking like they were back to catch a punt. Ohio State’s lone offensive scoring drive went 64 yards aided by a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty on Siler on one of those rare Florida blitzes. The Buckeye balloon burst for good with 3:37 left in the half and the Gators leading 24-14. Feeling his defense had no way to stop the Gators, Jim Tressell went for it on fourth and one at the Ohio State 29. On the previous play, Harris had blown things up in the middle so badly that Smith barely got back to the line of scrimmage. On fourth down, Harris pushed All-Big Ten center Doug Datish so far back that he almost knocked down Smith trying to hand the ball off to Antonio Pittman, who was decleated by Everett and McDonald. That led to a Chris Hetland field goal and a 27-14 lead. By this time in the game, Ohio State had abandoned anything but a two-man pass route. Tight end Rory Nicol, fullback Stan White and Pittman were all being held in to pass protect but it didn’t do any good. On Ohio State’s first play after the Ijjas field goal, Moss beat the double team, sacked Smith and forced a fumble that Harvey recovered and ran back nine yards to the OSU five. Then it was Tebow time. Two straight power runs got the ball to the one. With OSU expecting Tebow again on third down, he sprinted out and flipped a little pass to Caldwell for a TD and a 34-14 halftime lead. The Gators could have easily scored 50 or 60 points in this game if Urban Meyer hadn’t gone conservative in the second half. He was content to run the clock when the Gators had the ball and let the defense keep humiliating the Ohio State offense. Leak wound up throwing for 213 yards and was selected the game’s Most Outstanding Player. The Gators ran for 156 and could have easily gone for more than 200 if Meyer had thrown the ball more in the second half. Mullen’s game plan worked to perfection though. Ohio State couldn’t stop a game plan so well executed. On the defensive side, Harvey was the game’s outstanding defensive player as the Gators sacked Smith five times for 51 yards in losses. Ohio State managed only 82 yards of offense. Two of their eight first downs were due to UF penalties. Smith was 4-14 passing, looking anything but a Heisman winner. When I saw Mattison on the field as the confetti flew post game, he hugged me and roared, “Didn’t these people (talking about the experts) watch my guys on film? We dominated them. They didn’t have a chance.” He was right. The Gators dominated Ohio State and won the 2006 national championship because the game plans on both sides of the ball that were executed flawlessly. No matter how many championships the Gators win in the future, they may never experience another night quite like this when two game plans confluence with such absolute perfection.

NFL DRAFT WILL BE HELD APRIL 23-25 While chatting with an old friend on the phone Thursday – without question the best way to keep appropriate social distancing to prevent the spread of the corona virus – the subject of the NFL Draft came up. The draft, in case you live on Mars or in a yurt in Outer Mongolia, will still be held and commissioner Roger Goodell has no intention of delaying it beyond the scheduled April 23-25 dates. Of course, that means we’ll probably have to deal with a draft minus players sweating bullets in the green room while they wait hearing their name called since it’s unlikely all the travel bans and social distancing rules will most likely still be in place. That means no obligatory hug and photo bomb from Goodell on the stage. We won’t get to hear New York Jets fans boo whoever the Giants select nor will we hear those same fans act as if the world is coming to an end should the Jets pick someone they don’t like. The draft was going to be held in Las Vegas, the new home of the team formerly known as the Oakland Raiders, which was the home of the team formerly known as the Los Angeles Raiders, which they became when they left Oakland the first time. Raiders fans are probably disappointed that they can’t show up in mass to cheer when Jon Gruden chooses new players that they will be cheering for in the fall but they’ll still be happy. The draft is simply another date with the reality that Las Vegas is now an NFL city with a state of the art football air conditioned domed stadium rising in the desert. Another thing that will be quite odd is staging a draft without the pro days on college campuses or the private workouts. Some guys whose stock might have dropped like a rock based on what the scouts saw at pro day will stay high on some team’s boards and others who could have risen dramatically might get stuck with waiting until the last day to hear their name called. My friend pointed out, “This will be like the old days when teams drafted their people based on the films they saw and not so much on what they saw in person. We had a lot more surprises in those days. I liked it better. I might not be as entertained this year as I have in the last few years but I’ll still be happy to find out who my team (Tampa Bay Bucs) draft to come play with the Brady Bunch.” The first NFL Draft was held in 1936 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Chicago. It went on for nine rounds and there was absolutely no media coverage where Jay Berwanger, the first Heisman Trophy winner, became the first player ever selected. When the Philadelphia Eagles couldn’t meet Berwanger’s demands of a $1,000 a month salary, Berwanger was traded to the Chicago Bears. The Bears offered the exorbitant salary of $13,500 but Berwanger wanted $15,000 and went to work with a rubber company and agreed to become a part-time coach at his alma mater, the University of Chicago. There were 90 players listed on a blackboard on that first draft. Nobody was working with a bank of telephones back to team headquarters where officials were on the phone with potential draftees as well as other teams looking to make trades, etc. Without the cat and mouse games that dominate today’s draft, things moved rather quickly. Nowadays, the draft lasts three days and teams get 15 minutes between each first round selection, time that is typically filled by Mel Kiper and Todd McShay in what they perceive as a battle to prove which one is the smartest guy in the room. It wasn’t until 1980 that the first televised draft took place and ever since then, it’s been a place where drama queens are born and where we spend three days wondering how much hairspray it takes to hold Kiper’s famous pompadour in place while wondering how is it that someone who was a zillionth-string walk-on QB at Richmond (McShay) can be viewed as an expert on all things pro football. Since pro days on campuses were cancelled along with the private workouts and interviews, teams are going to be drafting somewhat blindly this year. They’ll have to trust what they saw on film of each player, Senior Bowl workouts as well as combine performances. “This will be closer to the old days than any draft we’ve had since then,” my friend told me. “I’m tempted to just watch something on Netflix instead of the draft, but since by then we’ll have been almost two full months without any sports, I know I’ll end up watching it. What I might do is turn the volume off completely and just watch.” Now that’s a concept. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED THREE-ROUND MOCK NFL DRAFT In its latest mock draft, a three-rounder, four Gators will hear their names called – C.J. Henderson, Jonathan Greenard, Van Jefferson and Jabari Zuniga. Gator in the first round: C.J. Henderson, CB, to the San Francisco 49ers with the 13th pick SEC players in the first round: 1. Cincinnati: Joe Burrow, LSU, QB; 5. Miami: Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama; 8. Arizona: Jedrick Wills, OT, Alabama; 9. Jacksonville: Derrick Brown, DT, Auburn; 11. New York Jets: Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia; 12. Las Vegas: Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama; 16. Atlanta: K’Lavon Chaisson, EDGE, LSU; 17. Dallas: Javon Kinlaw, DT, South Carolina; 18. Miami: Xavier McKinney, S, Alabama; 19. Las Vegas: Kristian Fulton, CB, LSU; 20. Jacksonville: Henry Ruggs, WR, Alabama; 21. Philadelphia: Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU; 22. Minnesota: Patrick Queen, LB, LSU; 25. Trevon Diggs, CB, Alabama SEC players in the second round: 35. Detroit: Grant Delpit, S, LSU; 39. Miami: D’Andre Swift, RB, Georgia; 47. Atlanta: Justin Madubuike, DT, Texas A&M; 53. Noah Ibinoghene, CB, Auburn; 56. Miami: Cameron Dantzler, CB, Mississippi State; 58. Jordan Elliott, DT. Missouri; 59. Seattle: Marlon Davidson, DT, Auburn; 63. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, LSU Gators in the third round: Jonathan Greenard, EDGE, to Buffalo with the 86th pick; Jabari Zuniga, EDGE, to New Orleans with the 88th pick; Van Jefferson, WR, to Minnesota with the 89th pick SEC players in the third round: 70. Miami: Lloyd Cushenberry III, C, LSU; 72. Arizona: Prince Tega Wanogho, OT, Auburn; 73. Jacksonville: Jake Fromm, QB, Georgia; 76. Tampa Bay: Isaiah Wilson, OT, Georgia; 79. New York Jets: Bryan Edwards, WR, South Carolina; 81. Las Vegas: Raekwom Davis, DT, Alabama; 99. Darrell Taylor, EDGE, Tennessee; 105. Minnesota: Logan Stenberg, OG, Kentucky THINKING OUT LOUD ON FRIDAY: Nobody, it seems, is burning up the phone lines trying to get a deal for former Tampa Bay Bucs QB Jameis Winston. I’m sure he’ll play for someone, but he’s not going to get much of a deal and is going to have to prove that he can take some coaching … Will the New England Patriots stick with what they’ve got – last year’s backup Jarrett Stidham and veteran Bryan Hoyer, who they got in a trade – or trade up for a QB in the draft? I could see the Patriots maybe moving up a little bit in the second round to pick Georgia’s Jake Fromm. From a mental standpoint and leadership qualities, he might be the QB with the most Tom Brady-like qualities out there. I could also seem them taking former Alabama/Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts in the second round. Hurts may wind up being the steal of the entire draft … The cancellation of the NCAA Basketball Tournament is going to cause serious financial hardship at small schools in non-power leagues. The NCAA is only going to distribute $225 million instead of the anticipated $600 that would have been doled out if there had been a tournament. The lower amount of money will be hardest felt by the non-power Division I football playing schools and the Division IAA football schools and it will put an end to the notion of eliminating football games between Division I and Division I-AA schools …. Former Harlem Globetrotter Curley Neal died Thursday at the age of 77. He was 68 years old. Other than Pete Maravich, he’s the greatest I ever saw dribbling a basketball … The first make or break game of the 2020 college football season will take place on September 19 in Tuscaloosa when Georgia comes to town. I can’t see Alabama losing at home. If Georgia loses this game, can you imagine how enormous the pressure will be on the Poodles on October 10 when they play Auburn and again three weeks later when they play the Gators in Jacksonville. Georgia will start the season ranked in the top five. You can bet the ranch on that. I think it’s entirely possible Georgia finishes the season outside the top ten which will have their faithful wondering if perhaps Kirby Smart is Mark Richt, Part Deux.

‘My first true heart-stopping moment and experience with the Florida Gators … I was hooked.’ This is the first of a series in Gator history as GatorBait takes a stroll over the past decade, examining and remembering one era at a time. Kassidy Hill sets up next week’s debut of Florida Football Flashback where she will recall moments, plays and seasons to commemorate 2010-19. Next week the entire GatorBait staff dives in on the most recent 10 years. By KASSIDY HILL GatorBait Columnist Jelani Jenkins’ touchdown off a Loucheiz Purifoy punt block against Louisiana Lafayette in the final 13 seconds to score a 2012 victory in what should have been an easy win…that’s the play that I kept reliving. I was sitting in the small airport in Mobile, Alabama, having just left my family’s day after Christmas celebrations and preparing to go to Miami for the Florida Gators 2019 Orange Bowl against the Virginia Cavaliers. I was excited and ready to make it to South Florida for the marquee matchup, but couldn’t help but think, was it worth it all to leave my family, time and again during holidays, miss out on special events and not spend as much time with them as possible? But Jelani Jenkins’ touchdown off a Loucheiz Purifoy punt block against Louisiana Lafayette in the final 13 seconds to score a 2012 victory in what should have been an easy win…that’s the play I kept re-living. It happened on my mother’s 50th birthday. I got up at the crack of dawn the next morning and drove back to Alabama to celebrate late but if I had gotten there when the rest of the family did, I would have missed Jelani Jenkins’ touchdown. I was standing in the northeast corner of the northeast endzone, filming the game for WCJB TV20, the Gainesville ABC station and my employer at the time. Florida was No. 6 in the country during that game and hoping to be the benefactor of other losses to work their way back into the BCS National Championship. Of course that meant taking care of their own business as well. But tied at 20 with 0:13 to go against a team that was for all intents and purposes a cupcake was not taking care of their own business. The Rajin’ Cajuns were facing a 4th and three from their own 34 and understandably elected to punt. The Gators — led by Will Muschamp at the time — lined up clearly letting their opponent know they were coming for the punt. And yet Loucheiz Purifoy still came flying through easily unblocked, the corner using his speed to get to the foot of the punter and pop the ball up. It landed safely in Jenkins arm’s and from there the linebacker had open grass all the way to the endzone. From my perspective, I saw Purifoy first. Saw him fly through with ease, bring his hand down at a perfect arc to meet the ball as it came off the punters foot and I watched as the ball sailed upwards and backwards. I didn’t see Jenkins until he was crossing the pylon. By then near the entire team was trying to come off the sidelines to celebrate with both men. It was my first full game in The Swamp and my first true heart-stopping moment that I was able to experience up close with the Florida Gators. I was hooked. As a journalist, the opportunity to be a part of helping fans make sense of it or—even better—be the one to describe it for those that might have missed seeing it live. It felt like the highest privilege for a sports junkie like myself. Since then I’ve been cataloging those moments, those games and those players. And as I sat in the Mobile airport that evening, preparing for a flight to see what would become yet another iconic Gators game, I began making a list, starting with that Jenkins touchdown. I’ve been covering the Gators since that 2012 season and I’ve seen a lot. The 2010’s weren’t the most exciting for the Florida Gators, relatively. But the sheer amount of talent that came through Gainesville during that time produced moments that will live for many Thanksgivings to come. Over the next few weeks, we want to re-live some of those moments with you. We’ll recap as many as possible, taking a deep look into one each week, taking a quick look at some others and then letting you — the fans — tell us what some of these moments were like for you. We’ll highlight everything from the end of the Urban era, the defensive standouts of the Muschamp era, the wacky and unbelievable strokes of luck during the McElwain era, punctuated by that one incredible 2015 Ole Miss game. And wrap up with the two seasons that Mullen brought to finish the decade, chock full of highlight worthy plays and players. We’ll also head across the street to give proper credit to the 2014 men’s basketball team that went undefeated in league play and made it to the Final Four. We’ll examine one of the greatest singular moments in Gator basketball history, when Chris Chiozza hit a March Madness buzzer beater. We’ll take time to recap the night Billy Donovan picked up his 500th win. The Florida Gators are dominant in so many sports though so stick around for a look into some of the finest moments from McKethan Stadium, the back-to-back softball national championships, the swimmers who have set world records and the track and field stars who have sped past every competition. And so, so much more. Stayed tuned for Florida Football Flashback, Part 1, coming here next week: The Legend of Train Right Jill, Big Ben In.

I’m going to be honest, I sensed a big dropoff in Florida football after Urban Meyer left. In December 2010, when Will Muschamp was hired away from Texas as Mack Brown’s “Coach in Waiting,” it looked like a coup for Jeremy Foley. Although Foley’s hiring of Muschamp may have looked good on paper, it seemed to me the former Mack Brown assistant at Texas didn’t have the global grasp of a head coach who needed to be mindful of both sides of the ball. As a former Gainesville resident and Gator fan who has served impressive apprenticeships at Auburn and Texas, Muschamp looked like a perfect fit. But Muschamp came with a touch of arrogance and a chip on his shoulder. Thus the near-decade of disappointment began with the former Georgia Bulldog walk-on who thought he could find the offensive magic in the mind of Charlie Weis -- a big mistake. The Gators paid for a dry well of offense-less football for the next seven years. Weis was a bust and never could develop the promising career of Johnny Brantley, son of former Gator quarterback John Brantley, and National Gatorade Player of the Year. Then there was Jeff Driskell. Yada, yada, yada. This was unacceptable to those who relished the 1990s, the sweet spot for the Gators over 107 years and nearly 1,200 games. Maybe because it was the program rebirth which began in 1990 with the return of Prodigal Steve Spurrier and led to UF’s first SEC titles (six) and a national championship. Yet the decade that followed would produce the best record overall and two national championships. This brought about what I called “The Era of The Four M’s” – Meyer, Muschamp, McElwain and Mullen. Together with the two interims, the last year represents 81 wins, 47 losses, two SEC East titles, eight bowl games and six wins – but no titles. And very little offense. Beginning in 2010, Meyer’s last year, the downturn came. Four coaches, seven single-digit win seasons and a dropoff to an 81-46 record with an average of eight wins a season until Mullen arrived to up the ante. When Meyer left for health reasons – and no matter which you may think, I can guarantee you that was the reason he left – the UF football program went into a tailspin. Even the alleged guru of coaching hires, Jeremy Foley, could not waive his magic wand and produce the next Spurrier or Meyer or Billy Donovan. So did Foley botch the Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain hires? And did Dan Mullen bail him out? Suddenly a football program with three statues of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks out front -- and a field named after one of them -- hit such a dry spot that neither an offensive coach worth his salt or a group of skill players who could not move the chains consistently. We thought Muschamp might strike gold in his second year, going 11-2 after losing in the Sugar Bowl, but that turned out to be an anomaly. The deep freeze never thawed or the offense. And it lasted seven years, all the way through the McElwain era, due to lack of good coaching or sound offensive philosophy. The school once known for Heisman-winning quarterbacks and record-breaking offensive stats became sterile. By the end of 2011 (7-6) Weis was gone to Kansas and somehow the Gators went 11-2 in. 2012. Surely it was a matter of time before Muschamp would get them to the SEC championship game. Epic fail. Even the talented Jeff Driskell couldn’t get them there. Then came the crowning blow as the 2012 offense finished 116th in NCAA passing with under 2,000 yards. By 2013 it was even worse -- the worse season since 1979. The numbers were embarrassing, 4 wins and 8 losses – losing the last seven and missing a bowl game for the first time since 1990. Even more embarrassing was Florida’s first loss ever to an FCS team, Georgia Southern. After the loss to South Carolina, the Will Muschamp Experiment was over as he finished with 28 wins and 21 losses. D.J. Durkin finished out the season. Enter McElwain from Colorado State of the Mountain West Conference. For two seasons it appeared maybe Foley had regained his hiring touch, as Florida won 19 games and two SEC East titles. And then it all collapsed. By alleged “mutual agreement,” McElwain and Florida parted ways. Interim Randy Shannon finished 1-3 and Florida dropped to 4-7, only its second losing season in 38 years. The offense was stuck in the mud, the worst in America by 2017. Maybe you had forgotten about that dark period from 2011 through 2017. Despite the surge of optimism brought to Gainesville by Dan Mullen as the “Decade of the Teens” (2010-2019) came to a close, the past 10 years were not exactly memorable for Florida Football. But Mullen rehabilitated the offense and things began trending upward in 2018. The last decade did end on a promising note, and until the Coronavirus shutdown, the 2020 team under Mullen appeared back as an SEC East contender. How that will play out is anybody’s guess, but confident Gators feel Dan’s Plan will have their team back in the hunt. And that Kyle Trask is the hope of the future. No wonder the sight of Dan Mullen getting off the plane with his family at the Gainesville Airport in November 2017, wearing a big smile and doing the Gator comp, was such a beautiful, uplifting site to Florida Gator fans.

The two words that maybe best define the decade that was 2010-19 for Florida football are ‘What If?” In a roller coaster of a decade that saw the Gators go from 57-10 with two national championships from 2005-09 to a run through six coaches (if you count interims D.J. Durkin and Randy Shannon), it is impossible to look back without wondering what might have been. Start with the first what if. ‘What If?” Urban Meyer had taken medical advice and gone on a one-year sabbatical to get a grip on his health? Would the Gators have fared worse than the 8-5 they posted in 2010 with Steve Addazio running the program? And when Meyer returned to the helm, could he have reversed any damage to return the Gators to a perpetual reload and constant championship contention? Of course, the next ‘What If?” Meyer would have remained at Florida beyond 2011 when the Ohio State job came open? After all, this is a man who cut his coaching teeth at Ohio State and had a portrait of Woody Hayes in his Haile Plantation home. Then there is the ‘What If?” regarding Dan Mullen. What would have happened to the Florida program if Jeremy Foley had gone after Mullen in 2010 when Meyer hung up his whistle? At that point, Mullen had two years of head coaching experience at Mississippi State, having pulled off a surprising 5-7 record in 2009 then an even more surprising 9-4 in 2010. Mullen had the direct connection to Meyer and Florida, serving as the offensive coordinator from 2005-08 and the quarterback coach for Heisman winner Tim Tebow. He knew the recruiting landscape in the state and quite a few of the players still on the UF roster were there when he was in Gainesville. The rumor of the day was that Bob Stoops was ready to leave Oklahoma to take the Florida job, but for the third time – 2001 was the first when Steve Spurrier left for the NFL; the second was when Ron Zook was fired in 2004 although the hire of Meyer seemed to be a done deal – Stoops stayed at Oklahoma. Stoops would have been a home run hire, but he would have been in 2001 and 2004 as well. Mullen wouldn’t have been the sexiest of hires, but he had a track record, knew the state of Florida and the Southeastern Conference. Instead, Foley elected to go with Will Muschamp, who had never been a head coach at any level. Muschamp had one really good season (2012, 11-2), but he also had a losing season (4-7 in 2013 that included a loss to D1AA Georgia Southern) and was gone in 2014. Another opportunity for Mullen presented itself. By now, Mullen had gone to four consecutive bowl games (41-24 after that first season at MSU), which is unheard of in Starkville, had elevated the Bulldogs to a nearly monthlong run at #1 in the nation, and was a far more proven commodity than he was in 2011. The Stoops to Florida rumors persisted once again only to be silenced. Foley hired Jim McElwain, a former Alabama offensive coordinator who had rebuilt Colorado State and was 10-2 in 2014. McElwain, it turned out, did not fit in well with the Florida football culture and was a poor recruiter whose staff had problems establishing connections in the state. By the time his UF career cratered in 2017 with an unsubstantiated tale of death threats to him and his family, Foley was now the interim AD and Scott Stricklin was the new boss at Florida. Stricklin made a well-publicized run at Chip Kelly, which raises one more ‘What If?” What if Kelly hadn’t used the Florida interest to jack up interest and money from UCLA? Gauging by Kelly’s two losing seasons at UCLA and his lack of recruiting, it seems probable he would have taken Florida to even greater depths. When Kelly said no, Stricklin turned to Mullen, which was the perfect fit since Stricklin was the associate AD at Mississippi State when Mullen was hired there and then Mullen’s boss from 2010-16 when he left for UF. Mullen’s success at Florida – 21-5 in two seasons, two New Year’s Six bowl games, two top-ten finishes – raises the question once again what if Mullen had been the head ball coach at UF from the time Meyer departed until now? What we’ve seen is the ultimate quarterback guru who has resurrected the career of Feleipe Franks in 2018 and then transformed Kyle Franks from the penultimate bench warmer into a legitimate star in 2019. We see the success of Mullen, the hope for the future and the string of what-ifs that are in his wake and we wonder what might have been if only? ‘What If?”

The two words that maybe best define the decade that was 2010-19 for Florida football are what if? In a roller coaster of a decade that saw the Gators go from 57-10 with two national championships from 2005-09 to a run through six coaches (if you count interims D.J. Durkin and Randy Shannon), it is impossible to look back without wondering what might have been. Start with the first what if. What if Urban Meyer had taken medical advice and gone on a one-year sabbatical to get a grip on his health? Would the Gators have fared worse than the 8-5 they posted in 2010 with Steve Addazio running the program? And when Meyer returned to the helm, could he have reversed any damage to return the Gators to a perpetual reload and constant championship contention? Of course, the next what if is would Meyer have remained at Florida beyond 2011 when the Ohio State job came open? After all, this is a man who cut his coaching teeth at Ohio State and had a portrait of Woody Hayes in his Haile Plantation home. Then there is the what if regarding Dan Mullen. What would have happened to the Florida program if Jeremy Foley had gone after Mullen in 2010 when Meyer hung up his whistle? At that point, Mullen had two years of head coaching experience at Mississippi State, having pulled off a surprising 5-7 record in 2009 then an even more surprising 9-4 in 2010. Mullen had the direct connection to Meyer and Florida, serving as the offensive coordinator from 2005-08 and the quarterback coach for Heisman winner Tim Tebow. He knew the recruiting landscape in the state and quite a few of the players still on the UF roster were there when he was in Gainesville. The rumor of the day was that Bob Stoops was ready to leave Oklahoma to take the Florida job, but for the third time – 2001 was the first when Steve Spurrier left for the NFL; the second was when Ron Zook was fired in 2004 although the hire of Meyer seemed to be a done deal – Stoops stayed at Oklahoma. Stoops would have been a home run hire, but he would have been in 2001 and 2004 as well. Mullen wouldn’t have been the sexiest of hires, but he had a track record, knew the state of Florida and the Southeastern Conference. Instead, Foley elected to go with Will Muschamp, who had never been a head coach at any level. Muschamp had one really good season (2012, 11-2), but he also had a losing season (4-7 in 2013 that included a loss to D1AA Georgia Southern) and was gone in 2014. Another opportunity for Mullen presented itself. By now, Mullen had gone to four consecutive bowl games (41-24 after that first season at MSU), which is unheard of in Starkville, had elevated the Bulldogs to a nearly monthlong run at #1 in the nation, and was a far more proven commodity than he was in 2011. The Stoops to Florida rumors persisted once again only to be silenced. Foley hired Jim McElwain, a former Alabama offensive coordinator who had rebuilt Colorado State and was 10-2 in 2014. McElwain, it turned out, did not fit in well with the Florida football culture and was a poor recruiter whose staff had problems establishing connections in the state. By the time his UF career cratered in 2017 with an unsubstantiated tale of death threats to him and his family, Foley was now the interim AD and Scott Stricklin was the new boss at Florida. Stricklin made a well-publicized run at Chip Kelly, which raises one more what if. What if Kelly hadn’t used the Florida interest to jack up interest and money from UCLA? Gauging by Kelly’s two losing seasons at UCLA and his lack of recruiting, it seems probable he would have taken Florida to even greater depths. When Kelly said no, Stricklin turned to Mullen, which was the perfect fit since Stricklin was the associate AD at Mississippi State when Mullen was hired there and then Mullen’s boss from 2010-16 when he left for UF. Mullen’s success at Florida – 21-5 in two seasons, two New Year’s Six bowl games, two top ten finishes – raises the question once again what if Mullen had been the head ball coach at UF from the time Meyer departed until now? What we’ve seen is the ultimate quarterback guru who has resurrected the career of Feleipe Franks in 2018 and then transformed Kyle Franks from the penultimate bench warmer into a legitimate star in 2019. We see the success of Mullen, the hope for the future and the string of what ifs that are in his wake and we wonder what might have been if only?

GATORS IN THE NFL DRAFT 2020 The NFL Draft in April is very much up in the air, but at some point the league is going to draft. Here is a speculative look at Gators who will factor in the draft: C.J. Henderson: He’s going in the first round. The only question is where. He’s the 19th best prospect on Mel Kiper’s big board and the second best corner. Kiper has him going to the Las Vegas Raiders with the 12th pick in the first round. At the combine, Henderson solidified his first round status with a 4.39 40, which tied for second best among corners. Jonathan Greenard: Mel Kiper rates him the eighth best defensive end who figures to be an edge rusher in a 3-4 scheme in the NFL. He ran a very good 4.87 40 at the combine and wowed the scouts in the interview process. He had a very productive grad transfer season at UF. He’s likely a third rounder but he could sneak into the late second. Jabari Zuniga: Mel Kiper rates him the 10th best defensive end. He missed much of his senior season at UF due to injuries, but when he was on the field he was very productive. At the combine he opened scouts’ eyes with a 4.64 40 and a 127-inch standing broad jump. He’s a third round guy. Van Jefferson: At the combine they discovered a broken bone in his foot so he couldn’t participate but he wowed the scouts at the interviews. Fortunately, everyone in the NFL saw him at the Senior Bowl where he ran precision routes and caught everything thrown anywhere near him. He runs in the 4.5-4.55 range which is good enough. He figures to be a slot receiver in the NFL and is probably going in the third round. Lamical Perine: At the combine he ran a 4.62 but there is film showing him outrunning future NFL defensive backs at Auburn and Virginia on long touchdown runs. What helped him at the combine was his ability to run good pass routes and catch the football. Good Senior Bowl workouts also helped. He will most likely go in the third round but no matter where he is drafted he’ll make an NFL team. Freddie Swain: He helped himself at the combine when he ran a 4.46 40, which told the scouts he can be more than just a possession receiver. The Auburn film is going to stand out too, particularly that 64-yard TD catch on the second play of the game. He’s a late third, early fourth round guy who will make a team because he can catch and play special teams. Tyrie Cleveland: He helped himself at the combine when he ran a 4.46 and posted a 39.5-inch vertical. During combine workouts he showed he can run excellent routes and make all the catches. Most likely he’s a fourth or fifth round guy whose special teams abilities will ensure that he makes a team. Josh Hammond: He will get drafted if for no other reason because he can catch, run routes and plays great special teams. He didn't get invited to the combine and he's hurt by not having a pro day, but he will make somebody's NFL team. He’s a third day guy, most likely sixth of seventh round. David Reese: He didn’t get invited to the combine and with pro day cancelled, it won’t help him. Fortunately there is good film on him and it will show productivity on the field. It’s a linebacker-heavy draft but Reese is an excellent tackler who has the kind of smarts and recognition the NFL likes in its middle linebackers. Third day guy, most likely a seventh-rounder. Tommy Townsend: Among punters and kickers, Kiper has Townsend rated eighth. If drafted, he will be a third day guy (sixth or seventh round). More likely to get a decent free agent deal. Nick Buchanan: Size (he’s a couple of biscuits more than 290) is going to be a serious issue. The NFL likes centers who are in the 320-pound range who are capable of taking on monster nose tackles without help. The fact he’s really smart will get him some free agent looks. THE 10 GREATEST FOOTBALL COACHES IN SEC HISTORY (1) Bear Bryant (Kentucky, Alabama): He’s the winningest coach in Kentucky history, came close to winning a national title at Texas A&M when it was in the Southwest Conference, and then won six national championships and 13 SEC championships at Alabama. What made Bryant the best ever – not just in the SEC but EVER – was the fact that he re-invented himself as a coach at least five times and with each re-invention he was even better. His career record was 323-85-17, 60-23-6 at Kentucky and 232-46-9 at Alabama. (2) Nick Saban (LSU, Alabama): He’s won a national title at LSU and five at Alabama. The dumbest thing he ever did was leave LSU for the NFL, but Bama offered him a lifeline when he found that NFL players don’t respond the way college players do. Since his first year at Alabama, Saban has won at least 10 games every season. He was 48-16 at LSU with two SEC titles and he’s 153-23 at Alabama with six SEC titles. (3) Steven Orr Spurrier (Florida, South Carolina): Not many coaches can say they transformed the way the game was played in an entire conference but Spurrier did it when he awoke the sleeping giant at Florida. In his 12 years at UF he was 122-27-1 with six SEC championships and the 1996 national title. Only Bear Bryant can match Spurrier’s four straight SEC titles (1993-96). In retrospect, he probably wishes he hadn’t bolted UF for the Washington Redskins. If he was going to leave for the NFL there were better places and better owners to work for than Dan Snyder. At South Carolina, Spurrier became the winningest coach in school history (86-49) and put together the best four-year run ever from 2010-13 at 42-11. His overall coaching record (counting three years at Duke) was 228-89-2. (4) General Robert Neyland (Tennessee): General Neyland’s Seven Maxims of Football are still taught today. His Tennessee teams in 1938-39 still hold the NCAA record of 17 consecutive shutouts and his 1939 team won every game by shutout. His career record was 173-31-12. Some experts say he’s the greates defensive mind in the history of college football. He’s credited with four national championships (1939-40, 1950-51), but only the 1951 team won the Associated Press national title. The Vols won six SEC titles. (5) Johnny Vaught (Ole Miss): Once two-platoon football became the rule with unlimited substitution in 1964, Ole Miss fell to the middle of the SEC pack, largely because the state of Mississippi didn’t produce enough athletes for two platoons. From 1947-63, Ole Miss won seven SEC and three national (1959-60, 1962) although none of the national titles were recognized by the AP. His career record was 190-61-12. (6) Urban Meyer (Florida): Meyer won two national championships and two SEC titles in six years at Florida. His first five years were quite impressive with two nine-win seasons and three 13-win seasons that included the 2006 and 2008 national championship teams. His 2008 team should rank among the best of all time. If he had it to do all over again, he probably would have taken a sabbatical in 2010 to deal with his medical issues but he let others talk him into coming back to coach. By the end of an 8-5 2010, he was burned out and needed time away from coaching. He resurfaced in 2012 at Ohio State where he won the 2014 national championship and posted an 83-9 record in seven years before he retired again after the 2018 season. Counting his 65-15 record at Florida, Meyer’s overall coaching record as a head coach (Bowling Green, Utah, UF, OSU) was 187-32. (7) Frank Thomas (Alabama): The former quarterback for Knute Rockne at Notre Dame coached at Alabama from 1931-46, the first two years before there was such a thing as the SEC. He is credited with two (non-AP) national championships (1934, 1941) and four SEC titles. He was 115-24-7 at Alabama and 141-33-9 for his coaching career. (8) Bobby Dodd (Georgia Tech): Dodd was the man who blocked Florida’s extra point to preserve a 13-12 Tennessee win in 1928, the only loss on Florida’s schedule. He is also the head coach whose defensive coordinator (Ray Graves) took Florida from the dark ages into the modern era of college football. From 1945-63, Georgia Tech belonged to the SEC. Dodd won the 1951-52 SEC titles and the 1952 national championship with a 12-0 record although the AP gave its version of the title to Michigan State. In 1964, Dodd as the Georgia Tech athletic director, took Tech out of the SEC for life as an independent, a move he later regretted. His last game as a head coach was the 1966 Orange Bowl, won by Florida and Ray Graves, 27-12. Dodd posted a 165-64-8 career coaching record. (9) Vince Dooley (Georgia): Dooley was a former Auburn quarterback and assistant who got the Georgia job when Florida defensive coordinator and Georgia alum Gene Ellenson turned it down on the promise that he would succeed Ray Graves when Graves retired. We know how that worked out for Ellenson. Dooley won six SEC titles including three in a row (1980-82) and the national title in 1980, all courtesy of one Herschel Walker. Dooley finished his coaching career (all at Georgia) with a 200-77-10 record. (10) Ralph “Shug” Jordan (Auburn): Jordan was the head football coach at Auburn from 1951-75 and the basketball coach at Auburn from 1933-42 and again in 1945-46 and at Georgia from 1946-50. Although he only won one SEC and one national title (1945), Jordan (pronounced Jurdon) was SEC coach of the year four times. His career coaching record in football was 175-83-6 while his basketball coaching record was 136-103. RANDOM THOUGHTS: The Carolina Panthers have released Cam Newton. Potential landing spots include New England and the Los Angeles Chargers … CBSSports.com is reporting that a trade may be in the works that will send quarterback Deshaun Watson to the Patriots … The Tokyo Olympics have been officially postponed until 2021, the first time the Olympics have ever been postponed or cancelled for something other than a war … Former Texas A&M running back Jashaun Corbin, a Cocoa native, has been given a waiver that will make him immediately eligible at FSU. Had Corbin transferred anywhere within the SEC he would have had to sit a year even if the NCAA had given him a waiver … Here are the 20 teams CBSSports.com says will be hurt most by the lack of spring practice – 1. LSU; 2. Alabama; 3. Baylor; 4. Clemson; 5. Colorado; 6. Florida State; 7. Georgia; 8. Louisville; 9. Miami; 10. Michigan; 11. Minnesota; 12. Mississippi State; 13. Missouri; 14. North Carolina; 15. Ohio State; 16. Oregon; 17. Penn State; 18. South Florida; 19. Utah; 20. Washington State.

RATING THE SEC FOOTBALL COACHES (1) Nick Saban: He’s won five national championships at Alabama. Is there any doubt who’s number one? (2) DAN MULLEN, FLORIDA: If you want to know why he’s ranked this high, think Starkville. You go to eight straight bowl games at Mississippi State and you can flat out coach. Win 21 games in two years after taking over a train wreck left behind by the man with the yellow teeth and you serve notice that Florida is going to be back in a very big way. (3) Ed Orgeron, LSU: How many coaches would go out on a limb like Coach O did last year when he scrapped his offense and turned it over to a young guy with new ideas how to stretch the field like it’s never been stretched before? Coach O did that and won a national championship. We always knew he could recruit. Scary to think that maybe he has a clue about coaching too. (4) Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M: He won a national championship at Florida State so he definitely knows how to take a program to the highest level. He’s in year three in Aggieland with all signs pointing to a team that is poised to seriously close the gap in the SEC West. If any former Nick Saban assistant is going to beat the old boss, this is the guy, particularly with a QB who’s a fourth-year starter (three years working with Jimbo). He’s got facilities that are as good as you will find anywhere in the country and whatever he needs Aggie boosters will pony up the cash to buy. (5) Kirby Smart, Georgia: Yes, Kirby Smart is fifth and it stems from one basic fact – he didn’t inherit a sick program but one that was strong and deep due to superb recruiting by Mark Richt. It’s not like he had to rebuild the program from the ground up. He’s a great recruiter but leaves plenty to be desired as a game day coach. Let’s see how he does with a new offensive coordinator, new O-line coach, four new starters on the O-line and a QB not named Jake Fromm. (6) Mark Stoops, Kentucky: If you can win at Kentucky, you can probably win anywhere. They’re amazed in Lexington that they’ve kept him this long. UK will win in the 8-10 range this year. (7) Mike Leach, Mississippi State: If you can win and go to bowl games every year when you’re coaching in Pullman, Washington, Mississippi State should be a piece of cake. This is a serious upgrade from Joe Moorhead. (8) Gus Malzahn, Auburn: His claim to fame is that he has beaten Nick Saban three times. There isn’t another coach in the SEC (or many other places) that can say that. At some point, the faithful in Auburn are going to grow weary of not making the college football playoff. (9) Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss: This is going to be interesting. Lane can flat out coach but how long before he pisses the people off at Ole Miss. He’s got that kind of personality. He just can’t seem to help himself, but he does know how to put points on a scoreboard. (10) Will Muschamp, South Carolina: It’s hard to win at South Carolina but the folks were spoiled by Steve Spurrier. The folks in Columbia would be happier than warm pigs in cool mud if Will could get them consistently to the 8-9 win mark. (11) Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee: Yes, the Vols won their last six games but the Kentucky win was the only one that was anything close to impressive. They lost a lot of moving parts. Let’s see if the Vols win eight for a second straight year. (12) Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri: He won 12 games at App State with someone else’s players and that got him a $3,200,000 raise to coach Missouri. We’ll find out soon enough if this was a panic hire. (13) Sam Pittman, Arkansas: When he left the Arkansas staff to coach at Georgia, the wheels came off for Bret Bielema. Now Pittman is back as the head ball coach and what he’s taking over is nuclear winter. But if they give him time he will win. (14) Derek Mason, Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt is a graveyard for coaches. No spring practice and losing all your quarterbacks and decent skill people isn’t exactly conducive to keeping your job. Figure this is the last train to Clarksville for Mason. SOME BASKETBALL RECRUITING STUFF Uncertainty about the NBA Draft due to the corona virus outbreak probably means the Gators will stand pat with what they’ve got. If not for the virus, Scottie Lewis, Keyontae Johnson and Andrew Nembhard all would have likely tested the NBA waters. That’s not to say they would have declared for the draft but they would have been allowed to go to workouts to determine if it is wise to declare or remain in school. Lewis and Johnson would have almost certainly been invited to the NBA Combine in Chicago, but that’s on hold now along with pre-draft workouts. Without the combine and the workouts, it’s improbable that any of the three would improve their stock enough to move into the first round or at least the first 10 picks of the second. If any of the three decide to go, right now it would appear that Nembhard is most likely. He probably wouldn’t be drafted in either the first or second rounds of the NBA Draft but he has skills that are more suited to the European game, much like former Gator Nick Calathes, who makes a very nice seven-figure salary with plenty of perks playing in Greece. Supposedly, there are voices in Nembhard’s ear urging him to leave school and head to Europe, but we’ll have to see how that works out. If Nembhard leaves, that would leave Florida with one vacant scholarship. If Mike White has an opening and chooses to use the scholarship for the 2020-21 season, it will likely be for a grad transfer. Given White’s success with grad transfers – Canyon Barry, Egor Koulechov, Kerry Blackshear Jr. – you have to know that Florida is on the radar for quite a few of those graduates who have indicated they want to move on. A few grad transfers that would make the most sense for the Gators are: Kevin Marfo (6-8, 250) who averaged 10.2 points and 13.9 rebounds per game for Binghampton; E.J. Anosike (6-6, 250) who averaged 15.7 points and 11.6 rebounds for Sacred Heart; Jordan Bruner (6-9, 205) who averaged 10.9 points and 9.2 rebounds for Yale; and ArnaldoTouro (6-8, 245), who averaged 6.5 points and 7.0 rebounds for George Washington. As it stands right now, the Gators won’t have any seniors on the 2020-21 roster, but figure the Gators will have at least three open scholarships for the 2021 recruiting class. Nembhard might not be back this year so that would be one, and it’s highly unlikely Lewis and Johnson will be around more than one more season. Here are several names you might be hearing from in the months and weeks leading up to the early signing period in November: Deebo Coleman SG/SF (6-6, 200, Callahan, FL West Nassau): A regular at Florida’s games this past season. He’s a slasher with serious hops who seems to get to the rim at will. Coached by his dad, Florida and Florida State are thought to be his leaders with Louisville, Wake Forest and Alabama working him hard. Alex Fudge, SG/SF (6-7, 175, Jacksonville, FL Robert E. Lee): He’s a volume scorer who can play inside and outside. It’s said that he’s considering transferring to West Nassau so he can team up next season with good buddy Deebo Coleman. He played AAU ball for Chandler Parsons team and might be leaning Florida’s way. Clemson, Texas A&M and Iowa State are pushing hard for him. Ernest Ross, PF/C (6-9, 205, Alachua, FL Santa Fe): He’s still growing and really starting to figure things out. He’s put on about 20 pounds in the last year and is starting to use his strength to his advantage. Really good around the basket. Florida, LSU, North Carolina State and Oklahoma State are recruiting him hard. It might be very difficult for anyone to steal him from the Gators. Benny Williams, SF (6-9, 190, Bowie, MD St. Andrew’s Episcopal School): He reminds people of former Gator Devin Williams, long, lean and capable of playing both inside and outside. Right now this looks to be a three-team battle between UF, Maryland and Syracuse. Small forward who could grow into a hybrid wing/high post. Ryan Nembhard, PG (6-1, 165, Aurora, Ontario/Montverde, FL Montverde Academy): He’s the younger brother of Andrew Nembhard. He’s not as tall but he’s quicker and a better shooter. He’s like every kid Kevin Boyle coaches at Montverde in that he knows how to play defense. Florida, Stanford and Seton Hall are showing him the love. Matt Nunez (6-11, 230, Newport News, VA Woodside): He improved dramatically from his sophomore to junior year. His progress might be slowed a bit by the lack of AAU and camps, but he’s got three things you can’t teach – tall, good hands and good feet. Florida and Georgetown seem to have the early advantage. Moussa Diabate (6-10, 215, Paris, France/Bradenton, FL IMG Academy): Seriously athletic. Long, athletic and great elevation which makes him a terrific shot blocker. It’s hard to figure where he’s leaning but he’s got offers from UF, FSU, Arkansas, Auburn, Louisville, Michigan, Maryland and Texas Tech. Carter Whitt (6-3, 170, Raleigh, NC Leesville Road): He’s really come on strong in the last year and will have his pick of schools. Florida got in on him early but he’s got North Carolina State, Virginia, Texas A&M, Maryland and Ohio State working him hard. Trey Patterson (6-8, 180, Somerset, NJ Rutgers Prep): He’s got size, range, quickness and grades, therefore no lack of offers. His top five at this point seem to be Florida, Auburn, Villanova, Indiana and UConn. RANDOM THOUGHTS: The exit turnstiles are busy in Starkville. Three players (Keyshawn Feazel, Elton Datcher and Elias King) have all put their names in the NCAA transfer portal leaving nine scholarship players counting the incoming freshmen … Former Oklahoma running back Trey Sermon will transfer to Ohio State. He’s a graduate so he can play immediately … A lot of NFL experts seem to think the New England Patriots will be the landing spot for Jameis Winston. I didn’t know Bill Belichick employs an exorcist. If he doesn’t he better hire one and I’m not sure even the best one in the business can clear all the snakes out of Winston’s head … Former Gator Quinton Dumbar has been acquired from the Washington Redskins by the Seattle Seahawks. Dunbar started 11 games last year and picked off four passes. He’s got a base salary of $3,250,000. Not bad for a guy who played wide receiver at UF.

Gator sports was frozen indefinitely, just when their hopes were soaring. By KASSIDY HILL GatorBait Columnist Spring practice was supposed to start this week. The Florida Gators were supposed to be jogging from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium over to the indoor facility, passing the baseball stadium where the country’s No. 1 ranked team would be taking batting practice and opposite the field where the men and women’s track and field teams would have just returned from the indoor national championship — a competition the men’s team won last season. The Gators basketball team was supposed to be preparing for what was predicted as a 9-seed entrance into the NCAA Tournament, led by an emerging dynamite sophomore in Keyontae Johnson. The No. 7 Gators softball team was supposed to be chasing another title behind hard hitting. But now, the March breeze that should have been flitting through Gainesville’s Spanish moss and cooling those soaking in spring sports will instead bounce down deserted streets and echo off empty buildings. The crack of a bat is replaced by the sound of McKethan Stadium being unceremoniously shuttered early, its final season cut short and one game shy of boasting an undefeated record. But now, seniors are catching their breath from the sudden whiplash of their season ending. Individuals who know nothing but drive must intentionally stall. The spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus, has ground the world to a halt, taking sports along with it. Citizens were left scrambling, looking to play catchup to a fast moving-illness and adjust their lives accordingly. And currently adrenaline is still pumping, so to speak, giving our minds a task on which to focus, and a reprieve from the stark reality that is about to take hold. These next few days and weeks are going to be the hardest. And now…now, we ask ourselves; what do we do without sports? Wash your hands. Stay at home. Become comfortable with the details of this new reality and don’t become discouraged as leaders work to stay fluid within an ever-changing situation. When a somber Scott Stricklin stood in front a skeleton press corps Friday, March 13 — which feels like a year ago at this point — he began with the details. No Florida athletics — in conjunction with the decree that there would be no SEC athletics — until at least April 15. This means no games, no tournaments, no championships, not even practices. All athletic areas save the academic center and training room (staffed with doctors) would be closed to all athletes until at least April 15 – likely longer. And April 15, he warned, was ambitious. The entire UAA would try to operate with a smaller-than-normal staff and empty calendar until whenever that is. “We have put April 15th out as a date to work toward. My sense is that’s probably optimistic. I’m not an expert, but what we’ve been told here on campus we probably need to expect that potentially to go longer, and we’ll just have to be prepared for that.” Related: Spring football postponed, UF athletics shut down til April 15 The SEC has since given official word that all remaining athletic events, championships, pro-days and spring games for the 2019-2020 academic year will be suspended. Commissioner Greg Sankey hasn’t ruled out the possibility of spring practice being conducted after April 15. Yet still, we ask ourselves; what do we do without sports? Wash your hands. Stay at home. Understand the sacrifice being asked pales in comparison to the repercussions that have already taken place. “(Our athletes) invest a lot of time and effort and energy in being in a position to compete against the very best and have a chance to be successful,” explains Stricklin, continuing, “through no fault of their own, no fault of any of us, that’s been taken from them. The psychology of an athlete is always working toward something. They woke up this morning and there was nothing to work toward. That’s a hard thing to process.” During this time, athletes won’t have a purpose or an adequate avenue to pursue their dreams. Fans won’t have the escape or community that sports provides. There are hundreds of things and millions of lives that are more important than sports right now…but don’t let anyone tell you this loss can’t hurt. Yet still, we ask ourselves; what do we do without sports? Wash your hands. Stay at home. Recognize that for every dream that has gotten somewhat dimmer, a brighter light has begun to shine at the end of this tunnel. Recognize that for every connection one fan had hoped to find with another, humanity has discovered a connection with each other thought lost. When you don’t know what to do, do what you know to do; be aware, be cognizant, be a helper. Listen to Stricklin’s words: "The most important thing is we, as a society and community and a university, take the steps necessary to protect our young people, protect our staff and our coaches, and protect our fans who love watching our young people compete. That’s why we’re trying to take these steps. “The more drastic measures that can be taken as soon as possible, it does seem like we have a better chance of getting through this and returning to normal sooner than we would otherwise.” Yet still, we ask ourselves; what do we do without sports? Wash your hands. Stay at home. Relive old Gator memories. Rewatch the video of Grier to Calloway on “Train Right Jill, Big Ben In” to defeat Tennessee in 2015. Feel the stomach turn as you unconsciously worry yet again that Calloway won’t spin out of the wheel route in time to turn up field before one of the three Vols defenders stop him. Feel the heart squeeze as once again he plants his foot, flips his body and takes off with house money. Feel the goosebumps race up your arm for the 100th time as he crosses the goal line for the winning score. And this time, watch as running back Brandon Powell — an open option on the play — turns back, sees his teammate with the ball and sacrificially dives towards Tennessee defensive back Brian Randolph, creating a domino effect that took all three defenders out of harm’s way for Calloway. And for the next few weeks, be Brandon Powell. Do your part. Even if it feels pointless. Even if you think it looks stupid. Even if it’s hard and requires sacrifice. Because it’s not about you. It’s about the team, about the greater good. It’s the absolute best lesson sports has to teach us. Honor that right now. Yet still, we ask ourselves; what do we do without sports? Wash your hands. Stay at home. Spend time with your family and loved ones from an appropriate 6-foot distance. See how quickly you can watch “The Office” from beginning to end. Start with season 4, episode 1. It’s one of the finest hours of television in recent history if for no other reason than the moment Michael hits Meredith with his car. Play a game of Monopoly. That’ll take up the entire “social distancing quarantine” time anyways. Learn to find the competition we’ll miss in other ways. Hit your mom with a “Draw 4 UNO” card if you want to start a dugout clearing brawl. Bumble your way through Julia Childs cookbook. And when you go to buy ingredients, for the love of all that is good and holy, don’t hoard up on toilet paper. It’s not a coronavirus vaccine and if you need 144 rolls of toilet paper to get through a possible two week quarantine, you should’ve already seen a doctor. Yet still, we ask ourselves; what do we do without sports? Wash your hands. Stay at home. Accept a lesson humbly given from this writer — one that has been drilled into her by her father since birth. Happiness is relative and therefore should never be your primary focus. Be holy, be healthy and seek joy. Everything else will take care of itself. Read a book. Write a book. Teach yourself the complete complexities of a 3-4 and 4-3 defense in hopes of keeping your blood pressure down when Todd Grantham sends a corner blitz on the first play against Eastern Washington. After Scott Stricklin had finished his Friday press conference and the majority of the Gators press corps had gone home, I and Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun were the only ones remaining in the press box. I finished up my piece, began to walk out and threw over my shoulder, “see ya later Robbie!” Then we both stopped. We were supposed to be setting up shop at the practice facility for the next few weeks. Instead, we had no idea when we actually would see each other again. And so now, we ask ourselves; what do we do without sports? Wash your hands. Stay at home. Dream of the day we can all be together again cheering on our teams.