NEVER SAY NEVER BUT MULLEN ISN’T BOLTING FOR THE NFL Not this year anyway. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic says that NFL analyst Daniel Jeremiah thinks Dan Mullen could be the next coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Jeremiah bases this conclusion on the fact Mullen was Cowboys QB Dak Prescott’s college coach. Would Mullen listen if Jerry Jones called and wanted to talk about the Cowboys job, providing of course, Jones axes current head coach Jason Garrett? Mullen will listen. You can bet the farm on that, but you can also bet the farm that’s all Mullen will do. How do I know this? Well, when he was at Mississippi State, Mullen had numerous opportunities to go someplace else. Almost yearly, in fact. Mullen always listened but he always elected to stay right where he was and ended up spending nine years in Starkville. Tennessee wanted Mullen in 2017 and perhaps would have made a strong enough offer to land him as head coach but when Scott Stricklin called it was all over. This was the job Mullen wanted all along and this is the job he has rebuilt. Key in on that word rebuilt. When Mullen took the Mississippi State job there were plenty of critics who said he was making a whopper of a mistake. Mississippi State was a graveyard they told him. You can’t win there consistently. He won 69 games in nine years and got the Bulldogs to a school record eight straight bowl games. Nobody does that at Mississippi State. The Florida job wasn’t as bad a rebuild as Mississippi State. Things were so bad in Starkville that it was like a blank slate. Anything positive Mullen did at MSU would have been viewed gratefully. At Florida, the previous coach left a roster filled with holes and not enough talent to really compete at the highest levels of the SEC, but the main problem was cultural. And, that’s where we’ve seen the biggest difference at UF. Mullen has changed the football culture. Just doing okay is no longer good enough. Mullen has let it be known on no uncertain terms that he accepts nothing less than total dedication to a high standard and the standard goes well beyond okay. All this has bearing on why Mullen will listen if Jerry Jones calls, but it also tells you why he will stay put at the University of Florida. It has everything to do with principle. Mullen has made it abundantly clear that he won’t ask players or assistant coaches or staffers to do anything he isn’t willing to do or hasn’t done himself. He demands loyalty from everyone in the program and to leave for the Cowboys just two years into the Florida rebuild – which isn’t anywhere near complete – would be hypocritical at best. He’s not that kind of guy. You never say never so there might indeed come a day when Mullen will elect to bolt for the NFL, but it won’t be this year. PITTS, GREENARD AND CJ MAKE COACHES ALL-SEC TEAM The SEC Coaches announced their All-SEC team Tuesday and the three guys who should have made first team – tight end Kyle Pitts, defensive end Jonathan Greenard and cornerback CJ Henderson – all were selected. Pitts and Greenard made first team when the Associated Press announced its All-SEC team on Monday but Henderson wasn’t selected to either first or second team which is an absolute joke. There were some other inequities from the AP All-SEC that the coaches properly addressed. Georgia running back D’Andre Swift was named first team along with LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Swift made second team AP. He and Edwards-Helaire were easily the best two running backs in the league. LSU safety Grant Delpit, who is likely to make first team All-America, was a second team selection for the AP. He made first team for the coaches. Another AP slight was Georgia corner J.R. Reed who made neither first or second team. He was first team by the coaches. And then there is the offensive line. The AP named Drake Jackson of Kentucky the first team center and Georgia’s Trey Hill second team. Neither one is as good as Lloyd Cushenberry of LSU, who was first team by the coaches, who named Alabama’s Landon Dickerson second team. Dickerson, it must be noted, transferred from Florida State. SEC COACHING UPDATES AND OTHER STUFF Ole Miss: Lane Kiffin is not retaining offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez, O-line coach Jack Bicknell Jr., receivers coach Jacob Peeler or tight ends coach Calvin Magee … In explaining why he fired Matt Luke, athletic director Keith Carter said, “The apathy surrounding the program was too much to overcome.” Attendance in 2019 took a 13% dip and has decreased every year since 2015. Missouri: New HBC Eli Drinkwitz says he will be his own offensive coordinator and playcaller. He plays to hire a special teams coordinator. D-line coach Brick Haley, safeties coach Ryan Walters and DB coach David Gibbs have been offered to remain on the Mizzou staff. Georgia: Former Ole Miss HBC Matt Luke has been hired to coach the O-line at Georgia. Luke served as the Ole Miss O-line coach from 2011-16 ... Kirby Smart got a $100,000 bonus for getting the Bulldogs in a New Year’s Six bowl game. LSU: Coach O has earned a $200,000 bonus for winning the SEC Championship and another $225,000 bonus for LSU making it to the College Football Playoff … Joe Brady has won the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach. South Carolina: Will Muschamp declined his automatic $200,000 raise to pay for a raise for running backs coach Thomas Brown, who’s pay increases to $500,000 … Mike Bobo’s contract is official. It’s two years at $1.2 million per. Auburn: Chad Morris is officially the new OC. Arkansas still owes him $10 million over the next three years so Gus Malzahn gets a brilliant offensive mind on the cheap since he doesn’t have to pay top dollar plus he probably lands a four-star quarterback in Chandler Morris, Chad’s son. Kentucky: The Wildcats could be losing their offensive coordinator. Eddie Gran is interviewing with Florida Atlantic and is thought to be the favorite to get the job. If Gran gets the job that almost certainly means Kendal Briles will be going to Ole Miss to work with former FAU coach Lane Kiffin. MORE COACHING STUFF FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY Colorado State: Just when it seemed Butch Jones was all set to be hired as the HBC there were some snags in the negotiations. Now it seems former Indiana HBC and Ohio State O-line/OC Kevin Wilson has the inside track on the job. UNLV: One day ago, it seemed everything had been agreed to so that Oregon OC Marcus Arroyo would be head coach. Well, not so fast my friends. Apparently, the deal is off. Liberty: Hugh Freeze has signed a five-year contract extension that will pay him $2 million a year. South Florida: New HBC Jeff Scott got a five-year deal worth $12.5 million and will get $3.5 million for assistant coach salaries. New Mexico: While the Lobos search for the next head coach, they’ve agreed to pay Bob Davie an $825,000 buyout stretched over 30 months. GOOD QUOTES FOR WEDNESDAY Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN on the possibility that Tua Tagovailoa will return for his senior season at Alabama after spending time with the injured quarterback: “I just felt like, listening to Tua, there is a part of him that is not comfortable about how he went out. I don’t think his career has gone the way he had hoped and there is a part of him – as much as he is looking at the money – that is looking at ‘man, can you imagine if I come back and Dylan Moses comes back and this guy comes back? Can you imagine what we can do next year?’ He said that to me, so there is a part of that which he is evaluating. He told me the players will sit down have a meeting, talk about and figure out what direction they want to go in. I don’t know if they’ll all go one way or the other. I can just tell you what he told me. I would guess that it is still 50-50 right now, and then in the next few weeks he’ll let everybody know his intentions. I think he’s honestly really back and forth at this point.” Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic on the hiring of Lane Kiffin as the football coach at Ole Miss: “He is a 44-year-old lightning rod in the sport with a track record that borders on the ridiculous, from breaking NCAA rules by sending recruiting hostesses to visit high school prospects while at Tennessee to deflating footballs while at USC to sending numerous tweets that cross the proverbial lien. He has said he’s matured and learned from his experiences, with a nod to the value of coaching alongside Saban in particular, but he has never really muzzled himself. His personality and his candor are what make him polarizing, but they also make him must-see TV and a must-follow on Twitter – especially when his teams are good but most definitely when they aren’t. They are what keep him in the national spotlight, whether he’s in Boca Raton or Tuscaloosa.” Jesse Temple of The Athletic on why Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor should have at least merited an invitation to the Heisman Trophy ceremonies in New York this weekend: “Earning a seat as a Heisman finalist is not a lifetime achievement award. However, the fact that Taylor has rushed for new fewer than 1,909 yards in any of his three seasons at Wisconsin, has 6,080 career rushing yards and will go down as one of the great running backs in FBS history but won’t be a Heisman Trophy finalist is astounding. Taylor finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting as a true freshman in 2017. He finished ninth in 2018. Only five FBS players have rushed for more yards than Taylor, including bowl games. Four of them – Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne, Texas’ Ricky Williams, Pitt’s Tony Dorsett and USC’s Charles White – won the Heisman Trophy.” Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network on Lane Kiffin becoming the nemesis of Nick Saban: “I firmly believe that Lane Kiffin is going to be the first Saban disciple to beat the GOAT.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: Caroline Wozniacki plans to retire from professional tennis after the 2020 Australian Open. Winner of 30 career titles on the WTA circuit, she is married to former Gator and NBA star David Lee … A.J. Dillon of Boston College will skip the Birmingham Bowl and enter the NFL Draft. Dillon leaves BC 227 yards short of the all-time Atlantic Coast Conference rushing record … Didi Gregorius left the New York Yankees for a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies that will pay him $14 million … Stephen Strasburg signed a seven-year deal worth $245 million to stay with the Washington Nationals. The New York Yankees are said to be offering free agent pitcher Gerrit Cole a deal that will eclipse the Strasburg deal … The finalists for the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation’s top college offensive line, are Alabama, LSU, Ohio State and Oregon. If you are a betting man, put your money on LSU.

ONLY THREE GATORS ON AP ALL-SEC FIRST AND SECOND TEAMS Tight end Kyle Pitts and defensive end Jonathan Greenard were the only Gators chosen first team All-Southeastern Conference by the Associated Press. Linebacker David Reese was selected to the second team. That’s Florida’s entire representation on the AP All-SEC, which was headlined by LSU quarterback Joe Burrow (Offensive Player of the Year), Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown (Defensive Player of the Year) and LSU corner Derek Stingley Jr. (Newcomer of the Year). LSU’s Ed Orgeron was selected Coach of the Year. LSU, which is the top ranked team in the country and undefeated SEC champs, managed only four first teamers, the same number as Kentucky. Go figure that one. LSU safety Grant Delpit, who probably will make first team All-America made second team. No LSU offensive lineman made first team although guard Damien Lewis was chosen second team. I can’t argue that he’s not a second teamer, but he’s not even LSU’s best O-lineman. That’s center Lloyd Cushenberry, who’s better than either the first (Drake Jackson, Kentucky) or second team (Trey Hill, Georgia) centers. EARLY BETTING LINES FOR SEC BOWL TEAMS Peach Bowl (playoff semifinal): LSU -13 over Oklahoma Orange Bowl: Florida -13.5 over Virginia Sugar Bowl: Georgia -7 over Baylor Citrus Bowl: Alabama -7 over Michigan Outback Bowl: Auburn -7.5 over Minnesota Belk Bowl: Kentucky +3 vs. Virginia Tech Gator Bowl: Tennessee pick’em with Indiana Music City Bowl: Mississippi State -3.5 over Louisville Texas Bowl: Texas A&M -5.5 over Oklahoma State HAS GEORGIA PEAKED? If you are Kirby Smart, the news has gone from bad to worse. First, he was on the wrong sideline of a 37-10 beatdown in the SEC Championship Game Saturday. Sunday, offensive line coach Sam Pittman was hired as the new head ball coach at Arkansas and that probably means at least two Georgia starting O-linemen will announce they are leaving for the NFL. You can all but expect running back D’Andre Swift, stud linebacker Monty Rice and corner Richard LeCounte to go pro, too. And then there is quarterback Jake Fromm. If Fromm has a functioning brain, he’s bolting to the NFL. The numbers tell you exactly why. As a freshman, Fromm was the 9th-ranked quarterback in passing efficiency in all of Division I. As a sophomore he was 5th. This past season? He was 55th. Fromm averaged 9.0 per pass attempt as a freshman and again as a sophomore. He averaged 7.4 in 2019. Georgia Kool-Aid drinkers are already trying to use the excuse that Fromm’s top receivers from the previous two years left for the NFL. While that is true, Fromm also had a better offensive line in 2019 (sacked only 12 times) yet the numbers across the board were down – a full 50 fewer rushing yards for example. Things will not get better in 2020. Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network commented Monday on WJOX-FM that “Kirby Smart is trying to run Alabama 2.0 and it’s not working.” Andy Staples of The Athletic wrote “Smart must make the same choice [LSU coach] Orgeron made, because you can’t win titles with a Les Miles philosophy in an Ed Orgeron world.” Can Smart change? Will he change? Maybe but it’s dicey to suggest he actually would go that far out on a limb. It must be pointed out that Mark Richt won two SEC titles and three SEC East titles in his first five years, then never won another SEC championship although he won the SEC East in 2011-12. Richt was fired after 15 years and a 145-51 record at Georgia because he couldn’t win the big one. Smart has been at Georgia four years. He’s won the SEC East three straight times, the SEC in 2017 when the Bulldogs got a rematch against Auburn and he lost in the national championship game to Alabama in 2017. He’s lost the SEC Championship Game the last two years. It can be argued that instead of Alabama 2.0 Kirby Smart is Mark Richt 2.0. Richt was a very good coach just not good enough. The door has swung wide open for the Florida Gators to reclaim the top spot in the SEC East. Not that anyone is counting or anything, but it has been 14,222 days since Georgia’s last national championship. SEC COACHING CHANGES AND OTHER STUFF Arkansas: Sam Pittman was pretty much off the radar as media outlets paid more attention to head coaches with high octane offenses but the Razorbacks addressed the central issue to their demise over the past two years under Chad Morris and that was the line of scrimmage. As one of the best offensive line coaches in the country, Pittman understands that the SEC is a line of scrimmage league and that is where he will go about rebuilding Arkansas. He’s an exceptional recruiter. This is an A+ hire ... Pittman has hired former UF offensive line coach Brad Davis, who spent the last two years at Missouri. Missouri: Eli Drinkwitz was an interesting hire although he’s viewed as a talented young coach with a great future. Mizzou struck out with its top target, Mike Norvell, and got nowhere with its second target, Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin. Willie Fritz, the Tulane coach, would have been a good fit given his longtime ties to the state, the fact he’s won everywhere he’s been and a proven track record of adapting his offense to the personnel but AD Jim Sterkel went with a 36-year-old who has only one year as a head coach and that was in the Sun Belt Conference. Can he handle the rigors of an SEC program? He’s getting a raise of $3,250,000 from the $750,000 he was making at Appalachian State. That’s more than Mizzou was paying former coach Barry Odom. Ole Miss: At his introductory press conference, Lane Kiffin credited former boss Nick Saban with helping him mature and develop as a coach. Kiffin is hoping to bring Kendal Briles as his offensive coordinator. When the two worked together at Florida Atlantic in 2017, the Owls averaged 285.3 rushing yards and 40.6 points for an 11-3 team. Kiffin’s dad, Monte Kiffin, will work with the Ole Miss coaching staff as a defensive analyst … True freshman QB Grant Tisdale, who had placed his name in the NCAA transfer portal, says he’s staying now that Kiffin is the HBC. Auburn: Gus Malzahn is getting serious about hiring fired Arkansas coach Chad Morris as his offensive coordinator. Morris set the world on fire as Clemson’s offensive coordinator a few years back but was so-so as the HBC at SMU and a total bust as the Arkansas HBC. Hiring Morris means Arkansas will probably sign Morris’ son Chandler, a four-star quarterback recruit who decommitted Arkansas when dad was canned. South Carolina: Former Georgia OC and Colorado State HBC Mike Bobo is the new offensive coordinator for Will Muschamp. He got a two-year deal worth $1 million per year … Quarterback Jake Bentley will head to Utah as a grad transfer. NON-SEC COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY STUFF Florida State: They struck out with the Brothers Stoops but landed the hottest available prospect from the Group of Five in Mike Norvell of Memphis who gets a five-year deal at $5 million per, essentially the same deal Willie Taggart had. Norvell’s new offensive coordinator is Kenny Dillingham, who was Norvell’s OC at Memphis before he bolted for Auburn. As expected Odell Haggins will remain on the FSU staff. South Florida: Perhaps taking a cue from arch-rival UCF, which jump started its program four years ago by hiring a dynamic offensive coordinator in Scott Frost from Oregon and then followed it up by hiring Josh Heupel from Missouri, South Florida hired Clemson co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott. Scott’s dad is former FSU offensive coordinator and South Carolina head coach Brad Scott, who is a USF grad. If the Clemson offense is the model, then USF should put fannies in the seats and that was a major concern. Colorado State: Over the weekend it seemed that Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford, one of the great players in CSU history, was going to be the new head coach. Something obviously changed because now CSU seems to be trending toward former Tennessee HBC Butch Jones, who was the backup plan to Greg Schiano at Rutgers. Jones has worked the last two years as a $35,000 a year analyst for Nick Saban while collecting a big buyout check from Tennessee. Texas-San Antonio: Jeff Traylor, who was Charlie Strong’s tight ends coach at Texas and the running backs coach for Chad Morris at Arkansas, is the new HBC with a five-year deal that pays $800,000 a year. UNLV: The new head coach is expected to be Marcus Arroyo, who was Mario Cristobal’s offensive coordinator at Oregon. Florida Atlantic: It is expected FAU will pick Lane Kiffin’s successor from James Coley (Georgia offensive coordinator), Eddie Gran (Kentucky offensive coordinator) and Kendal Briles (former FSU and FAU offensive coordinator). Old Dominion: Penn State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ricky Rahne is the new head coach at Old Dominion. GOOD QUOTES FOR TUESDAY Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN on Dan Mullen’s ability to bring out the most in longtime backup quarterback Kyle Trask: “I think Dan Mullen … this is probably one of the best jobs he has done with a lot of great quarterbacks over the years.” Brody Miller of The Athletic on how Coach O has gone from a questionable hire on the hot seat to a coach whose visionary approach to what had to be done to make LSU a national contender has the Tigers in the #1 position in the College Football Playoff: “Stop there and think about what’s happened. LSU is in the driver’s seat to make the national championship in New Orleans on Jan. 13. Imagine telling yourself that in the summer of 2018 as Orgeron’s name led hot seat lists. Imagine hearing it the moments following a 29-0 loss to Alabama last season. Three years ago LSU fired its coach for falling behind the times. Today, the Tigers have the best offense in SEC history and an expectation to win the national title.” Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network on WJOX-FM explaining why he thinks Nick Saban hates it that Ole Miss has hired Lane Kiffin: “Getting rid of Lane Kiffin cost Nick Saban a national championship, but it just shows you how sick of Lane Kiffin Nick Saban was that he was willing to risk that a couple years ago. I’m convinced they would have won the national championship that year had Kiffin been calling the plays because he had that kind of relationship with Jalen Hurts. He’s just one of those guys, and those guys are out there, that are a nemesis and Lane knows Nick Saban better than any coach maybe other than (Bill) Belichick that I’ve ever encountered. It’ll be interesting to see who he [Kiffin] ends up with on his staff. You know he’s targeting people that are either at Alabama or have been cloe to Alabama over the years.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: Joe Burrow of LSU will win the Heisman Trophy, the only question is by how many votes. Three others have been invited to New York where they’ll get to applaud politely when Burrow’s name is announced – quarterback Justin Fields and defensive end Chase Young from Ohio State and Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts … I typically don’t watch much of the NFL, but the San Francisco 49ers’ 48-46 win over the New Orleans Saints Sunday put the fun back in the No Fun League. The two teams combined for 94 points, 53 first downs, 703 passing yards, nine touchdown passes and 278 rushing yards … Lynn Bowden Jr., who led Kentucky to a 5-2 finish once he switched from wide receiver to quarterback, will enter the NFL Draft where he is projected as a wide receiver … In their 23-16 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, the New England Patriots had two touchdowns wiped out by blown calls from the zebras. The Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints also could have benefitted from the zebras making decent calls, but both lost.

The Florida Gators stayed at No. 9 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. They will face No. 24 Virginia in the Orange Bowl on December 30 in Miami, Florida. The Gators finished 10-2 in the regular season and 6-2 in the Southeastern Conference. This is the second year in a row the Gators have been selected for a New Years Six bowl game. Dan Mullen's squad concluded the 2018 season by defeating Michigan 41-15 in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. The Cavaliers fell to the Clemson Tigers 62-17 on Saturday in the ACC Championship. With the Tigers selected for the four team playoff for the National Championship, the Cavs receive the ACC's automatic bowl bid to the Orange Bowl as the conference's next highest ranked team. Here is the full Top 10 1. LSU Tigers 2. Ohio State Buckeyes 3. Clemson Tigers 4. Oklahoma Sooners 5. Georgia Bulldogs 6. Oregon Ducks 7. Baylor Bears 8. Wisconsin Badgers 9. Florida Gators 10. Penn State Stick with GatorBait Media for full coverage leading to the Gators bowl game and stay tuned to GatorBait Magazine this week for a complete breakdown of the Gators opponent.

Since the University of Florida first fielded a football team in 1906, the Gators have produced 89 first team All-Americans, 31 of which were consensus All-American’s. It’s been a long history, marked by some of the most talented players the game has seen in it’s 150 year history. In 2015, the Gators had their first unanimous All-American since Joe Haden (2009), when corner Vernon Hargreaves III was named an unanimous selection. Hargreaves was awarded an All-American brick in front of the Gators football facility, joining others who have been named first team by one of the five NCAA recognized All-American voter pools: The Football Writers of America, the Associated Press, the Walter Camp Foundation, AFCA and Sporting News. Given the depth of talent that has consistently come through Gainesville, Hargreaves was an anomaly more so by being one of the rare unanimous selections than simply for being a first team selection. Since, there has been a lull. Florida hasn’t had a first team All-American from one of the aforementioned five organizations since Hargreaves. It is the longest such interval since the six year period from 1958 to 1964. But the long wait just may be over…or at least, it should be. Defensive lineman Jon Greenard has done everything on his part this season to be an All-American. The senior has been named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week four times this season and already been recognized as the best at his position in the conference. Now it's time for the national recognition. “I’ve seen a bunch of them. He’s playing at a high level,” said head coach Dan Mullen of Greenard. “I think when you look at those things, some of them get tough because it’s not just are you playing at that quality, but you’ve got to have some of the statistics to match. He’s doing both. I think that’s always kind of the hard thing. You’re comparing 128 teams in the country, guys that are trying to be All-Americans. Not everyone—you don’t know all about all of those different guys and all of those different players, so stats come into it, too. You’ve got to have been playing great, performing at a high level and stats, putting up numbers. I think he’s done all of that.” The senior transferred from Louisville to play in Todd Grantham’s defense and have the breakout season Grantham always knew was within Greenard. He’s done just that this season, playing like a monster on the field, changing the outcome of games like the Auburn win. He was recognized at the mid-way point when he earned 2nd team honors from the Associated Press. For the purpose of this article, we will use that AP mid-season ballot as a reference. At the time, the AP named Chase Young of Ohio State and James Lynch of Baylor as the first team selections. Yetur Gross-Matos of Penn State joined Greenard on the second team. What could stand in the way of Greenard receiving recognition is the position he plays. Florida employs the BUCK position, which is a hybrid position that floats from defensive end to linebacker. The AP labeled Greenard as an end for the mid-season ballot. But he also will drop into coverage at times and moved to the other side of the line as more of a pure defensive end with a hand in the ground at times when Jabari Zuniga was injured. During that time, Grantham rotated Greenard between the BUCK and Zuniga’s end spot, letting Zach Carter play at BUCK for those snaps, in order to get the best players on the field. Because of this Greenard’s stats are a bit all over the place, making it hard to pinpoint him into one position and compare him to others around the country. With the assumption that the AP voters will work off of their mid-season ballot, let’s compare Greenard’s numbers to the other three players. Keep in mind Chase Young was suspended two games and has therefore only played in 10 games this season. And due to an injury, Greenard has played in 11, with one of those only being for a half. GatorBait Media did reach out to AP All-American voters to ask for a reference on their criteria but were informed that information isn't shared this close to a vote. *All stats taken before Saturday conference championship games Greenard has nine sacks in the regular season, with three coming against Florida State in the finale. Chase Young leads the country with 16.5; Lynch is 13th in FBS with 10.5 and Gross-Matos is tied at 25th with 8.5 total. Greenard has totaled 15 tackles for loss; Young has 19.5 which is 6th in the country, Lynch 15.5 and Gross-Matos with 14. As the numbers show, the other three players are ahead of or right around Greenard in the two categories that are largely used to defined true defensive ends. But again, because of his unique hybrid position, there are other areas Greenard shows up in the game that set him apart. Starting with tackles: Greenard leads the four with 52 total, Gross-Matos is next with 39, Young with 38 and Lynch with 34. Young leads the group with six forced fumbles, compared to Greenard and Lynch’s two forced fumbles. Lynch jumps off the page with five pass break ups and 12 quarterback hurries but Greenard is the next closest with three PBU’s and eight QBH’s. Young has one PBU and four hurries. Greenard is the only one of the group with an interception and a touchdown, the latter of which came courtesy of a scoop and score. Often the impact of these type’s of players can’t be quantified though. As important and telling as the statistics are, their talent demands an opponent’s attention bringing double teams and/or plays that purposely go away from the guys like Young and Greenard. Then there’s the impact they can have on the guys around them. Are they elevating the play of their teammates? And does that matter? It’s the question that arises every year for this post season awards. Do you award the best player or the player who makes his team the best? The argument could be made that Greenard fits both of those bills and it’s that overall picture that Todd Grantham feels has earned his prized pupil this honor. “I think if you look at where he’s come since he’s been here. First of all, the conference in which you play. The numbers he’s put up. The impact he’s had on our team, not only his production and his play-making ability, but his character and work ethic. I think he’s had as good production or season as anybody who would make that board.” Related: Jon Greenard's Destiny No matter what happens, just the fact that Greenard’s name is in the conversation is a humbling moment for the Hiram, Georgia native. “It’d mean everything, I mean, talk about that just now just still crazy cause I mean just as a child I never expected it to be like this or even get mentioned that or talks about my name in the same conversation. That would basically be the icing on the cake.” But he deserves it all. Jon Greenard has had an All-American season, in every possible way.

I have no question in my mind that this LSU team we’re watching is the best in the country. Joe Burrow is the best passing, smartest, toughest, most talented quarterback the SEC has seen in a generation. I have great respect for Ohio State, Justin Fields and Ryan Day but there is no way Coach O and Brady will lose to Ohio State. Book it.

WHITE NEEDS TO GET TRE MANN UNTRACKED Tre Mann is thinking way too much on the basketball court instead of letting his instincts take over. “He’s such a good natural scorer,” Florida coach Mike White says, adding that his talented freshman guard is “overthinking it.” When he’s got it going offensively, Mann is silky smooth with the ball in his hands, able to get his own shot practically at will and capable of scoring equally well off the bounce or pulling up to shoot his jump shot, but the month of November was somewhat of a roller coaster. The shot hasn’t always fallen and at times Mann has been hesitant to drive into the lane where he’s got a floater that is a thing of beauty when it’s dropping. Mann missed two games completely under concussion protocol when the Gators (6-2) won the Charleston Classic and he played sparing minutes in the championship game win over Xavier. He scored five points in 12 minutes in Florida’s most recent win over Marshall. In his six games so far, Mann is scoring 4.8 points per game, hitting just 32.4% from the field overall and only 3-14 from the three-point line. Sophomore Noah Locke can relate to what Mann is going through. Locke came to UF with a reputation as one of the nation’s best pure shooters and he had his share of struggles as a freshman. “I try to help him as much as I can because I know I was in that situation and I know exactly how I felt,” Locke said. “I felt like the exact same way that he was feeling.” Ideally, White needs both Mann and Locke to make shots to balance the floor and make the Gators extremely difficult to defend, particularly Saturday when UF travels to Indianapolis to face 24th-ranked and undefeated (7-0) Butler at Hinkle Field House. “This [Butler] is a team that’s a legitimate top 20 team, going to be a tournament team,” White said. “As good defensively as any team in the country. We better go up there and space and execute and cut and share it or points are going to be very hard to come by.” COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY UPDATES There are rumblings out of Tallahassee that November 30 will come on December 8 or December 9 this year. That’s the new projection date for the head coach that was promised on November 30 and apparently winner of the FSU kewpie doll is Memphis HBC Mike Norvell. There is supposedly an agreement in principle but there won’t be a signed contract until after Memphis plays Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game. Of course, there was an “agreement in principle” for Bob Stoops several weeks ago. How’d that work out? There are increasing reports that Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss are in serious negotiations. Florida Atlantic has made a bid to increase Kiffin’s salary and offer more money for assistants, but apparently Ole Miss has offered the job and now it’s just a matter of coming to an agreement. Florida Atlantic plays in the Conference USA championship game against UAB Saturday. Colorado State seems to be moving quickly to name Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford as its replacement for Mike Bobo. Alford played running back at Colorado State and is married to a former Colorado State athlete. Phil Montgomery will be back for a sixth season at Tulsa, not because he’s the answer to the football program but because they really can’t afford to fire him. Missouri has interviewed Tulane coach Willie Fritz and apparently there is a growing fascination with Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson. Fritz makes the most sense since he’s won everywhere he’s been and he has a successful coaching history (1997-2009) at DII Central Missouri. Fritz has also interviewed at Arkansas. Of course, so have Mike Norvell, Mike Leach and Lane Kiffin. Norvell apparently gets the FSU gig, Leach was so impressed that he signed a contract extension to remain at Washington State and Kiffin seems poised to take the Ole Miss job. Don’t be surprised if Arkansas rolls the dice and goes with Eli Drinkwitz, the first year head coach at Appalachian State, who played his college football at Arkansas Tech and worked as an assistant for Gus Malzahn at Springdale High School, just a few minutes from the Fayette Nam campus. Steve Spurrier Jr., who is working as Mike Leach’s wide receivers coach, is getting some mention as Charlie Strong’s replacement at South Florida. THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME SOOTHSAYER Tonight’s game Pac-12 Championship Game #13 Oregon (10-2) 24, #5 Utah (11-1) 17: Utah lost earlier in the season to Southern Calm 30-23. Oregon beat Southern Cal, 56-24. An Oregon win will send the Oklahoma-Baylor winner to the playoff, providing, of course, that Georgia loses to LSU in the SEC Championship Game. Saturday’s games Big 12 Championship Game #6 Oklahoma (11-1) 40, #7 Baylor (11-1) 30: The Baylor that raced out to a 28-3 lead over Oklahoma in the first half of their first meeting could win this game. The one that blew the big lead and lost to Oklahoma can’t. Championship games are all new for Baylor. They’re old hat for Oklahoma which will play its way into the College Football Playoff. Mid-America Conference Championship Game Central Michigan (8-4) 41, Miami, Ohio (7-5) 27: Old Yeller’s offense never worked in the SEC but it does in the MAC where the mighty Chips scored 40 or more seven times. He gets a conference championship, something that also avoided him at Florida and at Colorado State. Sun Belt Championship Game #21 Appalachian State (11-1) 35, Louisiana-Lafayette (10-2) 27: This is a revenge game for the Appys, who had their dreams of an unbeaten season crash and burn in Lafayette earlier in the year. This time both offenses get cranked up and Appy State has more firepower. Conference USA Championship Game Florida Atlantic (9-3) 31, UAB (9-3) 21: Will this be Lane Kiffin’s final game at FAU? Whether it is or isn’t, the Owls have way too much firepower and speed. American Athletic Conference Championship Game #17 Memphis (11-1) 37, #20 Cincinnati (10-2) 24: If it’s true that familiarity breeds contempt then these guys should be rather chippy by midway through the first quarter. They played last week in Memphis with Memphis winning by 10. This week the game’s in Memphis again only this time Memphis gets it done by 13. SEC Championship Game #2 LSU (12-0) 31, #4 Georgia (11-1) 14: The Georgia defense hasn’t given up more than 20 points in a game all season. There’s a first time for everything. LSU wins and Joe Burrow cements his figure four leg lock on the Heisman Trophy. Mountain West Championship Game #19 Boise State (11-1) 47, Hawaii (9-4) 28: Boise State is praying for Cincinnati to whack Memphis in the AAC Championship Game, which would probably make the Broncos the top team from the Group of Five and send them to the Cotton Bowl. Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game #3 Clemson (12-0) 42, #23 Virginia (9-3) 10: This will get ugly early. When it comes to the College Football Playoff, Clemson is the elephant in the room, the team that absolutely nobody wants to play. The defense is better than last year and Dabo says Trevor Lawrence is light years better. Poor Virginia. Big Ten Championship Game #1 Ohio State (12-0) 31, #8 Wisconsin (10-2) 17: The last time these two met, Ohio State clobbered Wisconsin 38-7. That was in Columbus. It’s on a neutral field Saturday night so it will be a closer final score but the outcome will be the same. SEC FOOTBALL STUFF Alabama (10-2): At a Thursday press conference, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, recovering from surgery on a dislocated hip, said it would be “tough to pass up” the NFL if he knew he would be a top ten or top 15 draft pick. Whether he returns to Alabama or declares for the NFL is still up in the air. “It’s something I still need to sit down and talk to my family about,” Tagovailoa said. Auburn (9-3): Sophomore linebacker Michael Harris, who appeared in 11 games in 2019, announced that he’s leaving the team. FLORIDA (10-2): Kyle Trask has been named one of 12 semifinalists for the 2019 Manning Award. It is the only quarterback award that takes into consideration each candidate’s performance in the bowl game. Trask has thrown for 2,636 yards and 24 touchdowns this season with nine consecutive games with at least two touchdown passes. Georgia (11-1): Placekicker Rodrigo Blankenship was selected SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He has a 3.65 GPA while pursuing a master’s degree in journalism. Kentucky (7-5): Lynn Bowden Jr. has a difficult decision facing him. Does he declare for the NFL where he will project as a wide receiver or does he return to Kentucky and play quarterback? Before he switched to quarterback out of necessity, Bowden was Kentucky’s leading receiver with 30 catches for 348 yards and a touchdown. As the QB, he led the Wildcats to a 5-2 record and ran for 1,235 yards and 11 touchdowns … Former Auburn backup QB Joey Gatewood announced he will transfer to UK. He will have to sit 2020 but will have two years of eligibility remaining. LSU (12-0): Joe Burrow has been named winner of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, probably the first of four major awards he’ll win including the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Trophy and Davey O’Brien Award. Mississippi State (6-6): The Bulldogs are being projected to face Louisville (7-5) in the Music City Bowl in Nashville. Tennessee (7-5): Wide receiver Jauan Jennings has been suspended for the first half of the Vols bowl game for a flagrant personal foul in the regular season finale against Vanderbilt. In that game, Jennings appeared to deliberately step on the head of a helmet-less Vanderbilt player. Texas A&M (7-5): Redshirt junior offensive lineman Kellen Diesch and junior running back Jacob Kibodi have entered their names in the NCAA transfer portal. GOOD QUOTES FOR FRIDAY Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports on Clay Helton being retained as the football coach at Southern California: “It helped Helton tremendously that he’s been a paragon of class through a chaotic time in both the athletic department and university. New president Carol Folt has had to navigate scandals on the academic side of campus, and the athletic department has been reeling from the fallout of being directly involved in two separate federal investigations. Those included USC athletics playing a central role in the Operation Varsity Blues admission scandal and former men’s basketball assistant coach Tony Bland, pleading guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit bribery.” Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated on the possibility of Utah and the Pac-12 getting into this year’s College Football Playoff: “It’s been three years since a team from west of Norman, Okla., made the field. In three of the five playoff interations, the Pac-12 has been left out. This is a national sport, with national interest and it would be better if the playoff is national in scope and not a regional tussle that excludes a huge swath of the country.” SEC BASKETBALL STUFF Thursday’s games Louisiana Tech 74, Mississippi State (6-2) 67 #14 Auburn (8-0) 81, Furman 78 (OT) RANDOM THOUGHTS: Cam Newton has probably played his final game with the Carolina Panthers. He will be in the final year of his contract extension next year and there is no guaranteed money so he’s likely to be traded … The New York Yankees are prepared to offer American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole a deal that exceeds the seven-year, $217 million deal the Boston Red Sox gave David Price four years ago.

GATORS, BOWL GAMES AND PLAYOFFS Now that the College Football Playoff poll is out, the Gators are all but assured of playing in a New Year’s Six game, most likely the Orange Bowl against Virginia. Since their regular season is complete, the 9th-ranked Gators aren’t going to drop in the final poll when it comes out Sunday. At least one team ahead of the Gators – either #6 Oklahoma or #7 Baylor, which play each other in the Big 12 Championship Game – will lose and #8 Wisconsin is expected to get its door blown off by #1 Ohio State, so the Gators should finish no worse than 8th in the final poll. That, of course, makes the preseason prognosticators look like geniuses since UF was picked #8 in just about every poll and magazine. The Orange Bowl desperately needs the Gators since it would all but assure a sellout for the December 30 game at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. There was some speculation that the Gators would face the best team from the Group of Five in the Cotton Bowl, but the Cotton Bowl wants a sellout, too, so if Utah makes the final four, the Cotton Bowl will get either Oklahoma or Baylor. The last time LSU (12-0) and Georgia (11-1) met in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta was 2003, a game won by LSU, 34-13. That was a rematch of an early season game in Baton Rouge, won by LSU, 17-10. Both LSU and Georgia lost in the regular season to Ron Zook-coached Florida. LSU went on to win the national championship at the Super Dome in New Orleans. When LSU won the 2007 national championship game it was also at the Super Dome. This year’s national championship game? New Orleans. The SEC will announce its Coaches All-SEC teams this weekend. The Gators can expect three first teamers – tight end Kyle Pitts, rush end Jonathan Greenard and corner CJ Henderson. If he hadn’t been injured, I think Greenard would win SEC Defensive Player of the Year over Auburn’s Derrick Brown. Joe Burrow of LSU will be the SEC Player of the Year and Coach O will be the Coach of the Year. There is no question Ohio State is a terrific football team but how did Ohio State jump LSU for the top spot? I’m not into conspiracy theories but I do think the playoff committee is trying to stack the deck to make sure we don’t have a third straight SEC-ACC national championship game. By putting LSU #2 and Clemson at #3, it assures there will be either an SEC or an ACC team in the championship game but not both. In my opinion, LSU should be the top overall seed if the #2 Tigers beat #4 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Ohio State will be facing #8 Wisconsin, a team it’s already blown out. With a win over Georgia, LSU will have beaten the then #3 (Alabama), #4 (Georgia), then #7 (Florida) and two teams that were then #9 (Texas and Auburn). Ohio State’s only top ten win was against then #8 Penn State. I also think the winner of the matchup between Oklahoma and Baylor should jump Utah (11-1). Oklahoma and Baylor are numbers six and seven. Utah (#5) faces #13 Oregon. If the playoff were held today, Ohio State would face Georgia, which would pit Ohio State QB Justin Fields against his old team and Jake Fromm. I would put my money on Fields and the Buckeyes. COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY UPDATES Is it November 30th yet? The largest domino that for months had been predicted to fall is still standing as Southern Cal has decided to keep Clay Helton. There are two theories about this: (1) The new athletic director and school prez have taken into consideration that Helton has spent 10 years at USC, has restored integrity to the football program and the fact that he went 8-4 in a season marred by so many injuries is actually quite remarkable; and (2) Southern Cal reached out to its two high profile targets – Urban Meyer and James Franklin – and both said thankee but no thankee, therefore bringing the AD and the prez to conclude they were better off with what they had than getting into a protracted coaching search for a third or fourth choice. Missouri has a whole host of candidates to replace Barry Odom, one of whom is former UF coach Jim McElwain, now the head coach at Central Michigan. If McElwain is offered, he’ll certainly accept because it will include a massive pay raise (he’s making $600,000 now and Mizzou is certain to offer $3 million or more) but odds are this will be a mistake on the part of both Missouri and McElwain. It will be a mistake on the part of Missouri because it will be hiring a coach who has never proven he can build a roster on his own and win with it. At Colorado State, Florida and again at Central Michigan, he’s won with good players already in place. The Florida situation in particular stands out because McElwain inherited what amounts to an NFL defense and when those guys graduated, things collapsed. McElwain is probably capable of winning consistently in a place like Central Michigan, where there isn’t much limelight and expectations are far lower than they are at an SEC school. At Missouri? He’s a firing just waiting to happen. It’s unclear what is going to happen with Mark Dantonio at Michigan State. Dantonio says he’s coming back. The school hasn’t exactly endorsed him and there is quite a bit of embarrassment that has nothing to do with a 6-6 record on the field. This will be a monetary decision. There is a $4.3 million longevity bonus due Dantonio on January 15. Add that to his $4.3 million salary and Dantonio makes $8.6 million next year. Fire him – unless something has been done that constitutes cause – and the buyout is $7 million, plus the cost of finding a new coach. For the moment, at least, it seems as if Dantonio will be back next year, but he will begin the season at or near the top of the On Life Support list. Arkansas has already interviewed three coaches – Mike Norvell (Memphis), Lane Kiffin (Florida Atlantic) and Mike Leach (Washington State). Norvell apparently let it be known he has his sights set on other jobs. Kiffin is thought to be a target for Ole Miss as well. He’s quite comfortable at Florida Atlantic and can afford (eight more years on a 10-year contract that pays more than $1 million a year) to wait for the right job if he doesn’t want to beat his head against the SEC West wall that is Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Texas A&M. Leach will not only win but he knows how to recruit Texas, which is essential for Arkansas success, and he will put fannies in the seats with his Air Raid offense. Willie Taggart is all but begging the powers that be at South Florida to give him back his old job. Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times writes that Taggart is “willing to commit in writing he’s in it for the long haul.” Is a promise that he won’t jump immediately if ever offered a Power Five job enough to satisfy the USF hierarchy that Taggart is the right guy the second time around? John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times writes that hiring Taggart might have a “consolation” feel to it at a time when USF needs a dynamic presence to counter the success of the last three years at arch-rival UCF. By naming defensive coordinator Mike MacIntyre the interim head coach it probably signaled that Ole Miss will not consider the possibility of elevating offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez to the permanent head coaching position. If MacIntyre (former HBC at Colorado and San Jose State) had the interim title lifted, would he keep RichRod as his OC? It would save about $5 million in buyout money. The Clarion-Ledger reports former North Carolina and Southern Miss head coach Larry Fedora is a candidate. Mike Norvell of Memphis seems to be the candidate of choice for Missouri, Arkansas, Ole Miss and Florida State, all of whom can afford to pay him more than the $2,660,000 he’s making at Memphis. If it’s simply about the money, he’ll leave but he’s got a great gig at Memphis with boosters that keep giving him what he wants so he can afford to be picky. With quarterback Brady White, top receiver Damonte Coxie and electric running back Kenneth Gainwell returning along with all but one of his defensive playmakers coming back Norvell might decide where he’s at is better than where he could go. Good jobs will be available next year, too. It was no secret that Colorado State was going to pink slip Mike Bobo, whose feelings were probably hurt by the firing but not his bank account. Colorado State owes him a cool $8 million. Bobo is a fine offensive coordinator. There is a really good chance he will become Will Muschamp’s offensive coordinator at South Carolina, which can pay him peanuts while he’s cashing checks from Colorado State. GOOD QUOTES FOR THURSDAY Clemson coach Dabo Swinney on his belief that Clemson doesn’t get its proper due from the media and the public: “If there was another team out there that was coming off a 15-0 season and had beaten Alabama by four touchdowns [the rhetoric would be different]. I think people should focus more on who we are than who we play. People still talk about Trevor (Lawrence) throwing a few interceptions early in the season. They don’t talk about all of the touchdowns. Trevor, if they thought he was good last year, he’s so much better than he was last year – at any point. He’s twice the quarterback than he was at the national championship game when he was the king of football. He’s twice the quarterback, right now today, and people have missed it because there has just been this rhetoric all year long. Again, it’s not me chastising anybody at all. Everybody does their job. It’s me. I just don’t think our team is portrayed properly and I think that people have missed out on a beautiful football team.” Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in the Tuscaloosa News about weighing the decision of declaring for the NFL Draft or coming back for a senior season: “The risk if I stay is obviously ‘Do I get hurt again?’ The reward is that I could come back and have another good year like my sophomore year and elevate myself back to the very top of the (NFL) Draft. If I leave, I think the risk is a little higher. That risk would be how far do I drop in the draft. To me, it’s 50-50 between going in the first round and possibly going in the second round.” Chris Peterson on some of the reasons why he made the surprising decision to walk away from his job as the head football coach at Washington: “It becomes a lot of frustration and anxiety and stress. And some of the excitement and positivity and optimism can be pushed away and that’s never a way to lead your life.” SEC BASKETBALL STUFF #21 Tennessee (7-1) 71, Florida A&M 42 Georgia (6-2) 95, North Carolina Central 59 South Carolina (6-3) 84, UMass 80 RANDOM THOUGHTS: Oakland Raiders rookie running back Josh Jacobs revealed that he’s been playing with a fractured shoulder since week seven. Jacobs ranks fourth in the NFL with 1,061 rushing yards … Baltimore Archbishop William Lori presented Pope Francis with a #8 autographed Lamar Jackson Baltimore Ravens jersey at the Vatican Tuesday … The first half of Tuesday night’s Louisville-Michigan game (won by Louisville, 58-43) nearly set college basketball back about 20 years. It was dog’s butt ugly ... The Tampa Bay Rays have cut off negotiations for the team to play some of its home games in Montreal. What the Rays desperately need to do is figure out a way to get a stadium in Tampa and move the team out of the Plastic Palace in St. Petersburg.

The only person who wanted Tyrie Cleveland to score more than the senior receiver himself was Josh Hammond…and the rest of his teammates on the sideline…and the 89,000+ in attendance on a cold November night in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Cleveland took a kickoff at the four-yard line and jetted between the hashes for a return that began with a head full of steam. He had a lane and a jet pack and on senior night for the fan favorite, the entire stadium collectively and audibly inhaled a breath of anticipation. With just under five minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter, the No. 11 Florida Gators were leading rivals Florida State by 20, a score slightly more respectable due to a Seminoles touchdown that had just came as one bright spot in a game largely dominated by Dan Mullen’s squad. This game was going to be won by Florida before opening kickoff and as such a kickoff return touchdown from Cleveland wasn’t necessary. But man was it wished for. "I wanted Tyrie to score the kick return. That was probably my favorite moment, I wanted him to score that so bad,” admitted fellow senior receiver Josh Hammond. The Noles kicker, Parker Grothaus, dove at the 44-yard line and tripped up Cleveland, ending the dream and causing one of the loudest reactions from The Swamp on a night where the raucous stadium lived up to its reputation. The story of Tyrie Cleveland as a Florida Gator is coming to a close and everyone involved wanted that moment, just one last chance at home to celebrate with a man who embodied the selfless attitude of a vital teammate. In true style from the guy who blocked a South Carolina player for 75-yards so Dameon Pierce could score a touchdown and the first to be seen celebrating scores with his teammates, his favorite moments involved everyone but himself. “It wasn’t for me, it was for my teammates. Seeing those guys back there make plays and everybody just laughing on the sidelines, having a good time, doing the right job so nothing about me, it just my teammates. “All the smiles on my coaches and teammates' faces. Just seeing the fans out there going crazy for us. I can't even describe it. This place is great.” “This place” has in fact been great for Cleveland at times. It’s brought heartbreak at times and it’s even kicked him down once or twice. But it’s also been what gave him a platform and an outlet. It’s what saved him. Cleveland is a Jacksonville native but moved to Houston, Texas in middle school. For Tyrie to come back to Florida and play for the Gators was more than a dream; it was a lifeline. “Where we come from, not a lot of people make it out. There's bad influences or people just trying to lead you down the wrong road. I took a different route… “Just being able just too, over the past four years, just live out my dream, play for my favorite team growing up, it’s a blessing. I’m grateful.” As a recruit from Westfield High School in Houston, Cleveland was ranked as the 3rd best wide receiver in the country by both 24/7 and ESPN. His commitment helped raise Florida’s class that year to 12th. His freshman season in Gainesville went from the lowest low’s with a BB-gun incident—to the highest of highs thanks to a 98-yard touchdown pass from Austin Appleby in route to a win over LSU. It became the longest play by an opposing team in Tigers Stadium. The latter fact especially ironic considering the 2016 game was meant to be played in Gainesville but was moved due to Hurricane Matthew. One year later it was another storm that was defining Cleveland’s day. Tropical Storm Harvey hammered Houston and Cleveland admitted at the time he felt helpless in Gainesville, unable to help his family with much more than a phone call. “[I’m] very worried,” he said at the time. “Being out here, [I] can’t do nothing about it…I just kept them in my prayers. I’m going to continue to keep them in my prayers.” And much like his freshman year, it was another record setting play from Tyrie that brought a smile back to his face and defined Florida’s season. The “Heave to Cleve”, a 63-yard bomb from Feleipe Franks to Cleveland in the endzone as the clock expired, defeated Tennessee 26-20. It was the only time Florida has beat an opponent with a touchdown on the final play of regulation. Before the final offensive drive, Cleveland told Hammond and safety Marcell Harris that he was “fixing to win the game for us.” Then, he did it. “The safety came down, so I took the middle of the field. And I just ran, ran and just ran, ran up under it. “As a little kid, you always think about just having like kids growing up talking about the play and what happened that day. As a college athlete playing my position, a lot of guys just want to score and make a lot of plays and make a lot of plays for the team. I was grateful and blessed to be put in position to make a game-winning catch. “It was surreal. It was a blessing first and foremost. Just making that play, it left a mark on my legacy, and I’m blessed to be able – years down the road, people can talk about it. So, I’m blessed to have that.” Cleveland wants to do more than just provide the memories that kids remember though. He wants to help those behind him create their own. As a child himself, it was a piece Tyrie knew was missing from his life and vowed to change the narrative under his own power. "I really didn’t get inspired so I try to take advantage of the position I’m in now. Hopefully a couple of years from now I can continue to help the kids,” he said in the fall of 2018. “As an athlete kids look up to you. It’s your job to try to do what’s right on and off the field. Over the couple of years, I’ve been trying to stay focus. Off the field trying to keep my nose clean. Giving back I’ve always liked that and I always had a passion for that since I was little, just giving back. Hopefully one day I can build me a center for kids just too give back.” Saturday night didn’t feature the kick return touchdown that an entire stadium was praying for to accompany the receivers four catches for 44 yards. That doesn’t mean Tyrie Cleveland didn’t have his last big moment in The Swamp though. It just came after the clock ticked down and the Gators had won 40-17, defeating the Noles for the first time at home since 2009. Most of the the Gators team had filed back into the locker room. A handful of seniors remained on the field, not ready to leave the place that had shaped them. Tyrie Cleveland wasn’t ready to leave the place that saved him. Cleveland had arrived at the stadium that day, admittedly with tears in his eyes. Before taking the field, he looked at a picture of his brother, who he lost in high school, and said he knew was looking down on him for the final regular season game. And when it was time to say goodbye, he knelt in the endzone, in the same spot he caught that game winning touchdown against Tennessee, and took one last moment. He thought back to what he would tell that 17-year old kid who committed to Florida—“No matter what, no matter how hard it gets, no matter how much adversity hits you, just stay true to yourself. Have faith and keep working hard because one day it's going to be your time”—which is a simple message that carries enough weight to become the bedrock of who he is today and the impact he had on shaping this program. And he thought back on the legacy he hoped to leave. “The hard-worker. Every Saturday, come out and give it my all, you know. Coming in as a freshman, I always had that dream just to leave my mark in some type of way. I hope I did that.” He thought back over coaching changes and hurricane games and eclectic memories that lay dormant until mentioned and then zap you with the energy they still carry. Tyrie Cleveland found his way through all of that and more. He had no choice but to; and in the process, he taught those around him how to do the same. So on Saturday night, the receiver got his last big moment in The Swamp. To an empty stadium he said thank you. It was mutual. For as much as this place saved Tyrie Cleveland, Tyrie Cleveland helped save the Florida Gators.

A CULTURAL SHIFT Perhaps it was a gamble what Dan Mullen did as soon as he arrived on the University of Florida campus as the new head football coach in December of 2017. Mullen decided to wipe the slate clean for the entire roster. Discipline issues. Academic issues. Even non-football issues such as nine players who had missed the entire 2017 season for their part in a credit card fraud scheme. “I just knew what we were going to build, what we were going to establish,” Mullen said Saturday night after the Gators had wiped the floor of The Swamp with the Florida State Seminoles to the tune of 40-17. That was Florida’s second straight win over the Seminoles, who had won the previous five games prior to Mullen’s arrival at UF. It was also the Gators’ 10th win of the season, giving Mullen a 20-5 record built largely with players he inherited from a previous head coach fired the week before the 2017 Georgia game after he wouldn’t or couldn’t offer any proof of death threats he claimed he and his family had received from over-zealous Florida fans. Mullen understood what he was getting into when he came to Florida and the last thing he wanted or needed to do was impede progress toward rebuilding the football program culturally and on the field from the ground up was to give everybody a fresh start. “I never judged,” Mullen said. “I tried not to watch any film, honestly. I tried not to even look at a lot of record and issues – guys that maybe had discipline issues or academic issues or maybe guys were great. I wiped all that out in my first meeting. I said this is what we’re going to do, and we need you guys to buy in.” We hear that term “buy in” a lot in sports today. It’s really just another way of saying commitment. The late, great Vince Lombardi believed that it wasn’t always the most talented team that won football games but the team that was the most committed to success and winning. Mullen inherited a lot of talented players from the Jim McElwain regime, but what happened in 2017 was living proof commitment was lacking. Mullen has transformed Florida from a team lacking direction and commitment into one that seems poised to make the next big leap to the championship level. In 2017, the Gators won four games. “That’s not why they came here,” Mullen said. “These guys bought into what we were doing. They came in here to live up to that Gator standard and play in great bowl games and compete for championships. They’ve set the foundation for us to continue to do that in the future.” So the gamble has paid off, perhaps even beyond what Mullen expected. He wiped the team’s slate clean and they’ve rewarded him with 20 wins in two seasons. This is one cultural shift that has paid off. GATORS GO 4-0, DROP OUT OF BOTH BASKETBALL POLLS Despite winning the Charleston Classic with three straight wins and a home win over Marshall last week, the Florida Gators dropped out of both the Associated Press and Coaches top 25 basketball polls. The Gators received 110 points in the AP poll, two behind 25th-ranked Utah State and 60 in the Coaches poll, eight behind #25 Oklahoma State. The Gators are idle until Saturday when they face 24th-ranked Butler in Indianapolis. Three teams from the SEC are ranked in both polls – Kentucky, Auburn and Tennessee. Associated Press Top 25 Poll (1) Louisville 7-0; (2) Kansas 6-1; (3) Maryland 8-0; (4) Michigan 7-0; (5) Virginia 7-0; (6) Ohio State 7-0; (7) North Carolina 6-1; (8) Kentucky 6-1; (9) Gonzaga 8-1; (10) Duke 7-1; (11) Michigan State 5-2; (12) Arizona 9-0; (13) Oregon 6-2; (14) Auburn 7-0; (15) Memphis 6-1; (16) Seton Hall 6-2; (17) Florida State 7-1; (18) Baylor 5-1; (19) Dayton 5-1; (20) Colorado 6-0; (21) Tennessee 6-1; (22) Washington 5-1; (23) Villanova 5-2; (24) Butler 7-0; (25) Utah State 7-1 Coaches Top 25 Poll (1) Louisville 7-0; (2) Virginia 7-0; (3) Kansas 6-1; (4) Maryland 8-0; (5) Michigan 7-0; (6) Ohio State 7-0; (7) North Carolina 6-1; (8) Duke 7-1; (9) Gonzaga 8-1; (10) Kentucky 6-1; (11) Arizona 9-0; (12) Michigan State 5-2; (13) Auburn 7-0; (14) Oregon 6-2; (15) Seton Hall 6-2; (16) Baylor 5-1; (17) Dayton 5-1; (18) Memphis 6-1; (19) Florida State 7-1; (20) Tennessee 6-1; (21) Colorado 6-0; (22) Villanova 5-2; (23) Washington 5-1; (24) Butler 7-0; (25) Oklahoma State 7-0 SEC FOOTBALL STUFF Alabama (10-2, 6-2 SEC): On WJOX-FM in Birmingham Monday, Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network said, “The greatest coach in college football has been outcoached in his last three significant games and you guys know the stats as I say them: He’s lost two out of three to Dabo [Swinney]. That’s a fact. He’s lost two out of three to Gus Malzahn and that’s the one I think is difficult for a lot of people to digest.” Arkansas (3-9, 0-8 SEC): Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek has met with Florida Atlantic HBC Lane Kiffin … Redshirt freshman O-lineman Silas Robinson (6-4, 306) has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal. Auburn (9-3, 5-3 SEC): The Southeastern Conference has fined Auburn $250,000 after its fans stormed the field following the Tigers’ 48-45 win over Alabama … Auburn linebacker Zakoby McClain was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week and placekicker Anders Carlson was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week. FLORIDA (10-2, 6-2 SEC): Jon Greenard was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week after his performance in the Gators’ 40-17 win over Florida State. Greenard was in on six tackles with three sacks and a forced fumble … Tight end Lucas Krull will go the graduate transfer route for his final year of college football eligibility. Georgia (11-1, 7-1 SEC): Georgia’s highly regarded defensive unit will have to slow down an LSU offense that ranks #2 nationally in scoring (48.7 per game), passing (390 yards per game) and total offense (560.4 yards per game). Kentucky (7-5, 3-5 SEC): Freshman linebacker Tra Wilkins (6-0, 215), who appeared in two games in 2019, has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal. LSU (12-0, 8-0 SEC): Auburn is the only team that held LSU to fewer than 30 points in a game this season. Against Georgia, the Tigers will face a defense that hasn’t allowed more than 20 in a game all season and ranks #2 in scoring defense (10.4 points per game) and #4 in total defense (257 yards per game). Mississippi State (6-6, 3-5 SEC): Mississippi State’s offense in 2019 did pretty much what it did in 2018. The Bulldogs scored 28.5 points and gained 397.4 yards per game last year, 27.6 points and 402.9 yards this year. The difference was on defense: 13.2 points and 263.1 yards allowed per game in 2018; 28.1 points and 389.9 yards per game this year. Missouri (6-6, 3-5 SEC): Tight end Albert Okwuegbunam and defensive tackle Jordan Elliott will leave for the NFL. The 6-6, 255-pound junior caught 26 passes for 306 yards and six touchdowns. He’s viewed as a potential first rounder. Elliott, a 6-4, 315-pound junior, was in on 44 tackles with 8.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and six quarterback hurries. Ole Miss (4-8, 3-5 SEC): In the immediate aftermath of firing HBC Matt Luke, offensive tackle Bryce Matthews entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal and four recruits de-committed including four-star safety Eric Reed. South Carolina (4-8, 3-5 SEC): Jake Bentley, who started at quarterback for two-and-a-half seasons and was the starting QB when 2019 began, will take the graduate transfer route and play his final season of college football someplace else. Bentley broke his foot in the season opening loss to North Carolina and took a redshirt. His dad, Bobby, is the running backs coach at South Carolina ... OG Sadarius Hutcherson, who has started 25 games the last two seasons, announced he will return to South Carolina for his senior season. Tennessee (7-5, 5-3 SEC): Redshirt junior offensive lineman Ryan Johnson (6-6, 301) and freshman wide receiver Jerrod Means (6-2, 214) have placed their names in the NCAA transfer portal. Johnson has started 18 games in his career although only two in 2019. Means played in five games before missing the rest of the season with an injury. Texas A&M (7-5, 4-4 SEC): Sophomore tight end Glenn Beal (6-5, 265) has entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal. Beal played in nine games in 2019 with five catches for 21 yards. Vanderbilt (3-9, 1-7 SEC): Tom Stephenson of the Anchor of Gold (Vanderbilt) website opines, “Just why is Derek Mason being brought back for the 2020 season? There’s an explanation given but it doesn’t make a ton of sense, mostly because it runs into the reality that we all saw the football team in 2019 and exactly no one is convinced that nicer locker rooms or the football-specific facility that is Jordan Rodgers’ pet project will make a difference as long as the coaching is deficient.” COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY UPDATES Bobby Wilder, Old Dominion: It will officially go down as a resignation, but Bobby Wilder, the only coach ODU has had since resuming football in 2011, was fired after three consecutive losing seasons. His career record at ODU 77-56. The three front-runners for the opening at South Florida are former USF, Oregon and FSU head coach Willie Taggart and Clemson’s co-offensive coordinators, Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott. Scott is the son of former South Carolina HBC and FSU offensive coordinator Brad Scott, who didn’t play college football and is a USF graduate. Athletic director David Coburn said he expected a new head coach would be in place at FSU by the end of the season at the very latest. Here it is Tuesday and FSU is still coach-less. Chris Peterson wasn’t fired nor was he forced out at Washington Monday. He simply decided now was time to take a sabbatical – maybe even a permanent sabbatical – from football. SEC BASKETBALL STUFF Tuesday’s games #24 Butler at Ole Miss Austin Peay at Arkansas Charleston Southern at Missouri Buffalo at Vanderbilt New Orleans at LSU GOOD QUOTES FOR TUESDAY Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated on Florida Atlantic HBC Lane Kiffin on the hot list for openings at both Arkansas and Ole Miss: “Kiffin is the hot mess of a super model football executives just can’t seem to resist. He’s been fired by the Oakland Raiders and USC Trojans in previous lives, and in between those gigs made a poor decision to Jilt Tennessee after one season. As offensive coordinator at Alabama he was told to take a hike in the middle of the College Football Playoff by Nick Saban, because his mind was on his next job and not on playoff business. The late SEC commissioner Mike Slive couldn’t stand Kiffin during his year at Tennessee.” A statement by Auburn dean of the college of liberal arts, Dr. Joe Aistrup, on tweaking the final exam schedule at the university after Auburn’s 48-45 win over Alabama: “It is undeniable that when every second counts, Auburn men and women make great things happen. Under Coach Malzahn’s leadership student-athletes have twice proven the difference that :01 can make. In the spirit of continued success, I hereby authorize professors and instructors to add one second to the allotted times for next week’s final exams.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: The New England Patriots waived placekicker Kai Forbath Monday. Forbath is the fourth kicker the Patriots have used this season, signed to replace Nick Folk, who had an appendectomy last week. Folk could return at some point later in the season … This is scary, but Clemson is actually ahead of last year’s pace through 12 regular season games. Oh, the record is the same – 12-0 – but defensively, for example, the Tigers are allowing four fewer points and 51 fewer yards per game through the first 12 games … Waiting for the NCAA to drop the hammer on these rogue basketball programs reminds me of the book by my late friend, the great Lewis Grizzard: “When My Love Returns from the Ladies Room, Will I Be Too Old to Care?”

COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY OVERLOAD Added to the Extinct Species List Matt Luke, Ole Miss: This came as an absolute surprise. Just last week new AD Keith Carter said he liked the direction the program was headed under Luke, then Sunday Luke was gone. Although Carter isn’t going to say so, you can almost bet the far Luke’s firing has everything to do with wide receiver Elijah Moore costing the Egg Bowl when he got an embarrassing 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration when he imitated a dog hiking his leg and peeing after scoring a TD with four seconds to go that cut the Mississippi State lead to 21-20. Buyout for Luke and his staff is $17 million. Charlie Strong, South Florida: Strong was on very thin ice before USF got torched by arch-rival UCF Friday night. It was thought the boosters might not have the cash to buy him out, but apparently they put together the finances and Strong is a goner. There is a report that fired FSU coach Willie Taggart is very interested in making a to return to USF. Steve Addazio, Boston College: Old 6-6 Steve got done in by another 6-6 season. How do the folks at BC expect to compete in a league that includes Clemson, Florida State, Miami and North Carolina when there are fewer Division I prospects in all of New England than there are in the Tampa-St. Pete metro area? They might discover that 6-6 and 7-5 is about as good as it’s going to get. Frank Wilson, Texas-San Antonio: This wasn’t surprising. The people at UTSA think there is more than enough talent in Texas to compete and win in Conference USA. Wilson neither recruited nor competed. This should be a decent stepping stone job for some young coordinator looking for that first HBC job. Barry Odom, Missouri: In a very revealing press conference explaining why Odom was fired, AD Jim Sterkel explained that revenues are declining for football and Mizzou needs someone exciting to bring back enthusiasm – and cash – to the program. Temporarily on Hold Mike Bobo, Colorado State: Apparently they’re still working out the terms of the buyout. Expect some sort of announcement today or Tuesday. Clay Helton, Southern Cal: There was a report that Helton’s firing was imminent but that has been shot down. Word was last week that the new school prez and athletic director Mike Bohn were gravitating toward keeping Helton another year, taking into consideration that an 8-4 record with all those injuries was actually pretty decent. But the boosters want Helton gone, so this situation is still volatile. Bobby Wilder, Old Dominion: Wilder is the only coach ODU has known since it revived the football program. He’s had three losers in a row, each one worse than the last culminating with a 1-11 mark this year. Wilder says he’s the only one who can fix the program as strong rumors persist that he won’t survive more than two or three more days tops. Kevin Sumlin, Arizona: As much as they would like Sumlin to be gone, they don’t seem to have the money it would take to fire him. That could change, however. Chip Kelly, UCLA: Supposedly they don’t have the money for a buyout unless some big booster comes up with about $9 million. Some big booster is threatening to write a check apparently because UCLA is in meetings regarding Kelly’s future. GATORS MOVE UP TO #7 IN BOTH POLLS Florida’s blowout win over Florida State combined with Alabama’s loss to Auburn in the Iron Bowl allowed the Gators to move up one spot to #7 in both the Associate Press and Coaches top 25 polls. The combination of the Alabama loss and Minnesota losing should also help the Gators in the College Football Playoff Poll, which comes out Tuesday. In the last poll, Florida was at #11. LSU remained #1 in both the AP and Coaches Polls followed by Ohio State. It’s unlikely the Tigers will jump back over Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Poll since Ohio State beat 13th-ranked Michigan while LSU beat unranked Texas A&M, albeit decisively. Associated Press Top 25 Poll (1) LSU 12-0; (2) Ohio State 12-0; (3) Clemson 12-0; (4) Georgia 11-1; (5) Utah 11-1; (6) Oklahoma 11-1; (7) FLORIDA 10-2; (8) Baylor 11-1; (9) Alabama 10-2; (10) Wisconsin 10-2; (11) Auburn 9-3; (12) Penn State 10-2; (13) Oregon 10-2; (14) Notre Dame 10-2; (15) Minnesota 10-2; (16) Memphis 11-1; (17) Michigan 9-3; (18) Iowa 9-3; (19) Boise State 11-1; (20) Appalachian State 11-1; (21) Cincinnati 10-2; (22) Virginia 9-3; (23) Navy 9-2; (24) Southern Cal 8-4; (25) Air Force 10-2 Coaches Top 25 Poll (1) LSU 12-0; (2) Ohio State 12-0; (3) Clemson 12-0; (4) Georgia 11-1; (5) Utah 11-1; (6) Oklahoma 11-1; (7) FLORIDA 10-2; (8) Baylor 11-1; (9) Alabama 10-2; (10) Wisconsin 10-2; (11) Penn State 10-2; (12) Auburn 9-3; (13) Oregon 10-2; (14) Notre Dame 10-2; (15) Minnesota 10-2; (16) Memphis 11-1; (17) Boise State 11-1; (18) Michigan 9-3; (19) Iowa 9-3; (20) Appalachian State 11-1; (21) Cincinnati 10-2; (22) Virginia 9-3; (23) Navy 9-2; (24) Southern Cal 8-4; (25) Air Force 10-2 RANKING THE SEC AND OTHER STUFF (1) LSU (12-0, 8-0 SEC): As if to send a loud and clear message to the College Football Playoff Committee, LSU’s defense came to play Saturday against Texas A&M. The Aggies managed only seven points and 169 total yards. The offense generated 50 points and 553 yards. (2) Georgia (11-1, 7-1 SEC): Georgia’s offense could have serious issues against LSU in the SEC Championship Game if D’Andre Swift (shoulder) can’t go. The Bulldogs will already be without wide receiver Lawrence Cager (ankle) and leading receiver George Pickens will miss the first half due to getting tossed for fighting against Georgia Tech. (3) FLORIDA (10-2, 6-2 SEC): In 11 games, Kyle Trask has put up the best passing numbers since Tim Tebow in 2009. In 14 games in 2009, Tebow hit 67.8% of his passes for 2,895 yards (9.2 per attempt) and 21 touchdowns (five interceptions) with a QB rating of 164.17. Trask is hitting 67.6% of his passes for 2,636 yards (8.4 per attempt) with 24 touchdowns (six interceptions) and a QB rating of 159.24. With a bowl game to go, Trask’s numbers should improve. Trask has a streak of nine consecutive games with at least two touchdown passes. (4) Auburn (9-3, 5-3 SEC): Gus Malzahn’s job is safe for another year. His only three losses were to #1 LSU, #4 Georgia and #7 Florida. (5) Alabama (10-2, 6-2 SEC): There is absolutely nothing wrong with Alabama’s offense. Defense? That’s another story altogether so don’t be surprised if Nick Saban guts the defensive staff and brings in a whole new crew. (6) Texas A&M (7-5, 4-4 SEC): The Texas A&M defense held Georgia to 19 points and only 260 total yards. Against LSU, that same defense gave up 50 points and 553 yards. (7) Tennessee (7-5, 5-3 SEC): The Vols won their last five games to finish 7-5 but as Knoxville News-Sentinel columnist John Adams noted, “Tennessee still hasn’t beaten anybody good.” (8) Kentucky (7-5, 3-5 SEC): Everybody in the ball yard knew Kentucky wasn’t going to throw the ball yet the Wildcats ran for 517 yards in their 45-13 win over Louisville with quarterback Lynn Bowden Jr. going for 284 with four touchdowns. Bowden threw twice, completed one for a whopping four yards. (9) Missouri (6-6, 3-5 SEC): Apparently, Mizzou will focus in on a coach from the offensive side of the ball to replace Barry Odom. (10) Mississippi State (6-6, 3-5 SEC): After winning the Egg Bowl, Joe Moorhead said they’ll have to drag his “Yankee ass” out of Starkville. It’s not known if that threat factored into the one-year contract extension through 2023 that Moorhead got. (11) South Carolina (4-8, 3-5 SEC): Quarterbacks coach Dan Werner and strength and conditioning coordinator Jeff Dillman have been dismissed. Offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon has been stripped of play-calling duties. It remains to be seen whether he stays with the program after the demotion. (12) Ole Miss (4-8, 3-5 SEC): The Rebels are looking for a new coach. Will they look outside the program or elevate offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez, who’s been the head coach at West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona? (13) Vanderbilt (3-9, 1-7 SEC): The Commodores scored 31 points in their last four SEC games – all losses – and they lose most of their decent offensive players. Another 9-10 loss season is already in the forecast. (14) Arkansas (3-9, 0-8 SEC): Athletic director Hunter Yurachek has interviewed Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin. With the Missouri and Ole Miss jobs open, Kiffin might find both of them more appealing than Arkansas. ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL First year head coach Will Healy, who led Charlotte to its first winning record in school history by winning the last five regular season games, came into the team room Sunday wearing scuba gear to announce the 49ers are going to The Bahamas Bowl where they will face Buffalo. Healy told his team, “Nobody’s going to have more fun on a bowl trip than we will.” Ian Rappoport of the NFL Network reports that Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley could be on tap as the next coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the event owner Jerry Jones fires Jason Garrett because the Jones family “already has a close relationship” with Riley. Texas head coach Tom Herman fired defensive coordinator Todd Orlando and assigned offensive coordinator Tim Beck to a non-coordinator position to be named on the staff. Reportedly, Herman wants to land either Graham Harrell (USC offensive coordinator) or Joe Brady (LSU passing game coordinator) to replace Beck. Former Mizzou HBC Barry Odom could end up being a candidate for the defensive coordinator spot. Despite going 2-10, UConn gave HBC Randy Edsall a $6,000 bonus. Go figure. And speaking of bonus money, Old Yeller got an additional $22,500 bonus from Central Michigan for getting an 8th win and making the Mid-America Conference championship game. The on-again, off-again hiring of Greg Schiano is on again at Rutgers. A week after walking away from the negotiating table, enough Rutgers boosters and alums complained that the school opened things up with Schiano, this time coming to a deal that includes more money for assistants and better facilities. Schiano gets an eight-year deal worth $32 million with $25.2 million guaranteed. GOOD QUOTES FOR MONDAY Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated on Alabama without a quality win and without a championship, something that just hasn’t happened since the Nick Saban era began in 2007: “The only college football constant more reliable than Saban-coached excellence is that nothing lasts forever. Dynasties are never eternal. The coach of the Crimson Tide might have the same energy and drive as ever – but eventually, inevitably, things slip. A program culture built on a seemingly foundation can erode.” Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated on Ohio State’s 56-27 poleaxing of Michigan: “Say it loud, clear, and between refrains of Carmen Ohio: Ohio State is better than Michigan and maybe better than everybody else. The Buckeyes have won eight straight tover Michigan, and 15 of the last 16. Ohio State-Michigan doesn’t feel like the best rivalry in sports anymore. It feels like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, then kicking him in the head.” SEC BASKETBALL STUFF Sunday’s games Fairfield 67, Texas A&M (3-4) 62 South Carolina (5-3) 74, George Washington 65 RANDOM THOUGHTS: Pat Sullivan, the great Auburn QB who won the 1971 Heisman Trophy, has died after complications from his long bout with cancer … In his last three games – all Tennessee Titans wins – Derrick Henry has carried 68 times for 496 yards and five touchdowns … There won’t be a reverse run of the table in the NFL this year. The Cincinnati Bengals finally won (22-6 over the New York Jets) to improve to 1-11.

The Florida Gators (11-CFP; 7-latest AP & USA Today) defeated Florida State 40-17 to go undefeated in The Swamp and finish with 10 wins in the regular season. Gator Bait TV's Kassidy Hill spoke with head coach Dan Mullen and Florida Gators players following the win. Follow the link here or watch below for the full post game report.

The scene in the South End Zone after Florida’s 40-17 win over Florida State was one of celebration that would last well into the wee hours of Sunday morning for victorious Gators who finished out the regular season at 10-2. Whether one-by-one or in small groups, players trickled toward the locker room, taking a moment to nod or wave at UF president Kent Fuchs and wife Linda who stood under the goal posts. When Feleipe Franks made his way to the locker room, joy was absent from his face, however. Wearing a walking boot on his right foot, blue jeans and his #13 jersey, Franks hobbled into the locker room wearing a somber look on his face. The perpetual smile was gone, perhaps because he knew this was his farewell moment in The Swamp. Not exactly how he planned it. Not exactly how any of us thought it would be when the 2019 football season began back in August. This was supposed to be the year when Feleipe Franks built on that fast finish to 2018 and led the Gators to a second straight season of 10 or more wins. This was supposed to be the year when arm strength, athleticism and unquestioned desire all came together and the inconsistencies of the past became a distant memory. This was supposed to be the year in which Feleipe Franks went from NFL suspect to top NFL prospect. Supposed to be. The injury at Kentucky was horrific in nature – a dislocated and fractured ankle, the type from which recovery is often slow and quite painful. It ended the season for Franks, opening the door for Kyle Trask to put some modern football touches on a Cinderella story. As the Florida offense flourished with Trask in charge and one of the truly feel good stories of college stories took on monstrous proportions, it must have seemed to Franks that the handwriting of his own future was on the wall in big, bold letters. And so when Franks announced Sunday that he’s departing, investigating his NFL as well as transfer options, we really shouldn’t have been surprised. He faces more months of rehab, enough that Dan Mullen announced at his press conference last Monday that he wasn’t sure that Franks would be fit enough to go through spring practice. As Franks watched from the sideline Saturday night as Trask and backup Emory Jones lit up the Seminoles, the unlikelihood that he could get back into a good enough groove to supplant Trask and Jones in the spring had to be painfully clear. While he has no clue when he’ll be healthy enough to play again at a high level, Trask and Jones aren’t going anywhere. Trask turned beet red when asked if he planned to go the NFL last Monday. His response to the question was, “I don’t plan on leaving.” And why should he? And why should Jones think about going elsewhere. The way Mullen integrated the offense with Trask and Jones Saturday night it was an indicator of where the offense is heading in the future. Franks spent the entire spring and summer leading up to this season cultivating his place as the ultimate team leader. He was the first one to practice and the last one to leave. He organized players-only workouts after spring practice and into the summer. He did what a leader is supposed to do and made the Florida Gators HIS team. All that changed with the injury and starting with the miracle comeback win at Kentucky through the FSU win Saturday night, the Gators moved on from Franks and evolved into Trask’s team. With so much uncertainty about his own future, Franks probably saw leaving as his best option. Chances are, he knew that well before Saturday night’s game with FSU. Can you blame him? I think not. He could declare for the draft. There is that chance some NFL team will take a chance on him based on what they saw the last four games of 2018 and throws like that laser beam 65-yard connection to Josh Hammond in the Miami game back in August or the 69-yarder to Van Jefferson in the game with UT-Martin. Franks completed 25-27 passes for 270 yards in that game with UT-Martin and he showed some really good wheels when he broke out of the pack for a 22-yard gain. He wasn’t without a few good moments in 2019, maybe enough to convince the scouts that he’s draftable. Lest we forget, Bart Starr came out of Alabama with fewer credentials than Franks has. He was drafted in the 17th round and he turned out all right. You don’t have to be a high draft pick to be successful in the NFL although it’s worth more money and more money translates into teams giving more opportunity lest they lose their investment. This is not to say that Franks will be the next Bart Starr, but he has size (6-6, 240), speed, athleticism and a very strong arm so if he does declare it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that he will be chosen in the later rounds. The NFL is a crapshoot, however, and there are far more guarantees if Franks puts his name in the NCAA transfer portal. He won’t lack options and if he chooses wisely, he could improve his NFL chances significantly. Wherever he goes, I hope all the coaching and lessons learned at Florida combine with all that natural talent and athleticism to give him a final year of college football to remember. He deserves that. As for me, I’ll always remember the touchdown pass to Tyrie Cleveland on the final play of the game in 2017. That is a Gator memory for a lifetime that will never be erased from my mind and Feleipe Franks made that possible with 70-yard heave (63-yard TDP but the ball traveled 70 in the air) that turned a certain loss into a miracle victory. Thanks Feleipe. No matter where you go, you’ll always be a Gator in my mind. * * * Mullen will never come right out and admit it publicly, but stomping Florida State was very much part of his game plan. In his press conference last Monday and in post game, Mullen said all the politically correct things but in his heart of hearts, he got exactly what he wanted and that was a crushing win that would indicate to the more than 500 recruits in the South End Zone that while the physical distance between Gainesville and Tallahassee is 150 miles, the football difference is approaching light years. In Mullen’s two years on the job at Florida, the Gators are 20-5 and in all likelihood heading to their second consecutive New Year’s Six bowl. He has changed the entire football culture at UF from one filled with negativity and just getting by to one of great expectations. “When we were 4-7, we were just … I wouldn’t say headed down the wrong road, we were just lost and confused,” is how Tyrie Cleveland explained it Saturday night. “When Coach Mullen came, he really changed the whole program and changed the whole mindset. He told us just to work hard, give relentless effort, play for each other and everything will work out.” And work out it has. Florida is currently poised to take a dominant position among the state’s three power five schools. FSU doesn’t know who its next coach is going to be and whoever is hired will be its second new boss in three years. The Seminoles are 11-13 since the 2018 season, having missed a bowl game last year for the first time since Gerald Ford was the president and this year expecting to spend a week in scenic, exotic (and cold) Detroit for something called the Quick Lane Bowl. As for Miami, the Hurricanes were expected to be the second best team in the ACC behind Clemson this year, but they’re 6-6 with losses to Georgia Tech, Florida International and Duke dotting that not so glamorous resume. Miami’s bowl destination is expected to be Shreveport, not exactly a hotspot for folks planning a vacation. Rumor has it that if you lose the Independence Bowl you’re required to spend an extra week in Shreveport. While Mullen has significantly advanced the Florida brand in his two seasons on the job, both Florida State and Miami have turned into raging dumpster fires. When he took the job at UF in December of 2017, Mullen couldn’t have possibly foreseen the boost he was going to get from his two big in-state rivals. He has a unique opportunity to put FSU and Miami in a permanent state of catch-up. He’s well ahead of both FSU and Miami with the 2020 recruiting class and that gap should grow significantly between now and the early signing date in three weeks. A bowl win – the Gators are projected to go to either the Cotton Bowl to face the Group of Five top team or to the Orange Bowl to face Virginia – will only add to the recruiting advantage. * * * Mullen offered up words of thanks to his seniors at the post game press conference Saturday night. “It’s really special to me,” he said. “When you come in and you say, ‘We didn’t recruit you, but this is how we’re going to run the program and this is what we believe in, this is how the program’s going to be run in the future’ and those guys believed and bought in. And I thanked all of them, every single one of them, I thanked them and I said, thanks for believing in me. They played hard for the Gators, but they came here to be Gators you know, but then they also believed in me and bought into what me and the coaching staff are trying to build here, what we’re trying to do and how we run our program. So I’m very thankful for them to believe in me and it’s a great honor for guys to do that.”