By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Friday morning:
DEXTER PUTS THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE
Representing The Gator Collective and appearing on The Buddy Martin Show Thursday night, defensive lineman Gervon Dexter didn’t hold back when discussing what it means to have been a part of a 6-7 football team that lost to UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl in 2021.
“We are a living testimony to a sorry team,” Dexter said, explaining that this is what he has told teammates about a season that saw the Gators go 3-6 after a 3-1 start that saw them nearly take out then No. 1 Alabama in September.
That is what is known as brutally honest. Bad coaching had something to do with the rotten season, but players who were undisciplined and who didn’t care enough to play at the best of their ability has something to do with it also. The bad coaching has been dealt with. Dan Mullen and his entire coaching staff has been fired, replaced by head coach Billy Napier who has turned Florida football on his ear with a completely new coaching staff along with a fresh new approach to recruiting, training, nutrition and everything that has to do with being a Gator. Napier believes in the potential for the Florida Gators, but he also realizes that it will indeed take his “army” of people to compete and beat the likes of Alabama and Georgia.
Hopefully, all the changes will result in changed attitudes, because that’s where change has to begin. Before Napier can move forward with his “People Plan,” he has to deal with the six inches of space between each player’s ears.
The Gators were indeed a sorry football team and that’s something every player who was on the 2021 roster will have to live with. The ones who can live with that need to find a new place to play football next year. Those who can’t live with it should be motivated to do everything in their power to avoid a repeat performance in 2022.
THE TRANSFER HOKEY-POKEY
That’s what linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper did Thursday. He put his left foot out into the transfer portal and then pulled his left foot back in two hours later. Perhaps he was thinking to join his brother Tyrone, a former North Carolina linebacker who has transferred to Missouri, but for reasons undisclosed so far, Hopper thought better of his decision and is a Gator. He is one of the few true inside linebackers on the Florida roster, so retaining him is very, very important.
Hopper had 62 tackles in 2021 including 2.5 sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He had a season-high 12 tackles in Florida’s loss to Missouri.
GATOR HOOPS: FIVE DAYS, THREE GAMES AND MAYBE NO COLIN CASTLETON FOR AWHILE
Remember when Florida’s first SEC game – a December 29 road trip to Oxford to face Ole Miss (9-8, 1-4 SEC) – was postponed due to a COVID outbreak among the Gators? Well, now it’s being sandwiched between Saturday afternoon’s game (1 p.m., O-Dome) with Vanderbilt (10-7, 2-3 SEC) and Wednesday night’s road trip to Knoxville to face No. 24 Tennessee (12-5, 3-3 SEC).
That’s the kind of schedule that will be difficult for any team much less one whose best player could be out. We may not know until later this afternoon the extent of Colin Castleton’s shoulder injury that caused him to miss the Wednesday night win over Mississippi State, and how long he could be out. Castleton, who averages 15.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots per game, has been Florida’s only consistent player all season long in addition to being one of only two players on the team taller than 6-7. Both Vanderbilt and Tennessee would have a significant size advantage over the Gators even if Castleton were able to play.
The Gators are coming off a most surprising 80-72 win over Mississippi State, sparked by a career game for Anthony Duruji, who scored 22 points to go with three rebounds and five steals. He scored 18 points and recorded all five steals in the second half. Another second half difference maker was Jason Jitoboh, who scored all eight of his points in the final eight minutes of the game when he was playing with four fouls. Tyree Appleby scored 17 points and had five assists to go with 4-9 three-point shooting, while freshman Kowacie Reeves scored 14, hitting 3-6 of his three-balls and 4-5 from the foul line.
SEC BASKETBALL
Saturday’s games: Vanderbilt (10-7, 2-3 SEC) at FLORIDA 11-6, 2-3 SEC); No. 12 Kentucky (15-3, 5-1 SEC) at No. 2 Auburn (17-1, 6-0 SEC); Georgia (5-13, 0-5 SEC) at South Carolina (10-7, 1-4 SEC); Ole Miss (9-8, 1-4 SEC) at Mississippi State (12-5, 3-2 SEC); No. 13 LSU (15-3, 3-3 SEC) at No. 24 Tennessee (12-5, 3-3 SEC); Missouri (8-9, 2-3 SEC) at Alabama (12-6, 3-3 SEC); Texas A&M (15-3, 4-1 SEC) at Arkansas (13-5, 3-3 SEC)
KELLY RAE HAS UF WOMEN’S HOOPS ON A ROLL
What a difference a fresh new face makes! After the Cam Newbauer debacle, this looked to be one more in a long line of mediocre to downright bad seasons for the Florida women’s basketball team. Then along came interim coach Kelly Rae Finley and her fresh new approach. After Thursday night’s 77-52 blowout win over 23rd-ranked Kentucky (8-6, 1-3 SEC), the Gators (14-5, 4-2 SEC) have won four in a row including two wins over ranked teams.
It was total domination from the start for the Gators, who were helped by four early three-pointers by freshman guard Alberte Rimdal, who finished with 15 points on 5-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Rimdal hit 5-5 back on Sunday when the Gators took out Alabama.
Rimdal got plenty of help Thursday night in Lexington as Kiara Smith stuffed the box score with 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Zippy Broughton had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Jordyn Merritt had 10 points and five rebounds.
Next up for the Gators is 11th-ranked LSU (17-2, 5-1 SEC) Sunday afternoon in the O-Dome.
SEC FOOTBALL
Alabama: Defensive back Jaylen Moody, who had committed to transfer to Texas, has changed his mind and will return to Alabama for the 2022 season … Offensive guard Tommy Brown announced he is transferring to Colorado.
Arkansas: Linebacker Andrew Parker has put his name in the transfer portal … Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles will remain at Arkansas. Briles turned down an offer to be Mario Cristobal’s offensive coordinator at Miami.
Auburn: Former Florida linebackers coach Christian Robinson has been hired by Bryan Harsin. No position has been named yet, but it’s expected Robinson will be coaching linebackers … Defensive lineman Ian Matthews is in the transfer portal … Defensive lineman Lee Hunter is transferring to UCF … Defensive coordinator Derek Mason, the former head coach at Vanderbilt, could be named defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State.
Georgia: ESPN analyst Greg McElroy reacting on Twitter to Georgia fans critical of Stetson Bennett IV’s decision to return to play one more season: “I wonder what all these ‘experts’ would say to Stetson if they saw him walking around Athens?”
Kentucky: Starting cornerback Cedric Dort is transferring to Wisconsin.
LSU: Defensive end Ali Gaye, who played in only four games in 2021 due to an injured shoulder, announced that he is returning for the 2022 season. Gaye made All-SEC in 2020 ... Long snapper Slade Roy is transferring in from East Carolina.
Mississippi State: Freshman wide receiver Theodore Knox is in the transfer portal.
Missouri: Blake Baker, who coached linebackers at LSU in 2021, is the new safeties coach at Mizzou.
Ole Miss: It is being reported that Georgia transfers JT Daniels (QB) and Jermaine Burton (WR) have had discussions with Lane Kiffin about being a package deal to Ole Miss.
South Carolina: Former South Carolina, Utah and South Alabama starting quarterback (yes, he started at all three schools) Jake Bentley has been hired as a graduate assistant at Florida Atlantic, where he’s expected to work with quarterbacks.
Tennessee: Wide receiver Isaiah Neyor, who announced last week that he will transfer from Wyoming to Tennessee, has changed his mind. Instead he has signed with Texas. Neyor caught 44 passes for 878 yards and 12 touchdowns at Wyoming last season.
Texas A&M: Former Aggie linebacker Antonio Doyle is transferring to Jackson State to play for Deion Sanders.
Vanderbilt: Safety Dashaun Jerkins, who had 42 tackles and three interceptions in 2021, is in the transfer portal.
MATT HAYES WROTE IT …
In his Saturday Down South Column “Extra Points,” Hayes addressed some of the issues with the transfer portal:
“Coaches are now re-recruiting their own rosters and must do so until May 1, when players can no longer transfer with immediate eligibility … ‘That’s 5 months from the end of the (previous) season. You’re double recruiting for 5 months,’ one Power 5 coach told me. ‘And you’ve got other schools circling like vultures over those 5 months.’”
DENNIS DODD WROTE IT …
The CBS Sports columnist addressed the future of college football in a Thursday column that featured this from University of Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi:
“We’re going to unionize football,” a dour Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi predicted this week. “Take 20 guys [in recruiting] out of high school. Only 10 are any good. We’re going to cut the other 10? If you want to start talking money, we’re going to start cutting players. It’s going to become a business.”
Memo to Pat Narduzzi: It already is a business. It’s just in the embryo stages of what it’s going to be. It might not be good for college football, but it’s what we have because the NCAA spent way too many years fighting change rather than trying to adapt in ways that make sense and help the players.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, ratified a new constitution Thursday. It’s a move that is supposed to remove the bulk of the power from the brain dead and bloated Indianapolis bureaucrats and put in the hands of the organization’s three divisions. The goal of the new constitution is for each division to set its own rules and regulations.
Two takeaways from the new legislation: (1) The NCAA is hoping and praying that by appeasing the Division I football schools it can keep them from seceding in the future; and (2) the new constitution will keep the bulk of the revenue in the hands of the Division I schools.
This is like trying to plug a hole a rather large dam with bubble gum. It may hold the water back for a little while but it won’t be long before the water pours through and the dam breaks. Translation: It’s still the NCAA which can’t help but figure out a way to screw things up, which means it’s only a matter of time before the football schools break away completely. NIL is only the tip of the iceberg and it will not be long before players are employees and college football teams will wear jerseys advertising their large corporate sponsors.
If the Division I football schools are smart, they’ll find a way to keep the Division II and Division III schools from going belly up by offering playoff revenue and sharing other sources of income. If we don’t have outlets for high school kids who aren’t good enough to earn scholarships to Division I schools, it’s only a matter of time before Division I football will face shrinking talent pools.
