By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:
NAPIER KEEPS CHIPPING AWAY
This was more good news Monday for Florida football coach Billy Napier, who got commitments from defensive end Andrew Savaiinaea (6-4, 258, Graham, WA Graham-Kapowsin) and quarterback Max Brown (6-3, 200, Tulsa, OK Lincoln Christian School), a couple of three-star recruits. The best news, however, came from Aggieland where 5-star linebacker Harold Perkins (6-3, 200, Cypress, TX Cy Park) decommitted from Texas A&M. Although Perkins also has LSU on his radar, Florida is thought to be the team to beat, particularly after Perkins had an official visit two weeks ago that he raved about.
With the commitments of Savaiinaea and Brown, the Gators have 15 high school kids either signed or committed with National Signing Day looming on February 2. The Gators have five transfers already enrolled. There will be more transfers but right now the focus is on National Signing Day in eight days. Can Billy Napier sustain the momentum he has quietly been building on the recruiting trail for a fast finish?
Perkins could very well create a mini-landslide on February 2 if he signs with UF and that’s followed by 5-star safety Jacoby Matthews (6-2, 195, Ponchatoula, LA), 4-star wide receiver DJ Allen (6-0, 190, Gladewater, TX), 4-star linebacker TJ Dudley (6-3, 222, Montgomery, AL Montgomery Catholic) and bookend 3-star offensive tackles Ramier Lewis (6-7, 330, Clearwater, FL American Collegiate) and Matthew McCoy (6-6, 290, St. John’s, FL Creekside).
Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but back on December 5 how many thought the Gators would even be in the ball park for these guys?
COULDN’T FIND THE OCEAN FROM THE END OF THE PIER
Florida’s already vertically challenged Gators had to make a go of it without CJ Felder Monday night in Oxford, leaving Jason Jitoboh, Anthony Duruji and pencil-thin Tuongthach Gatgek as the only Gators taller than 6-6. The three of them weren’t bad, combining for 26 points on 11-16 shooting from the field and 4-5 from the foul line. The problem was Florida’s guards who struggled through an abysmal night at the gym. They were a combined 8-34 overall from the field, including 22 of Florida’s 26 missed three-pointers (Gators were 4-29) as the Gators saw their three-game winning streak come to an end, 70-54, in Oxford.
Had the Gators shot a mere 25 percent from the three-point line, even playing without a key frontline reserve they might have had a chance to beat Ole Miss (10-9, 2-5 SEC). Had the Gators also managed to do a better job of protecting the basketball UF might have stood a better chance, but rotten shooting and 14 turnovers that are converted into 23 points will do you in every time.
This is a Florida basketball team that plays very hard for Mike White. With the exception of the loss to Texas Southern, you can’t fault the Gators for effort this season but in Florida’s seven losses the Gators are a combined 40-180 from the three-point line or 22 percent. You can play with tremendous effort on the defensive end and work hard to get open looks offensively but when you can’t knock down shots, you lose a lot of basketball games.
Against Ole Miss, the shooting was bad and so was the second half defense. The Gators held the Rebels to 22 first half points, but Ole Miss scored 48 in the second half. Some of that can be attributed to a shortened rotation up front with Felder’s absence, but that is only part of the problem. A few games back, White talked openly that the Gators tend to lose their defensive focus when their shots aren’t going in. He alluded to that after the loss to Ole Miss.
“I don’t know that I can put a finger on it,” White said. “I thought we had some looks. On the road in a tough environment when the other team is making a run, sometimes you can put a little bit more heat on yourselves mentally than you should. That said, I don’t know how, defensively, we could be that good in one half and struggle that much in the second half. We can sit here and talk about shots and that’s part of our bigger issue … you’re either locked in or you’re not. We’ve all got a conscience and these guys play with a conscience. When you’re executing defensively, when you’re executing on the glass, when you’re taking good shots, and you’re getting stops, sometimes it just goes in at a higher percentage.”
Jitoboh led the Gators with 12 points and five rebounds while Duruji had 11 and Tyree Appleby had 11. Appleby was 3-8 on three-pointers. The rest of the team was 1-21.
The Gators will be in Knoxville Wednesday night to take on 18th-ranked Tennessee (13-5, 4-3 SEC) and return home Saturday to face Oklahoma State (10-8) in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
SEC BASKETBALL
Monday’s game: Ole Miss (10-9, 2-5 SEC) 70, FLORIDA (12-7, 3-4 SEC) 54
Tuesday’s games: Alabama (13-6, 4-3 SEC) at Georgia (5-14, 0-6 SEC); No. 1 Auburn (18-1, 7-0 SEC) at Missouri (8-10, 2-4 SEC); Mississippi State (13-5, 4-2 SEC) at No. 12 Kentucky (15-4, 5-2 SEC)
Wednesday’s games: FLORIDA (12-7, 3-4 SEC) at No. 18 Tennessee (13-5, 4-3 SEC); Vanderbilt (10-8, 2-4 SEC) at South Carolina (11-7, 2-4 SEC); Arkansas (14-5, 4-3 SEC) at Ole Miss (10-9, 2-5 SEC); Texas A&M (15-4, 4-2 SEC) at No. 19 LSU (15-4, 3-4 SEC)
The Associated Press Top 25: 1. Auburn 18-1; 2. Gonzaga 15-2; 3. Arizona 16-1; 4. Baylor 17-2; 5. Kansas 16-2; 6. Purdue 16-3; 7. (tie) Houston 17-2 and UCLA 13-2; 9. Duke 15-3; 10. Michigan State 15-3; 11. Wisconsin 15-3; 12. Kentucky 15-4; 13. Texas Tech 15-4; 14. Villanova 14-5; 15. Southern Cal 16-2; 16. Ohio State 12-4; 17. Providence 16-2; 18. Tennessee 13-5; 19. LSU 15-4; 20. UConn 13-4; 21. Xavier 14-4; 22. Marquette 14-5; 23. Iowa State 14-5; 24. Illinois 13-5; 25. Davidson 16-2
The Coaches Top 25: 1. Gonzaga 15-2; 2. Auburn 18-1; 3. Arizona 16-1; 4. Baylor 17-2; 5. Kansas 16-2; 6. Purdue 16-3; 7. Duke 15-3; 8. UCLA 13-2; 9. Houston 17-2; 10. Michigan State 15-3; 11. Wisconsin 15-3; 13. Kentucky 15-4; 14. Texas Tech 15-4; 15. Southern Cal 16-2; 16. Ohio State 12-4; 17. Providence 16-2; 18. LSU 15-4; 19. UConn 13-4; 20. Tennessee 13-5; 21. Illinois 13-5; 22. Colorado State 15-1; 23. Xavier 14-4; 24. Iowa State 14-5; 25. Texas 14-5
GATORS NO. 6 IN BASEBALL AMERICA PRESEASON POLL
Baseball America released its top 25 preseason poll Monday, placing the Florida Gators No. 6. This is the third publication to rank Kevin O’Sullivan’s Gators in the top ten. Besides Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball has the Gators ranked sixth and D1Baseball places the Gators ninth. Only Perfect Game ranks the Gators (23rd) outside the top 10.
Baseball America ranks six Southeastern Conference teams in the top 10 and 12 in the top 25.
The Top 25: 1. Texas; 2. Vanderbilt; 3. Mississippi State; 4. Notre Dame; 5. Virginia; 6. FLORIDA; 7. Stanford; 8. Arkansas; 9. Ole Miss; 10. LSU; 11. Oregon State; 12. Florida State; 13. Arizona; 14. Georgia; 15. East Carolina; 16. North Carolina State; 17. Tennessee; 18. UC-Irvine; 19. Oklahoma State; 20. Nebraska; 21. Georgia Tech; 22. UCLA; 23. Texas Tech; 24. Old Dominion; 25. Miami
URBAN MEYER ON HIS NFL EXPERIENCE
As a college football coach, Urban Meyer won three national championships and his record at four schools including Florida was 187-32 or .854. Only Knute Rockne (105-12-5, .881) and Frank Leahy (107-13-9, .864) have better winning percentages than Meyer. So, what went wrong at Jacksonville? How could a coach who won big at all four his stops (Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State) in college fare so poorly in the National Football League? Some of it had to do with the different football culture in the NFL where it is the players’ full-time job, but in Meyer’s case, the biggest difference was growing accustomed to the losing.
Because he took over a team that was 1-15 the year before, year one in Jacksonville was destined to be a loser. In college football, if Meyer saw deficiencies in any one area he could simply recruit enough players to fill a void. In the NFL, there is the draft and with few exceptions, it takes awhile to rebuild a roster to the point it’s capable of winning.
Even then, excellent NFL teams lose three and four games a year. Vince Lombardi, probably the greatest NFL coach in history, only had a .738 winning percentage (96-34-6). The great Don Shula, the only coach in NFL history with a perfect season, had a .677 percentage. Bill Belichick comes in at .673.
On several radio shows in the months prior to Meyer’s first NFL game, I was asked what would be the biggest adjustment for the former Gator head coach? My answer was always the same: the losing. No coach that I’ve ever met in college football took losing a game harder than Meyer and I knew he would have at least one, but probably two or three losing years before he got the people he needed to win. I knew losing would drive him nuts but I thought he would last more than one year.
Here are some excerpts from an interview that Meyer did with Dan Dakich on Outkick, talking about what went wrong:
“It eats away at your soul. I tried to train myself to say, ‘Okay, it happens in the NFL.’ At one point, the Jaguars lost 20 in a row. Think about that: 20 games where you’re leaving the field where you lost, and we lost five in a row at one point and I remember I … just couldn’t function. I was trying to rally myself up.
“I was in charge of the team, obviously, and then we won two out of three, and I really felt we flipped that thing. You know, our defense was playing excellent. At one point our defense was No. 1 in the league. We held Josh Allen to six points. Two field goals, and playing high level football. Offense, we were really coming, and then quit scoring points. We just really struggled offensively and that’s when we went on another losing streak. I really struggled with that.”
I am a firm believer in The Peter Principle, which basically says when you leave what you’re good at, there is an enhanced chance you will fail.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: If you are into such things, check out Southeastern Conference basketball rosters for the 2021-22 season. You’ll find 56 players transferred into SEC schools this year, by far the most of any of the power conferences. Check the football transfer list, which is rather fluid at the moment so these numbers probably aren’t accurate. So far, 153 or so players have entered the transfer portal. Something like 65 have found homes among the 14 SEC schools but it’s still early. Attrition after spring football will likely hit record numbers, both coming and going from the SEC. This isn’t exactly what was envisioned when the NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, opened the transfer floodgates without first coming up with some checks and balances but it’s what we have now and things aren’t going to change. As we hear too often, you don’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. I think players should have the right to leave if they’re not happy and go to any school that will have them, but I think there should be an academic requirement. If you don’t have a 2.5 or better in the classroom, then you have to sit out a year. If you have a 2.5 or better, you get immediate eligibility. In my mind that would have made sense, but that is the problem with the NCAA. They do a lot of things without stopping to ask the question does it make sense?
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