By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:
COREY RAYMOND IS A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME
The best defensive backs coach in all of college football will be coaching the corners for Billy Napier and the Florida Gators in 2022. Corey Raymond, for ten years the coach who was synonymous with the phrase LSU/DBU is coming to Gainesville, a move that speaks volumes to the kind of coaching staff Napier is bringing together.
Some coaching hires create a few ripples. This one is a tidal wave, not only because Raymond is unsurpassed for taking high school kids and transforming them into future NFL defensive backs, but because he is an absolute monster on the recruiting trail as well. Raymond was LSU’s recruiting coordinator the last two years when the Tigers brought in the fourth (2020) and third (2021) ranked classes in the nation.
The timing is marvelous as it comes at a moment when the recruiting class assembled by the previous staff took a hit with the decommitment of a 4-star quarterback (Nick Evers) and two 4-star wide receivers (CJ Smith and Jaydon Gibson) all within the span of 36 hours. Hiring Raymond should send out a loud and clear message that Napier (a) knows what he’s doing and (b) is about to assemble a coaching staff capable of bringing in the best players in the country and developing them into the kind that can win championships.
During his 10 years at LSU, Raymond produced seven first team All-America selections including Grant Delpit, who won the 2019 Thorpe Award. Fourteen of his players were taken in the NFL Draft including three first rounders and five second rounders.
Raymond is not the kind of coach who would take a job at Florida if he weren’t certain that Napier is going to surround him with outstanding coaching talent and recruiters who will bring in highly regarded high school, jucos and transfers.
There are rumors all over the place about who Napier will be adding to his staff, but the two names that are being heard most are current Jacksonville Jaguars defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi and Penn State running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider. Lupoi spent five years on the Alabama staff including three with Napier. He’s considered one of the best recruiters in the business. Seider is a Belle Glade native who was on Jim McElwain’s Florida staff in 2017. Napier, if you remember, worked for McElwain as the wide receivers coach in 2012 so there is a connection. Like Lupoi, he’s an outstanding recruiter.
THE SCORE WAS IRRELEVANT, THE FLOOR BURNS WEREN’T FOR THE GATORS
Mike White even said post game that the final score of Florida’s win over North Florida – 85-55 – wasn’t nearly as important as the number of floor burns he saw from the Gators (7-2) Wednesday night at the O-Dome. Just 48 hours after one of the least inspired UF basketball efforts of the past 30 years, the Gators came out with a high level of intensity that showed up in the number of floor burns. The Gators were diving to make steals or corral loose balls. They were moving their feet on defense instead of trying to reach for everything. Although outrebounded 39-36 by the visiting Ospreys, that had more to do with a lot of long rebounds because they were shooting jumpers instead of trying to get into the paint.
Monday night the Gators lost by 15 points to previously winless Texas Southern, a game in which they showed very little energy and hustle. Wednesday night, they were determined to play to what White says is “our identity.”
Penn State transfer Myreon Jones, who scored 14 points to go with four rebounds, one assist and two steals, said that Tuesday’s practice was all about regaining the defensive focus and intensity that were the Gators calling card in their first six games.
“We just had to find our identity back, you know,” Jones said. “That’s what we focused on the most, finding our indentity and getting back to who we are. Just starting the game off with an indentity, that’s what got us this win.”
This was a night when everyone from the starters to the guys coming off the bench got into the intensity act, especially at the defensive end. The Gators forced 28 North Florida turnovers that led to 33 points. The Gators were credited with 21 steals, the most in any game since White became Florida’s head coach and the most since a 1999 game with VMI. Monday night, Texas Southern shot better than 50 percent from the field overall and the 3-point line. The Gators held the Ospreys to 34 percent (18-53) from the field and just 23.8 percent (5-23) from the 3-point line.
Colin Castleton, who had a career-high 26 points to go with eight rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and two steals against North Florida, took the loss to Texas Southern personally. He didn’t get much sleep Monday night and by practice Tuesday, he stepped up as a leader.
“I took it personal and put it to work,” he said.
Wednesday’s team effort and intensity had everything to do with not just Castleton, but the entire team taking responsibility for the poor effort against Texas Southern.
“You have to take accountability for what you do and how we play out there,” Castleton said. “Like I said after the loss, the coaches put us in the position to win a game, but we just didn’t execture it or play the way we were supposed to. We knew we had to get it done tonight and it’s just what we have to do every night to win games.”
Tyree Appleby scored 13 points and led the defensive effort with three steals.
The Gators had another bad shooting night from the 3-point line – just 5-23, which makes them 14-71 in their last three games. Unlike the last two games, however, the Gators did move the basketball and most of the 3-point attempts were good looks at the basket. Overall, the Gators hit 44.6 percent from the field (29-65). Additionally UF outscored the Ospreys 48-26 in the paint, scored 28 off fast breaks and there were 10 dunks.
Next up for the Gators is a Sunday afternoon game with Maryland at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational.
SEC BASKETBALL
Wednesday’s game: No. 20 FLORIDA (7-2) 85, North Florida (2-9) 55
Friday’s game: Loyola Chicago (8-2) at Vanderbilt (5-3)
Saturday’s games: Nebraska (5-5) at No. 18 Auburn (7-1); No. 12 Arkansas (9-0) at Oklahoma (7-2); Mississippi State (6-2) at Colorado State (9-0); Missouri (5-4) at No. 8 Kansas (7-1); UNC-Greensboro (7-2) at No. 13 Tennessee (6-2); No. 10 Kentucky (7-1) at Notre Dame (3-4); No. 25 LSU (8-0) at Georgia Tech (5-3); TCU (7-1) at Texas A&M (7-1); Western Kentucky (5-4) at Ole Miss (6-2); No. 14 Houston (8-1) at No. 9 Alabama (7-1)
Sunday’s games: No. 20 FLORIDA (7-2) vs. Maryland (5-4) at Brooklyn, NY; Florida State (5-3) vs. South Carolina (6-2) at Rock Hill, SC
OVER, UNDER, AROUND AND THROUGH THE SEC
Alabama: Alabama had four players named first team All-America by CBS Sports: QB Bryce Young, WR Jameson Williams, LT Evan Neal and LB Will Anderson. Named to the second team was S Jordan Battle.
Arkansas: Wide receiver Treylon Burks (67-1,123, 11 TDs) is opting out of the Hogs’ Outback Bowl game with Penn State rather than risk an injury that could affect his NFL Draft status.
Auburn: The three names that have emerged as Auburn’s next offensive coordinator are Florida State offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, Georgia running backs coach Dell McGee and Texas A&M wide receivers coach Dameyune Craig. Craig is a former Auburn quarterback.
Georgia: Georgia’s “generational” defense landed only two players on the CBS Sports All-America team, DT Jordan Davis and LB Nakobe Dean. Freshman tight end Brock Bowers made first team on the offensive side of the ball.
Kentucky: OL Darian Kinard was named first team CBS Sports All-America and defensive end Josh Paschal made second team.
LSU: College football insider Brett McMurphy reports that LSU was prepared to offer Jimbo Fisher an 8-year deal worth $125 million to leave Texas A&M … New coach Brian Kelly, who signed a paltry 10 years and $95 million will retain offensive line coach Brad Davis, whose troops gave up 38 sacks and opened the holes for 109.4 rushing yards per game (3.22 per carry).
Mississippi State: Mississippi State linebacker Rodney Groce Jr., who played in one game in 2021, is transferring to Arizona State … Liberty Bowl officials will allow Mississippi State fans to bring their cowbells for their game with Texas Tech.
Missouri: Running back Tyler Batie made second team CBS Sports All-America … Wide receiver Ja’Mori Maclin, has transferred to North Texas. He suffered an ankle injury and had no stats in 2021 at Mizzou.
Ole Miss: Former Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, who will be paid $2 million per year as the OC at Oklahoma, sent his good-bye message to Ole Miss via Twitter ahead of taking the job at OU … Lane Kiffin is not leaving Ole Miss for Oregon although there were reports that Oregon benefactor Phil Knight wanted Kiffin to come to Eugene.
South Carolina: Defensive backs Dominic Hill and Jahmar Brown have entered the NCAA transfer portal.
Tennessee: Running back Tiyon Evans, who was the Vols’ leading rusher when he surprised everyone by entering the transfer portal with a couple games remaining, has committed to Louisville.
Texas A&M: Defensive tackle De Marvin Leal made first team CBS Sports All-America and OT Kenyon Green made second team … Defensive back Keldrick Carper is retiring from football for medical reasons. He played in 50 games during his career at A&M, recording 126 tackles.
FOOTBALL IN THE MINOR LEAGUES
Miami: Dan Radakovich is leaving Clemson for Miami with a deal that will more than triple his $800,000 salary. It’s interesting that Miami will pony up $8 million a year for Mario Cristobal and nearly $3 million a year for Radakovich but won’t invest in a stadium.
Florida State: Vince Tyra is about to leave Louisville to become the athletic director at FSU. Tyra was let out of his non-compete clause Wednesday per Football Scoop.
Virginia: With Anthony Poindexter electing to stay at Penn State, Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott is expected to be named Virginia’s head coach.
Florida International: Former San Jose State and Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre is the leading candidate to replace Butch Davis at FIU.
Houston: This is fairly unprecedented. Houston’s Marcus Jones made first team CBS All-America as an All-Purpose player and second team as a punt returner and cornerback.
Fresno State: Jeff Tedford, who retired after the 2019 season for health reasons, apparently has regained his health. Fresno State hired him again Wednesday in a 5-year deal worth $8 million.
Nebraska: Mark Whipple who was the offensive coordinator at Pitt where he coached up Heisman finalist Kenny Pickett, has been named the offensive coordinator at Nebraska.
Troy: New head coach Jon Sumrall has retained former Gator Bam Hardmon as he outside linebackers coach.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Now that this latest rash of coach firings and hirings has alarmed the hierarchy in college football, the NCAA football oversight committee is talking about changing the early signing period. It’s about time someone paid attention to the consequences of a mid-December signing period, the biggest one being in-season firings that lead to hiring coaches sometimes within a day after the regular season ends to get a jump on salvaging a recruiting class. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who was never a proponent of a December signing period, told ESPN that the problems early signing could cause for coaching changes was “foreseeable” back in 2009 when a white paper discussed all the drawbacks.
“There was something sensible about February [national signing day],” Sankey said. “You were through the hiring cycle … very rarely did you have any coaching changes after signing day. There was relevance to that.”
I am convinced that there should be a December signing day for only kids who have qualified academically to early enroll, but everyone else should be required to sign in February. I would also like to see December declared a dead period except for coaches to call kids who are academically qualified and have been accepted for early enrollment.
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