Any minute now…

Four of Florida's five starting offensive linemen will not return to the team in 2023 with Ethan White now set to enter the portal. White was one of two AP All-SEC players on Florida's roster in 2022.https://t.co/Z2lvLztByE pic.twitter.com/Tv6sDrYj5I

— Jacob Rudner (@JacobRudner) December 24, 2022

… that gap’s gonna start closing.

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Meet the new class, same as the old class

A few random thoughts on who Georgia just brought on board for next season:

• If you’d have told me, say, a year or so ago that Smart would not bring in a single quarterback in the 2023 class, I would have fretted that something had gone seriously wrong.  I mean, P5 programs of Georgia’s ilk sign quarterbacks.  That’s what they do, if only for class separation purposes, right?  Instead, quarterback, shmarterback.  And I really, really like who’s on board this month.  You know what I like just as much?  Kirby’s response to Georgia not taking a quarterback.
• This is the kind of group you wind up with when (1) your existing talent base is elite; (2) even with that, you are fully aware of what areas need shoring up; and (3) you know how to make players fit inside the program culture you’ve carefully built.
• With regard to that whole shoring up thing, I don’t think it takes a football savant to realize that change needed to come to the wide receivers room.  Monken’s done a brilliant job working with what he’s got, but it’s been apparent since Mitchell’s injury that there aren’t a lot of wideouts on the roster who are capable of consistently creating separation from defensive backs.  Mission accomplished (at least on paper) with three high school signees with legitimate speed, and two transfers in Lovett and Thomas who finished in the top 15 in receiving yards in the conference this season.  (Add in McConkey and Bowers, and Monken will have four such players to work with in 2023.)
• The other area that looks to have received a talent upgrade is the defensive back seven.  Go back, look at that linked list and check out how many linebackers and defensive backs have forty times posted.  Kirby said at his signing day presser that he’s been playing catch up on the overall roster numbers for the secondary for several years now, which is kind of a funny thing to say when you think about how much talent has passed through there.  The inside linebacking group looks pretty studly, as well.
• The rest of the class falls more into the keeping a good thing going category for me.  There are badass edge players like Wilson, M’Pemba and Harris.  In the middle of the d-line, there’s Jarrett, who’s got a Jordan Davis physique, and Hall.  Three offensive linemen were signed, as well as two tight ends (with the potential for another 5-star TE to join them in February).
• If you want to nitpick, Georgia only got one running back in the class and his name isn’t Justice Haynes.  It’s hard to say right now if that’s a big deal, because we don’t know how many backs are leaving after the CFP and we don’t know how Paul’s rehab is going.  Then again, if things there look thin in the spring, that’s what the portal is for.
• Speaking of the spring, remember this year there is no 25-player signing limit, just the overall 85-man roster limit.  Georgia’s signed 25, has two hard commitments waiting in the wings, may add another signee in February and has taken two transfers already with a third rumored to be coming on board soon.  There will be roster management coming, in other words, and likely quite a bit.  Try not to be too dismayed when you see the departures; there’s only so many talented players you can keep on a roster and, more importantly in this day and age, keep happy on a roster.  All you can do is trust the culture that’s been built in Athens and trust the staff’s ability to develop the talent when it arrives.  Given the track record, that’s not exactly a big leap to make.

A little holiday chutzpah for you

There seems to be some momentum for Mike Leach to make it into the college football hall of fame, despite not meeting one of the official benchmarks for entry.

Four-hundredths of a percentage point should not keep Mike Leach out of the College Football Hall of Fame, says National Football Foundation chair Archie Manning.

“I think Mike will be in the Hall of Fame, but it’ll be up to the Honor’s Committee,” Manning says.

Leach, the former Mississippi State, Washington State and Texas Tech coach who died on Dec. 12, does not meet the standard for a coach to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Induction requirements for coaches include (1) 10 years of head coaching experience, (2) 100 victories and (3) a winning percentage of 60 percent. Leach’s tenure ended with a winning mark of 59.6%.

However, Leach’s case is a unique situation, says Steve Hatchell, the president and CEO of the NFF, which operates the Hall of Fame. Leach’s impact on the game went beyond the field as he is heralded as one of the most important innovators of offensive football, revolutionizing the sport with the Air Raid offense.

Leach passed at the age of 61 and had planned to continue coaching despite battling severe pneumonia-like conditions this past season. He died of heart failure.

“Where the difference comes in here is that Mike was a young man and he passed away,” Hatchell says. “The fact that he passed away brings a different perspective on this. Everybody would say he’d continue to coach and continue to win.

“I’m positive the NFF will do the right thing.”

It doesn’t sound like anyone will stand in the committee’s way.

The 2024 class will be selected next fall through an elaborate nominating and voting process. Hatchell expects all three schools at which Leach coached to nominate the coach for the Hall.

That’s nice of Texas Tech, considering.

There are other ways Leach could get closer to 60%. For example, Texas Tech fired Leach a day before the Red Raiders beat Michigan State after the 2009 season. The victory did not count toward Leach’s record.

Funny man

Shot.

.@jarodchamilton asked #Mizzou's Eli Drinkwitz if there's any extra satisfaction when you flip a player from another school, especially from the school you're playing in a bowl in a few days, as MU did with DL Sam Williams

"I don't rub it in probably as much as I'd like to." pic.twitter.com/PHgybLZpXQ

— Nathalie Jones (@NathalieABC17) December 21, 2022

Chaser.

ICYMI: Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson was asked about Drinkwitz's comments earlier in the week, after #Mizzou flipped a commit from WF.

"I don't know if he was just trying to be funny or cute…I don't think comments like that are necessary."

Ended by saying he respects Drink pic.twitter.com/kK4FhAkDuY

— Nathalie Jones (@NathalieABC17) December 24, 2022

The real knee slapper is that Drinkwitz lost to Wake, finished with a losing record for the third straight year and received a raise and a contract extension for his good work.  Always keep ’em smiling, right?