While this isn’t an entirely fair comparison due to the implementation of the CFP, that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the shit out of seeing it.
I’d love to hear somebody ask Spurrier what he thinks about that. It sure makes up for a lot of 3-18 trashtalking.
Filed under Gators, Gators..., Georgia Football
As far as I’m concerned, this will never not be funny.
Filed under Gators, Gators..., Georgia Football, The NFL Is Your Friend.
If you haven’t heard, Florida’s lost three assistant coaches to the NFL in the last two days. Billy Napier’s response is probably something like…
On a related note, check out the early line of the Cocktail Party here:
Filed under Gators, Gators...
Unlike the case with several of his predecessors, I don’t dislike Billy Napier. But I do wonder if he’s in a little over his head down there in Gainesville.
This year’s Gator squad isn’t talentless, but, then again, neither was last year’s 6-7 team and look where that got them. Billy’s got a plan for Year Two, though. Sort of, anyway.
“I think we execute better. We’re in year two. We are going to do everything systematically. We’re going to be a lot better in every part of what we do,” Napier said. “We’re going to communicate better. And we’re going to be aligned properly more often, play with less mental errors. Less loafs. We’re going to have less fundamental and technique flaws. I think that we’ll be a lot better coordinated and execute better in those critical moments.”
If that’s all he’s got, makes you wonder if there will be a year three.
Filed under Blowing Smoke, Gators, Gators...
I scoured the intertubes this weekend for SEC scheduling stories, so I admit I clicked on this Mike Griffith story (“SEC Commissioner drops hints on future league scheduling”) in the faint hope of coming across something relevant. Such was not the case, but I was rewarded with this delightful non sequitur:
Georgia’s rivalry with Florida ranks as the most celebrated with Bulldogs’ fans and is the most likely rivalry to be protected regardless of the format.
There have been several well-documented discussions of Georgia bringing its designated home game with Florida back to Athens as early as 2025. [Emphasis added.]
I don’t know what the source of Griffith’s obsessive displeasure with Jacksonville is, but at this point it’s pretty obvious the dude can’t quit it.
Filed under Gators, Gators..., Georgia Football, Media Punditry/Foibles
Hoo, boy, this story in The Athletic about Jaden Rashada’s NIL deal with Florida ($$) has a little something for everybody in it — a school desperate for a big score on the recruiting trail, a family clearly looking for a big financial score and a player caught in the middle who was overwhelmed. Sounds like the perfect ingredients for a TV movie of the week.
You should read the whole thing, if you subscribe, but I’ll mention a couple of points here for context. First, Mandel and Staples reviewed the contract Rashada signed with Gator Collective. It’s pretty unbelievable.
It called for a $500,000 up-front payment. After that, his payments would increase from $250,000 a month as a freshman, to $291,666.66 a month as a sophomore, to $375,000 a month as a junior, rounded out with $195,833.33 monthly payments as a senior, so long as he fulfilled the following obligations:
- Residence in Gainesville, Fla.
- At least one branded Twitter post and one branded Instagram post per month.
- Up to eight fan engagement events per year. These could include in-person appearances, social media engagements, video conferences or interviews. None would last longer than two hours.
- Autograph up to 15 pieces of merchandise per year.
At least until you get to the fine print.
The contract also states that the collective can “in its sole and absolute discretion” terminate the agreement “without penalty or further obligation.”
That should have sent up a major flare to Rashada’s advisors about the confidence the collective had in carrying through its obligations. That would be these guys:
Rashada, in switching from Miami to Florida, also swapped NIL advisers. The new representatives were Jackson Zager and Tommy Thomsen, founders of an agency called JTM Sports. Zager is a sophomore at SMU; Thomsen is a commercial real estate agent. The agency lists Heitner’s firm as its “affiliate law firm” and advertises that Heitner “assists JTM and our clients in all legal matters and dispute resolution.”
One little catch there: Heitner also advises Gator Collective.
“I was retained by (Gator Collective CEO) Eddie Rojas back in 2021,” Heitner said. “From time to time, I’ve been asked questions relating to the NCAA rules and Florida state law with regard to what can or shouldn’t be done. I was not asked in this instance to provide any legal advice, diligence or guidance in any respect with regard to this transaction.”
Hair, meet split.
Heitner seems happier about the deal than Rashada.
Anyway, as you can probably guess, Gator Collective never actually got around to getting any payment guarantees from donors for the deal. They terminated the arrangement two days after the first payment was due.
Rashada’s got a scholarship at Arizona State. Florida’s got a lot of egg all over its snout. Seems fair.
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UPDATE: Good point here.
Florida might become the first target of the new “NIL presumption”.
Filed under Gators, Gators..., It's Just Bidness, Recruiting
Kenny McIntosh, bringing the serious heat:
I detect no falsity in that statement.
Filed under Gators, Gators..., Georgia Football
This sort of bookends today’s first post, but I thought you should know that Billy’s still in the market, shopping.
Billy Napier had his quarterback room planned out. Former Wisconsin signal-caller Graham Mertz would serve as a veteran presence and likely starter with inexperienced returners Jack Miller and Max Brown and highly-touted freshman newcomer Jaden Rashada joining him to give Florida four scholarship players at the critical position.
But a late collapse with Rashada’s NIL deal led him to back off his signed National Letter of Intent and pursue other options (Rashada signed with Arizona State, his father’s alma mater, on Wednesday).
As a result, the Gators have just three scholarship quarterbacks on their roster, which falls short of the minimum number Napier set on Early Signing Day when he said his teams should have no fewer than four scholarship quarterbacks at all times.
While that could be reasonably challenging to achieve in quality fashion given the timing of Rashada’s shocking departure from Florida’s coffer, Napier said Wednesday that Florida will be in the market for another signal-caller this spring.
“I think if there’s an opportunity, there’s a player that passes evaluation,” Napier said, “we certainly would be in the market for another player there.”
No shit, Sherlock. The problem is that no quarterback is finding Florida’s sales pitch particularly inspiring.
Initially, it appeared Florida could pivot from Rashada and target former LSU signal-caller Walker Howard, a one-time four-star prospect who entered the NCAA transfer portal after just one season with the Tigers.
… But, according to multiple sources, Howard had very little interest in the Gators and ultimately closed his recruitment down by committing to Ole Miss, which also added former Oklahoma State transfer signal-caller Spencer Sanders.
Ole Miss also has last season’s starter returning. It says something that Howard would rather go fight two former starting quarterbacks than jump aboard the Good Ship Napier. And he’s not the only one.
Sources also indicated to Swamp247 that the Gators had started to consider the possibility of pursuing former Washington quarterback Sam Huard, a former five-star quarterback who out of high school ranked No. 12 overall, No. 3 among quarterbacks and No. 249 among all prospects in the internet recruiting service era on the industry-generated 247Sports Composite
However, sources said that Florida’s communication with Huard never quite got off the ground and the former record-breaking high school quarterback eventually committed to Cal Poly.
Cal Poly beat out Florida for a former five-star? Why, Miz Scarlett, I nevah!
Have fun in the portal, Coach.
Filed under Gators, Gators..., Transfers Are For Coaches.
This could be fun ($$).
Next year’s schedule looks tougher, so what is the realistic expectation for Gators football: on-field improvements or a better record? — Lester L.
The Gators figure to be underdogs against seven opponents next fall — Utah, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, LSU and Florida State — and I consider games against Arkansas and Mizzou as toss-ups. That’s a bleak outlook for a program that hasn’t endured three consecutive losing seasons since 1945-47. [Emphasis added.]
Of course, since Florida’s fan base doesn’t believe the Gators started playing football until 1990, that particular three-peat would make for the program’s first time ever.
Filed under Gators, Gators...
And it sounds like it’s appreciated.
That makes it the second year in a row the Gators are holding their spring game on a Thursday night. I guess that’s how you roll when your head coach comes from a mid-major program.
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UPDATE: In case you were wondering, G-Day is set for Saturday, April 15, time to be announced.
Filed under Gators, Gators...
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