GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Welcome to Wednesday, where the big news from my first glance at Twitter was UCF coach
Josh Heupel leaving sunny Orlando for Rocky Top.
Tennessee officially announced Heupel's hire at 8:54 a.m. on Twitter, reuniting him with Vols athletic director
Danny White, who recently departed UCF to take over a Tennessee program in much need of stability. Word around UCF's campus is that
Knightro is considering a move to Knoxville, too.
Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, here on the University of Florida campus the Gators are busy as always. The events might not be as seismic as what they have been on Rocky Top lately – you can bet
Scott Stricklin is fine with that – but there's always something going on that has people talking.
Hence, here are 10 things on my radar that Gators fans might find worthy of discussion or at least the attention of a brain cell or two:
1. Gators receivers
Trevon Grimes and
Kadarius Toney are participating in the Senior Bowl this week in Mobile, Ala., along with safety
Shawn Davis. Toney is projected a first-round pick by some and Grimes is slotted as a potential second- or third-round pick. Toney
compared his versatility (video) to that of Saints playmaker
Alvin Kamara, which seems a good comparison in this non-scout's view. Of course, the absence of Gators quarterback
Kyle Trask at the Senior Bowl made headlines this week. Trask is reportedly
not participating due to an ankle injury. Will Trask's absence hurt his draft stock? That seems doubtful after the season he had, but Trask missing out on the opportunity to throw passes all week to Grimes and Toney – and their established connection – could have impressed scouts and boosted his stock in some eyes.
2. The transfer portal is such a vital part of today's college football and the Gators have had success using it in recent years, including the addition of Grimes from Ohio State in 2018. This year is no different, most noticeably at defensive tackle. The Gators have added three defensive linemen since the end of last season via the transfer portal:
Daquan Newkirk (Auburn),
Antonio Shelton (Penn State) and
Dylan Meeks (Akron, walk-on). Newkirk and Shelton, both graduate transfers, figure into the revamped defensive line next season following the departures of veterans
Kyree Campbell and
Tederrall Slaton. Newkirk started 10 games last season and finished with 28 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Shelton appeared in nine games and registered 13 tackles and 3.5 sacks for the Nittany Lions. As for Meeks, who played primarily along the interior defensive line at Akron, he is projected more at linebacker and special teams with the Gators. A former standout at Dr. Phillips High in Orlando, the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Meeks had 47 tackles in 2019 and opted out the 2020 season.
Here is more on Meeks' outlook from the
Orlando Sentinel.
3. To stay up to date on college football's coaching carousel, one needs to remain seated for weeks in the winter with Twitter open on the laptop. If that doesn't sound like your idea of fun, don't fret, it just means you have a life. Still, whenever I do take a peek at the latest moves, a familiar name invariably pops up. Former Gators secondary coach
Charlton Warren, on
Dan Mullen's inaugural UF staff in 2018, has left Georgia to become Indiana's defensive coordinator. Former Gators safeties coach
Ron English is now at Purdue and cornerbacks coach
Torrian Gray has landed at South Carolina. Remember
Jeff Choate, who spent the 2013 season at Florida? He was head coach at Montana State the past four seasons but left to become linebackers coach under new Texas coach
Steve Sarkisian. Choate recently interviewed for the Boise State head coach's job, as did Gators offensive coordinator
Brian Johnson. Within minutes of the news Heupel had left UCF to become head coach at Tennessee, Johnson's name surfaced as a potential candidate at UCF. But as further proof of the carousel's constant churning, shortly thereafter news broke that Johnson is headed to the NFL to be quarterbacks coach for the Eagles. Johnson did good work at Florida and has a young talent in Philadelphia in
Jalen Hurts. Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the spectrum, Gators linebackers coach
Christian Robinson is still around despite Michigan showing an interest in the up-and-coming coach. Robinson is well-liked and respected within the program and has a strong connection to his position group, so Florida fans should be pleased Robinson remains on staff.
4. The Gators
launched their "Gators Made" program on Tuesday, an initiative aimed at providing UF student-athletes tools to enhance their marketability in the ever-changing college athletics landscape. A key component of the program is a relationship with brand consultant
Jeremy Darlow, former director of marketing for Adidas football and baseball. Darlow has worked on personal branding with many famous athletes, including
Aaron Rodgers,
Von Miller and
Lionel Messi, as well as countless athletic departments. Gators Made also includes a partnership with Opendorse to help student-athletes assess their social media presence and platforms, along with a few pre-existing programs. With the arrival of name, image and likeness (NIL) legislation in the past year, the future offers opportunities for college athletes unlike any they have had access to in the past. While star players in the realm of former Gators quarterback
Tim Tebow will undoubtedly benefit financially from the new system in the future, those in the non-headliner sports could benefit the most. Take a look at how many followers some of UF's gymnasts, softball and basketball student-athletes have on Instagram to get a better understanding of the possibilities. There's a lot of unknowns to how the system will work, but it's going to be a game-changer for some and the Gators seek to be on the forefront of the new world.
5. Gators fans revealed their best side in response to the scary medical emergency basketball player
Keyontae Johnson experienced last month. Johnson collapsed during a game at Florida State and then spent several days in the hospital. His recovery and return to the team as a "coach" has been heartwarming. So has the outpouring of support from Gator Nation and fans across the country.
Nika Johnson, Keyontae's mother, shared on social media Tuesday a photo of Johnson looking through mail he has received during his recovery. #KeyontaeStrong indeed.
6. Longtime
Gainesville Sun columnist
Pat Dooley retired in December, opening a spot on the Sun's roster. The newspaper officially filled the position this week with veteran sports columnist
David Whitley, whose career includes stops at the
Tampa Tribune and
Orlando Sentinel. Whitley becomes just the fifth sports columnist for the Sun since 1952, a list that includes
Joe Halberstein,
Jack Hairston,
Mike Bianchi and Dooley. In typical Whitley fashion, he addressed the rare stability in
his introductory column: "Sure, England has had only one queen since 1952. But she never had to make regular trips to Starkville." Made me laugh, which is what Whitley does as well as any sports columnist I've read. As a former colleague of ours at the
Tampa Tribune once said: "No matter what he writes, he is never boring." Welcome back to Gainesville, David, and look forward to seeing you at a ballgame soon.
7. If you are a regular follower of mine on Twitter, you have probably noticed I can be sort of a baseball geek. The game has always captured my imagination unlike other sports because of its 150-year history and place in the story of Americana. I was fortunate to have covered Major League Baseball for parts of seven years and sometimes, after my stories were filed on a getaway Sunday afternoon from a weekend series in an out-of-town ballpark, I would take a stroll around to get a feel for the place. I've yet to step inside the new Florida Ballpark on purpose. I want to experience it for the first time during a real game. Thankfully, that day is quickly approaching with the Gators set to open the 2021 season at home against Miami on Feb. 19 in their first game in the new ballpark. If you have driven by the stadium or scanned photos or video, you know it's a gem of a new home for the country's No. 1-ranked team. A tip of the cap to Stricklin and many others at the University Athletic Association for their work on the project.
Florida Ballpark is set to host its first official game on Feb. 19 when Miami visits the No. 1-ranked Gators. (Photo: Kelly Chase/UAA Communications)
8. There is never a shortage of good Super Bowl stories and this one is no different. The Tampa Bay Bucs, with 43-year-old quarterback
Tom Brady leading the way, will be the first team in NFL history to play a Super Bowl in its home stadium. Tampa is loving that. Two ex-Gators advanced to the big game, both with Kansas City. Receiver
Demarcus Robinson and punter
Tommy Townsend will try to earn their second Super Bowl rings as members of the Chiefs. Robinson had a solid career with the Gators from 2013-15, but truth be told, there was plenty of uncertainty if he had the consistency and makeup to survive in the NFL. Thankfully, he has proven the doubters wrong and had 45 catches for 466 yards and three touchdowns in 2020. As for the game, my apologies to Robinson and Townsend, but I can't pass up rooting for a feel-good story like Brady and the Bucs.
9. Speaking of the NFL, you may have noticed that six of the seven NFL head coach openings have been filled. The highest-profile hire once coached the Gators, and we're not talking about Mullen, whose name surfaced as a potential candidate for an NFL job. That caused a certain segment of the Florida fan base to, shall we say, stir uncomfortably. Instead,
Urban Meyer took the Jaguars job and then a bunch of guys not named Mullen such as
Nick Sirianni (Eagles),
Dan Campbell (Lions),
Brandon Staley (Chargers),
Robert Saleh (Jets) and
Arthur Smith (Falcons) stepped to the microphone for introductory press conferences. The only opening left is Houston, with
Leslie Frazier and
Eric Bieniemy reportedly the leading candidates. With a 29-9 record and three consecutive New Year's Six bowl trips at Florida, the Gators are in good shape with Mullen in charge and for those who opine otherwise, a break from social media is suggested.
10. To wrap up our list of 10 things on the radar, former Gators linebacker
Ryan Stamper has carved out a successful post-playing career as an assistant athletic director of player personnel at Ohio State. However, with Meyer taking over the Jaguars, several media outlets have reported that Stamper is joining Meyer's Jacksonville staff as director of player assessment. Stamper was a two-time captain for the Gators under Meyer and one of the most-respected players of the Meyer era at Florida. Here's a trip down memory lane on this date 16 years ago (Jan. 27, 2005):
