- The Florida basketball team may have its deepest roster ever after summer workouts, raising expectations for the upcoming season.
- Alex Brown, Florida's all-time sack leader, hopes his 25-year-old sack record will be broken this season thanks to a high-powered offense.
- Five college coaches, including Mike Norvell and Luke Fickell, are widely considered to be on the hot seat this coming season.
The Front 9 returns after a great vacation in Denver where the people are friendly and humidity is just a rumor.
1. Is it football season yet? And please don’t tell me it starts with Media Days around the country, because it’s still two weeks after Tampa that the Gators start practice. Yes, these are the two most boring weeks of the year if you are a sports nut like me. So, take your children to Disney or Universal, do some yard work, get a tan, work on your short game. We can’t quite hear or smell the start of the season, but we know it’s out there somewhere.
2. The Florida basketball team finished its summer workouts and the word out of camp is that this team may be in contention for the deepest team ever at UF. Chris Harry wrote a great piece at FloridaGators.com about it and all I could think about was the 2000 Final Four team that had a second team of Donnell Harvey, Brett Nelson, Matt Bonner, Major Parker and Kenyan Weaks. We all can’t wait for football season, but Gator hoops should be really special.
3. FOMO game of the week
Well, it’s not really a game. Just people talking about games. But SEC Media Days is a four-day clambake with 16 coaches and 48 players going through the car wash. You can see them all by tuning into the SEC Network. The SEC crew will start at 7 a.m. each day and keep going right until Lane Kiffin says something stupid on Thursday, the final day of Talkin’ Season.
4. Four questions with Gator and NFL great Alex Brown, Florida’s all-time sack leader
- Is this the year your 25-year-old record for sacks in a season is broken?
Brown: Yes, I hope (LOL). Outside of being a consistent pass rusher you need a high-powered offense to force the other team to throw the ball more than they’d like and we have that. So the opportunity is there. Who’s going to take advantage of it? Only time will tell but I wish the guys luck. - If the NCAA gave you another year of eligibility, what position would you want to play?
Brown: Quarterback. I’d like to see if I could have played at the next level because I sometimes wonder had I gone that route and went to Auburn and played QB … how would it have turned out. (That being said, I think I made the right choice.) - Who was the hardest quarterback to sack in the NFL when you were playing?
Brown: They’re all hard to sack and it’s a little to do with them and their skills and the 6-foot-8, 330-pound angry dude that doesn’t like you putting your hands on his QB. For the sake of the question, I’d go with (Michael) Vick, so elusive and fast even if you beat the big ole meanie at the line there was still minimal chance you’d get your hands on Vick not to mention bring him down. - Pizza debate: Chicago or New York?
Brown: I’m gonna go with Chicago because my wife and I love visiting there and I want the fan base to continue to love me up that way. #BearDown.
5. With six new coaches in the SEC, there are few hot seats. This is the consensus nationally of the five college coaches on hot seats:
- Mike Norvell, FSU: Three ACC wins in the last two seasons is an embarrassment. And he’s not facing a very easy schedule.
- Luke Fickell, Wisconsin: It’s a miracle he survived last year.
- Mike Locksley, Maryland: Our old friend recruits well, but also has two straight four-win seasons.
- Shane Beamer, South Carolina: Hey, somebody in the SEC has to get fired, right?
- Dave Aranda, Baylor: DJ Lagway helped one coach get fired. Can he pull off the quiniela?
6. This will happen this week
You are going to get angry because some doofus wearing the hat of the team he roots for (and still is considered accredited media) will vote for his team to win the SEC. You should be angrier at the number of people who attend and don’t vote at all. Lazy.
7. Hot take of the week
This might not go over well with Kevin O’Sullivan, but when some players leave Florida in any sport, you wonder if the Gators got everything out of him or her. That’s the case with Liam Peterson, who was Sully’s 15th first-round pick in the MLB Draft. In three seasons with UF, he finished with a 14-16 record and a 5.03 ERA. Great stuff, but the fastball has little movement. Maybe that’s why Florida has a new pitching coach. Nothing against Peterson, but 14 wins in 47 starts doesn’t sound like a first-round pick. Nor does it sound like a guy who lived up to his potential. Hopefully, the Guardians can figure it out.
8. Tweet of the week
From college football writer Dan Hope: “A stat that would have been unfathomable three years ago: All of the top 15 prospects from the state of Alabama in the 2027 recruiting class are now committed to schools that aren’t the University of Alabama.” Think about that.
9. Remote drop of the week
It is hardly ever on anymore, but it used to be an HBO staple — the underrated Karen Allen and the great Jeff Bridges in “Starman.” Such a sweet movie and directed by John Carpenter.