In April 2022, during the usual spring press tour for a first-year head coach, much was made about Billy Napier's attention to detail. Before his Florida team played a snap, those around the program referred to what they dubbed "Napier Notes" as an example of how he focused on the little things to quality control every part of his organization.
"It goes back to those notes," Napier said at the time. "It's like ironing a shirt that's got a bunch of wrinkles in it. You keep ironing that shirt until you get the wrinkles out."
Well, through 28 games, his Gators are too often taken to the cleaners. Boo birds have descended upon Gainesville, Florida, in droves, chanting "Fire Billy!" Napier said he doesn't blame them and would even join them if the roles were reversed.
We like to think about specific breaking points in a coaching tenure, but that is in the eye of the beholder. Some fans would claim they were out on Napier after Florida's loss to Arkansas last year, or the next week after being blown out by LSU as Jayden Daniels cooked up his Heisman moment. Some may say it was after the opener against Miami, while others may say Saturday night extinguished even the faintest DJ Lagway-tinged hope that there would be some miraculous turnaround.
But, The Monday Read does not believe one specific failure dooms a coaching tenure, rather it's a series of them, and Florida's downfalls have a familiar theme: lack of attention to detail.
This isn't just about the on-field shortcomings. Shortly after Napier's first season in 2022, an NIL deal with now-Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada blew up because one minor oversight. Florida's then-affiliated collective wasn't able to make payments towards a $13.85 million contract which Rashada was offered. A constellation of ineptitude was involved in the failed deal, and Napier is a party being sued by Rashada after the fact. But what that saga revealed was that Florida's NIL infrastructure was not ready to meet the moment of player compensation. Changes have been made, but it was an inauspicious start for an organization that was further behind than many outsiders realized.
Through it all, the on-field issues persisted. On Utah's very first offensive play of the 2023 season at home against Florida, the Utes hit a play-action, 70-yard bomb to score a touchdown. Coach Kyle Whittingham said going into halftime, "We've opened up, fairly conservatively the last several years; I figured let's change it up this year."
Translation: the Utes self-scouted, focused on a little thing like play No. 1 of a season and felt a tendency the breaker would hit. They were right. Florida would fail on more little things later in the night. Besides the normal penalties like delay of game and false starts (plural) that doomed red zone trips, Florida was flagged for two players wearing the same jersey number that gave a stalled Utah drive new life.
Special teams didn't get any better, either. Going for a sixth win against Arkansas after gaining a first down, Florida's field goal team ran on the field while its offense was trying to spike the ball to kill the clock. It drew a penalty and backed a go-ahead field goal attempt up 5 yards. The field goal went wide right, the Gators fell in overtime then and lost their remaining three games to finish 5-7 and miss a bowl.
It certainly isn't Napier's job to quality control every little thing in-game like substitutions, but it is on the people he hired and empowers, which points to a lack of organization in the self described "army" of people he hired in support staff positions upon his hiring, each of whom received a tweet and a press release to announce their hire to message to the fanbase that Florida would have a more all-hands on deck than Napier's predecessor Dan Mullen.
Excuses were made in 2023 about being one of the youngest teams in the country and time needed to develop into a championship program, but Florida continues into this season with procedural issues still under the hood. In the season opener against Miami, Florida had to call a timeout in order to avoid a delay of game because the offense failed to move with urgency and get set after a kickoff. Yet another season opener in which they looked otherwise remarkably unprepared after months to get ready. The loss against Texas A&M on Saturday -- their seventh straight against an FBS opponent -- was effectively over by halftime. The Gators went to the break down 20-0 and had 73 total yards, 50 penalty yards, six completions, five total penalties and three first downs.
"Everything that happens within our organization from top to bottom is under my direction and control, and certainly I take full responsibility for that," Napier told reporters after the game.
The wrinkles are not being ironed out in Gainesville. Week after week, little details contribute to big losses. How many more times will Billy Napier be allowed to iron the shirt?
Winning late-game defensive decision(s) of the week
They say that the prevent defense prevents you from winning, so credit to Memphis on their final defensive drive of the game against Florida State. Memphis continued to pressure Seminoles quarterback DJ Uiagelelei, including on the Hail Mary attempt at the buzzer when the Tigers brought six rushers, flushing Uiagelelei out of the pocket and making sure he couldn't just set his feet and hurl the ball into the end zone. Too often, teams sit back, rush three and let a signal-caller chuck the duck with all the time in the world.
Heisman performance of the week
I bet you think the most outstanding receiver in the country is Tetarira McMillin at Arizona, or perhaps Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State or Travis Hunter at Colorado. Let me introduce you to San Jose State's Nick Nash, whose 17 catches, 226 yards and three TDs powered San Jose State to the win over Kennesaw State. It should be noted, this guy plays for former Navy coach Ken Niumatololo, so any worries he'd be bringing a triple-option attack to the Bay Area should be well and truly abated by now.
Research note of the week
All Arch Manning did in relief for Quinn Ewers was score five touchdowns, but his 67-yard rush is the one that everybody's still talking about. The play served as the longest TD run by a Texas QB since Vince Young in 2005.
Arch's uncle, Peyton Manning, has joked that the athleticism skipped a generation from grandfather and namesake Archie Manning, who was known for his prowess as a mobile QB. Arch's father, Cooper Manning, actually played receiver before being forced to medically retire. Here's how Arch's scamper compares to others in his famous family.
- Peyton Manning's longest rush TD in his NFL career: 33 yards
- Eli Manning's longest rush TD in his NFL career: 14 yards
- Archie Manning's longest rush TD in his NFL career: 13 yards
Peyton, Eli and Archie's longest NFL rushing touchdowns add up to just 60 yards.
- Peyton's longest rush in college: 13 yards
- Eli's longest rush in college: 15 yards
- Record books are hazy on Archie's longest college rush at Ole Miss.
Notable quotables
Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham evoked his inner Marshawn Lynch by asserting he was "only here so I don't get fined" in a postgame interview with ESPN after the referees put 1 second on the clock when ASU kneeled on fourth down.
Well, Pitt's Pat Narduzzi took it a step further after his Panthers erased a 10-point deficit in the late stages of the rivalry game against West Virginia.
"We beat West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl," Narduzzi said on the field postgame. "And we beat the officials, too, in one game."
For his troubles, it'll cost him $5,000 and a public reprimand.
Gambling oddity of the week
Tennessee's 71-0 victory over Kent State saw the Volunteers go to halftime up 68-0. Tennessee more than covered the pregame spread of 49.5 points, but the massive lead created an incredible situation where the live point spread was as high as 81 points. The Monday Read took Kent State +79 on the live line and rode the lightning all the way home to a never-a-doubt cover. Thankfully for bettors, an offer by Tennessee to go to a running clock was rebuffed by the Golden Flashes because games that don't go at least 55 minutes typically aren't honored at many sportsbooks.
NIL solicitation of the week
No time like the present to solicit some donations for NIL, and many schools try to kick their fans in the rear after a big loss like Alabama did after the Rose Bowl loss to Michigan in an effort to make sure the Crimson Tide could build a better roster in the future. UCF's collective, The Kingdom, pounced on their comeback win over TCU by trying to bring back those who had little faith in the Knights.
Meal of the week: Pastel de nata at Reunion Bakery in Denver
The Monday Read had a great vacation in Portugal last summer in which many a cinnamon egg tart pastry were enjoyed. Any time these are on the menu, you can bet they're being ordered. While a more even crust to filling ratio is preferred, the shatteringly crispy crust and suprising warmth (it was mid-afternoon) that these had were so good they might as well have been imported straight from Lisbon.
Obrigado to the fine folks at Reunion while in town for Colorado-colorado State.
What excites The Monday Read in Week 4
College football does not belong on Friday night ... BUT this Friday does have a nice one on tap with No. 22 Nebraska facing a surprisingly frisky No. 24 Illinois team. Which Big Ten contender is for real?