Monthly Archives: November 2021

Warning issued to Russia

News

US WARNS RUSSIA OF ‘SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES’

The U.S. warned of “serious consequences” on Tuesday if Russia escalates its conflict with Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to mobilize troops on the Ukrainian border. 

Speaking to reporters ahead of a meeting with NATO officials in Riga, Latvia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that “any renewed aggression would trigger serious consequences.”

“Any escalatory actions by Russia would be a great concern to the United States,” he continued. “We will be consulting closely with NATO allies and partners in the days ahead … about whether there are other steps that we should take as an alliance to strengthen our defenses, strengthen our resilience, strengthen our capacity.” 

Other NATO ministers warn Russia: The comments are just the latest as NATO grows more worried that Russia will invade Ukraine like when it annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

Russia, for its part, has repeatedly brushed off any concerns of an invasion, and has instead accused Ukraine of having aggressive intentions.

Several of NATO’s foreign ministers also warned that any effort to destabilize Ukraine would be costly.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Mass said NATO will “together send an unmistakable message to the Russian government: NATO’s support for Ukraine is unbroken and its independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty are not up for discussion,” according to The Associated Press. 

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss similarly reinforced the alliance’s support for Ukraine

We have seen this playbook from the Kremlin before when Russia falsely claimed its illegal annexation of Crimea was a response to NATO aggression,” Truss said in a statement. “NATO is an alliance forged on the principle of defense, not provocation. Any suggestion that NATO is provoking the Russians is clearly false.”

“Any action by Russia to undermine the freedom and democracy that our partners enjoy would be a strategic mistake,” she continued.

Read the full story here

🏀 MBB Rankings Jump 🏀

Gator Sports

Florida basketball is off to a fantastic start to the 2021-22 season. The Gators are 6-0, snapped their seven-game losing streak against rival Florida State and took down the Ohio State Buckeyes on a buzzer-beater to win the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Wednesday night.

After a hot start for a team that didn’t begin the year with high expectations, UF is quickly rising in the polls. In the latest update to the USA TODAY Sports Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll, the Gators saw a 12-spot rise from No. 24 all the way up to No. 12. This is the highest Florida has been ranked in the Coaches Poll since the preseason poll to begin the 2019-20 season, in which it ranked No. 6.

The Gators are now the third-highest ranked team in the SEC, behind No. 9 Arkansas and No. 10 Kentucky. UF ranks ahead of No. 15 Tennessee, No. 16 Alabama (who fell seven spots after a loss to Rick Pitino’s Iona team), and No. 21 Auburn. LSU isn’t ranked, but it was the third-highest vote recipient of teams outside the top 25.

Florida coach Mike White is off to perhaps his best start with the Gators, and though the next game is a difficult one on the road against Oklahoma, this team could enter conference play with a lot of momentum (and potentially, an undefeated record).

Here’s the full top 25 in the Coaches Poll this week.

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 Duke 7-0 761 (16) +5
2 Purdue 6-0 742 (10) +2
3 Gonzaga 6-1 706 -2
4 Baylor 7-0 693 (2) +1
5 UCLA 6-1 627 -3
6 Villanova 4-2 563 +1
7 Kansas 5-1 524 -4
8 Texas 4-1 500 –
9 Arkansas 6-0 473 +3
10 Kentucky 5-1 436 +3
11 Arizona 6-0 431 +8
12 Florida 6-0 425 +12
13 BYU 6-0 399 +5
14 Houston 5-1 321 -3
15 Tennessee 4-1 304 +2
16 Alabama 6-1 231 -7
17 Connecticut 6-1 222 +4
18 USC 6-0 205 +7
19 Memphis 5-1 184 -9
20 Auburn 5-1 145 +2
21 Wisconsin 5-1 140 –
22 Michigan State 5-2 138 +7
23 Iowa State 6-0 134 –
24 Michigan 4-2 123 -11
25 St. Bonaventure 5-1 96 -9

 

More on Coach Billy Napier

Gator Sports
From the Sporting News

Napier, a former assistant under such coaches as Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Alabama’s Nick Saban and Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher, among others, will make the leap to the Power 5 for the first time in his coaching career.

The change comes after Florida elected to move on from Dan Mullen, who was fired after a 24-23 loss to Missouri. It was the latest of a stretch run of misery for the Gators, which saw them lose three straight to LSU, No. 1 Georgia and South Carolina before surviving FCS opponent Samford, 70-52.

Mullen went 34-15 in four seasons at Florida, starting with seasons of 10-3 and 11-2 records in 2018 and ’19, respectively. The Gators were a thrown shoe away from competing with Alabama in the 2020 SEC championship game for a College Football Playoff berth as well; following that incident, the Gators went 5-9 under Mullen.

That’s the challenge facing Napier in Gainesville. With that, Sporting News breaks down everything you need to know about the Gators’ next coach:

LSU COACHING UPDATES: Lincoln Riley | Ed Orgeron

Billy Napier coaching history

Napier has only four years of head coaching experience, but has done a good job building the Louisiana football program into a perennial Sun Belt contender. He took over the Ragin’ Cajuns program in 2018, leading the team to a Sun Belt West division title and 7-7 record in his first season. The team had suffered three straight losing seasons prior to Napier’s first season in Lafayette, La.

Following that, Napier led the program to an 11-3 record and berth in the 2019 Sun Belt championship game, losing 45-38 to App State. In 2020, he led the Ragin’ Cajuns to a 10-1 record and another West division title, but couldn’t play Coastal Carolina in the conference title game due to COVID-19. Louisiana is 11-1 through 12 games in the 2021 season and set to face off against App State in the conference title game on Saturday.

Year Record Final rank (AP) Bowl outcome
2018 7-7 N/A Cure Bowl (loss)
2019 11-3 N/A LendingTree Bowl (win)
2020 10-1 15 First Responder Bowl (win)
2021 11-1 TBD TBD

Prior to taking over at Louisiana, Napier served as an assistant under some of college football’s top coaches. That includes a stint as Swinney’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Clemson from 2009-10 (at 29 years old, he was the youngest offensive coordinator in the Power 5); an analyst for Saban at Alabama in 2011; tight ends coach for Fisher’s national champion Florida State team in 2013; and Saban’s receivers coach from 2013-16 (the Crimson Tide made the playoff every year from 2014-16 and won the title in 2015).

Napier’s final stop before taking over at Louisiana was as Arizona State’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2017.

Billy Napier offensive scheme

According to a 2018 feature from SI’s Dellenger, Napier installed “an abridged version of Alabama’s elaborate system, a one-back spread offense with pro alignments that can operate at varying speeds.”

“The offense’s run game is mostly derived from longtime Alabama assistant Joe Pendry, and its play-action passing game comes from Lane Kiffin’s offense. The scheme includes some Air Raid from his stint in 2017 under former Sun Devils head coach Todd Graham, and he borrowed Jim McElwain’s tactics for instructing and teaching passers. …”

Napier, who also coaches the quarterbacks, has seen tremendous offensive success leading the Ragin’ Cajuns since 2018. That includes one 3,000-yard passer and two 1,000-yard rushers. Below is how Napier’s offense has stacked up nationally since 2018:

Year Total offense Passing offense Rushing offense Scoring offense
2018 424.3 YPG 205.6 YPG 218.7 YPG 31.9 PPG
2019 494.1 YPG 236.7 YPG 257.4 YPG 37.9 PPG
2020 421.5 YPG 208.5 YPG 213.0 YPG 33.6 PPG
2021 374.8 YPG 196.3 YPG 178.5 YPG 31.3 PPG

 

Strength & Conditioning Coach

Gator Sports

GatorCountry.com had a discussion of changes in the Gator Strength & Conditioning program. It appears that Coach Napier will bring Coach Hocke with him. Given the amount of time the S&C Coach spends with the players, this only makes sense. Below is Coach Hocke’s bio.

Mark Hocke is in his third year as Head Strength and Conditioning/Associate Head Coach of the Ragin’ Cajuns Football team after successful stints at Alabama, Georgia, Florida State and Texas A&M.

Hocke spent the 2017 season at Texas A&M where he served as the Football Strength and Conditioning Coach under head coach Kevin Sumlin seeing the squad earn a spot in the Belk Bowk.

Prior to Texas A&M, Hocke spent one season as the co-associate head football strength and conditioning coach at Florida State where he served under head football coach Jimbo Fisher and strength coach Vic Viloria. The Seminoles won the final five games of the 2016 season on their way to a 10-3 record that included a 33-32 win over Michigan in the Orange Bowl.

Hocke served as the head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Georgia in 2015, where he directed a 15-person staff that trained a pair of All-SEC honorees in offensive lineman John Theus and safety Dominick Sanders. The Bulldogs finished the year with a 10-3 record, which included a win over Penn State in the Gator Bowl.

Hocke received his collegiate coaching start at the University of Alabama in 2009 spending six seasons on head coach Nick Saban’s staff. Under the tutelage of respected strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran, Hocke helped coach three teams that won BCS national championships (2009, 2012, 2013). He also headed the offseason Player Leadership Council and reported directly to the head coach. During his stay in Tuscaloosa, Hocke helped train over 35 players that signed NFL contracts, including 10 first-round NFL Draft picks. He also served as the head strength coach for the men’s tennis team for one season.

Hocke’s first coaching job was at Jesuit High School in New Orleans, La., where he served as a position coach (wide receivers, running backs and defensive backs) and oversaw the team’s strength and conditioning from 2003-2008.

His certifications include CSCCC Certified, FMS Screen Certified as well as USA Weightlifting Level 1 Sports Performance Coach Certified.

A native of New Orleans, La., Hocke earned his bachelor’s degree in business from the University of New Orleans in 2008. He also completed two years of business school prerequisite undergraduate work at Tulane University.

More On The Hiring

Gator Sports

By Adam Silverstein

November 28, 2021

Florida hires Billy Napier: Gators land star Louisiana coach to replace Dan Mullen

FOOTBALL
 

Image Credit: Ben Massey, Louisiana athletics

A former quarterback at Furman who led the Paladins to a national title game, Napier is a career offensive coach, though he’s known more as a program builder and relentless recruiter who has impressive organizational skills. He will aim to bring his energy, passion, leadership and structure to a Gators team that appeared to lack all of it at times throughout the 2021 season.

The hiring of Napier is considered a coup for Florida, which not only landed its top target but inked a coach who has been one of the hottest names bandied about over the last couple of cycles. Napier has reportedly turned down a half-dozen Power Five opportunities — a number of them in the SEC — for various reasons, though the UF gig is the best he’s known to have been offered.

Napier’s status as athletic director Scott Stricklin’s top candidate was reported earlier this week by OnlyGators.com, while his impending hiring was first reported Sunday by Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel. The Orlando Sentinel‘s Edgar Thompson reported Sunday that Napier met with Florida prior to the Missouri game two weeks ago.

The expectation is that Napier will remain with Louisiana through the 2021 Sun Belt Championship Game next week prior to joining Florida full-time. The Cajuns have advanced to four straight league title games under Napier, losing their first two appearances with the 2020 game canceled amid COVID-19 complications. Louisiana was 15-22 in the three seasons prior to his hiring and had never won 10 games in a season until Napier took over.

Napier will spend limited time building his Gators staff and calling recruits over the next week while focusing on a monumental game for the Cajuns program. When he fully takes over at Florida, he will have 11 days until the start of the early signing period to save a recruiting class rated No. 31 in the 247Sports Composite team rankings.

In addition to working with Swinney and Saban, Napier served as associate head coach at Colorado State under Jim McElwain in 2012, lasted one month as tight ends coach at Florida State under Jimbo Fisher in 2013 (before being hired away by Alabama after a month) and commanded Arizona State’s offense under Todd Graham in 2017.

G’ville Sun – Done Deal!

Gator Sports
 

Zach Abolverdi

Gator Sports
 

 

Florida is set to hire Louisiana coach Billy Napier as the Gators’ new head football coach, according to mulitple reports Sunday. An announcement is expected in the next 24 hours. 

Florida athletics director Scott Stricklin will meet with the team Monday at 8 a.m. 

Napier, 42, has compiled a 39-12 record in four years at Louisiana–Lafayette, including three consecutive 10-win seasons, fourth-straight Sun Belt West Division titles and the Sun Belt Conference Championship in 2020. 

Who is Billy Napier? Billy Napier is a hot name in the Florida Gators coaching search. But who is he?

Florida football: 5 reasons why Billy Napier should be the next Gators head coach

The Ragin’ Cajuns (11-1) had three losing seasons in a row prior to Napier. He led ULL to its first-ever win over Appalachian State last year and a season-opening upset at No. 23 Iowa State, producing the program’s first AP Top 25 ranking since 1943. 

 

Great iPhone Feature

News

If you have an iPhone, the latest software update (iOS 15.1) grants you the ability to store your COVID-19 vaccination card directly in the Apple Wallet. Here’s how.

BY TUCKER BOWE

apple
Gear Patrol

Instead of carrying your COVID-19 vaccination card everywhere you go, you’ve likely created a digital copy of it — meaning you took a photo of it with your smartphone — so you didn’t risk losing it. But having to sort through your photo library every time you need to show your COVID-19 vaccination card isn’t ideal.

Well, Apple is making this whole situation a little easier. That’s because if you have an iPhone, the latest software update (iOS 15.1) grants you the ability to store your COVID-19 vaccination card directly in the Apple Wallet.

Reminder: to make sure your iPhone has the latest software update, open the Settings app, select General, and select Software Update.

How to add your vaccination card to Apple Wallet

There are a few different ways (or scenarios) to add your COVID-19 vaccination card to your Apple Wallet.

If you have a QR code:

• Open the camera app on your iPhone.
• Make sure you’re using the rear-camera.
• Make sure the QR code is the focus of your iPhone’s viewfinder.
• Click the Health app notification that appears when the camera recognizes the QR code.
• Select “Add to Wallet & Health.”
• Select “Done.”

If you have downloadable link of your vaccination record:

• Click the download link.
• When the notification appears, select “Add to Wallet & Health.”
• Select “Done.”

If you already have your COVID-19 vaccination record added to the Health app:

• Open the Health app.
• Select the Summary tab (at the bottom).
• Under Vaccination Record, tap “Add to Wallet.”

After it’s added, you can then access your COVID-19 vaccination card in the Wallet app any time you want. However, if you want to get the full details of your card — other than just your name, vaccine type and the date(s) you got vaccinated — you’ll have to authenticate yourself by using Face ID, Touch ID or typing in your passcode.