The Scarlet and Gray

[toysoldier00]

Florida Fires Billy Napier After 1–3 Start; Oklahoma State Parts Ways With Mike Gundy

Marissa Bleday
September 22, 2025


Florida fired head coach Billy Napier on Monday morning, ending a turbulent tenure that never stabilized in Gainesville and left the Gators staring at a brutal schedule with little margin for recovery. About twenty minutes later Oklahoma State also amounted a sweeping change, dismissing longtime coach Mike Gundy after another discouraging start, closing the book on one of the longest-running coaching eras in the sport.

Napier departs Florida with a 20–22 record in just over three seasons, a résumé that never matched the expectations that come with the job. The Gators opened the year at No. 15 in the preseason AP Top 25 but stumbled immediately into a spiral that the program’s leadership decided could not continue: a 44–3 win over FCS Long Island followed by consecutive losses, first the stunning 36–33 home upset to South Florida, then a 35–31 defeat at No. 4 LSU, and finally a 45–23 loss at No. 5 Miami that featured a 21–0 first-quarter hole Florida never climbed out of.

After Saturday’s loss, Napier sounded like a coach trying to hold the center of the room even as the ground shifted beneath him. “It starts with me,” Napier said postgame. “We didn’t coach well enough, we didn’t play clean enough, and against a team like that you’re going to pay for every mistake.” He pointed to Florida’s lack of early composure and the cumulative weight of errors that have marked the first month. “We’re too inconsistent right now,” he said. “We have to do the hard parts better, communication, details, situational football, because that’s what shows up against top teams.”

Those top teams are still coming. Florida has a bye this week, but the remaining slate reads like a stress test: No. 7 Texas visits Gainesville next, with road trips to No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 11 Ole Miss still ahead, plus a neutral-site date with No. 3 Georgia, home games against No. 22 Tennessee and unbeaten Florida State, and no obvious stretch where the pressure would have eased. In that context, Florida moved quickly, naming wide receivers coach Billy Gonzalez as interim head coach.

Oklahoma State’s decision carried different weight, but similar urgency. Gundy, who took over the Cowboys in 2005 and became synonymous with the program’s modern identity, was dismissed after the team showed signs of slipping further following last season’s 3–9 finish. Oklahoma State opened 2025 with a 35–10 win over UT Martin, but was routed 55–14 at Oregon and then lost at home to Tulsa, a combination that pushed the administration to act before the season drifted deeper off course. Offensive coordinator Doug Meachem will serve as interim head coach.

For Florida, the move is a blunt acknowledgment that “fixing it later” wasn’t a viable plan, not in the SEC, not with the schedule ahead, and not with the fan base growing increasingly restless. Napier arrived with a reputation for structure and program-building, but the results never consistently followed. Now Florida enters an open-ended search at a moment when the stakes are obvious: the next hire has to win quickly, and win loudly, in the sport’s loudest neighborhood.

Alongside Stanford, Florida and Oklahoma State become the second and third Power Four head coaching vacancies.

[Soapy]

GGs Sun Belt Billy.

Appreciate the two BTAs

[djp73]

How many seasons are you shooting for in this?

[toysoldier00]

GGs Sun Belt Billy.

Appreciate the two BTAs

I'm very interested to see who UF hires for that job

How many seasons are you shooting for in this?

Truth be told, I'm just about wrapping up season 1 in game, I'm just going to post updates at a more reasonable pace so I can get the timing for everything right. So I'm moving faster than it appears lol. That said, if CFB27 isn't some dramatic jump in some way or function, I may just keep this going for a while.

[djp73]

[toysoldier00]

Beau Pribula Found the Door and Missouri’s Offense Has Been Flying Through It

By Bailey Lloyd
September 23, 2025



There are transfer decisions that feel like obvious upgrades, the kind made with a clean runway and a clear starting job waiting on the other side. Beau Pribula’s wasn’t one of those.

At Penn State, Pribula wasn’t just a backup quarterback. He was a part of the weekly plan. Packages built for him. A change-of-pace threat that forced defenses to account for something different, and a teammate good enough to matter even when the ball wasn’t in his hands. But he also lived in the shadow of Drew Allar’s future, and then Allar’s present, and when Allar chose to return for his senior year, Pribula’s path to “the guy” never really changed.

So he left, even with a playoff run looming. Even with security. Even with familiarity.

Four games into his Missouri career, it looks less like a risk and more like a pivot that rewrote the season. Pribula has been a Heisman-board rocket ship, piling up 1,219 passing yards on 85-of-124 throws with 17 touchdowns and three interceptions, while adding 144 rushing yards and three more scores. Missouri’s offense is chewing through opponents like it’s playing in fast-forward, leading the nation in points per game (50.8) and sitting second nationally in yards per game (538.0) as the Tigers sprint to a 4–0 start.

The most recent proof came in a 52–7 dismantling of ranked South Carolina that never felt competitive after the opening minutes, another game where Missouri’s tempo and decisiveness turned Saturdays into track meets. Head coach Eliah Drinkwitz didn’t try to hide what Pribula has changed inside the building.

“When your quarterback sees it, trusts it and lets it rip, it lifts everybody,” Drinkwitz said. “Beau’s playing with a confidence that’s contagious. The guys believe in him.”

Pribula, never the loudest presence in the room, has sounded like someone who knows exactly why he made the move, and what it costs to make it.

“I loved my time at Penn State,” Pribula said. “But I came here to play, to lead, to be responsible for the whole thing, not just a package. Coach Drink told me what this could look like, and I felt it. I wanted that challenge.”

Missouri’s results have made the “what this could look like” part feel less like preseason optimism and more like a real, inconvenient problem for everyone else on the schedule. The Tigers have hung 63 on Central Arkansas, stole a 34–30 win over Kansas, rolled Louisiana 54–23, and then flattened South Carolina. Next comes the stretch that will decide whether Pribula’s September becomes something bigger: No. 14 Alabama, No. 8 Texas A&M, and a trip to No. 12 Oklahoma still waiting.

If he’s going to make a real run at the Heisman, he’ll have the stage.

And if Missouri is going to crash the playoff conversation, it’s because Pribula chose the uncertain road, and has looked completely at home on it.

[toysoldier00]

From Oar to Offer: How Jordan Ivory Rowed His Way Into Ohio State’s 2026 Class
By Colten Brooks on September 24, 2025


Culver Academies (Culver, IN) Tight End Jordan Ivory has the physical profile that college coaches dream about.



Jordan Ivory didn’t grow up dreaming about seam routes or red-zone fades. He grew up measuring mornings in meters, not minutes, the kind of kid who learned early that the work shows up before the spotlight does. At Culver Academies in northern Indiana, the rhythm of his athletic life wasn’t Friday nights, it was early practices on the water, long sessions built on repetition, and a sport that punishes shortcuts. Rowing was the thing. Rowing was his identity. And in a small town where being different is something you feel before you understand it, Ivory stood out in ways that had nothing to do with recruiting rankings.

He was one of the only Black kids in Culver. That’s not a footnote in his story; it’s part of the pressure that shapes how you carry yourself, how you learn to compete, and how you build confidence without needing a crowd to give it to you. Rowing fit him, not just because Culver has a strong program, but because it gave him a lane where effort was the loudest thing in the room. You can’t hide in a boat. You either pull your weight or you don’t. And as Ivory kept pulling, he kept growing.

Literally.

The growth spurt was the first sign that his path might bend. The strength came next. By the time the football staff began nudging him toward the field, it wasn’t just a suggestion. It was a simple question: what if the thing you’ve built in rowing, the power, the endurance, the toughness, actually translates?

Ivory’s answer changed his life.

He didn’t arrive in football as a polished tight end with a decade of camps and route trees stored in muscle memory. He arrived as an athlete who looked like he’d been carved for the position and who moved like someone used to controlling his body under stress. Rowing gave him the foundation: explosive lower-body drive, serious grip and core strength, and the kind of stamina that makes coaches trust you before you’ve ever played a meaningful snap. And once he finally stepped onto a football field, it didn’t take long for people to realize this wasn’t a novelty.

It was a prospect.

At 6-foot-5 with a reported 6-foot-7 wingspan, Ivory already passes the eye test. The numbers are what make coaches do a double-take. He’s reportedly bench pressing 405 pounds while hovering in the 235-to-240 range, a ridiculous combination of size and power for a player still learning the sport. Ohio State believes the frame will keep filling out, that with a college strength program and time, he can live in the 260s without losing what makes him dangerous, the athleticism that isn’t manufactured, just uncovered.

“I didn’t start with football the way most guys do,” Ivory said. “So I know I’ve got a lot to learn. But I also know what it looks like to commit to something every day. Rowing taught me how to work when nobody’s watching.”

That’s the part of the story that feels so perfectly Ohio State. The Buckeyes recruit stars, sure. But they also recruit traits, and it’s hard to find a more intriguing set of traits than a late-blooming tight end whose baseline strength comes from a sport built on discipline. According to 247Sports, Ivory is the No. 2 tight end in the class of 2026 and the No. 129 overall player nationally. He’s also the No. 2 player in the state of Indiana, a ranking that tells you how fast his rise has been, and how quickly his ceiling has become the main conversation.

Because that’s what you’re buying with Ivory: ceiling.

He’s still raw. That’s not a criticism, it’s the reality of a player who didn’t grow up living in seven-on-seven circuits or learning how to stem a defender at 14 years old. His technique has room to develop. His football IQ will grow with reps, film, and better competition. Coming from a smaller school adds another layer: he hasn’t been forced to play every snap against Power Four-level athletes the way many elite recruits have. There’s going to be a learning curve.

Ohio State is betting the curve is worth it.

They first got a true read on him last summer, when Ivory showed up at a camp and left coaches looking at each other like they’d just found something rare. For Ivory, it was the moment the sport started feeling real, the moment he realized his body wasn’t just changing, it was opening doors.

“That camp was huge for me,” Ivory said. “I went there wanting to see where I stood, and I left feeling like I belonged. Once Ohio State offered, it was hard to shake that. You don’t forget that feeling.”

He didn’t. Ivory committed to Ohio State on January 26, and even if recruitments are never as simple as one moment, the timeline makes it clear where this one was headed. The offer landed the previous summer. The connection built quickly. The idea of becoming a Big Ten tight end, of taking a late start and turning it into a weapon, became less of a dream and more of a plan.

And it’s not difficult to see what Ohio State envisions. A strong-side tight end who can add weight and become a nasty presence as an in-line blocker. A pass-game piece with reach and catch radius that make quarterbacks comfortable throwing “wrong” and still being right. A matchup player who can grow into the kind of tight end defenses have to treat like a wide receiver on third down and like an extra tackle in the run game.

The rawness is the risk. The traits are the reward.

Ivory’s path also gives him something you can’t coach: perspective. Rowers live in discomfort. They learn to stay calm when lungs burn and legs shake. They learn to do the same thing again and again and trust that the accumulation will matter later. That mindset fits the tight end position, one of the sport’s least glamorous jobs until you’re suddenly the reason a drive stays alive.

“I like the idea that I’m still learning,” Ivory said. “It keeps me hungry. I’ve been the new guy before. I know what it takes to catch up.”

That’s the point. Jordan Ivory is still catching up, and already he’s this high in the rankings, already he’s this physically advanced, already he’s this coveted. Ohio State didn’t just take a tight end commit. They took a story that doesn’t happen often anymore, a kid whose first sport wasn’t football, who found the sport late, and who might still have the steepest climb left to make.

The oar taught him how to pull. Football is teaching him how to finish.

If Ohio State is right about where his body ends up, if he gets to 260 with “top-of-the-scale power” and keeps the athletic upside that made him stand out at camp, then the Buckeyes didn’t just find a good tight end.

They found a rare one.

Rank	Pos	Name	Height	Weight	High School	Home Town
	QB	Tyree Figurs	6'3"	190 lbs	Mission Hills	Mission Hills, CA
	WR	Ashton Ramsey	6'3"	190 lbs	Loyola Academy	Chicago, IL
	TE	Jordan Ivory	6'5"	235 lbs	Culver Academies	Culver, IN
	OT	Marcus Okam	6'7"	285 lbs	Pickerington Central	Pickerington, OH
	OT	Grady Austin	6'6"	305 lbs	Princeton	Cincinnati, OH
	OT	Derron Merriman	6'6"	300 lbs	Hilliard Bradley	Marysville, OH
	OT	Alex Jordan	6'7"	280 lbs	Paramus Catholic	Paramus, NJ
	IOL	George Crecelius	6'4"	285 lbs	Cy-Fair	Cypress, TX
	IOL	Thaddeus Roe	6'4"	290 lbs	Avon	Avon, IN
	DE	Deontae Savage	6'6"	240 lbs	Avon	Avon, IN
	DE	Ornell Mack	6'5"	240 lbs	Winton Woods	Cincinnati, OH
	DT	Vondree Eagles	6'3"	345 lbs	Reynoldsburg	Reynoldsburg, OH
	DT	Dillon Bridges	6'3"	290 lbs	Snider	Fort Wayne, IN
	LB	Pauly O'Dwyer	6'5"	215 lbs	Washington	Massillon, OH
	LB	Emmanuel Wooden	6'2"	210 lbs	Westerville South	Columbus, OH
	LB	Jaylen Smalls	6'2"	210 lbs	Glenville	Cleveland, OH
	LB	Avondre Lincoln	6'1"	200 lbs	Princeton	Cincinnati, OH
	CB	Teion Cherry II	6'1"	175 lbs	Wayne	Huber Heights, OH
	CB	Tremayne Shepley	6'1"	185 lbs	Greenville	Greenville, SC
	S	Bobby Jackson-Ruud	6'1"	190 lbs	St. Thomas Aquinas	Fort Lauderdale, FL
	S	Landon Bishop	6'0"	195 lbs	Whitmer	Toledo, OH
	P	David Procter	6'5"	170 lbs	Elder	Cincinnati, OH

[Caesar]

Having an elite pass catching tight end is always a positive. Ivory might be the lynchpin for this offense in a year or two.

[toysoldier00]

Having an elite pass catching tight end is always a positive. Ivory might be the lynchpin for this offense in a year or two.

Yeah, he’s already got really good strength and speed as a recruit. I feel like he’ll be a dream to grow.

[toysoldier00]

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