Swampcast talks about the opening game between Florida and Miami and predictions for 2024
In this week’s Swampcast, Kevin Brockway and David Whitley of The Sun join The Athletic’s Manny Navarro to discuss the start of college football and the Florida-Miami game.
When Florida introduced Billy Napier as its football coach, he talked about the benefits of the job and how he was ready to take advantage of them.
“This is the right place at the right time,” Napier said. “With the right people and the right leadership … I can promise you we will all benefit.”
Eight days later, there was an introductory echo in Coral Gables.
“We are the U,” said Mario Cristobal. “We are Miami… Now is the time.”
It was December 2021. Now it is August 2024 and fans of both schools are still waiting to reap the promised benefits.
Napier and Cristobal’s work was harder than expected, and the consequences are looming. The loser of Saturday’s game will reportedly be taken to the nearest job center to fill out forms.
I don’t think things will be that bad, but given the apocalyptic mood, I wonder who will be worse off.
Whose training sneakers would you rather wear, Napier or Cristobal?
Aside from the fact that Napier wears Nike and Cristobal wears Adidas, the coaches and programs have become mirror images. Distorted mirrors, unfortunately.
Both learned from Nick Saban, on whose staff they served from 2013 to 2016.
“I definitely have enormous respect for him,” Cristobal said of Napier. “And he’s also a great family man.”
“I love his family,” Napier said of Cristobal. “Just a great person.”
Both were hired to revive struggling football giants and given free rein to do so. They’re 23-27 together, so it’s fair to wonder what their schools are getting for all those millions of dollars.
Among other things, they received an unwanted piece of furniture: the old hot chair.
Of the roughly 3.4 million hot seat lists posted this year, Billy and Mario top 3.399 million, so which of them has the better chance of surviving in the long run?
The answer starts with money.
Cristobal has a 10-year, $80 million contract. His severance package would be around $60 million. Unless Miami recruits some backers from Texas A&M, it won’t be able to write that check.
If Florida were to release Napier today, he would be entitled to $25 million. However, that is not the plan.
Cristobal also comes from Miami and was a letterman for four years during the US’s heyday. Family ties give you time and sympathy.
And then there’s the small question of competition. For that, let’s look at what Bobby Bowden said about FSU’s decision to join the ACC.
“It would have been tough to fight through that SEC,” he said. “There are too many good teams in there, boy.”
That was 33 years ago and not much has changed. Miami’s last five games are against FSU, Duke, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Syracuse.
Florida’s final five are Georgia, Texas, LSU, Ole Miss and FSU. Please have a cigarette and a blindfold ready.
The Gators would finish no worse than 8-4 with Miami’s schedule. FanDuel currently sets their over-under at 4.5 wins.
Napier knew what he was getting into on that November day three years ago. Despite all the competition in the SEC, membership does come with its own privileges.
It starts with the $150 million gap in revenue between the bank and the ACC, and that number is only going to grow.
Miami is a top-notch place to get a degree, for whatever that’s worth in today’s NIL/transfer portal world, but a relatively small private institution can’t match the influence and power that comes from the state’s flagship university.
And where would you rather train? In an NFL stadium 20 miles north of Coral Gables, where you can draw 60,000 enthusiastic fans?
Or in a 90,000-seat stadium on campus, where the presence of 60,000 fans would be considered embarrassing?
So, which trainer sneakers would you rather wear?
The short-term answer is: whoever wins on Saturday.
In the long run, Cristobal has the easier job.
Napier has the better job.
He just needs to prove he’s capable of doing it. This weekend would be a good start.
David Whitley is a sports columnist for the Gainesville Sun. Reach him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @DavidEWhitley
