The Monday Read: Billy Napier, Dabo Swinney intertwined again with Florida, Clemson trounced in openers

Dabo Swinney and Billy Napier will always be linked to one another, both serving on Tommy Bowden’s final staff at Clemson in 2008. When Swinney was elevated to full-time coach after Bowden’s firing, he kept Napier on staff, making him the youngest offensive coordinator in school history (29). 

Their paths winded away from each other after Swinney fired Napier in 2010. Swinney molded the Tigers into a national power, while Napier had multiple stops as an assistant — including at Alabama, where he coached against the Tigers in two national title games — before taking over the Louisiana program and parlaying that into the Florida job. But on Saturday, they stood on sidelines in Atlanta and Gainesville, Florida, respectively, and had eerily similar experiences to each other as their teams continue on downward trajectories. 

It’s not that they lost, but how. Both the Clemson and Florida programs look stuck while Georgia and Miami were the far more finished products out of the blocks. Clemson failed to score a touchdown for only the fourth time in 214 games under Swinney; one of the other times was when the Tigers and Bulldogs faced off to open the 2021 season. 

Much is made about Clemson’s lack of transfer portal activity. The Tigers did not take any players from the portal this offseason, and since the portal was implemented in 2018, they haven’t had an incoming transfer make any starts for them at all, according to ESPN’s Kevin Naghandi. 

There are different ways to augment a roster in the portal. There’s the Colorado approach with a full-scale overhaul (43 total incomings), but there’s also the Georgia (11) or Ohio State approach (nine), which is to add judiciously where it makes sense to an already-stacked roster. The Buckeyes, of course, added two of the best players at their positions in the sport last year in Quinshon Judkins and Caleb Downs. If Clemson were to bring portal players in, the latter tact is likely how they’d do it because the 247Sport Team Talent Composite has it fifth in overall team talent coming into the season — which is to say the portal inactivity might get the headlines, but the more damning indictment of what Clemson isn’t anymore lies in the lack of development of the players already on campus. 

Swinney’s common refrain is some version of the opinion that their roster and its chemistry is good enough that there’s no reason to add outside parts. The offense is littered with experienced juniors and seniors and a highly touted quarterback in his second full season at the helm. Yet, the output looked frustratingly familiar. Big plays were lacking. The two drives that reached the red zone only produced three points (the Tigers were 94th in red zone touchdown percentage last season). Clemson hung around while Georgia figured itself out, and then the Dawgs dropped the clutch in the second half, sped away and ultimately lapped them. The result ends up mirroring last year’s opener, a 28-7 loss to Duke where the lone touchdown came on an 18-yard drive thanks to a muffed punt. It all just looks so familiar … 

… as does the similarly embarrassing performance in Gainesville. 

Florida does not typically lose season openers, but that’s only because, historically, Florida does not play difficult ones. The school’s scheduling strategy was to kick the season off with a tune up, and the Gators are 30-3 in openers since 1990. That’s changed in the last few seasons as season-opening opponents have gotten more attractive. 

There have been highs (2022 against Utah, 2019 against Miami), but there have certainly also been lows (a drubbing by Michigan in 2017, a sloppy and unorganized performance against Utah 2023). This Miami home opener was a new low with a 41-17 loss in which Florida’s lone touchdown before the fourth quarter was a 71-yard run in which Miami failed to line up adequately. Otherwise, the offense looked similar with an initial inability to do much beyond low-percentage horizontal play which Miami handled with good eye discipline and sound perimeter tackling. Undisciplined penalties from Florida’s defense didn’t help early on, but Miami’s offense didn’t even really need them as they found their groove and proved that their own portal additions (Cam Ward and Damien Martinez chief among them) were well worth whatever NIL cost it took to secure them. 

It’s never great when the program’s last head coach is retweeting endorsements of his tenure: 

Or when recruiting staffers have to stop opponents talking up the prospects ostensibly on hand to watch the home team play. 

The familiar refrain is that Napier needs time, and The Monday Read does subscribe to that theory in general when coaches take over power programs. But it is difficult to square Florida’s continued sloppy performance with the much more complete product on the other sideline. Mario Cristobal took over the same season as Napier did. 

Ceiling discussions about Clemson and Florida are obvious, but the inauspicious starts show that the more appropriate discussion is about how these two programs have apparently found their levels with head men who so far have shown the inability to produce on-field improvement. These teams are what they are until proven otherwise, and the most adequate emotional takeaway actually came from Florida’s Jaden Baugh, who after watching a kickoff sail over his head into the end zone midway through the third quarter simply shook his head dejectedly and moved on.

Notable quotable(s) 

The Monday Read would love to know what bottle of champagne Syracuse head coach Fran Brown is sending Ryan Day “for allowing us to get Kyle McCord” in the transfer portal. It would be a weird pairing, but perhaps you could pop some bubbly with a sweet treat, as Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki compared his offense to a Dairy Queen Blizzard. 

“It might look complicated, but at the end of the day it’s just vanilla ice cream and your favorite candy,” Kotelnicki said after Penn State’s 34-12 win in which his offense did have plenty of eye candy to on top of an effective run game and enough vertical passing to be dangerous. 

Penn State had one 100-yard receiving game from a wide receiver last season. Harrison Wallace had 99 yards with nine minutes left in the first half before finishing with 117 yards overall. 

Heisman Trophy performance of the week 

Why don’t they just build the whole plane out of Tetairoa McMillan? You might ask. Well, Arizona pretty much did with its passing offense. McMIllan had 10 receptions on 15 targets for 304 yards (Noah Fifita only had 31 passes total). It was a dazzling display from the Wildcats wideout. By the end of the first half, he had five receptions for 199 yards and three touchdowns of 78, 69, and 19 yards, respectively. McMillan is the first FBS player with 200-plus receiving yards and three-plus touchdowns in a half since Alabama’s DeVonta Smith in the 2020 CFP National Championship win over Ohio State. 

Fumble luck of the week 

A reminder when tabulating fumbles lost: Fumble luck can be a very cruel thing. There is just no rhyme or reason to how an oblong ball bounces on turf. 

Research desk note of the week 

Kalen DeBoer is never going to replace Nick Saban, but he had a pretty good start to his tenure with the third-most points in a season opener since ‘Bama joined the SEC in 1933 behind Delta State in 1951 (89) and Cal in 1973 (66). 

Mercy rule of the week 

The Monday Read does not love programs playing NAIA schools, but look at what Stephen F. Austin did by the half in its 77-0 win by halftime with the score 70-0. They played the second half in five minute quarters or things would have been much worse. 

Catch of the week

You will seriously not see a better catch than what Robert Morris defensive back Robert Carter Jr. did for this whirlybird interception. 

Adjusting for the fact that Carter is not an offensive player, The Monday Read is willing to say it’s the most impressive catch anyone will make all season. 

Overreaction game of the week 

There was a proper Sunday night Week 1 to overreact to in Las Vegas as LSU and USC gave us a down-to-the-wire finish. Make sweeping takeaways about these teams at your own peril, as showcase Labor Day weekend performances don’t always age the way you’d think. Ask 2016 Texas and Notre Dame. But both teams come into the season as intriguing College Football Playoff contenders in their leagues. 

Is USC’s defense fixed? D’anton Lynn’s unit certainly looked better in the second half, but old issues up the middle aren’t completely gone. Can LSU replace its potent offense? Kyren Lacy’s 94 yards receiving certainly show proof of concept that the passing attack has at least one capable target.

Brian Kelly certainly treated the loss with anger befitting of his mid-season form. 

Thing ya hate to see 

On an unserious note, the postgame fireworks for Minnesota after missing a game-winning field goal … 

On a serious note: North Carolina QB Max Johnson‘s season-ending broken leg is gutting. Johnson is on his third school. He had surgery in Minneapolis and will return to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in a few days, according to the school. 

Meal of the week 

The Monday Read enjoyed college football from Mexico City this week because official policy is to actually attend your friends’ fall weddings (congrats Erin and David!). After a rowdy group of American Georgia fans called the Dawgs in Spanish enough times to have the Mexican police called for a noise complaint (which resolved itself without incident), the following octopus dish was enjoyed at Mi Compa Chava. 

If you find yourself in CDMX, it’s a must. If you’re a Georgia fan, be careful how loud you chant “Vamos Perros.”