Florida to stick with embattled Napier as coach
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
Billy Napier will continue to coach Florida, according to athletic director Scott Stricklin, who put to rest rampant speculation about the embattled coach’s future with the Gators.
In a letter Thursday, Stricklin stressed the need for a “disciplined, stable approach” and asked Florida fans to “continue standing behind Billy and his dedicated team while we work together to build a championship program.”
Napier, in his third season at Florida, is 15-18 with the Gators. After a 41-17 season-opening loss to Miami, he faced increased scrutiny over his job performance — scrutiny that mounted after a 33-20 loss to Texas A&M two weeks later.
Stricklin, however, has been unwavering in his support of Napier, who has repeatedly said he needs time to get the Gator program headed in the right direction.
Back-to-back wins over Mississippi State and UCF helped quell fan discontent, but performances in close losses to No. 7 Tennessee and No. 3 Georgia — Florida held leads in both games — showed progress.
“As we’ve seen these past several weeks, the young men on this team represent what it means to be a Gator,” Stricklin wrote. “Their resolve, effort and execution are evident in their performance and growth each week — building a foundation that promises greater success next season and beyond.”
Stricklin added that he is “confident that Billy will meet the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
The Gators are 4-4 overall this season, including 2-3 in SEC play. They visit No. 5 Texas on Saturday before closing their regular season home for LSU, home for Ole Miss and at rival Florida State.
Much of the progress Stricklin cites has to do with the way Florida’s freshmen and sophomores have played of late.
After veteran quarterback Graham Mertz was lost for the season against Tennessee, freshman DJ Lagway took over as the full-time starter and has played well — leading a 48-20 victory over Kentucky and giving the Gators the lead against Georgia until he left the game with a hamstring injury.
Lagway had been splitting time with Mertz, but his ability to make plays as a dual-threat quarterback has opened up the possibilities for the Florida offense. Lagway is considered questionable for Saturday’s game at Texas.
Freshman running back Jadan Baugh has impressed, too, with 323 yards and five touchdowns.
Sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel that 70% of Florida’s name, image and likeness money is tied to freshmen and sophomores, and there is a sense that losing Napier would also mean losing Lagway, who chose the Gators to play for Napier.
In an interview with ESPN earlier this season, Lagway’s high school coach, Trent Miller, said Napier “did a great job of getting DJ to commit early to help the process of building that brand with recruits and everybody else around him.”
The buyout for Napier alone would have been more than $26 million, which would have been the second biggest in college football history, behind Texas A&M’s $76 million for Jimbo Fisher last year.
Sources indicated the cost of transitioning from Napier and staff and buying out an incoming coach was estimated internally at $40 million.
There are other factors at play as well. Interim president Kent Fuchs, who returned after Ben Sasse stepped down, hired Napier and Stricklin and wants to see them succeed.
BOSTON — Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas suffered a ruptured tendon in his left knee and is out for the remainder of the season, the team said.
The 25-year-old Casas ruptured his patellar tendon running to first on a slow roller up the line and fell awkwardly in Boston’s victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. After laying on his back in pain — not moving the knee — he was carted off on a stretcher before being taken to a Boston hospital.
The team announced Sunday that he had surgery for a left patellar tendon repair at Massachusetts General Hospital. The surgery was performed by Dr. Eric Berkson.
“I talked to him last night,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said in a news conference on Saturday discussing the injury outside Boston’s clubhouse. “We exchanged text messages [Saturday]. We all care deeply about just his overall wellbeing.”
Manager Alex Cora said Casas worked hard during the offseason to play every day after missing a large amount of last year with torn cartilage in his rib cage.
“He did an outstanding job in the offseason to put himself in that situation. It didn’t start the way he wanted it to,” Cora said of Casas’ struggles. “He was going to play and play a lot. Now we’ve got to focus on the rehab after the surgery and hopefully get him back stronger than ever and ready to go next year.”
Casas batted just .182 with three homers and 11 RBIs, but Breslow said his loss will be felt, especially with the team’s lack of depth at the position.
“He certainly struggled through the first month of the season but that didn’t change what we believe his production was capable of being,” Breslow said. “It’s a big loss. In addition to what we think we were going to get on the offensive side, he was kind of like a stabilizing presence on the defensive side of the field — also a big personality and a big part of the clubhouse.”
During spring training, Casas talked about how his focus at the plate this season was being more relaxed.
“You really want it until you don’t,” he said, explaining his thoughts while standing at his locker. “Then you can’t want it that much.”
Now, he’ll have to focus on his recovery plan for next season.
Casas, a left-handed batter, was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with infielder/outfielder Abraham Toro selected from Triple-A Worcester.
Cora said Toro — a switch-hitter — will split time at first along with Romy Gonzalez. who bats right-handed.
Breslow said the team might be exploring a long-term replacement.
“This is unfortunately an opportunity to explore what’s available,” he said. “We’ll look both internally and outside as well.”
Cora said there are no plans to move Rafael Devers, who was replaced at third by offseason free-agent acquisition Alex Bregman and moved to DH.
“We asked him to do something in spring training that in the beginning he didn’t agree with it and now he’s very comfortable doing what he’s doing,” Cora said. “Like I told you guys in spring training, he’s my DH.”
TORONTO — Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez was back in the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, two days after the third baseman left in the third inning because of a mild right ankle sprain.
The six-time All-Star was injured when he stumbled and fell while crossing first base on an infield single. Ramirez went down after being struck in the back by a throw from Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt.
Ramirez was batting third Sunday against right-hander Bowden Francis.
Ramírez sat out Saturday when Cleveland beat Toronto 5-3. He went 2 for 2 before departing Friday, boosting his average to .274. He has five home runs and 15 RBIs in 31 games.
In last Thursday’s 4-3 victory over Minnesota, Ramirez became the first primary third baseman to reach 250 homers and 250 stolen bases.
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