Freakishly Tall Florida Basketball Player Tried Out For Gators' Football Team
Olivier Rioux tried to block field goals in two different sports earlier this week
Gators head coach Billy Napier must really be feeling the heat in Gainesville if his latest stunt is any indicator.
The embattled football coach recently invited 7-foot-9 Gators basketball player and Guinness World Record holder Olivier Rioux to football workouts.
According to reports, coach Napier brought Rioux to practice with the intention of sticking him on the field goal block team, and his logic seems sound on the surface.
At 7'9" and with a wingspan that seems nearly infinite, the Canadian hooper could have made one hell of a weapon on special teams.
Apparently, though, the coaching staff was disheartened by Rioux's purported 11-inch vertical leap.
"They were a little disappointed," coach Golden said.
"I like the idea," he continued. "I give them credit for trying it."
I have to agree with Golden here, you have to give Napier and his staff credit for trying anything and everything to gain an advantage on special teams.
For a coach who was famous for some pretty awful special teams gaffs in his first couple seasons in North Central Florida - including two players wearing the same number during a punt return against Utah a few years back - I applaud the efforts.
Perhaps Napier is hoping some of Todd Golden's championship pedigree rubs off on him by borrowing one of his players.
The fanbase is starving for another football championship and seeing Golden and his crew win it all in April has certainly made that hunger grow even more insatiable.
Regardless, the coaching staff will have to find a different way to block kicks this fall, as Rioux didn't make the cut.
I know for a fact the Gators have a damn good track and field team, so maybe Napier can take a page out of former Florida coach Urban Meyer's book and offer some of the 4x100 runners some football scholarships to come off the edge and block a field goal or two.
I'm ready to see some winning football in the Swamp, so the fact that Napier is trying anything and everything to manufacture an edge on the field gives me a little hope.
Ask me again in October whether that hope is still around.