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• Influential Florida boosters have told the athletic director that their financial support depends on a new direction for the football program.
• Head coach Billy Napier could be fired as soon as this weekend and will not survive another loss.
• If fired after the Texas A&M game, Florida would owe Napier a buyout of approximately $21.3 million.

Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin met with a handful of influential boosters Tuesday, and was told continuing financial support depends on new direction within the football program, three people with direct knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect the ongoing process, said embattled Florida coach Billy Napier could be fired as soon as this weekend. One thing is certain: Napier won’t survive another loss.

Stricklin declined comment for this story.

This, unlike other speculation about Napier’s job status, is an important and direct connection to last year’s near firing of Napier. It was then that the same Florida boosters were ready to pay Napier’s large buyout, but were held off by Stricklin and convinced to use that money in NIL space to help Napier’s buildout.

The boosters agreed, and the result was a significantly upgraded and talented team. Florida flipped five-star wide receiver Dallas Wilson – the most talented player on the team – from Oregon late in the recruiting process with the infusion of NIL cash.

That money also was used to keep numerous impact players already on the roster from leaving for other schools. The results on the field, however, have been the same.

Billy Napier buyout

Florida owes about $21.3 million to Billy Napier if it chooses to fire him the day after the Texas A&M game, according to his contract, which was obtained by USA TODAY Sports. The buyout total is dictated by his contract, which states Napier receives 85% of his annual compensation. For this contract year, which ends Jan. 31, 2026, that amount is $7.4 million. The number rises by $100,000 each year in his deal.

Napier’s contract expires Jan. 31, 2029. The first installment of his buyout, which is contracted to be worth 50% of what he is due, must be paid within 30 days of his firing. The remaining installments, each worth 12.5% of the total buyout, would be due July 15 each year until fully paid.

Here’s how those payments would break down if UF fires Napier on Oct. 12 (all values approximate):

• $10.7 million due Nov. 12, 2025
• $2.7 million due July 15, 2026
• $2.7 million due July 15, 2027
• $2.7 million due July 15, 2028
• $2.7 million due July 15, 2029

According to the contract, Napier has no duty to mitigate, and UF would not be offset from his future revenue.

Billy Napier contract details

• Length: 7 years
• Worth: $51.8 million

Billy Napier replaced Dan Mullen as Florida head coach on Nov. 28, 2021, signing a seven-year deal worth $51.8 million with an average annual value of $7.4 million. Mullen’s buyout cost Florida $12 million after UF fired him one year into a three-year extension meant to keep him around until 2026. He is due $1 million each year through 2027.

Napier had spent the previous four years building Louisiana into a Group of 5 contender, going 40-12 with an impressive 22-2 record over his last two seasons in Lafayette. He led the Ragin’ Cajuns to their first ever ranking, reaching as high as No. 15 in the AP poll.

Billy Napier record at Florida football

SEC record in parentheses:

• 2022: 6-7 (3-5)
• 2023: 5-7 (3-5)
• 2024: 8-5 (4-4)
• 2025: 2-4 (1-2)
• Overall: 21-23 (11-16)

The 2025-26 NBA season is here! We’re rolling out our previews — examining the biggest questions, best- and worst-case scenarios, and win projections for all 30 franchises — from the still-rebuilding teams to the true title contenders.

2024-25 finish

• Record: 52-30 (second in West, lost to the Warriors in the first round)

Offseason moves

• Additions: Kevin Durant, Dorian Finney-Smith, Clint Capela

• Subtractions: Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Jock Landale

The Big Question: Was Houston’s offseason gamble worth it?

When the Rockets acquired Kevin Durant over the summer, the on-paper fit seemed exquisite. Houston’s half-court playoff struggles against an experienced Golden State unit boiled down to a glaring lack of a bona fide go-to scorer, a supreme spacer and an alpha male. Adding Durant (who represents all of the aforementioned qualities) to the group, even at the cost of two starters, was a no-brainer move for general manager Rafael Stone.

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Last week’s preseason debut for Durant — an efficient 20-point night on 7-for-10 shooting in 23 minutes — was a reminder of the sheer quality the 14-time All-Star brings any time he laces his sneakers up. It was apparent that this was the first real game Durant was playing with his new teammates, but he linked up well with Alperen Şengün and provided a safety valve for Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard as they continue to develop chemistry together. Head coach Ime Udoka, notorious for his phlegmatic postgame pressers, almost ran out of complimentary words for the future Hall of Famer.

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“Consistent scoring threat,” Udoka said. “Finisher, closer, however you want to put it. We know what he does, he’s done it his whole career so it will be a benefit for us. That was the driving force [to acquire him].”

But how long can Durant stay healthy? In a perfect world, we would have the luxury of watching our superstars every night, every week, over an 82-game season. That unfortunately hasn’t been the case with Durant, who has played 70 games or more only once in the past five years. It’s a laundry list of injuries over the years — Achilles tear, hamstring strain, MCL sprain in both knees and nagging ankle issues — that forces us to reconcile with the harsh realities of the basketball gods. Just a few weeks ago, the Rockets lost starting point guard Fred VanVleet for the season with a torn right ACL, which threw their playmaking plans into disarray.

Durant is an experienced (and somehow underrated) secondary creator who in theory can work alongside Şengün in the half-court, and Houston is still trying to aid Sheppard’s and Thompson’s growth as distributors as well. Udoka is using the remainder of the preseason as a dress rehearsal for their season opener against the champs, but the various lineup combinations deployed already suggest that Durant may be shouldering more playmaking load than he had anticipated.

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For better or for worse, this is the group this front office is married to for the next few years. Houston’s cap sheet is a bit rigid now, thanks to extensions for key members of its core — and Durant and Tari Eason are still unsigned at the time of this writing. There’s also the overarching theme of Houston’s new two-timeline approach, juxtaposed with chasing Oklahoma City (and Denver, to a lesser degree). The move for Durant firmly established the Rockets’ aim to win and develop now, but is that enough to compete with the reigning champs? Oklahoma City’s unprecedented Finals run highlighted the importance of depth and versatility. Houston, with Durant under center, now has the same goals and believes it has comparable talent.

[Get more Rockets news: Houston team feed]

All things considered, this was the best time to acquire Durant. Houston’s spacing issues were jarring last season, finishing 20th in 3-point attempts, 22nd in 3-point makes and 21st in 3-point percentage — and now has one of the greatest shooters of all time. Defensively, Durant’s length and smarts are enough to maintain Udoka’s aggressive scheme, allowing the 37-year-old to fixate on weaker offensive opposition in man defense and roam in zone. The Rockets’ desperation for a title would see them make this move a hundred times over, no matter the circumstances. Durant’s availability, and his ability to raise Houston’s ceiling, will be the deciding factors in 2025-26.

Best-case scenario

Şengün takes “The Leap.” The Turkish big man has worked tirelessly this summer, working on becoming more comfortable around the perimeter, and gives the Rockets an additional weapon in the half-court. Houston’s next-man up point guard approach isn’t Thompson, Sheppard or even Durant with all due respect. It’s Şengün as a half-court hub. The Nikola Jokić comparisons become less of a faint possibility and more of a reality. The tandem with Durant — along with improvement from Thompson, Smith, Eason, and Sheppard — carries the Rockets all the way to the NBA Finals in June.

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If everything falls apart

The Durant adjustment takes longer than expected, causing a negative trickle-down effect. Houston’s half-court woes become exacerbated with Durant attempting to establish himself as the lead dog at the expense of Thompson and Şengün. The Rockets’ lack of a true point guard continues to punish them through December, when they are forced to look for outside help at the cost of a key piece. Their talent is enough to get them to the playoffs, but a swift first-round exit has management reevaluating everything.

Alternatively, Durant missing a significant amount of time puts Houston’s spacing issues back at square one. Opposing teams now have enough film and data on Udoka’s double-big lineups and can use their perceived strength as a glaring weakness.

2025-26 schedule

• Season opener: Oct. 21 at Oklahoma City

The Rockets won 52 games last season in a crowded conference, but most of their underlying stats painted them as a traditional sixth or seventh 47-ish wins team. Durant is about as good of a Band-Aid as there is, but at least seven of the eight playoff and play-in teams Houston finished above improved this offseason as well. Getting to 53 or 54 wins, especially without VanVleet, would be a huge accomplishment.

More season previews

East: Atlanta Hawks • Boston Celtics • Brooklyn Nets • Charlotte Hornets • Chicago Bulls • Cleveland Cavaliers • Detroit Pistons • Indiana Pacers • Miami Heat • Milwaukee Bucks • New York Knicks • Orlando Magic • Philadelphia 76ers • Toronto Raptors • Washington Wizards

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West: Dallas Mavericks • Denver Nuggets • Golden State Warriors • Houston Rockets • LA Clippers • Los Angeles Lakers • Memphis Grizzlies • Minnesota Timberwolves • New Orleans Pelicans • Oklahoma City Thunder • Phoenix Suns • Portland Trail Blazers • Sacramento Kings • San Antonio Spurs • Utah Jazz

Cam Skattebo is a powerhouse, a personality, and apparently, a man allergic to shirts. After Thursday night’s win over the Eagles, the 23-year-old New York Giants rookie running back didn’t just make headlines for his stats — he made them for his abs.

On October 9, Skattebo turned in a breakout performance, rushing for 98 yards and three touchdowns in the Giants’ 34–17 victory. But his real “welcome to the NFL” moment came afterward, when he joined the Thursday Night Football crew on Prime Video. As analyst Ryan “Fitzmagic” Fitzpatrick started joking about the rookie’s energy, Skattebo — egged on by quarterback Jaxson Dart — ripped off his shirt, flexed, and chest-bumped the famously bearded Fitzpatrick live on air.

Cam Skattebo is my spirit animal! pic.twitter.com/x08KImMVuE

— BaddogSports (@MrBaddog7676) October 10, 2025

The shirtless scene quickly flooded social media, and to make sure no one missed it, Skattebo doubled down by posting his own victory shot on Instagram: walking off the field bare-chested, helmet in hand, captioned “Top 2… Not 2.” 

Fans couldn’t get enough. “I love Bam Bam Cam Skattebo, he’s a beast,” one user wrote. “Daddy,” another declared. “Dude literally has the perfect physique for a running back,” added a third, as hearts and fire emojis filled the comments.

Lord God… I just want to thank you for sending me Jaxson Dart & Cam Skattebo. I apologize for questioning your existence during the past 7 years. It was foolish of me. Thank you for omnipotence & grace. Amen. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/iT0oYpNyll

— Big Twan (@Antwan9000) October 10, 2025

The viral moment caps an explosive start to Skattebo’s rookie season. He’s already earned FedEx Ground Player of the Week and Pepsi Rookie of the Week nominations, plus Good Morning Football’s Angry Runs scepter. He also made Giants history as only the second rookie in franchise history to rush for three touchdowns in a single game.

Next up, Skattebo and the Giants head to Denver on October 19, then face the Eagles again on October 26.

 

Former USWNT star Christen Press is hanging up her cleats. Press announced her retirement from soccer Wednesday during an appearance on “Good Morning America.”

Press, 37, said she will retire from the sport at the end of the 2025 NWSL season. Press’ current club, Angel City FC, has two more games on its schedule. Angel City FC will honor Press during Sunday’s contest against the Portland Thorns FC. That contest is Angel City FC’s final home game of the season.

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Press leaves the game as one of the most accomplished players of her era. After setting the all-time scoring record at Stanford, Press was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2011 Women’s Professional Soccer league draft. She experienced success both internationally and in the United States, where she saw time with the Chicago Red Stars, BK Häcken FF and Manchester United, among other clubs.

While her club career was impressive, her contributions to the USWNT stand out even more. Press nearly made the Olympics roster in 2012, but instead served as an alternate at the event. In 2015, she served in a reserve role on the team’s World Cup victory. Press played in four of seven games during the tournament and scored her first World Cup goal at the event.

Press made the Olympics roster in 2016, leading the USWNT to the quarterfinals. He scored 12 goals that season, marking the third-straight year in which she scored double-digit goals with the team.

In 2019, Press again won the World Cup with the USWNT. During the event, Press played in every single game. She notched a goal vs. England to help the USWNT advance to the final. Later in the 2019 season, Press scored her 50th international goal.

Press once again made the Olympics roster for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The team won the bronze medal at the event.

This story will be updated.

Last offseason, Alex Bregman signed a three-year, $120 million deal with the Boston Red Sox in free agency. A few months later, he’s going to test the market again.

Bregman is expected to opt out of his Red Sox deal after just one season, per multiple reports. The 31-year-old will reportedly leave the team despite still having two years and $80 million left on his current deal.

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It was a bounce-back year for Bregman, who hit .273/.360/.462, with 18 home runs, in his first season in Boston. After a blistering first half, in which he hit .298/.380/.546, Bregman made the All-Star team for the first time in six seasons. His second half wasn’t as strong. Bregman hit just .250/.341/.386 over the final 61 games for the Red Sox.

Despite his late slump, Bregman will enter free agency in much better shape compared to last winter, when he was coming off one of the worst seasons of his career. Bregman hit just .260/.315/.453 in 2024. His normally excellent walk rate cratered and his strikeout rate, while still strong, jumped. Given his age, and the fact that he played in an advantageous park in Houston, there was concern Bregman was already in the decline phase of his career.

Because of that, Bregman remained on the market until February, when he finally signed his deal with the Red Sox. The move was not without controversy, as the Red Sox made the move despite the presence of Rafael Devers. After some public posturing, the Red Sox were able to get Devers to move to designated hitter so Bregman could play third base. But Devers’ relationship with the team continued to crumble during the season, eventually leading to him being traded to the San Francisco Giants in June.

After entering the 2025 season with two All-Star caliber third basemen, the Red Sox will begin the offseason with zero.

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Bregman’s decision to opt out signals the veteran believes he can earn more than the two years and $80 left on his current deal. After his excellent first half, that’s probably a smart bet. Bregman will almost certainly secure a longer deal on the market this time around. While he annual average salary may wind up being lower, he’ll almost certainly receive more years and more money on his next contract.

Given their clear need, the Red Sox will likely be involved in the bidding. Bregman played a major role in the team winning 89 games and making the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.

But Boston should have plenty of competition for Bregman’s services. While his second half was alarming, Bregman proved he still has plenty in the tank during the first half of the season. His power could decline in a less favorable ballpark, but Bregman has the plate discipline skills and defensive prowess to remain an effective player into his mid-30s, which is where his next deal will take him.

We asked for your reflections views on Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group completing 15 years since their takeover of the club.

Here are some of your comments:

Niall: Two Premier Leagues and a Champions League, alongside various other trophies! And let’s be honest, if it weren’t for Manchester City, we’d have more too. We’ve been blessed with one of the greatest managers in the club’s history, all the while spending quite little in reality (except for this summer, of course, where we went crazy), so yes, they have been a great success.

Steve: FSG are fantastic owners. Sports people who seem to recruit well at all levels. When I look around the league, I feel fortunate that they are the owners.

Mark: Fabulous. Have won everything and bought the best players. No complaints.

William: Honestly, this is by far the best management group in modern-day football. Prudent, financially savvy, with the best interest of the football club. Yes, it is a business, but it’s a very successful business.

Ian: I think I can say for everyone that new owners should always come with a warning label, but over the past 10 years, the way the club has invested (and not invested) at the perfect time has grown us into the Premier League powerhouse we are today. Not many fans could have hoped for such a fantastic relationship between us and ownership.

While most fans we heard from praised FSG for turning the club around, there were a number who remain frustrated by the ownership’s attempts to join the European Super League in April 2021.

Henry: There’s no doubt that FSG have done a wonderful job in bringing Liverpool back to the top of English and European football, and I’ll always be grateful for that. But ultimately, I will forever remember them as the people who tried to bring in the European Super League and tried to take football away from the people, to fill their own pockets.

Adam: Mostly good. Should have backed Jurgen Klopp a bit more, think they realise that now. Also should have made a bit more mention of Klopp in the statement. Missteps regarding furlough and Super League, but would I swap them with any other owner? No.

Manager Thomas Tuchel laughed off taunts from England fans as “British humour” after his team smashed Latvia 5-0 to become the first European side to book a place at next year’s World Cup.

Harry Kane’s first-half double in Riga on Tuesday, along with goals from Anthony Gordon, Eberechi Eze and a Maksims Tonisevs own goal, guaranteed England a place at the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

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Tuchel was on the receiving end of light-hearted chants from the travelling fans who were responding to the German’s criticism of the atmosphere during Thursday’s 3-0 friendly win over Wales at Wembley.

He was subjected to taunts of “We sing when we want” and “Are we loud enough for you?”.

“I got a bit of stick today, in the first half, pretty much in every song,” said Tuchel.

“So fair enough. Well done. I take it and good humour, good sense of humour.

“They had a reason today from my last comments and I guess that’s fair enough. I got a bit of stick and I found it quite creative.

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“It made me smile and this is how it has to be. It’s British humour and I surely can take it. No harm done.”

Tuchel, whose contract runs until the end of the World Cup, said vocal support from fans was vital as the team chases a first major trophy since 1966.

“It’s so important. They are here and I said the support in Serbia was brilliant, and we are very sure the support in America (at the World Cup) will be absolutely brilliant,” he said.

“We need it. It makes such a difference if you go out as a player or as a coach and you see the fans behind the team and singing.

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“We want to make them proud, we want to make them happy. They should be happy to watch us and they should be able to identify with how we play.

“We are on our way to build something and top performance from them.”

England’s victory in Riga made it six wins from six in Group K and they now have an unassailable seven-point lead over second-placed Albania, with two games remaining.

The draw for the group stage of the World Cup will be held in Washington on December 5.

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