With 2022 wrapped up, a few comments: Try as Gator Nation might, to avoid it, we have some hard truths to acknowledge. Second straight 6 win regular season. Whose fault? The Administration and the AD? The coach? Fan base? NIL/Transfer Portal? Did Mullen and co. really screw it up that bad?? Sadly, UF has shown a consistent DROP, when you look at the graph of wins and losses since 2009. Wild swings (Chumps 11-2 year), (Mullens 11 - 2 year) with some 4 win "oh oh" seasons sprinkled in. Have not really "sniffed" the playoffs. Any way you look at it, the program has trended down since 09 (at least IMO). I'm all in with CBN but it is obvious to any "big-time" power 5 football fan that a coachs life expectency in the SEC is short and the "grace" period is even shorter after a coach is hired. CBN has now expended his trial run "capital" with UF. While the Gator Nation has done plenty of grumbling about the lack of consistency with a 6-6 team, the "noise in the system" will get much louder in 23 and deafening in 24 without better results with the W's and L's. The way I see it, it's critical to secure the current class and hopefully improve upon it for early signing day. Work the transfer portal. Then we see the product, year 2, in 23. Personally I think 8 - 9 wins is an important benchmark for the staff to hit to keep the "noise in the system" at managable levels. While I don't speak for everybody, Gator Nation will not tolerate .500 winning %'s very long. I don't disagree with those giving CBN a "C" type grade this year, the product on the field was............ "C" level. The hope now is that recruiting and program building are seeds that will "sprout" over the next few years and get UF into contention again. My hope is that the talent aquisition business, program discipline and continued enthusiasm will propel UF into one of those 12 playoff spots in 24 or 25. Thats all.
Yeah, I agree there's plenty of spilt milk to clean up, but I do believe we have the man in place to do it. Your thoughts on how to proceed sound good to me, but it will be at least two years, IMHO, before we see much in the way of results on the field. Frankly, depending on how things shake out at QB and LB in particular, eight or nine wins next year could be a stretch. I personally don't want to see us lean too much on the portal because of how things eventually played out when "Nullen" took that path- short term benefits with huge holes in the roster once the portal guys were gone. But if we are able to pick up a few plug and play types at the afore mentioned positions, perhaps we can exceed my expectations. One way or the other, I'm in it for the long haul - Good Lord willing, that is.
I heard a reference made on one of the podcasts about the issues needing addressed. It was …if you have a dam holding back water that has 47 leaks in it, and you fix 20 of them, you still have 27 left. It’s getting better. There is less water coming through. But there are still holes. (Well, something along those lines) …I thought it was a pretty clever analogy. However, this is my take …I think all our coaching hires post-Urban, have been doing what they could to plug holes in the leaky dam. Billy included. But I think he recognizes that is only a temporary fix. So while he is plugging holes to temporarily stop the leaks …he and his army are also busy reconstructing a new one right behind it from the ground up with state of the art parts, tool’s & equipment. Point being …it takes a little longer to build a new damn. But when complete it will be a lot better than the old outdated one.
I think we have exactly the right Head Coach this time. I think he inherited a very difficult situation between the roster the previous coaching staff assembled and players who left. I think the coaches had to call plays and defense this year effectively with one hand tied behind their backs. I think there's about to be a significant roster turnover.
Again, I believe the blame here goes all the way to the top. The necessary things were simply not put in place immediately post-Tebow era. The other schools invested and simply lapped us while we had our head in the sand. The era of Florida high school players going to UF simply because they are in-state is long over. Kids look at the full picture and other schools have been simply offering too much (both legally and under the table) in the last 10 years. Case in point is the football facility which came at least 5 years too late.
I agree with everrything you posted here. But the pressure will go up geometricly in 2023. Then of course there are the believers that simply hiring a "coach" solves everything. They will point to UT or USC as being examples of just hiring the correct "coach" and sometimes that is true, but only sometimes. There is only one escape hatch for a head coach in the SEC and thats winning. Thats why it will be pretty important for CBN to show better results next season.
While we embarked on a quest to rule the world in Spring sports and in the gym, our FB and BB program were left to go to seed. It is what it is.
If we keep the class we have and sign 2 or 3 graduate transfers in key positions then I do believe, with the right schemes, that we can be much improved and a 9 or 10 win season is possible. Give me a great QB, and an All American Linebacker or two with at least one AA O-lineman, and the incoming class that we have committed? I think we could have a great team next year. The QB is the most important position player that we need to land to get us back on schedule. That position is paramount to our season success next year. All the other positions are important too, but not nearly as much as a can't miss QB. Who do we want to get to run our offense next year? So we will know which QB's we can talk to on the 5th of this month. NEW TRANSFER RULES: December 5th is the start of the winter Transfer Portal season. It lasts for 45 days, then the second Transfer Portal window starts from May 5th though May 15th. This is the new rule for possible transfers.
Based on my simple math skills, let's see, 11+ 1 minus X = naught ? I think we might have enough players to field a team for the bowl game if the guys play both defense and offense. Just saying. Sure are a lotta slots opening... Where's that walk-on dentist kicker when you need him? Wonder if he can play receiver or linebacker? Maybe a good old bar fight like in Yellowstone to wrap up the season. Yikes. I guess you can really sell early playing time now!!! Dear Santa, I know it's early and stuff, but some top notch portal guys and the best Gator recruiting class ever would be really neet. Thanks. Go Gators
Better overall play and a clear sense that measurable progress is being made will be a must. And another six-win season would obviously disappoint everyone and create some serious discontent among a considerable segment of the fan base. But barring the unforeseen, BN isn't going anywhere for quite a while. Fans can piss and moan all they want, but this is going to require time and patience and I believe the powers that be know that. If instant gratification is the only measure of success, there are gonna be a lot of cranky fans whining "are we there yet" long before we reach our final destination.
I'm amazed from a TV perspective we still carry cache and get national games! and even when going to ESPN its very common for the Gators to make the top headlines. Some how we are still relevant is my point not sure how, but we are still relevant.
I hope you're right about a quick turnaround. I've just been kicking myself over my unrealistic expectation before this season and I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high. It is possible that we can bounce back quickly, but I'm deliberately being more cautious due to the parity in the league this year.
I don't get too down if my expectations are not met, so I can afford such luxuries like hope and optimism. Lol.
The next few weeks are critical for the whole class. Napier really is instilling a culture change. No shortage of studs lined up to compete. It'd be nice if the portal and the recruiting class are good to us this cycle. All indicators truly point that way. Most importantly, those people on the edge need to fall on our side this time-that'd be a refreshing change! May the Gator vortex pull them our way. COME to the good guys... Go Gators.
For the nay sayer, some of the losses could have been wins with better halftime adjustments. But truthfully, this team had a low ceiling by Gator standards. While some games, penalties were a problem, there seemed to be improvement in this area. Also, this team had zero quit in them. Very happy with the direction of the program.
Dan Mullen is to blame for 2020 - 2021. The performances, the recruiting. New coaches rarely exceed their previous year. 6-6 isn't the best but it's totally expected.
