Yes /at first / never. we really need Napier to work out because we are awful at hiring football coaches. If it does start going south I have no faith that we would hire a replacement that would be better.
The 2nd season is always key If he wins 6 his seat will be crazy hot If he does well 8+ but something seems off then there will still be questions. For example if he keeps Toney and the D stinks again
For Florida to move the needle, there needs to be major improvements on Defense!! Ever since the 2020 season, Florida's scoring defense has been historically horrible! Here is a look at where the Florida defenses have ranked ever since the glory days of Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow & co. Meyer> 2005: 18.4 ppg (#5 in SEC) 2006: 13.5 ppg (#2 in SEC, UF**) 2007: 24.2 ppg (#7 in SEC, #2 LSU**: 19.6 ppg) 2008: 12.8 ppg (#1 in SEC UF** ) 2009: 12.4 ppg (#2 in SEC; #1 AL**: 8.7) 2010: 21.3 ppg (#4 in SEC; #1 AL: 13.5, #8 AU**: 24.1) ** = NC Team from the SEC! If you can hold teams to under two touchdowns then your team is a national title contender/winner! See UF, Alabama & Georgia. The exception to this rule seems to be LSU & Auburn! In both of LSU's 21st century NC's teams (2007, 2019), the tigers have given up nearly three touchdowns a game but still managed to win it all somehow! In Cam Newton's season at Auburn, the tigers had given up 24 ppg yet still managed to win it all with their tenacity! A great offense with a Heisman winning player (i.e, Joe Burrow, Cam Newton) that has only a mediocre defense can still do special things in college football! Could the return of Anthony Richardson & an improving Florida defense in 2023 do something similar? Is it in the cards? Probably not! Muschamp> 2011: 20.3 ppg (#5 in SEC; #1 AL**: 8.2 ppg) 2012: 14.5 ppg (2nd in SEC, #1 AL**: 10.9 ppg) 2013: 21.1 ppg (#3 in SEC) 2014: 21.2 ppg (#6) Muschamp's best team was in 2012 and Florida had a national title contending defense that year! Rise of Nick Saban & Alabama! Mcelwain> 2015: 16.5 ppg (#3 in SEC; #1 AL**: 14.4 ppg) 2016: 17.9 ppg (#4 in SEC; #1 AL: 11.8 ppg) 2017: 27.3 ppG (#7; #1 AL**: 11.5 ppg) McElwain's Florida teams made back to back SEC title games; yet, his Florida offenses were still ranked in the 100s which were very similar to Muschamp's offenses' rank. With sputtering offenses, Florida could not compete on the field against the FSU's and Alabama's of that period. Mullen> 2018: 20.4 ppg (#6; #1 Miss St: 12.0 ppg) 2019: 14.4 ppg (#2 in SEC; #1 UG: 12.5 ppg, #7LSU**: 21.2 ppg) 2020: 30.8 ppg (#8 in SEC; #1 AL**: 19.4 ppg) 2021: 26.6 ppg (#11; #1 UGA**: 9.5 ppg) Enter Dan Mullen who had instantly infused Florida with improvements on offense and in the win totals & New Year Bowl games! The 2019 Florida team was Dan Mullen's best team both offensively & defensively! UF offense ranks in recent years: 2018: #4 in SEC (35 ppg) 2019: #3 (33.2 ppg) 2020: #2 (39.8 ppg) 2021: #7 (30.7 ppg) 2022: #7 (31.8 ppg) Napier> 2022: 28.8 ppg (#12 in SEC; #1 UGA: 11.3 ppg) <-- Are you kidding me? 2023: ??? In the last two seasons, Florida's defense ranked #11 & #12 in the SEC. In the 2020 covid season, Florida had given up the most points per game (30.8 ppg) in over a century! If Florida could please just hold teams to three touchdowns or less (< 21 ppg), then that would be a start in turning around this program!! Florida's defense in the last three years have reached historic lows!
We should have finished nothing less than 8-4. AR cost is the UK game with two of the most negligent INTs ever thrown. In NO world should we EVER lose to Candy.
We just played our biggest (or second biggest) rival on a Friday night with a bench squad of announcers....I don't think that has happened since the 1970's. We may still be relevant, but it appears to be fading.
I think it really depends on the portal. You just can't expect to many true freshmen to come in and be competitive immediately with seasoned SEC teams, and Billy's last class was really small (only 1 true Freshmen in that class had a large impact).
We played 5 teams in the current top 15 (1-4) and 6 in the top 20 (2-4). Our signature win was our first, Utah, that just beat USC and finished at 10-3 and likely top 10. We had chances to win several games all the way to the end; we also lost a couple of games we should not have lost. Very inconsistent at QB and defense overall. My point is that we weren’t that far off, and everything is correctable through player upgrades and better in game decisions. The QB position is the biggest question mark going into next year and the most important one to gain that consistency.
3 of the last 4 coaches at UF had that same shell-shocked look after they realized how difficult and complex it is coaching UF in this conference. It’s like it smacked them in the face. Only Mullen didn’t, most likely due to having worked through this environment before, just too bad he was stubborn and lazy
I blame Greenard. If he hadn’t infused the D with a talent spark, Big Daddy G would have collapsed two years sooner. ymmv
I agree with what you’re saying and maybe by 24 we could be top 12. I don’t see it next year without a portal jackpot. Our qbs have no experience and we have so many holes. A great freshman class more than likely will have little effect on next years win/loss total. There will be noise in tge system at 7-5 but that may be the result of a good job by Napier to get to seven wins with the players he has. We could get some talent and do better but that’s just rolling the dice. What this years class looks like in three years will be more telling as to what Napier is really doing.so that’s 25 and it’ll be hard to make it that far without some portal luck.
I thought Mullen had a shot but he failed. That was really his choices that he made. He could have possibly worked out. Champ was lucky as hell to be 11-2. That team just wasn’t that good. Great defense and hard working offense but the offense was so badic, we all knew what was coming. Cheese teeth never looked good on offense either and that was supposed to be his strength. I have hope for Napier as he looks to have the ceo thing down and we have a disciplined team. Tge foundation looks solid. Now…. Will he get a oc and pksycaller if he’s not up to task? Will he replace Toney if he can’t get the job done. I’m not calling for coaches, that’s the CEO’s job and his decisions to make. Saban has done quite well at hiring people to do the job. A head coach doesn’t have to be a great x and o guy but he better hire someone who is if need be. 3-4 years that he has to get it right goes by really fast and he won’t get do overs. Make the right decision the first time or he will be looking for a job. I think Napier is the guy to get it done but his choices are like pkaying Russian roulette right now.
I agree about Mullen. He was just fundamentally flawed but is now old news. Florida is still Florida and remains the sleeping giant Bear Bryant warned about so many years ago. Many of Florida's fans seem to dismiss the stature of the program but other see it's just a solid recruiting class or two and transfer portal haul away from playing with almost any other team. Edit: I also think we have the right coach and staff to be able to get Florida's share of those recruiting classes and transfer portal players now.
This is partly about Mullen but mostly about the administration. Keep in mind our best three players are 2 Louisiana transfers and a true freshman.
That is part of what has been so frustrating over the last 13 years. A program with the fan base, support, and resources of the Florida Gators has been severely underachieving since Tebow left. Flashes of life here and there, but nothing consistent or sustainable. Still behind CBN as I believe if he is given time, he will get us there. If we fall into a coach recycling process over and over, we may suck for another decade.
We have the resources but have not been all in until now. We fell behind in many areas tacking like UF didn’t have to keep up with the Jones. Football is king and other sports are only there because of football.
How true. With Muschamp he was a HC in waiting, great experience, D minded so as I recall most liked the pick. Then with Mac, again great experience, O minded to compensate for Muschamp's weakness, Mac, turned another program around and had hc experience. Then DM, OC during winning days at UF. As I recall most like the choices with some fans not too happy. Which brings us to BN. Maybe he will get things turned around or maybe he won't. Because of all the turnstile coaches we have had, we must wait and see and cross our fingers.
I like the hire and he could be the next great one but it is kind of weird that UF has never hired a big name coach, ever…….
