Just heard CBN on Stadium and Gale pod. That show is pretty good. I gotta give one of the hosts credit- he asked 3 questions no journalist asked/ especially nobody in the local gator/Gainesville media/ Bold moves. Asked about the middle 8, offensive playcalling and losing to all of our rivals/what is the approach to rivalries. Cbn gave mainly coachspeak. Around playcalling and middle 8 said “year 2 would give us a ton more continuity, alignment, execution and allow us to throw more detail in because you have players, staff and coaches that are in Year 2”. I don’t know how that’s even possible with the portal the way it is. Seems to me every year is Year 1. We are gonna have soooo many 1st year players. But maybe he has a plan? Around rivalries “nobody wants to win more than us”. I gotta say, I really wish there was more of an SOS and Meyer approach to rivalries. But again, maybe with the portal - college rivalries are a thing of the past. I feel like free agency in the NFL really killed most true rivalries. You get bad blood but you don’t get rivalries the way the used to be… maybe that’s where we’re headed. Anyway, worth a listen if you can
It will be year two for the coaches, too. They gotta get their bearings in the program, in the conference, in the recruiting landscape, etc. Your point about the portal is well taken, though. Another benefit about year two is that you might have some previously unspoken players who rise to leadership because they know the system. This is where last year's backups can make a diff. And forgive my ignorance, but what is the "middle 8?"
Last 4, and first 4 minutes on each side of the half. We performed poorly for the most part in those moments going in & coming out of halftime, for whatever reason.
wasn’t planning on listening since I expected softball questions and coach speak answers. Glad to hear a few good questions were asked. I don’t expect coaches to go outside the box and not give coach speak answers anymore. Thus I don’t listen to much of what they say. Usually garner nothing from it. I don’t expect spurrier type answers in reference to rivalries. Spurrier is a UF grad which separates him from the rest of most if not all football head coaches at UF. He has some fan in him and takes it personally. Like me. Meyer was smart - in my opinion- to focus on rivalries. Winning those games is just more important to hardcore fans and can keep the fan base on your side. It makes sense from a keeping your job standpoint. Beat up and destroy rivals - goes a long way for job security and automatically puts you in a position for titles. Napier seems no different than many coaches in stating nobody wants to win more than they do (the coaching staff). But I don’t think that’s a true statement. If the coaches were not getting paid millions of dollars they wouldn’t be rooting for UF to win. I’d prefer for the head coach to state something to the effect that they understand how much rivalry games means to the fan base and we as coaches push to win every game but realize the fans have higher expectations when it comes to rivalries.
Unfortunately also applies to Kirby Shart. Somehow coaches that understand rivalries (even if they aren't a grad of that university) will be able to get their teams up. A pertinent question for Napier would be "what team did you grow up or go through college hating"? If he can channel that emotion to getting our Gators up for a rivalry game that would help.
Napier was loved as a kid growing up. He’s not going to take losing as hard as Saban nor Meyer. Maybe some psychology grad can chime in. lol
I think BN is just a nice guy and very low key. He is not your typical fan who is passionate about rivalries and wants to beat the snot out of our rivals. I'm not sure he really gets our dislike for fsu, uga, lsu or ut. I think he treats them about the way he treats Vanderbilt. I just don't think that's going to change. A lot of what the OP revealed sure seems like coach speak, not saying he doesn't mean it. I think he is very sincere in what he says. I agree, with portal free agency every year is like the first, but to remain hc at a program like uf you have to produce. 6-7 won't get you very far or remaining in the middle of the pack. IMO, this year will say a lot about his coaching, his staff choices and the direction of the program. I believe this fanbase has very little patience for mediocrity. Hopefully, he knows this.
I agree for the most part but regardless of what school a coach is at, their rivals are every other coach and they want to kick their ass. That’s their rivalry and if it isn’t so, they aren’t you guy.
Rivalries denote some form of severe dislike based on history and every new coach should be somewhat aware of the reason for hate. Free shoes U, controversial officiating, UGA storming the field under Richt, late hits by half-ass-u etc.Once the HBC realizes the need to recognize these things he'll be better able to focus on them during game week. The HBC has to become a real"Gator" soon.
All coaches graded as champions Head Coaching is time consuming Rivalry Games? Evaluating the evaluators next I think we could all use a dose of Spurrierisms to inject some energy in the off season.
Honestly the last thing someone coming off of a 6-7 season should be doing is talking smack about rivalries. Get a grip on reality ha. If he was out there talking like prime Spurrier that would be much more concerning for me than coach speak.
If Napier goes 0 for whatever against our rivals this year, there’s going to be “noise in the system” as the Zooker would say.
The program was left in shambles. Anyone expecting a magical transformation is just setting themselves up for disappointment.
Florida is a big job with high demands of ones time. It should be important for everyone to be self reflective enough to evaluate what can be on their plate and intensively handled. Important details and decisions suffer otherwise. The fact of a program in shambles makes this even more true. Ymmv. Go Gators
I hate coach-speak. Using cliches to address legitimate questions is the coward's way out. Either that or they are clueless and have no answers.
If he wants to win the SEC, he's going to have to beat a lot of long time rival teams. HHS always wanted to beat Plant, Lakeland and St Pete Sr. The rest were just dog food.
Beating a rival or two is not remotely a "magical transformation." It is a basic expectation of the job. If you cannot do that with all the resources we have you are indeed a failure.
You can’t handle the truth lol. Sometimes it’s hard to say what you really think. I’ll say it but my friends usually don’t ask me if they want a sugarcoated answer.
