I do. I think UF is a few points better than that in all games. The LSU one sticks out the most. But at some point Billy has to own the fact we are such big dogs in those games. Long term we want to be better than average against our peers but average is simply 500 against that group. A good year is 3-2 against that group and dropping 1 to programs we should clearly be ahead of (UK, USC, Mizzou, etc). This year we are happy with 1-4 vs the peer group and 1-2 losses against the weaker programs. When does Billy own it? I’m not saying he owns it just yet… I’m probably 50/50 Billy/Dan. Next year will be 100% Billy
At what point do the nit-pickers and naysayers come to terms with the reality that Napier was handed a team, and I use that term loosely, that was not as talented, deep or dedicated as other Gator teams from our better years. Nor an awful lot of SEC teams. The poor morale and lack of discipline on the team he inherited was toxic. You don’t fix this in one, two or even three seasons: particularly when you have one of the toughest schedules in the country and being the University of Florida you have a perpetual target on your back. Many teams still consider a win over the Gators a huge feather in their cap. He has an enormous task in front of him and he has taken it on with a clear vision of what he wants us to be. He is pretty forthcoming and approachable compared to the majority of coaches out there. CBN has loaded his staff with positive, energetic personalities and he is rebuilding our relationship with Florida’s high school coaches. It is already showing on the recruiting trail and recruiting is the lifeblood of a successful college sports program. I don’t downplay the value of constructive criticism and exchanging opinions about our Gators. But the constant negativity by some is not constructive. And it sure as heck is tiring. If our guy fails, the loser is those of us who love and support UF. The complainers and Negative Nelsons have little to lose. They can, and will say, I told you so. The message I feel like the Gator Nation should be sending to CBN is: Don’t worry Coach. We’ve got your back.
Just out of curiosity, what if you're wrong? That it wasn't a toxic team, bereft of SEC caliber talent. What if he and his staff just didn't know how to maximize what they had? He has a clear vision in front of him, but they all have clear visions in front of them. Mullen did, Mac did, Champ did. Every coach has a vision; being a good coach means you know how that vision fits what you have, and how you make your vision into a workable reality. Napier's staff isn't unique in college football for being positive and energetic -- they all are. Every one of them. I don't think we recruited Florida any better this year than previous years -- we lost a lot of in-state talent. Napier's biggest additions have been out-of-staters, haven't they? I'm not condemning anything he's done, but you're presenting him as being in a unique and desperate situation when he arrived. I don't think anything was as dire as you represent, and frankly, saying it was is just an excuse to justify the worst first season of any Gator coach since the 1980s. You might love Napier, but demanding that everyone else feel the same despite sub-par results on the field seems like an unjustifiable request.
Thank you your thoughtful and civil response, msa3. There may not have been a huge disparity in talent level; although our team looked slow to me last year. Even South Florida seemed faster as a team than us. We also didn’t have the tight ends, LB’s or safeties to play high level, SEC caliber football. As for toxicity, I guess there’s no way to measure that but the shoe throwing, penalty prone, opt out brigade BN inherited was very obvious, in my opinion. It is part of a culture Mullen is responsible for. Not because he is a bad guy or didn’t care. I think he simply lost control of the team. Same thing happened to Urban Meyer here. You are right about recruiting but, he is now going up against a monster that has now fully materialized in Athens and each year he has recruited better in Florida because he has laid the groundwork in Florida. To make matters worse Georgia has back to back Nattys to spice up their recruiting pitch. We lost a lot of ground under Coach Mullen’s less than energetic recruiting practices. Making that ground back up is not going to magically happen overnight. Much harder to win back something you lost by being outdone. Not to mention we have a new factor in play there with NIL. Maybe it’s me but I sense a lot of energy coming from this staff. I felt the opposite about the previous one. I realize that’s just my opinion and optics are all I have to go by. I also realize I come across as very optimistic and pro Napier. But, I am also one who uses and believes in the old adage “ The proof is in the pudding”. Time will tell.
A lot of my thinking about how bad our record will be in the upcoming season has to do with how much better our opponents have gotten. We could have easily lost to Utah and it’s out there this season. Look at Tennessee now. When is their program going to drop? Kentucky? We beat them all those years in a row and they’re betting .500 against us these days. Vandy used to be an automatic win and they beat us last year. South Carolina beat us a couple of years ago and they were ready to give Beamer a lifetime contract. No automatic win there. Georgia? I look for them to dominate us the rest of Smart’s tenure like Spurrier dominated them. Missouri? You never know about them. LSU has gotten much better. (Back when SOS was coaching, a friend who is an LSU fan asked me to give him 50 points, I didn’t, and we beat them by 51). When is LSU’s program going to drop? FSU? They’ve gotten over the hump and their program is running about 2 years ahead of our program. Just about all of our recruits were 4 stars this year and will be first year freshmen, so it’s going to take some time.
It’s not just spring causing anxiety. It was last year too. WR screens, naked boot rollouts, bunch formations with 2 TEs when you have zero tight ends. and it’s not just last year… it’s Gator-ptsd for 13 years. Go back and look at this board and call-in shows - it’s the SAME thing year in and year out. Half the fans and Gainesville media say “let the coaches coach, they know more than you, they need talent, it’s not that bad, be patient” Half the fans go “the scheme, play calling, UAA support financially, recruiting… is not working. This looks bad” The the 1st half of the fans yell and the 2nd half “it’s your fault because you’re being negative and it scares off recruits… it couldn’t possibly be poor coaching and stubborn schemes… it’s your negativity that lost to Vandy and Kentucky” same broken record. Just sub out the word Napier for Muschamp/mcillwain/adddazzio, mullen, grantham and it’s the exact same thing. Meanwhile our rivals are winning titles and Tennessee looks like they finally figured out a modern offense while we’ve regressed to Gary Darnell levels and so people are exhausted. They are tired of being told “be patient” they’re tired of getting their hopes up for Rashada and McLain only to have them dashed and half the fans go “ahhh we didn’t want them anyway”. It really is exhausting. I see some potential light with how CBN is building the lines and lagway and some receivers… but why should we be patient? Cuz we have no choice I guess? But Why should we be optimistic that the next 5 years will be any different than the last 13?
All valid points but I see our team as getting better too. I think we get much better on defense. And just like you pointed out that we could have lost to Utah, we also could have beaten Vandy, Kentucky and Tennessee. One blow play gave us the loss to Tennessee. If we had a competent Safety playing in the game (not naming names) we win that game by one point. That's three games that our defense needed just one or two plays to win. I think our new defensive scheme will be lights out better, no matter how much experience our defenders have playing in it. It's geared for their talents. It's a much more aggressive style, and it's a far more modern scheme than what Grantham the Toney had us playing. I believe Napier will address all of the problems we faced in all 3 phases of the game. I think he stops chasing 2 point conversions... game clock management and play clock miscues. All simple to fix... And the three position coaches that I felt were the weak link have all moved on. And we upgraded... especially on the DC side. This team will be a surprise in a very good way. If not you can bring me back to this thread for you to gloat about. We are 2 to 3 key players from being a 9 or 10 win team.
I just would like some decent clock management regardless of the quality of the team, last year or this. Maybe I'm being a negative Nellie but play calling needs to improve, regardless of the roster, and that's completely on Napier.
Dedicated? Maybe not. But suggesting they were not as talented is downright silly. Florida was tied for 5th for most draft picks this season, tying 7 other schools with a total of 6 picks. Every one of those other schools were ranked in the Top 22, with 2 being in the Top 10 and only one (Pitt) being lower than the Top 16 (at #22). Florida lost 5 games against teams with fewer draft picks...UT (5), FSU (1), Oregon Sate (1), and Vanderbilt (zero draft picks). Florida had more 1st & 2nd round draft picks than FSU, Oregon State, and Vanderbilt had combined in the entire draft. Every other team that had a QB taken in the first 3 rounds finished better than .500, and the teams with the two other QB's taken in the first round finished #5 & #4 in the rankings. I'm not ready to blame Napier for the faults of the team, but this idea he was handed an absolute dumpster fire simply isn't genuine or accurate.
Next year his small first class will be in their third year and things should start changing.. Average won’t cut it at Florida. He will need to start winning against the good teams. Lagway will only be a freshman. If he pans out, 25 could be a decent year. I don’t expect we win 10 games until then. You never know will the portal though, things can happen. Napiers recruits won’t be winning sec championships at 18-19 years old though.
IMO, the weak link in Asst. Coaches (besides having NO experienced/proven ST Coach again!) is the QB coach who could not land a really good QB recruiting or in the portal. The guy Napier brought with him from Louisiana has shown me nothing and again, imo, is in no way capable of coaching up an AllSEC QB. Look at his twitter profile. Who would be excited about playing for that guy?
Silly question. Napier “owned” the team as soon as he signed his contract. Just like if you buy an old restoration project car, you own it even if the previous owner let it sit out and deteriorate in the hot sun and hailstorms. You can’t fix everything all at once and it might still look like shit while you’re rebuilding the carburetor. You own it throughout the entire restoration, not just when you’re done. You just got to make sure you do each step the right way without cutting corners because it’s a huge job and you don’t want to have to do anything twice.
What’s this “own” shit? He needs to methodically put this mess back together and get it running right. That’s it. He needs to win the games he’s supposed to and 2 or 3 of the ones where we’re dogs. And he needs to tune out all the whiny little crybabies who can’t stand the reality that it takes more than 1 or 2 freaking seasons to build a team essentially from scratch
This is truly a pathetic post. What if everything that could possibly go wrong happens? Let’s all consider that as a very likely possibility and start worrying and posting nonstop about how horrible life will be. Damn dude I feel sorry for you. I sympathize even more with the poor souls who have to spend time around you
“We could have easily lost to Utah”… Seriously? We beat them. Why would you choose to worry about losing a game that we won?? You and Matt and msa need to go find a safe place to run to and cower while Coach Napier fixes your team for you.
Well then write a letter to Strickland advising you are withholding financial support, and not attending games or purchasing UF merchandise until he fires Napiers ass.
you seem nice. sorry I don’t have your unwavering loyalty to someone you’ve never met or your complete confidence in things you are only tangentially connected to. I’m sure you felt the same way about every coach until you didn’t, and then every problem gets blamed on the previous guy. Blind loyalty isn’t good for anyone; if you never look with a critical eye, then you only “know” what they tell you.
