Is Billy one of the HC’s with the most to prove this season?

I don’t. You’re talking about a guy who, assuming he signs with Florida, would probably not see the field until 2025 and start no earlier than 2026. QBs who have meaningful reps before their second year are just really rare. Maybe this guy will end up being a game changer. No idea. But what I do know is that CBN’s future will be settled, one way or the other, before Lagway takes the field. Now maybe you meant in terms of whether or not Lagway signs in order to build confidence in CBN’s ability to recruit. I agree that’s certainly part of it. But he really needs to turn in some quality wins and avoid the inexcusable losses this season. I’m aware of the flurry of “disagrees” and “come on, mans” about to be received but I’ll repeat my previous inexpert analysis: if there’s another losing season followed by another recruiting class outside of the top 10, then I think CBN will probably not be around long enough for Lagway to see the field. Under those circumstances, the turnaround necessary for job preservation in 2024 would exceed the realistic capabilities of most coaches. And that’s the definition of “dead man walking.” So I hope to see great things or at least the potential for great things this fall.

 

Yep. If we keep demanding change over and over, we are just hitting the reset button for 3-4 years hoping to hit the lotto with a new guy in his first or second year.

 

I’ll add DJ has shown more commitment and maturity than the Rashada’s and Simmons. He’s shown that in his multiple visits and interactions with potential recruits. You didn’t see that from the others and you sensed a bit of behind the scenes $$$ stuff.

 

No question improvement needs to be seen. Especially on the defense side of the ball.

 

I actually agree on this. Very difficult to win without strong QB play, or at least excellent QB game management. Given that Lagway is going to be around for at least Billy's 5th year, if he doesn't have success with Lagway, Billy is likely toast in this current environment. I've stated before, that I believe that EJ's play is what cost Mullen his job. As much as I like AR, I think he may have lost Mullen his job too if he had started him in 2021 and/or 2022 (if Mullen were still around for 2022). At this level, you need guys playing like Bryce, Stetson, Hendon, Caleb, etc... at QB. We haven't had that since Tebow, with the exception of 1.5 years under Trask.

 

It’s important to have the talent and depth in place around the QB as well. That was Mullen’s failure IMO. I think BN is doing that for the most part.

 

Meh, I thought you were older.

 

Almost agree but Mullen’s laziness and arrogance cost him his job. You gotta be blue collar to be a coach no matter how much they pay you.

 

My neck and back are in the 80s.

 

Mine too and I’m only 55

 

I agree in principle, but I don’t think the Gator Nation, especially the ones with the money, will tolerate two more seasons like the last. There has to be some improvement this year, or it will be exactly as you describe.

 

Napier will get his fourth year barring some kind of meltdown .

 

Could be. If so, I hope it’s because he’s earned it and not just a giveaway lost season like Muschamp got. But also to your point, in my opinion, two more seasons like the last one is a “meltdown” in the sense I think you mean it.

 

Definitely some head-scratchers on 4th down.
I wonder if it had anything to do with him recognizing our defensive deficiencies.

 

4 years is plenty of time for a coach to show his stuff, also all the time in the world was never going to turn the triple M group into championship level head coaches.

 

It is enough time, but it’s not always enough time. Just because you didn’t achieve the objective in an arbitrary four year period, it doesn’t mean that you are not a good coach, nor that you won’t eventually succeed. Mullen was so bad that we were usually in the New Year’s Six bowls. That is oftentimes just one win out of the playoffs. Except for his last season (which was an outlier) Mullen was actually elite if you compare him to the college football world, as a whole. Michigan fans were ready to give up on Harbaugh years ago, but looks like he proved his worth.

It’s popular to bash Mullen, but the guy has pretty great success here, even if we hadn’t reached our ultimate goals yet. I’m glad we have Napier now, but I’m just concerned that our fans will do the same thing to him.

 

Absolutely, Mullen was successful. I give him credit for coming in the way he did and turning the performance around on the field in short order. But the worts started showing in 2020 …and by LSU the following year the curtain was completely pulled back. It was clear that he was not invested. He never seemed to own anything, was becoming aloof with fans and the media and was just generally hard to like.

There have been a handful of comments made from those close to the program that have said he was different person coming out of the early stages of the pandemic.

 

I kinda' agree if we just look at W-L . . . but the program was in steady decline due to lack of effort in recruiting and surrounding himself with lazy buddies and stubbornness. So we have to look at everything. I wished so hard he would jettison the DC and OL coach and hire some top-notch recruiters since very few could outscheme him. It's all a package deal.

 

Four years is exactly the amount of time to take a hs kid through his career if he doesn’t redshirt. That’s kind of a minimum amount of time to see just one full class go through which for Napier was a small hastily put together class. I wouldn’t expect to see his program at full strength as to what it may become but we should definitely see significant movement in the right direction.

 

Mullen took a program on decent legs and instead of building on what he has, sat and watched it collapse.