Post-Game Discussion: Florida at Utah

So true. When teams load up to stop the run and short passes we make our opponents job a whole lot easier. And if our O scheme is easy to defend we have receivers covered, no running holes and pressure on the qb.
There are too many things that can go wrong when drives become slow and methodical.
And such O schemes make it very difficult to do a hurry up offense. I think it took us over 4 minutes to go 30 something yards. It’s no different than last year.

 

From what I have seen and heard Napier is excellent off the field.

What I have personally witnessed of him between the starting and final whistles is something less than excellent.

An Eisenhower more than a Patton.

But, that is exactly why Ike got the big job.

Gonna be tough to be this patient. Watching this season our "victories" are going to come in the form of gradual improvements.

 

12 games. That’s an average of 8 carries per game. With the best pure QB runner in UF history.

I’m not the only one who thinks that’s criminal. Whatever.

 

It’s why red zone offense is atrocious. Mertz numbers are inflated because we couldn’t run, we were playing from behind so naturally you are gonna throw it more. Once that offense got to the 20, garbage. How many third down conversions? 1?

 

I think it’s reviewing all those notes in ones notebook about all the mistakes from the previous year and correcting those?

 

Mertz threw a lot of catchable balls, but I do not think I saw him throw a single truly accurate ball - every one of them was outside, be it high, or low, or inside when it should have been outside, etc.

 

He should have ran a lot more, I’m not disagreeing. I’m saying our RB success last year was partly due to teams having to scheme for AR running

Put Mertz on the 2022 team and our rushing yards go down 50%

 

Good luck with that

 

Patience is low in this crowd. It is going to be tough, especially when competing recruiters get the vibe.

 

Agreed. Of course, a staff that truly valued the designed QB run game wouldn’t have Mertz on the team. That’s not a slam on Mertz at all.

 

Well, Matt Hayes was his usual positive self

 

That’s a pretty big “except.”

 

Again, I'm not trying to pile on. What's the point? But how does this happen?

How does 1/3 of the game get so neglected?

 

It’s not a vibe. Other teams know coaches at major P5 schools are on the hot seat if they have two losing seasons in a row. It has nothing to do with vibes or fans or patience. It just is a fact of life

 

I want Napier to get 5 years. I want him to have time to recruit and build a program. The hire/fire cycle is disastrous. We need Napier to succeed… it’s a faster path back to prominence if he does so.

But I also live in reality.

 

Nope, we need to find another person doing whatever job it is called ST. And I say this without bile.

 

It’s funny you make a military comparison because I was thinking the exact same thing.

Napier reminds me of Herbert Sobel from Band of Brothers, who built Easy Company and had them in tip top shape.

When it came time to take the field he panicked, would lose awareness, and make bad tactical decisions.

Napier seems to have the entire process down, except the Xs and Os.

 

I think he could be very successful, but he needs to remove himself from the offense and get a real OC and a ST coach. He would probably be stellar at running everything like a GM. Top guy focuses on those under him and doesn't get dragged into the weeds.

 

The best thing about fans melting down is that you still have fans.

A recruiting melt down would be fatal to this staff.

 

The pendulum continues to swing

We want a coach that can recruit! - Muschamp
We want a coach that can be a CEO! - McElwain
We want a coach that can call plays! - Mullen

Muschamp could recruit, defense only
McElwain could identify talent and put together a solid roster despite the star ratings, but was just lackadaisical overall
Mullen could execute a game plan with the best of them, but didn't recruit and hitched his ship with Grantham

After Mullen was fired, the fanbase wanted a coach who could recruit. Napier is doing that and changing things fundamentally in the program with positive results so far.

His in game coaching and housekeeping is embarrassing. His playcalling he does himself is questionable at times. These were the questions that went into the offseason if they can be fixed by Napier, and was answered last night for everyone to see. Embarrassing effort by the coaching staff last night.