I believe you are seeing the glass half empty. In other words, you see "facts" and construct a dialog that supports it. It is...human. IMO, an alternate to yours is, "Major college football is becoming a DAMN HUGE pile of crap. But we can't ignore it, so we have to figure out how to get there eventually without throwing out the mission of UF as an elite academic institution." And so, after a real brain fart Mullen hire (Stricklin should have KNOWN), he decides to essentially buy time to allow a really good coach who is still young to get up to speed while getting the pieces together (facilities, NIL based on UF standards) in order to acquire the necessary player pieces. Napier to me is EXACTLY what the Grand Poobas want to represent the way UF wants to negotiate its place in the academics-sports dichotomy, just like Golden and others. Just that the others (with the exception of Golden) won't get Stricklin fired. Napier will. End of conversation. PLEASE understand, major college football is NOT your father's (or even your older brother's) game. It just isn't. Now, if I may add to all this "discussion", what comes to be once Napier is fully cooked - and even what the administration has deemed doable given the mess - may not meet the demands of the great unwashed. And then we all have a choice. Do we acknowledge that what we are is good enough moving forward, or do we become Dallas Cowboy fans, getting sold a bill of goods and paying massive quantities of our hard earned monies on things other than food and shelter? Methinks that model will NOT manifest at UF, but I could be wrong. You appear to be the "Dallas Cowboy fan" type. Or at least after a damn lousy loss. But it is always a bit too emotional and lacking discernment the day after any game. Perhaps you will be less so in...4 days. And I will plainly state this, as I have plenty of times. If UF ever decided to become Bama (and now UGa) in football or Kentucky (via Calipari) in basketball, I WILL find something better to do than cheer loudly and live vicariously through the play of hired mercenaries. They may be young, but they would NOT give a damn about my flavor of UF. Why would I give a damn about them?
I realize we are all wanting this bad taste out of our collective mouths. Just realize that, as fun as it feels with Bell for us oldies, he had a path of choice when he retired from playing football. He could have put on his uniform overalls with his "Kerwin" name on them and do what is necessary to get to where Napier is today, or he could bask in the limelight as a heritage guy and do enough at the low levels to keep his legacy alive. He chose the latter. If he was a minimum of 20 years younger, I am sure he could catch up. But he is what he is: a shiny penny to UF oldies. He is NOT who you bet on. EVER.
On the surface this appears to be the case. Part of me believes this fully. Part of me really bought into the whole “it’s about people and relationships” because Napier is making us believe he understands football at a deeper level. It gives you the sense of securitu that the Xs and Os are taken care of, the recruiting is being addressed with the signing of each class, ans the culture of the program is what we really have to focus on. Fair point and I’m still all in. And then come fall Saturdays and the product on the field does not correlate to what Billy preaches. The Xs and Os have not been taken care of, the talented players are not being put in the best position to succeed, and the lack or organization in all aspects of the game and continuous mistakes in the same areas leads me to believe the culture is failing to implement or failing to be impactful. Lets just ask ourselves a simple question. What are we putting on film? Some pretty ugly stuff.
I only watched the first half, because it was too painful to continue watching. The defense seemed lost. The offensive line and quarterback were big problems. Once that gets straightened out, we can score. We just don't have an offense that can score! I like Mertz as a passer, but he lacks pocket awareness, the ability to sense pressure, when to move around in the pocket, and when to run with the ball. His timing is WAY OFF, and he gets tackled for losses TOO MANY TIMES; and that should never happen!!! Where is the quarterback coach? These obviously should be corrected by Ryan O'Hara, but I AM NOT IMPRESSED! There are two obvious flaws: quarterback coach and OC. I like Billy Napier as head coach, but I am finally convinced that his playcalling does not and never will get it! What is occurring, offensively, seems to be a strategy that was similar to Muschamp: ball control and play not to lose. It never has and never will work!!! I hope Billy wakes up and hires a competent OC and quarterback coach; otherwise, I fear his days are numbered. I intend my post to be a matter of fact, and not to be construed as a diatribe for a change at HC. This is year two, and the playcalling is predictable, boring, and downright embarrassing. I hope Billy wakes up and smells the coffee. If he does not, ...
Will Miles in his "Read and Reaction" article this morning to recap the game had this to say at the end of his article. "We expected this team to struggle at times. We even expected some losses might be lopsided. What we didn’t expect was that in year two of this rebuild that Florida would look more disorganized than it did in year one. That lack of fire and desire, that lack of urgency, and the repeat of the same types of mistakes week after week fall directly on Napier. And at some point, Gators fans (and boosters) are going to stop telling themselves stories." For those who would like to read the entire article here is the link: Florida dominated by Kentucky, 33-14 - Read & Reaction
Billy will simply say “trust the process.” Translation: don’t question me. I do not see him giving up OC duties. His hand will need to be forced. As we saw with our last coach, forcing his hand caused an unfixable rift. It lasted less than two weeks, but you can still tell the situation could never be mended, as Mullen was willing to die on the Grantham/Hevesy hill. Just look at the aftermath of where these three gentlemen are currently at: Mullen TV personality, Hevesy a consultant at Ga Tech, Grantham position coach in NFL. No one hired them for their former positions. I do not see Stricklin forcing Billy’s hand unless Stricklin’s hand is forced. We all know where that will lead us.
That was though to watch. “Next weeks game against Vandy is a must win”, let that sink in for a minute.
Is there any future for a Gator coach who begins his tenure 0-4 against Kentucky and Vanderbilt? Serious question. Take me through what that future looks like.
If we lose to Vandy, only dropping the Dawgs and Noles would save him. The noise would be louder than BHG
True but I guess what I'm saying is that it's more like we have dropped down to a KY level (or lower) and not they have risen. They are very consistent and extremely well coached with a firm identity. It's just an identity that is going to yield a consistent 8 or 9 win season.
Of all the remaining games, vandy is our best shot at a win. usce, mizzou, ark. (maybe, taking in to account we are a horrible road team --usce and mizzou) uga, lsu-- um no f$u- maybe have a shot since it is at home, but even then a lot has to improve.
I truly wish I could say you are dead wrong! Instead, you are most likely spot-on! Translation: Damn Straight!!!
Perhaps this team plays better at the Swamp because they have the fan noise to feed off of and motivate them. On the road the coaches should be the ones providing this energy but apparently are lacking. Just a theory but Billy while definitely a likeable guy seems very low energy
Florida is no longer a football school. We are a baseball/academic school. Current recruits were toddlers when we were last relevant
