Unfortunately, running the team ragged in practice won’t change much at this point. The on-field issues and personnel problems this team has are things that should’ve been addressed and ironed out in the offseason
My opinion that Kentucky’s line of scrimmage is better on both sides of the ball than ours, more talented.
After 10 years Stoops is 34-50 in sec play by my count and has had all of 2 seasons with a winning conference record. That's fine for Ky and kudos to him for beating the Gators 3 straight. However, UFs 4 different coaches during that time have a SEC record of 48-36 and have had 5 winning sec seasons and 3 trips to Atlanta. As bad as recent years have been, I wouldn't trade the last 10 years for Stoops record, not even close. And yea I get that winning is tougher in Kentucky.
Napier keeps talking about the physicality of the game, we have to be more physical. I think what we are missing is being mentally ready to play! Being mentally prepared is just as, if not more so, important as being physically prepared. The only game we looked ready to play was Tennessee; 1 game out of 5 is not encouraging.
Yet currently. They have the better program going forward. Stoops started with a program that has never been good, and is on the verge of possibly bringing a program to somewhere where it’s never been before. If Kentucky so chooses to pump money into the football program, they, too, can have a seat at the big boys table.
Kentucky already took their manhood away from them. Run the ball and stop the run, that’s taking your manhood.
Can you still do that in today's climate? Pretty sure you have to provide safe spaces instead of the circle drills
I believe a lot of that falls on the coaches to have the team motivated to fight. Frankly more times than not our players have little or no enthusiasm and come out flat. Maybe our DC needs to give the fiery speech as it fits his personality. Or let a respected player give the firing motivation speech. I'm afraid BN comes off as a school teacher than a motivator.
From everything I've heard, I think many things can be true at once. 1. If this is what we can expect for the rest of Billy's tenure, he will not last here. 2. Billy has shown two things his predecessors (since Meyer) have not. A willingness to change. He cut a DC loose last year that wasn't working, now the Defense, though not elite, is without a doubt the strength of this team. Rumor also has it he will hire an OC at season's end. The man objectively looks at the program and puts the program over his ego. That's not common among head coaches. Recruiting. The best recruiter we've had since Meyer is Muschamp and he wouldn't recruit balanced classes. Is Billy's recruiting perfect? No. But it's the best we've seen since Meyer I would say due to balance. Muschamp and Mullen would inflate rankings by either taking a lot at one position or by getting a lot of guys who never end up staying for one reason or another. 3. If we married the running game last year to the passing game this year, both would be much better and the offense would be excellent. Probably not putting up the best numbers in the country based on pace and scheme, but excellent. 4. Billy's predecessors' teams typically had something elite about their teams whether it be offense, defense, or special teams, or some combination of the three. Right now, I'm not seeing it, and he's going to need to find something elite if the goal is championships here. Teams generally don't win championships that are JUST "good" everywhere. 5. Cutting ties with him any time soon probably wouldn't be helpful. Look at the coaching carousel cycle when we hired Billy. The big fish were Cristobal (Miami), Venables (Oklahoma), Kelly (LSU), Riley (USC), Freeman (Notre Dame). Which of those guys have been home runs apart from Riley who was a known sure thing at the time? This is a controversial opinion, but I really think sometimes you're better off letting your guy learn and cook than you are firing/hiring under the assumption that you're going to find the next Steve Spurrier/Urban Meyer. And this especially rings true when your guy shows a willingness to adapt and evolve if what he's doing isn't working. Recruiting and adaptability earns a coach time, and I think Billy has earned just that. But he needs to continue to recruit and continue to learn and grow.
That was pretty much the only winning move (based on what we know so far) last coaching carousel. Gambling on Lincoln Riley for 12 years might be safer than gambling on anyone else for 4. But there's always the risk of a guy quitting on the job. These are real people with real incentives and flaws after all. I think Mullen was our best chance at that guy, and he seemed to quit on the job and is largely responsible for our current predicament.
Biggest thing I'm tired of is getting bullied up front by inferior opponents. That can't happen based on what Billy wants us to do schematically, and it shouldn't happen based on the level in which we recruit, yet it's been happening all season.
I have always wondered why this happened. Mullen never showed any signs of that during his career and suddenly he starts acting like he was trying to force UF to fire him. I had a personal experience with Dan once while he was at State that made me feel like he really wanted to come back to UF but once it happened it seemed something went horribly wrong between him and the University.
I’ve said it before. We have got to be ready for a freaking 60 minute WAR every week. To me, our demeanor looks more like we are ready to play checkers. Billy’s learning. He will figure it out and we will be better off with CBN in the long run.
I agree with just about everything you said except I do not believe he cut Toney loose. Toney is said to have a brilliant defensive mind and is an up-and-comer...he was plucked by the NFL, not pushed out. Like the majority of Florida fans, I think we let Billy "cook" for a few years. Making dramatic changes now would set the program back even further. It makes no sense to do that. FWIW -- I think he hires an OC in January and a position coach takes over ST by spring ball.
Did he quit on recruiting because the checks needed to recruit at the top weren’t clearing. I’ve often wondered just that and we don’t know Napiers list of demands when he took the job but if it were me getting interviewed, that would be the number one topic. Fund my account to get what you’re asking me to do done.
Where is this mythical recruiting? Billy has 1 full class and his 1st class was obliterated by ESD. Prior to that you are 8yrs removed from muschamps dline recruiting Also remember linemen take several years for their body to transform. Yes, you can selectively play a frosh, but you cant play 3-5 on the oline or 3-4 on the dline they will get hammered
As of now sure, but that doesn't really mean much as they are not winning any championships. I'd be happy if they took the East over Georgia, but let's not get carried away, even so. They are not really close to the "big boys table." Just last year they were 7-6 and 3-5 in the sec. Gators forget that because they kicked our butt.
