I would say yes a few years ago but times have changed with the portal transfer and NIL. Take the Gators situation, BN was dealt a mess, he was hired to build a program which may take 3 to 4 years. To do this he installs youth movement which so far translates into mistakes and loses. Which translates to horrendous press and media clobbering plus unhappy fan base. The question will be can he hold onto recruits with such negativity and with a perception BN is on the hot seat. You know other schools will suggest this. Added to this, each year I suspect we will lose key players to the portal which can hinder depth or we may not acquire the same talent in the portal that we’ve lost. We have seen teams utilize the portal and have improved almost instantly. So just wondering if the long approach can work with all the recent changes.
If your program is struggling, it has to be built. There is no instant championship level gratification, even in this day. Some thought that was Deion is doing is an exception to that rule, but he's also having to build a foundation to build upon. The question should be "how long must it take to build the Gator program from where it was.
We need a generational talent to get the momentum going. Then things will fall into place. I’m hoping Lagway is just that.
Yes, it will work. Unfortunately, we have not been patient enough to actually give it time to work. We have fired our last three coaches after short tenures, and that clearly is not working. Time to do something new: give a coach five years to get his program established. Coaches like Spurrier and Meyer aren't waiting in the wings.
It might or might not work, not every coach is going to produce a winner even if they are given 10 years. Florida is patient, 4 years is enough time to see where things are going.
Me too but wow how unlucky we have been in that position is kind of incredible. CDM didnt even know what he had with Trask until forced to play him...
To be fair, those coaches did things other than lose games to get them fired. Napier so far has no character issues.
Everybody builds a program now, what Billy is trying to do is build his culture, imho. Will it win more games, compete for the SEC championship, get in the playoff and ultimately win that. Well, we all desperately hope so, obviously only time will tell. Dabo did, and that’s the closest thing I see to what Billy is trying to build. The road is gonna be bumpy though, buckle up.
I don't agree. He did pretty well at Utah, and Tebow didn't win the '06 Natty for us. Meyer also won a natty at OSU sans Tebow.
Embrace the UCLA/Stanford model. I think that's our future. . . and frankly, I have no problem with that. College Football is a cess pool now and it's only going to get worse. Get ready for what amounts to a transfer market/window just like European soccer.
Even if it was Tom Brady (or Doug Williams or Warren Moon), why would you trust CBN to game plan, call plays and build a team around him?
How about because he’s our head coach? It’s obvious to all that you have never supported Coach Napier. You’re a hater — so why post silly rhetorical questions like this?
We lost 3 Oline starters to transfers. I don’t think that happens this year. Keep them and I think we’re a couple/three games better this year.
Programs need to take a look at what Mark Stoops has done. This guy took Kentucky and put them in great position to win the East this year. Will they? I don’t believe they will, but he’s getting talent on both sides of the ball especially DLine and Oline. I’m not trying to compare Floridas program to Kentucky’s. But you gotta give coach’s time to rebuild.
For some reason he feels that he should be prepared for all of his what if doomsday scenarios, even though he will be nowhere near any room where any meaningful decisions about our teams or our coaches will be made.
I think the vast majority of fans are patient enough, but want to see something on the field that's worthy of their optimism. I, for one big reason, want Billy to succeed, because I don't want to go thru another coaching search and to start at the bottom again. Unfortunately for Billy, he's following over a decade of dismal embarrassment. Turning that around doesn't happen overnight. But for success to occur, Billy needs to definitely rethink some of his views on what he should be doing when this season is over. He says he looks at everything, but so far little changes. If he refuses to be introspective, I don't know if he's the guy or not.
The answer to your question is: yes! The "noise" outside the program on social media and the hacks doing their normal things (Finebum being Finebum for example) and ESPN promoting its agenda-of-the-month and, most recently, YouTube slicks saying outrageous things for attention and thumbs and subscribers (so they can make $$$$$ off their YouTube outrage) all have little to no bearing inside the building, or the program. Coach Napier is humble, high-character and highly detail oriented and prefers sticking to his plan(s) unless he sees that something needs altering. Then changes are usually made in the off-season. Coach knew the needs of Florida's program and actually waited for the job to open. One of the first things he said was Gator Nation needs to stay patient. For some that meant it would take 4 games instead of just 2. For others it might take all the way to the start of the second season. They are now claiming and shouting and bleeting that "if he was a real coach" . . . he could turn a program around by the second year. Well we're still in the second year but this is not a turn around this is a COMPLETE program rebuild. Starting in the 1990s, Florida has attracted more bandwagon fans that almost any other school. The bandwagon fans were criticizing Steve Spurrier and he even said, when he left, "10 wins isn't enough here any more" and unless Florida won an SECC or a NC the season was considered wasted! When Florida was winning National Championships in 2006-2008 some of these same "fans" made things so bad Mrs. Mullen couldn't shop in Gainesville! Now we have the hysteria most of you have seen glimpses of on Twitter and YouTube and on these boards (until deleted). This is a long answer but it's intended to show why the loudest "fans" might not be the ones folks should listen to, IMO. Anyone can put on a Gator jacket and make a YouTube video but the UAA (Bull Gators) and administration are happy with Coach Napier. They understand fully what a complete rebuild was and was going to look like and his detailed plan to achieve it. However, they also understand that other programs want to win too and are legally paying players now with NIL too and throwing $$$ into their programs. Everyone just didn't suddenly stop so Florida could rebuild. Other teams don't play their second or third string while Florida rebuilds. It will take time and Coach Napier will be given that time. Period. Disappointment results when expectations are not met. It doesn't matter if those expectations were unreasonable when set. I would (as I do often) encourage folks to enjoy the rebuild happening before our eyes and the kids growing up before our eyes, knowing there will be bumps in the road.
