Post-Game Discussion: f$u

All season, I was convinced … because of lack of tempo, knowing when to call plays/use parts of the field, clock mgmt, lack of emotion as it relates to defense… that our issues were about 70% coaching/30% talent issues. After the Mizzerable loss in COMO, I had kind of flipped that to the idea it doesn’t really matter how much better the staff gets- we don’t have dudes in really key areas…
Which brings me the FSU game. I don’t wanna get caught in the minutiae of bad calls/trusting your players to make plays… it was clear what his plan was- and it looked like the Utah package. What struck me is how we got in this mess.
Norvell got dudes and was aggressive and FSU (much like UGA/Ohio st) takes fliers on kids and gets them in school. UF does not. I have always been concerned with CBN slow-cook process because if you don’t stack top 5 classes, don’t get early wins to get buy-in, perception becomes reality And I don’t think you will ever stack classes or win the portal the way other schools do that have deeper pockets, more success or less academic requirements. UAA and UF “says” they wanna win football titles but they make moves like they’re cool with being a bowl team. They have the mouth of Georgia but the heart of Duke/Stanford. And the only way we’ve EVER gotten around that paradigm was by having a coach who schemed us to wins or created a style kids wanted to come play in.
This road is only gonna get tougher for CBN now that our 2 biggest rivals are going to the playoffs and perception is we are on the way down. the ONLY chance CBN has now is to get a really creative play caller in here that helps us overcome decencies/youth and that kids wanna come play in. But idk that A) he will do that or B) any OC will wanna do that.
My fear is that our “success” on paper on offense this year will make CBN think we are close and rather than start over with a new OC and make it like a “year 1” for players on a learning curve, it’s smarter to just make some tweaks and stay the course. I honestly don’t see him making any moves.
Really good coaches find ways to win close games and give their teams an edge win you have talent gaps and idk that CBN can do that

 

The Golden Era

 

All our players probably in the War.

 

That’s one way to look at it- “kids fight hard for CBN etc”. During the offseason CBN said “we lost by a total of 63 points last year… kind of inferring “we are close”. I believe that he believes that still. And can point to injuries, talent gaps, playing good teams close, doing the little things- as evidence that we are close. But I think it’s clear to anyone that watches a ton of football- that we are not close and that it’s more than JUST missed assignments and injuries. There are things this staff could have done/should have done to overcome and they do not.

 

We’re 25-25 this decade. I thought sometime during the 50’s we had a record like that but all the way back to the mid 40’s. ☹️

 

8 losing seasons since 1962, 3 of those the last 3 years!!

 

Yes we battled and we had our chances but more self indicted wounds. BTW, I thought Brown played great.

Momentum plays then a double reverse flea flicker?

Before the half we break off a nice 52 yd run to about the 25 and with 14 seconds left we run the ball and don't take two shots at the end zone? We run the ball, holding call and miss FG... get nothing?

Most of all and Herbstreit mentioned it, poor arm tackling, mostly in the second half.

The spitting penalty? Targeting late when we would have had the ball back? Both extended drives.

Sorry but like Parcells used to say, "you are what your record says you are."... And the trend is not upward.

 

The more important question is: has Billy Napier learned anything from his mistakes? Is he willing to make changes to improve the team?

I think people are slowly starting to realize that Dan Mullen was a much better coach than Napier is. At least Mullen is a certifiable QB whisperer capable of taking a kid who was a HS backup and turning him into a Heisman contender. And he did have a 10-2 season. Mullen's main fault is that he was unable to persuade his A.D. to spend money on football. Mullen was not a perfect coach--he was somewhat used to losing seasons until he finds the right combination of players to make the team a contender (something from his time at Mississippi State). But the team was always better at the end of the season than the beginning. What has Napier done? Is he building anything? Lack of funding is no longer an excuse. He is a head coach at the flagship university in the state with the most HS football talent, and he is in the most attractive and competitive conference in the country. And he has plenty of money and a huge staff. And yet he struggles to lure players away from FIU and FAU. Why is that?

I would suggest that Florida needs to insist on a coaching contract based more on incentives than boatloads of guaranteed cash. No buyout after the second season. If that means we take a lesser known coach, so be it. We have had several coaches that became lottery winners once they signed that contract, and start getting lazy (for a D-1 head coach) and enjoying the semi-retired life. I'm tired of the arrogance ("I've invented a Process") and the losses.

 

One positive I saw is that Devin Moore could be a great one here if he could keep from getting injured and learn to get his head around to break up passes. He's got great length and closing speed, just needs a lot more reps. If he stays healthy, I think he will be a major upgrade over Kimber and Marshall.

 

ZERO losing seasons from 1980-2012, including a period where we were under the 2nd worst NCAA sanctions in history, FIVE since then. We’ve had losing seasons about half the time the last decade or so. It truly defies logic.

 

Yes, he played great against some serious NFL talent, definitely looked like he belonged.

 

I hate the morning afters. Hangovers and all the shoulda, coulda, wouldas. Good riddance to this season. Coach says we gotta learn from our mistakes. We should be Einsteins in 2024! Go Gators!

 

My take, most of us thought we would lose, but the D came out on fire and gave us hope. D had lapses at the end, but still a game.

Then the snakebite of play calling and penalties took away momentum and although the team kept fighting, we never got it back.

Max was way better than expected in limited use. I don’t buy he doesn’t know the play book. Slower on reads, sure.

OL, just completely out matched. We have some big guys, but they are not mobile enough to handle speed rushers. Not strong enough either. But a knee ding will cause you to give ground. Way too much double teaming and leaving and unblocked guy.

I see what Napier likes to do with the run blocking and getting angled creases, but man, inviting folks to stack the box with our formation. Our TE are not physical blockers yet.

Just like teachers at elite hand picked schools have a bit easier job, coaches at an elite University should have better students to teach concepts to. It is always the coaches, not the students.

The next month is going to be huge. CBN wants to build with his young character driven players. It takes time for their bodies to evolve, that is what the portal is for. In a game of men vs boys, the men normally win. Not sure what the coaches are so far. At least AA has intensity

 

That’s crazy. You are what your modern era record says you are.

 

4th quarter scoring is non-existent. Either Billy’s play calling or our conditioning or both are horrific

4th quarter conditioning is awful. Other teams dominate in the 4th quarter.

scoring offense must average 37 points per game. Can’t win championships or in SEC averaging 26 per game.

Defense can’t be ranked 125th or lower in every category. One of worst in P5 football. Look at big plays given up. There are runs by the RB or QB where absolutely no one on the defense touched the runner during TD runs. No LB or secondary player to even touch the player during runs of 40 plus yards. Horrific

 

You hope for no transfers, you hope you hold the class together as we have had 4 decommits, and you hope this year Billy is aggressive in the portal, as well as hiring an OC, ST Coordinator, and an oline coach. Lots of hopes there. All will have to happen to avoid a third losing season in a row.

 

“I like Billy, but”

 

So you have 8 men coming full bore and they haven't respected your pass at all and rather than just a simple pass which was working just fine you decide to spend a half an hour in the backfield trying to confuse them enough to get one guy open. Well I can tell you there is going to be a sack...or a failed play just like every other time we ran that all year. You know how many players on defense he has fooled on that one? In the words of Dean Wormer to Blutarski..Zero point zero.

 

while HOPE is not a sound strategy. I do not see what you see in his post- I suggest you find the positive

 

And
Hiring O line coach

Truly hitting the portal with the attitude we need big Time players now and not taking 6 weeks to evaluate. Should have kids transferring and committing here soon and not 3 weeks from now. Coaches have no game ( awful saying that) to prepare for so no excuse not to be working the portal.

Keeping players here and not transferring. Other schools will be talking to our best players. Probably already are.