Damn. What I wouldn’t give for “mediocre” right now. Presently, what we have is best described as “poor” and “amateur.” But if your boy has another gear he can find between now and, say, October, then I would love to see it.
The jury is still out on what we will gain or lose in the portal and with the 2024 signee class. I am one who is hoping that we gain. I doubt that we will be a total washout with the signee class the the portal If that washout happens then there will be more problems to resolve. Would of likely had won three more games? Take another look at the 2023 schedule, Tell me which games as the underdog that the Gators should of won? I see one or maybe with some luck 2 games. That would of improve the 5-7 we have now. Look at the 3 conference games that the Gators won. Those 3 teams have a combined Won/Lose Conference Record of 7-17. Look at the 5 conference games the Gators lost. Those 5 teams have a combined Won/Lose conference Record of 2214. The two non conference games that the Gators won were against non FBS programs. The one non conference game that the Gators lost was to Utah (A FBS program) and they finished the season 8-4. Yes the Gator W-L total for the season is painful to look at. However, in this stage of the rebuild program the Gators had a difficult challenge. Despite of that difficult challenge, the Gators played hard. Hard enough to give their superior opponents a good run in their last three games a good run for their money. Losing season for next year? In that assumption you are seeing a degrade in performance and results. I am hoping that Napier makes changes in the staff. I believe have an Offensive Coordinator is a must as well as a Special Teams coach. This items are a major linchpin for next season. If that does not happen there will be a repeat of issues and most likely a decline in the program. Lets see what happens after post season games are completed and see if Napier makes a move during or right after that period. If he hire these two coaches, keeps the team out of the portal, and lands a good signee class, then a good part of your disagreement with me is resolved.
Thank you Seniors for your contribution to the football program, the schools, and the fans. You went through tough times and some good times. I hope that you extract the positives out of your experiences and use it for the foundation in building your professional life. As the years begin to roll by for you, please come back every now and then and encourage the players and the fans.
We hope for the same things. But hope is not a method except for the clergy. The next thing to happen will be any coaching reorganization. If Napier does some true self-evaluation and makes necessary changes, particularly with special teams and play calling, then maybe we have the kind of coach who can adapt to the reality he is in. If, however, he sticks to this bizarre mess and continues to act nonplussed when the media challenges him on it, then like I said, I give him no later than mid-October. The thing after that will be this recruiting class. There are already some defections (understandably) and I expect a few more, but if by and large he holds this class together to something that finishes in the consensus top-10, then maybe he is a quality recruiter. If the class jumps to a degree that we’re right back in that 14-15th place we were under Mullen, then I have to ask, if this guy doesn’t recruit any better than Mullen and he certainly doesn’t coach in the game as well as Mullen, then what does sticking with Napier do for us in the long run?
Sounds like you need to apply next year. You obviously know more than Napier does on how to rebuild and run a football program.
I don't do weird stuff like watch the games 16 times in slow motion and write things down like some people but not really. There was some slight improvements sometimes but for the most part players missed assignments, bounced off opposing players like rubber due to bad tackling form, flat out just didn't block and to top it off displayed discipline issues all season long. He's been here two years he should have them playing well as a unit for $7,300,000 a year. That's not too much to expect. Instead they spit on opposing players and celebrate simply making a normal play. And don't tell me it's talent. Arkansas and Kentucky certainly don't have the talent to compete with Florida, except if they're either well coached (UK) and we're just not.
BS. I would take Arkansas or Kentucky’s OL over what we had this year any day. And you don’t need repetition or slow-mo, all you need is to look at things objectively and not through the emotion of nitpicking missed plays and painting the whole season with that brush. Our open field tackling was much improved this season(with a long way to go). Strength and stamina from a year in the S&C program will help that. LBs positioning improved through the season but they were not going to get Daniel’s or Jefferson on scrambles. In case you weren’t watching other games no one was able to contain and tackle Daniel’s.
Well, I cannot promise that … buuuut I can offer this. For the low, low cost of half of what they’re paying Napier, I will offer my services. And for that price I guarantee the following: I can lose as many or more games as he did, I can give even less of a shit in press conferences, I can overpromise and underdeliver even more on recruiting, I can triple the amount of times we go for it on 4th in our territory in the first half, and I can eliminate more best-practice coaching positions in favor of something bizarre and intangible. Observe! On Day 1 of my regime, the defensive coordinator is gone, but we will have a Director of Intensity and Empathy. But, seriously, Aging Gator, my old friend, what kind of an argument is “Well, I guess you could do it better?” I mean, if a mechanic messes up the service of my car, am I not allowed to complain to his boss without getting a “Well, rotate your own tires if that’s how you feel”? Am I supposed to keep quiet about every dumb decision any politician ever makes just because I’ll never run, be nominated, or ever be elected?
Well I’m glad to see that you have a plan in place already. Of course, we are all allowed to complain. All are allowed here and many do it quite well. But to continue your analogy, if you don’t take care of that car, if you don’t wash it, keep it waxed, change the oil and fluids, keep the tire pressure right for seven straight years, then it it very difficult to blame and complain about your new mechanic if he cannot get it running right and looking good immediately. Another poster here made the ridiculous point that Napier “chose” to do a complete rebuild. I’m sorry but that choice was made for him by Mullen’s sorry ass recruiting and culture of no accountability. That poster obviously did not take a good look at the roster Napier inherited. What little talent that actually was there had been ruined by the culture. Who keeps a coach like Grantham on staff after 2019? Who hires assistants who completely check out on the players for the bowl? Like it or not, we are still 1-2 seasons away from 11 wins. We played a Top 5 SoS this year and it only gets a little easier this year. The coaches did there jobs Saturday night. We had great game plans on both sides of the ball. There is no in game adjustment for young, under strength players getting fatigued. Brown looked good early on before the protection broke down and the hits took their toll. FSU made sure that Pearsall wasn’t running wide open all night long. They just weren’t going to let that happen. The blocking schemes on the run game were excellent. Defensively, we dominated them up until that penalty. If we make the two missed field goals and don’t have that penalty we could very well have had a different outcome. Does Napier need to continue to improve? Absolutely, he needs an OC. He is an excellent OC/playcaller but his attention is needed in other areas. Special teams needs more focus. Better depth will improve ST performance significantly. If we are not contenders to go toe to toe with Georgia in 2025, then we have to relook at things. But to blame the coaches totally for the performance of a very young team is ludicrous. Galen struggled with youth in the late eighties. Spurrier struggled with youth in 92 and into early 93. Meyer struggled with youth in 07. All of those struggles paid huge dividends when those young players were juniors and seniors. That’s just the way it works.
Yeah, but also remember, that 8-14-1 in 2 seasons was an 0-10-1 initial season followed by an 8-4 bowl winning second season. I am not calling for Napier to be fired, but you and I are from a generation that if you got put in a high paying position with a huge salary and, in a reasonable time frame, were not able to produce you would be expected to tender your resignation.
Gross misuse of the word fact. You don’t know shit except your opinion, which is all you’re voicing now
Agree. And also, in our time coaches were given 3-4 years no questions asked but for a fireable offense. The 0-10-1 season was with a roster that had several more bright spots than our 2022 roster. Collinsworth, Brantley (3 games or so), Little, Fisher, and others were established All SEC type players. Last year we had no one established at that level of accomplishment. I’ll be the first in line by mid 2025 for a coaching change if we aren’t contending for the East that year. But I’m not going to nitpick negatives and overlook positives in Year 2 because I am frustrated with the record. I had us at 7-5 this year, tops. With a few miracles maybe 8-4. Well not only did we not get any miracles we got hit hard with injuries in our two most vulnerable areas; defensive front and OL. Given the freshmen playing DB, the injuries in front seven really hurt.
