One of the traits that has made Alabama's Nick Sabin so successfull over the years is his ability to adapt under duress. He has been able to change his game planning and offenses to fit his personnel. He has gone from a run happy to a more diversified offense. Even Bear Bryant did this as exhibited by the two game series Alabama had with USC West when he went to the Wishbone for their second game (assuming I am remembering this correctly). Spurrier showed this trait by having Wuerffel going to the shotgun when playing FSU in 1996/97 in the Sugar Bowl to get away from the FSU rush. It seems like Napier is too wedded to "the Process". If he is analytical, he has to see that the game is now so dynamic that he needs the flexibility to think outside of the (his) box. To me, that includes delegating some aspects of the game to others such as hiring an offensive coordinator. This off season, especially the next few months, may be paramount to Napiers abilty to continue coaching with us in the future.
Yer setting the bar too high. Right now, we should hope to see itsy bitsy tidbits of adaptation ability. Maybe hope for the Brett Bielema, Mike Locksley (Maryland), or the Penn State guy kinda model.
I do remember Bear Bryant saying his greatest coaching strength was his ability to adapt and change as the game and society ( the culture ) changed.
I think Bear Bryant greatest coaching strength: Bryant can take his'n and beat your'n, and then he can turn around and take your'n and beat his'n. Bum Phillips Not sure that can be said about BN.
His greatest strength was hoarding talent. Napier isn't the coach those mentioned were but watching the eagles bills game tonight was an eye opener. The size, speed and number of impact players from Georgia and Bama in the league is separate from most every other program save maybe osu and lsu. Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter alone were just a different type of athlete and they were playing on the same line in college. It's at every position. Napier certainly hasn't maximized the talent that is there nor as he brought in the right type of players via the portal in respect to the offensive and defensive lines but talent trumps all.
Until when? At what point do wins — the only measure of effectiveness in this sport — matter more than the process, which only exists to provide wins.
I’m very interested in team building and to me “process” isn’t a bad word but I don’t think I understand its context as far as college sports. It seems like more a pro sports word, particularly the pro sports with equal resource sharing. There is not and has never been an equal process in college football. The good teams have as many 1st round picks as they want. They can just sign whoever they want. I don’t see where saying trust my process makes any sense when other teams’ process are clearly better.
Or any other of the coaches in the world. Tge teams with the best players win. The dead bear isn’t beating geor with our players, that’s total bs. Yes, the best teams have good coaches but it’s the players that separate them .Napier is no doubt learning on the job and we better hope he improves or we have several more years of crap before it gets better.
When Billy told our big boosters and donors “ya’ll aren’t gonna like the process” that was coachspeak for “I’ve got no clue how long this rebuild will take.”
I think the point of that expression in this context is along the lines of “Give it time. We have a strategy for the long-term that may result in more defeats in the short-term.” And that is understandable to an extent, but I think we have now arrived at that extent. His process is going to have to show victories now, or we’re going with someone else’s process. I would like to see hands of anyone who thought we were signing up for three more losing seasons (yes, I’m counting 2024 under this “process” argument) with no improvements between years one and two. If that had been the deal in 2021, I think most people would have rather given Mullen another year to straighten out his defense and recruiting. Mullen, I would point out, never got access to the kind of resources that Napier is.
Oh, appreciated. But there are some people who think that’s a sound strategy, and I would like them to specify how long this process gets to show acceptable performance. In my opinion, we have arrived at that “how long” and CBN is DMW in 2024 without appropriate results early in the season.
I understand what you mean, but, no, we won’t. I’m still seeing too much buffoonery on the field that has nothing to do with talent and everything to do with coaching. If he can’t show he’s fixed that — and I mean in the Miami game — then the next coach is going to be the beneficiary of whatever talent he brings in.
CBN is our coach, and for us who are Gators on the Gator Country forums, we need him to succeed. Hopefully he 'adapts under duress'. He will be here another year or two. I can't see what positives come from taking pot shots at him, unless of course some have a vested interest in our failure, since he will be here another year (or maybe two).
He will be whatever he turns out to be. He’s a work in progress no doubt but they knew that when they hired him. If they don’t get the players he needs to compete, it won’t matter what he does nor the next guy. That’s our program , not our coaching.
Also the rotating quarterbacks against FSU in 1997. But the most impressive adaptation was when he went 11-2 for three seasons without a strong offense. He played according to his strengths, which was defense. I thought he would have lived and died with the FnG. * In 2011, he had a 3d ranked defense and a 74th ranked offense; * In 2012, he had an 11th ranked defense and an 82d ranked offense; * In 2013, he had a 19th ranked defense and a 46th ranked offense. In 2014, his 33d ranked offense couldn't overcome his 96th ranked defense (Ellis Johnson left to coach Southern Miss, IIRC), and he finished 7-6. In 2015, both the offense and defense were in the 90s, and he retired midway through the season (he said he "fired himself"). But along with Bryant and Don Shula, that was the greatest display of changing his entire system to win with the strengths of his team.
