What are your thoughts now about the upcoming 2024 season and beyond? Is your faith in Billy about the same, increased or decreased? What changes do you want to see? Does the overall plan need to be adjusted? Staff upgrades? Portal needs? ..and anything/everything else.
Make the right hires at OC/ST coach (maybe Billy takes on ST). Give Austin the support he needs to field an improved defense. Keep the class together. Get a few key players in the portal. Have a much more inspiring showing at the spring game.
Need to finish this early recruiting class in the 5-8 range. Be the poacher now, not the poached. Another purge. Must bring in some quality portal starters at multiple positions. 2-3 staff upgrades, including a top-shelf OC. Fix and tighten up the in game decision making. Off field discipline has been great, fix the on field discipline. It’s imperative to find a way to win games next season, what ever it takes, can’t post another losing season. The Miami game is now on the clock, can’t lose that game under any circumstance.
BN doesn't scream championship caliber coach IMO, neither does his staff. I don't think he should be fired this year or next. Assuming he keeps this class mostly intact, improves the 2025 class and doesn't have another losing season. A lot of the issues UF is dealing with right now are from the turnstile at the coaching position. Stability has it's benefit. I also don't see a lot of sure fire coaches out there or willing to come to UF. What he does this off-season will give a better indication IMO. I just want to be better than most of the SEC, not necessarily better than UGA, Bama... we shouldn't be consistently losing to UK etc.
I want him to win and will be not on the fire him train going into next year buuuuuut I will say this….5-6 wins next year and he will be gone. What folks realize is that it’s easy to sell a rebuild to recruits going into year 2 about the future but if we have a 3rd losing season under him, there’s nothing of note to sell recruits anymore. Cant find a school in history that had two top 15 recruiting classes after back to back losing seasons let alone a top 5-10 class
Neither did Kirby.....and he benefited from Richt recruiting top 10 (occasionally top 5) classes and was able to improve on that to Bama's level. Napier is bringing in that higher quality player on average and had to rebuild both the O and D, the O twice....in 2022 (new receivers/OL and RB) and 2023 (new OL, QB).
My faith in Billy Napier has decreased since the season started. I want to see an offensive coordinator and a special teams coordinator hired. The "process" needs to be sped up, as he's running out of time to show significant [progress in the program. We need better play in the trenches. I don't think we need 2 offensive line coaches. We need major upgrades on the offensive and defensive lines. We need much better play from the secondary (youth is not an excuse).
Difference to me is Kirby surrounded himself with some good coaches. Napier’s staff is so young and inexperienced at the FBS level overall when compared to other top teams. He does need our support to keep recruiting and change this thing around.
Faith has decreased, the same errors and the same things keep going bad, where is the improvement 25 games in? He needs to keep this class together, needs to keep people who have shown skill on the field (ETN, Tre Wilson) from sprinting to the portal, needs to turn over half the staff. Still have hope, but we seem to be going in circles.
Finish with a top 5 recruiting class. He was brought in large part due to his ability to recruit. This will provide hope to Gator Nation. Fix the issues that plagued the team this season. I have no doubt he has taken copious notes and will be evaluating. Show improvement next season. I understand it’s a difficult schedule. I just don’t see him being able to survive another losing season. Make a bowl game next year and finish with a winning record. If the playoffs are at 12 teams in 2025 UF should be in there.
This doesn’t get talked about much, but it should now. Not only do you need to protect your recruiting class, but you also have to protect your roster from poachers. Losing a star player or two would be a massive gut punch for Billy.
As someone who only follows recruiting at a macro level and not micro level, it is very odd for Napier to be lining up his first loaded class in Year 3. Overwhelmingly new coaches do it in Year 2 for the reasons you mention.
1-11 or 2-10 if no changes. If he finds a good OC, is able to build a better offensive line, we improve on defense, and get aggressive on ST, 6-6 is low bar, with 8 wins very possible. If he hit a homerun and everything falls into place, 10-2.
yea i’m heavy into recruiting and the year 2 “bump class” in recruiting….we fell juuust short last cycle at certain positions with HS recruiting and the portal.
