Honestly if I had to grade the team for the year no portion of the team would get above a C...defense across the board would be an F. Recruiting..thats BNs strong suit but lets see him hold this class together because it sure doesnt look likely right now. Even then when your star talent portals out when youve finally got a grown man and not a high school kid youre back to playing high school kids and waiting to develop those guys for the rigors of the SEC. Coaching...bad bad and more bad...not sure which coaches I would even retain at this point with what this year and last year looked like. Special teams..F double minus...hell give special teams a Z minus. The fact it wasnt addressed last year was a sign of things to come...a big miss. Based on what Ive seen in the hires not sure we have the right guy hiring the coaches. Unless vintage Bo Jackson and the 2006 UF defense transfer in 5-7 will be the ceiling for next years team at the rate things are going. We can all look the other way but the product you saw on the field the last two years has been the worst in UF football in many decades.
I get wanting to see/her more info.....but ultimately it's more important they get things right. And of course that remains to be seen. But there will be changes to address the problem areas, of that I have no doubt. Will it be enough, million dollar question. But until we see what our own roster will actually look ike, and really what ou opponents rosters look like it's a total unknown. Other than UGA being loaded, and probably Texas....there are a lot of unknowns about our opponents as well.
part of managing a program like Florida is PR/Public Relations. Optics matter. So while star players enter the portal, recruits decommit or go elsewhere, official visits occur without some position coaches on staff/campus to recruit high schoolers and portal players….etc, etc. all the while our two OL coach plan crashes and burns with poor recruiting and poor results with no announced changes, while the special teams analyst responsible for horrible gaffes literally every game still on staff….the fan base - not everyone but alot of them - grow angrier. I see former gator stars tweeting at players who entered the portal and arguments ensue in public forum message boards all over the place are doom and gloom and want to start over again without Napier blogs, reporters, podcasts- media of all forms are questioning “the process” and wondering what is going on since they see nothing going on other than negative things. not only does Billy need to “get things right” but with two losing seasons in a row (not counting Mullens last year) and from outside looking in only negative news coming out…a true leader would know you need to grab ahold of the narrative and whether you want to or not - give your customer base/fan base something to grasp on to. Get optics in your favor however you can. Maybe Billy wants to retain Couch on staff but not on special teams. I wouldn’t. Maybe he doesn’t want to hurt Couches feelings by announcing a firing or demotion. The ineptitude of special teams was so bad there can literally be no one in the world who follows UF football who doesn’t believe Couch should be canned. Billy or a random UF account or leak to some reporter could get word out Couch is gone. And viola! The chatter turns away, however briefly, from the program is a dumpster fire losing games, its best players, etc. to cheers for recognizing that change needed to be made. So while hiring the right coaches is important, controlling the narrative is just as important and optics matter. More so now after losing for two straight years then when he was first hired. I have rambled on too long and lost my train of thought. Lol
Partially true as I would say that the D improved under AA so the DC problem was (apparently) addressed.
Why should we be in such a hurry? We could save some money if we didn't fill those posts until say 2025 or '26.
IMO you are overstating the "optics"....truth be told most UF fans have already moved on from the season. There is a tendency to believe those of us that follow every little aspect are the norm, but we are actually the exception. Also, the narrative changes daily in today's world, Billy makes you feel better this afternoon but there is a different story tomorrow morning that erases that. Rabid fans tend to be their own worst enemy, fanning a flame just to vent serves little purpose other than make them feel better. Napier wil either make the moves/changes necessary to fix the issues in the program or he will be gone. Again, he will make changes. And I don't want him doing things for optics....I want him doing things because they are the right move. None of us have enough info to judge things at this juncture, sitting tight is really the only option.
Agreed, but these next two weeks leading up to ESD is huge for Napier in pushing his narrative. We need to finish strong in recruiting and the new coaching hires/re-assignments will go a long way in how the fanbase feels about the direction of the program.
True, but operative word there is "feels"....which really doesn't go far. Let's be honest, nothing really moves the needle to we play Miami opening week
These are my thoughts as well. We’re in a hole and the only way to get out is to WIN. We don’t have the opportunity to even do that for another 9 months, and our schedule certainly isn’t going to do us any favors. Billy is in a tough spot. It’s going to be hard to get some positive momentum going.
That's true, but at least providing some positive news to keep the pot from boiling over until then is wise. Of course, lose to Miami and it won't matter how much positivity has been generated between now and then.
There will be positive news, and there will be negative news....it's inevitable. Like I say, the news cycle will sweep both away fast.
The problem for UF is not just that there is some negative news, it has been the 7 straight weeks of nothing but negative news.
One little bit of good news, 2 big bits of bad news. One step forward, two steps back. Combined with the fact that a large and very vocal part of our fanbase thrive on the negative news and would prefer to keep that in circulation above all else, it’s a situation that is going to be hard to overcome. If you’ve got the guaranteed fix for it, I’d sure love to see it implemented. It’s a whole lot more than simply wanting to win and spending boatloads of money. TAMU is living, breathing proof of that.
I posts a pretty optimistic post about giving Napier time. And I stand by it. However, I am very discouraged that we fired 2 coaches weeks before ESD and have yet to replace them. Yes, we could be waiting to announce stud NFL coaches that are coming in.. hope and pray… but each day brings NSD closer and hope further away. I do like our recruiting and I still think we will finish strong. I like AA as a coach. And I still want to give BN time to right the ship and build a decent foundation… but he needs to get some good news out there. Name a coach that is coming in. Get some excitement and some hype. DL, DB or OC… he needs to do something to stem the tide of negativity.
I've said it before....this is one of Napier's biggest personality flaws. He calls it patience, but no fanbase has an unlimited supply and he has already run out of a substantial portion of it. Maybe he just doesn't care because his bed is feathered whether lose or win.
You are one of the most level-headed members here and you have always seemed to know a little bit more about actual details regarding some players recruitment. I frequent this forum to kill time and stay engaged with the big 3 Gator sports. I enjoy the dynamic here amongst the different types of fans but there are a handful that I feel offer a bit more of a grounded and knowledgeable perspective, you being one of those. With that said, I have to admit the optics are pretty bad right now and while I get that Napier has to make a good and purposeful move regarding hires, portal, recruiting etc the situation SEEMS to get worse with every day we hear no positive news with current and potential players. My concern is that I gave the benefit of the doubt that a coach Napier as calculated as he is, has a plan. The problem though is that he clearly miscalculated a number of things including coaching staff, portal needs and the urgency to win SOME games now. Not that he doesn't coach to win every game but there are games in a programs history that were critical wins in launching a team's future. Arkansas fsu and to a lesser degree Missouri could have been those games. Urban is guilty of a lot of hyperbole but that fsu win to end 2005 did wonders for the momentum of the program and he says as much. Where is our defining moment at any point to believe we are turning a corner? I would feel a lot better during this period of uncertainty if we weren't hemorrhaging players and recruits with early signing day looming, especially on defense which is an area of critical need. Gator message boards and our own media add to the problem as if it were needed but the Gators are taking shots from everyone at this point. There is no point in adding to the problem with incessant negativity like some here but I gotta say Etienne was a gut punch especially if he ends up at a rival as expected. Not because of his production but because of perception and the fact that it gives a little insight into the vibe of the team while the only positivity we have seen from the inside has come from a pyburn tweet. All that rambling to ask a respected member, how much longer can fans expect to hear anything positive coming from the program?
We’ve had several positive things happen just in the last couple days. They’re just overshadowed. It’s going to be tough to get momentum going back in the other direction.
I'm sorry. I've honestly missed them then. All o have seen is our defections from the program along with rumblings from multiple recruits on top of the already lost positions of need like Johnson, waller, etc. To be clear, I'm not calling to sell our souls like Georgia Bama auburn etc to win at any cost. If we have to do that I'll just step away.
