Not a bad take at all...IF we are bringing in better talent. And I don't necessarily mean talent that will manifest in 2-3 years. Napier needs it NOW. Another round of "we are young, it takes time" looks rather job-securityesque and not program building. I look towards a BIG jump in O-line talent and one less coach (and I mean one coach and not one of the ones we have). Not sure about any more help on the D-line.
Seven ships open and probably a few more will leave. There’s a lot of room for portal players to fill. I’ll wait to see who fills those spots until I get too worried.
They went to winning programs. Others just for cash. That’s the two biggest factors. We aren’t winning the most games nor spending stupid cash. Pretty easy to understand. Why would we overpay for ETN with our backfield and the holes in our roster. It seems like a logical decision to me to let him go rather than overpay. Cash is better spent elsewhere. Also if a player flips like X for big cash, he will likely do it later and be a rental every year .
W e are definitely still going when you look at hs guys that Napier recruited. It is year three coming up though and Shemar small class will be in year three. I’m not sure how many of those guys will be a factor next year but that’s his first year three group. The third year is when a class starts to show its worth. Portal help is needed bigtime especially as Mullen’s classes aren’t any help. The few veterans that were playing and transferred out hurts for sure but 25 should be what we are building for. I get it tgat we need some momentum in 24 but hope this portal haul will be heavier on guys with two years remaining and at least a little trust in guys sticking it out. If Napier has the feeling they are just one year rentals and will be back in the portal, look elsewhere. For instance, if I were a coach and saw the future with ETN, I wouldn’t touch him with a 10 foot pole.
College football is now strictly business. Who just sticks with a job out of loyalty if there's a better job with better pay stuck right in your face? Businessmen don't sing alma maters, they say, "Show me the money." College football, they used to say, builds character. Now it builds businessmen, because that's the nature of... the business.
What about the portal players who come to UF? Are they douchebags, too, for leaving their schools or is it just the Gators who leave who fit that description?
Most of the Gators woes were due to a lack of game time and team building experience on the O and D line an in the defensive backs. This issue leads to poor execution more often than not. This explains the busted plays and missed assignments that we saw in the past two seasons. Normally on a team, you have to have a lot of players who have two to three years of experience per player and as being teammates to produce a consistency of well executed plays on offense and defense. In the 2022 and 2023 seasons, UF was lucky to have at the most, a few players with two years of experience per player and as teammates. In other words, We had a lot of Sophomores with one year of experience and some Portal transfer with one or more years of experience but with another team. There was too much inconsistency in individual performances and as a team. How did this happen? Well a losing season before Napier was hired, the portal transfers out (before Napier and after his first year), and a rebuild after Mullen, were the factors. Fortunately, the turnover via the portal at the end of the 2023 season, only made a small dent in the O and D linemen, and the D backs. In the 2024 season the Gators will have a decent mix of players with two years of experience and playing together as teammates.
Just the ones who leave, duh. We’ve been over this. We’re fan(atic)s. Most of the reasons we hate our rivals are hypocritical. Why would you expect this to be any different?
Why? He is a one year rental that is going to the league after his Jr. year anyway and he might help you and will certainly hurt your #1 rival. Seems to make perfect sense to me.
This didn't age well. 3 points in their bowl game without those players. One change is needed, those players that opt out for any reason not an injury, should lose any NFL bonus money they receive in which it is given back to their school. Or said school that takes them, pays the other school any NIL money they make. There needs to be a penalty for any player that opts out, and I think money would talk. If the new team knows they would have to pay some sort of a fee, they might take a hard look. Maybe some sort of ranking system; the higher the player rank, the bigger the fee the new school has to pay for their services with that money going to the former school.
