Orlando Sentinel: UF AD Scott Stricklin Insists Billy Napier Is Not On Hot Seat

Which coaches of major P5 programs have become league champions after the first two years were poor? What about after three?

Your point is if you fire a Mullen you may get a Napier.

I agree.

But that’s not what matters.

What matters is it more like Napier becomes a Meyer or you find a Meyer?

 

I totally agree with your post. I don't understand how Texas and Ohio State are doing it in both recruiting classes and the portal. Why are the Gators not going after the best of the best??? We appear to not be willing to commit to the new reality; I guess?

 

I believe (based of what I see from a distance) that we are making a bet that the NIL situation will implode and things will return to "normal."

One thing I've learned in life is to expect the unexpected. What if it doesn't? Are all of us willing to
live in the new normal of an uncompetitive football and basketball program?

 

Why not? Is it $$$? Or is it the reluctance to spend the $$$? Florida doesn't have Texas' inexhaustible resources, but we aren't poor, either...

 

I think we're going after the best of the best, but either we can't come up with enough NIL money or they would rather play somewhere else - like at a place that hasn't had 2 losing seasons in a row.

 

Obviously, look west. Norvell was almost fired after year two but they kept him and he has the program going strong. At least he keeps winning against his schedule. Which will keep him employed in the capital city.

Unless FSU decides to leave the ACC and risk the SEC. They may go to the Big Ten (or whatever they end up with.

There are a whole list of people who have been bad for two years and then righted the ship.

 

Norvell's turn around has to do with two things, IMO.
1. An ACC schedule, like you said.
2. He has killed it in the transfer portal. He got a bunch of guys who were studs and upgraded the team immediately in several key spots.

The Gators have 2 things going against Napier showing success in year 3:
1. Our schedule is brutal - maybe the toughest in D1.
2. He's been very average in the portal. Last year #16, I think; right now for this year we're #39.

 

He’s been doing a great job in the portal. Portal “rankings” are ridiculous. It’s not about numbers; it’s about needs; and Coach Napier is doing a great job bringing in players via the portal who will meet needs.

 

And that’s what we all want to happen here. Like Norvell in 2022, it’s sink-or-swim time for Napier; I assure you, Norvell was not about to get a fourth season if he turned in another like the previous two. Unlike Norvell, Napier doesn’t even need to win 11 games in 2024. But he does need to win seven.

 

ACC schedule and crushed the portal. We have neither luxury.

 

You have me at loss if you don’t think of the 2022 and 2023 seasons as disastrous. The terms disaster and rebuilding are neither mutually exclusive nor joined at the hip. UF has had a goodly number of “rebuilding” seasons since 2002, and none of them were as bad as the first two under Napier. Even rebuilding, he should have led the team to victories over Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and at least once over Kentucky. Dude, it was bad performance. And coaching decisions had more to do with it than talent in my opinion. If he keeps coaching in 2024 and beyond the way he has the last two years, then frankly it won’t matter if he improves the talent modestly. And with the performance recruits have seen on the field, modest improvement in recruiting is all we can really expect. If we truly are rebuilding, then let’s see some rebuilding. Because I haven’t yet.

 

UF does not have the boosters and that support NIL like some other schools imo. You say “we appear”, but “we” is really only a handful of people. Not enough want to be part of that “we”. Imo.

 

It's not the schedule. Norvell's schedule didn't get easier than it was through FSUs four losing seasons.

He DID do wonders in the Portal.

This year, our schedule IS brutal. Potentially tougher than 2003.

And yes, BN has not been tearing up the Portal. We're lagging behind for a variety of reasons. Billy's not blame for it all, but he's responsible for a lot of it.

 

Good post - thanks!

 

Fascinating how people can “dislike” a post like this

 

This is fine. I would only say that folks' definition of "success" and "progress" is different. At say a Kentucky, taking 4 years to achieve 6 wins and a bowl is fine for football, whereas missing the tourney for three straight years in basketball is not. So, who is incorrect?

Since this is a UF forum and football, I would only say that progress is pretty damn organic. I don't think anyone would call the end of Year 2 as a sign of progress. Now, since then I can say it does feel that way. And as a result, cautiously optimistic...IF we finally have enough mature bodies and quality coaching (TBD). But then there is that "Kentucky basketball" thingy hanging around. Some folks think Year 3 is tantamount to a trip to Atlanta. That one is going to be a tough sell. It is what it is.

 

All correct, with one definite addition:

he signed a very meh QB in Travis and in Year 1 he was. He developed into a damn good college QB. He WAS the reason they won our game in 2022. Otherwise...

 

Tthe biggest advantage rivals have had over us in the last 10 years is our instability in coaching. So it stands to reason that now that we finally have a two coaches that can bring in top talent in both sports through the high school ranks and through the portal that the haters are going to try to vilify Napier and Golden and place them in a precarious position.

We have to avoid allowing outsiders to dictate how we run our programs and we also have to be mindful and aware of the positive growth both the football and basketball programs have shown under the new coaching leadership.

Screw what the naysayer say. Let’s stick with Napier and Golden through all kinds of weather, and we’ll see the resurgence of both programs in the next 2 to 3 years.

 

This is plainly called "blind loyalty." Good for you.


Um, once your brain is turned on in some way, you really can't unturn it off. You can't "unsee" what you saw. If you want to claim the "patience" card, then what you are saying is "I have not reached MY limit" and that is fine. Just that others have seen this movie and believe it will have the same ending. Question, what happens in the future when your limit is reached on any one of your coaches but someone else has not, and posted what you have here? Are you going to remember that you are not THE person in charge and so you begrudgingly accept "waiting a bit longer", or are you going to grouse about the wailings of the "unicorns and rainbows crowd"? And I would be remiss if I did not post...again...that your model is exactly what we did with Mike White. All it did...in his rendition...was to make shinier his ceiling, at least at UF.