Hightop did an interview with Wiggins, holy miss Molly did Billy land an outstanding young man!! He was incredibly well spoken & put academics over everything! Also said he's recruiting for this class but wouldn't name names lol.
I was like this kid is only a JR in HS & he's this smart & focused! How many kids in the past mentioned UF academics, only to sign with some ESE poverty program. Wiggins actually means it imho!
Fact! This is why the heat needs to be turned down on Billy, him landing guys like Wiggins will have UF back!!
I think we have had guys here and there that were similar in the recent past but the difference is they didn't have enough help. For example, I would love to see what Dexter could have done with some more support on the field (and on the sideline) as well as a handful of others like Elam, Miller, etc. Seems like we have a chance to have more standouts and depth going forward which helps each other excel. I have my complaints about Napier and the results so far but not to the point that we uproot whatever progress we have made and there has been progress regardless of what some of our resident whiners say. Now the coaching and roster improvements do have to put up better results going forward.....that is true.
Man we definitely agree on Dexter/etc. Imagine him on an Urban DL. But I feel if Napier gets the boot prematurely, and he ends up at a place that'll support him it'd make UF look reeeaaalllyyy bad.
Many of us agree with you Antny. On the surface UF has made significant roster turnover. Does that mean improvement? I will wait and reserve judgement based on the product on the field. I hope so, I don't enjoy coaching changes very much. Pulling for Napier to turn things around in 24.
This is silly! The man has been given everything he has asked for. He has new facilities, housing has been upgraded and he got to hire the army of staff he asked for. He hand picked his coaches. What kind of support is he lacking? What is lacking is results from his end. He has had 2 years to turn the ship, this coming year is critical to produce wins. He has to defend the swamp, no losses at home. He has to steal 2 more wins on the road and go 7-5. That will show progress and earn him a 4th year. Being a great recruiter means nothing if you aren't winning games.
Is it "silly", really? When hired what words did Billy Napier speak to Gator Nation... were they something in the effect of "be patient, this will be a long rebuild". And what have our fanbase done.... put him on the hot seat year #2 trying to fix a roster Mullen left totally void. He's getting so much "support" that rival coaches are using Gator social media sites against him. So much "support" that the NIL collective is under ncaa investigation, even though it's disbanded. So much "support" that Podcaster's & youtubers are covering stories where UF may fire CBN for "cause" to get out of his buyout..... please spare me the BS He's getting a 100% buy in. What's silly is he told us HIMSELF this wasn't going to be easy, yet here we are writing ridiculous posts about hot seats & support after only a 2nd season...
I've said this many times before but it bears repeating: Fans will be patient with a rebuild when they see progress and not regression. Billy's on-field results that were primarily correctable issues and issues that stemmed from an unprepared/poorly conditioned team which were still present (and arguably worse in some cases) after year 2 are the main reasons fans are angry. It seems he's acknowledged and addressed some of these issues with the S&C and defensive hires. If we still see an unprepared team making errors you shouldn't see in highschool games, bad STs, and poor clock management/ play calling that kills offensive drives in year 3, it will probably be a good indicator as to how his overall tenure will go here. I'm hoping we see improvement that results from a more mature team and the staff changes.
I'd say 4 TFR making SEC All American teams as a sign towards progression. Was this past season ugly, no question, no arguments. Billy also didn't inherent minor problems either, as a Gator fan it sucks. It's a hard pill to swallow admitting this team was extremely below the bar for UF standards. Now that the season is over what was happening with CR, Chaos, & Bateman was REALLY bad and had to affected the entire culture during the season. Yes Billy hired them so ultimately the responsibility is at his feet, but he also didn't keep them around like our past HCs would have done. All we have is hope, he trying to correct multiple mistakes & we can only hope it works. If you haven't seen it I posted a Hightop video of Barber interview you should watch, it's in the OL thread. There's also a video of our new recruit Wiggins that's a must see, also by Hightop. That Wiggins interview should pump a lot of sunshine as that kid is EXACTLY what a UF student athlete embodies. Have faith, In All Kinds Of Weather my friend!
Any person who gets angry about sports is the problem. An angsty fan who is worried about others being angry needs to get a grip. Expect to see improvement in all areas without worry or anger.
Bama had coaching turnover for what, two decades. That shit isn’t easy. It’s one thing to take over a good roster and keep it going. It’s totally another to build a team from tge ground up. I’m pulling for Napier to get it going because if a change has to come in the future, it’s just going to be that much longer.
I’m still not having high hopes for this year. Yes, I think we are making progress and going in the right direction. Napier replaced coaches that weren’t getting it done. Will the new guys be the right guys, who knows. What I see as a problem is that we will still be very young and young teams make mistakes. It almost always holds true. I’m trying not to expect too much and I believe that hiding hopes for 9 wins is crazyness. Offensive line is the hardest thing to get right and it takes experience as well as talent. This will be a line without much time together and a work in progress. They may be average talent wise but not much exp playing together.
