Fixing Florida

The problem Florida has it that they are just not recruiting at a high enough level.
Blue Chip (4&5*) signees in the SEC in 2024 Class
29 - UGA
28 - Bama
25 - Texas
24 - A&M
23 - LSU, OK
19 - OM
17 - UT, UF
16 - AU
14 - SC
12 - UK
11 - MZ
10 - Ark
3 - Vandy

That is a huge talent discrepancy. UT and UF are closer in talent acquisition to Arky's level than to UGA/Bama's level.

 

Kirby looked pretty dumb too calling that fake against Bama but as he out talented the pack, he’s looked a lot better. Hopefully we aren’t at such a talent deficit as we’ve been in the recent past.

 

We do not. Since Meyer, it was clear that under those coaches we were not going to compete. We fired no coach "too soon".

Will be great if he turns it around Doc. I'm not sure what that measure is, thinking staff doesn't lose a game for their players and we end up with 7 wins. 5 of our first 7 is realistic I believe.

 

Thanks for the getting this info together.

But you are not looking at team that is built on recruiting classes over a five season period, with two different HBC's.

Napier is recruiting at a high level. If he continues at this level, in another season or two, he will be in close competition in recruiting with the likes of Bama, and UGA.

Please note the following:

• The recruiting classes that make up the current Gator team are mostly from the 2024, 2023, 2022, and the 2021 signee classes.
• Dan Mullen recruited all of 2021 and some of the 2022 class. Also there some Mullen pre 2021 classes (who are now redshirts).
• Napier signed the last three classes (2024,2023, and some of the 2022 class.
• Napier was dealing with a dumpster fire when it came to recruiting the 2022 class. Some of Mullen's committed recruits bailed before signing day. Also, the majority of the multi star recruits were not going to give UF a sniff under those conditions.
• Prior to January of 2023, many out of state colleges had an advantage with the Portal. That situation changed when the State of Florida changed the laws that regulated the Portal activity in the state. In this situation UF was never going to get many of the 3, 4, 5 star players.
• The 2022 season on the field was not spectacular. However, Napper's 2023 signing class (including Portal In-Transfers) was a respectable 12th or 13th ranking. Also that class had at least 18 four/five star players and the rest were three star players. This is not floor sweepings.
• 2023 season performances and records did not earn UF a lot of attention from multi star players. However, Napier pulled in another good recruiting class. That class has about 18 four/five star players and about 3 three star players.

 

My post was this years class only. UGA and Bama are doing the same thing every year so the gap is actually widening considerably. UT and UF are getting further away from matching the top tier teams, not closer.

 

Bama and Georgia have been doing that for a long time. We are actually recruiting better in closing the gap. We are still clearly behind, but we were much worse before

 

He better win at least 5 of the first 7…we know he hasn’t won an end of year game in the last two years (0-8) and has managed to pull defeat from the jaws of victory several times.

 

That "lap dance" was where both participants had their clothes on... hardly a legal crime. This was more about morality and a good reason to fire him than anything else. The owner was looking for another reason to fire Meyer and he got it. Don't mess around with other woman when you are married and representing the owner's football team.

 

It's hard to really judge because there's no one person to blame. Mullen was basically saying it was lack of administrative support without explicitly saying it.

I don't think that explains Mullen's dip in recruiting. I think he honestly felt the wheels coming off and he let go of the rope.

But I think the ceiling for this program since Urban has been lower than most fans have expected due to the issues Mullen stated. That said, every single coach Florida has fired from Muschamp on has had GLARING issues. And Napier looks like he has a tougher road ahead of him than his predecessors. Call that whatever you want. Bad luck, bad judgment, not enough time, etc. None of it matters. Muschamp, McElwain, and Mullen (after that 2021 season) were not going to build a long-term sustainable machine for Florida no matter how much time you gave any of them.

The bad news for Napier is that it's hard to see how he'll do it based on the current situation. The good news is all he may need is a spark and a little momentum.

 

Pretty much

 

1) Meyer left us
2) Muschamp didn't have a mediocre offense for almost 4 years, he had an abysmal one that would never yield long-term success.
3) McElwain showed a little offense early, and maintained solid defense with quality players early on... but never finished a good signing class by Florida standards and seemed to but heads with the administration.
4) Mullen looked like he had the tools to put it all together his first three seasons in my opinion. His flaws just reared their ugly heads in that 2021 season. And once he felt momentum was slipping, it just looked like he quit. And when that happens, there's no coming back.
5) Billy is tough to judge because he's the first CEO-type coach we've had since Meyer. He's probably had more administrative support than any coach since at least Meyer, but he's also had by far the worst luck of any coach since Meyer and walked into by far the worst roster situation of any of the other coaches. On one hand, I completely understand if he's on the hot seat, on the other, I'm not sure our situation gets a whole lot better in 2025 even if we change the man at the top.

Not arguing. Just expressing my thoughts. I think Mullen has a point, but I definitely don't think it's just been an angry mob for the last 15 years being trigger happy at the first sign of trouble either.

 

Bad hires, hubris and laziness oh my. Mac wanted to build a sauce empire and Mullen wanted to vaycay. Don’t deal with staff issues. Either all in or not. DM also has seriously crazy eyes. Haha

I don’t pine for any of our exes.

Next man up. How is spring ball going!

 

And that apparently is the only way you are able to look at our program. Sucks to be you

 

What? The realistic way? If there’s a better way, then I’m listening. Napier was hired to win ballgames, period. The how, to a certain extent, is up to him. The end state, though, is winning, not having good intentions. The point of friction here is how many seasons he gets to start showing results, and the answer is not “as many as it takes.” I say, again, if we’re not showing actual progress after three seasons, then it’s time to cut bait. I’ll ask you a direct question — which I’ll be surprised if you answer, because no one seems to want to be pinned down — how many losing seasons do would it take for you to lose faith in Napier?

 

Smartest man in room Mullen, and he IS a GREAT offensive coach with Xs and Os (far, FAR better than our Billy) was arrogant to the max. So arrogant and full of himself that he thought he could recruit the easy, low hanging fruit and coach 'em up to win games.

That is exactly what went on during his tenure. And when the inherited talent ran out, his system was exposed, and he quit. That is as simple as that.

 

So sick and tired of your shitty narrative on our team. You’re poison to this board

 

Well, sorry, I’m not going anywhere. I hope we have some positive things happen here in a few months. Then neither one of us will have a problem. But I notice that you, as predicted, did not answer my direct question.