I hope Gates is great too. He looked like an all around football player. Turner should be a big help on D and the other 2 transfers probably less so. But I could be wrong.
DB’s only 3 ints all year. No pass rush. LB play was not good: especially after Shemar was injured. Our defense, or lack of, was truly a collective effort. We are going to be much better this year. Better coaching and better personnel. CBN has dealt with the problem.
You know he’s seen the film. Why open your mouth if you’re that guy. Coaches can’t help heart, only he can.
Thing is, last year, we really didn’t return much from the year before from an experience standpoint. Most of the 2022 defense was guys who moved on in 2023 (Burney, Dean, Cox, Miller, etc.). The 2023 defense was loaded with guys playing their 1st snaps at the college level, we played a ton of freshmen and quite a few sophomores that didn’t play much previously. Returning production wise, we ranked 91st in the country headed into 2023 (and that included Boone who was immediately injured), this season, that will be significantly higher.
I'm in Napier’s corner although I think this is a year he needs to show significant improvement on the field. I blame him for some of the preseason expectations on defensive improvement last year that we obviously didn't see. He made some comments that got people's hopes up. Typically if a coach heaps praise on a unit in public it's a good thing.
Except that Boone was already out for the season and Sapp was a limited player and then all freshmen after that. No experience to back him up to speak of.
I have been a non-believer regarding the defense. And with good reason, as the defense has played like crap for the last few years! I'm starting to get pumped about the defense. I started this thread with a not-so-serious we all need to be more positive about the defense. Granted, my motive was not 100% pure. I simply felt all this negativity was not beneficial to the football program. Now, I believe the coaching staff has pieces in place to turn this defense around in 2024! The DL looks solid, and the LB Corp too. As a result, I don't see Kentucky gashing us for yards like 2023. Our DB's have more experience. We will definitely see more turnovers by the defense. Well, we ought to, right? Some have said on this forum, they cannot be psyched again, and I get it! Coming in to 2023, I was unsure about the defense. We had a new defensive coordinator, so I was hopeful! My hope was not based upon tangible facts, however; but a mere figurehead. One thing I haven't seen in some time: four quarters of consistent football. And, yet, we were in quite a few games despite that. So, I definitely see better things from the defense this fall.
I yearn for the return of the fierce defense. A Consistent level of excellence and depth at all positions. A stellar offense is exciting but there's nothing like watching a Florida defense crush the life out of a good team from the first snap to the last.
I think objectively, we should be better at D in 2024 - can't really get worse. Yes, we played some young guys in 2023 and that's never a great thing, but I didn't see 2nd year bumps from anyone, and even 3rd year Marshall (who was preseason ALL SEC) regressed. I don't think we have the top-end talent on the roster outside of the upcoming sophomores, hence why my optimism is anchored to the 2nd year bump of that class. I am not assessing things as "will we improve on D in 2024"....I think the answer is a clear "yes". I am assessing things more from the standpoint of: when will be relevant again and be bonafide contenders? I think we are extremely far from that level in today's SEC....and my opinion is that it's due to player development and coaching.
We had a stellar defense with horrific offenses under muschamp and maclwein followed by the converse with Mullen and a solid offense with the same horrific defense with Napier. I'd love a great defense again but all I want Is recognizable quality football on both sides of the ball. If we had just a middling offense under the first two or a decent defense with the last two florida would have been a top 10 team every year.
