Napier Monday Presser in few minutes

been going to games since I was kid in The 1970s. 300+ games I have attended. an undergrad and masters from the university of Florida

given a ton of money to name, image and likeness.

I have had two dogs named five wide

I dropped everything and flew to Omaha this summer

I gave up my season tickets last year because I knew where this was going

I completely skipped the game, didn’t watch it on TV, for the first time in nearly 40+ years

I’m tired of wasting Saturdays. Let’s hope for better things with the new coach. Onward.

 

Even cops and meter maids?




(I know...lame n cheesy... pardon... think I'll just excuse myself and brew pour myself a late afternoon coffee...)

 

Well, they could maybe, just maybe, not call a run play into a nine man box. Maybe not ask a receiving TE to block the other team’s best DE. Maybe they will spread the field and try to simplify the assignments of the OL. His playcalling most of the time doesn’t help his players look better, but exacerbates their weaknesses. Add in predictable playcalling and slow-developing plays, and we have the current offensive mess.

Billy’s desired offense doesn’t have the horses to work, and even had issues working when he had the horses in his last stop. Yet he still plows ahead and says trust the process, we just need better execution, etc. His offense is like using a flip phone while the rest of the world uses smart phones.

 

Nor do you have any way of knowing things will be better if he is fired right away. And I believe you are wrong

Unless the interim coach immediately finds five quality, ready to play Ol and DL, I don't see anything changing this season. And that isn't going to happen.

But back to your original point: history can be useful, which is why I take the position that I do.

When we fired Zook, we let him complete the season and he did his job. He went 3-1, losing only to the Mutts. He beat Vandy, USC, and the Holes, forever giving us Ron Zook field. And he continued recruiting, which helped us to our Natty's under Meyer. Zook did right by us.

After we fired Chump, his team went 2-1. Wins against East Kentucky, East Carolina (total creampuffs) but lost to FSU. PFFT... He didn't help recruit, not that he ever could recruit anything other than players on D. Chaos all around, as Chump didn't give a crap.

After we fired Mac, we went 1-3, he bailed on us, and we lost what was once the top rated recruiting class in the nation. Can't remember the name of our RB coach then with south florida ties, but we were killing it in recruiting and Duh U was freaking out. All for naught. Bad decision on our part.

As for lazy ass Mullen, we went 0-2 after he was fired, losing to instate rivals Half ass U and UCF. And of course, Mullen did nothing to continue to help us and now puts the breath on us on ESPN.

While Napier is clearly not cut out to win in the SEC, he strikes me as an honorable guy who will do his job to the best of his ability as long as we let him.

So... tell me again your case for running the coach off early in the season?

 

Dead Man TALKING.

 

"They (Florida) are a really talented team on both sides of the ball," Lebby said. "They have struggled, and we have too, but it is a football team that has a bunch of talent."

How does MSU Coach Lebby say this with a straight face?

 

Tough to answer. It could be that administration decides to let him continue to fail, which makes he and the program a spectacle and appear UF is not ready to rescue the program. It could be they just don't want to let the guy continue to harm the program by coaching and losing, even if they do not have any real candidates. They could promote an assistant to interim and know they have some time to conduct a search. No telling. But whatever happens this season, it doesn't mean our admin is ahead or behind. We won't know, but there will be plenty of rumor and speculation.

IF there is an assistant who can actually run and coordinate the program so that we win some games, I would say can him and begin to restore the program and players so they know change is coming. But I also like the idea of him facing the media after every loss and having to answer difficult questions.

 

You know these coaches. They say things. We were told with a straight face these past two preseasons that we were going to be really good.

 

Not saying we need an interim… yet, but each situation is different. After the death threats thing There was no way Mac could finish that season out and iirc the recruiting class he had was mostly early volume more than quality. Mullen basically wasn’t doing anything at that point anyhow so him leaving didn’t really matter and we beat fsu that year

 

Yeah, you are so right.

He should have said we are going to beat brakes off the Gators and will rupture all of their spleens.

Work for you?

 

I mean we beat FSU so that's not correct.

Regardless, I fail to see how you can look at the product on the field and draw a parallel to any of those previous situations. Literally the only thing the Gators are competent at is special teams. That's IT.
With or without BN we're looking at 1 or 2 more wins at most. And so what if we somehow smash expectations and win 3 more games with him? What does that achieve, exactly? Is that worth the optics of fans continuing to chant "Fire Napier" at the stadium and on TV, and players liking tweets calling for him to be fired? Is it worth the continued loss of faith in the administration, and the message that mediocrity (hell, I'd kill for even that right now) is accepted?

Hell, maybe Calloway takes the offensive play-calling completely without Billy in his ear, and we show some fight on that side of the ball. You may disagree, but to me that's more likely than improvement under Napier 3 years in when we look worse than when he took over.

 

The poster I was replying to was saying that firing Billy and having an interim wouldn't change anything. I was disagreeing. I think you actually agree with me?

 

Easily. Just look at MSU's roster vs ours. I forgot he'd been hired there, we'll be facing Lane's OC this weekend.

 

Not really, we were soaked at the game. Either way, one is left wet and crabby!

 

Yep, Vince Dooley was a master at that. He made the Richmond Spiders sound like a lock for the super bowl.

 

Fall Festivals, here I come!!

 

I mowed our lawn and periodically checked on the game; after a few minutes, I resumed mowing our lawn. I chose the best use of my time Saturday afternoon.

 

they announced weeks ago that Fuchs as interim has all the power that full time president has. So he CAN fire SS if he decides to. Might not be willing but he can.

also, the board of trustees can also pull rank and fire them all.

 

So frustrating to see ex-Gator transfers doing well at other schools. At this rate, McClellan will finish the season with 10+ sacks…I know this is very unlikely but still…

 

to your first point….
Greg Knox! lol.

I agree with you. While we cannot sign 5 new OL today regardless who is coach…but….getting rid of Napier can at least MAYBE help us in other ways….

These are all hypotheticals but COULD - not definitely - but could help get us some wins…


Make anyone on staff not a Napier loyalist the interim HC. Maybe Gonzales with his many years as a gator assistant. Or Mike Peterson a gator player. Pick someone then…


1) Calloway becomes play caller and installs some of the concepts he used at his prior offense at Samford- the air raid. This can help by changing up the route trees (which are middle school level right now) along with gets the ball out faster…helping the o line.

2) Send Sale packing with Napier. New HC tells the 1 OL coach left, play Manuel at RT. He’s the second best tackle. If Decoster thinks other guards can play over current guards, play them. Inserting Manuel at RT (which he played some at Arkansas) is an instant upgrade.

3) fire one of Armstrong or Roberts. Two voices as head of the defense is a problem. Two chefs probably causing confusion. Rumblings from booster insiders claim that someone - they wouldn’t say who of these but one of Napier, Roberts, and Armstrong is holding the d line back based on philosophy of rushing the passer. (not Chatman or the actual talent). They prefer a more reactive vs aggressive scheme. Changing these could help.

4) with the promotion of an assistant to interim and the firing of one or more assistants, some analysts get promoted to on field roles. Some options…
- Doecker to WR coach if Gonzales is interim
- Houston to on field special teams coach
- O’Hara to on field qb coach
- several defensive analysts for a role on defense if Peterson is promoted or a DC canned


Do these changes mean improvement? Maybe not. But damn, it is worth a shot to see if anything can change. Players are in a worse situation not knowing what is going on with coaches future and as you said, hearing boos and getting asked questions about Napiers job security …not fair to the players. Rip the band aid off and go for broke. Based on our on field play we don’t look capable of winning any more games as it stands now.

Bye weeks allow for time to make changes and implement some changes to make a difference. Case in point….Arkansas fired their OC before playing UF last year during their bye week. Had a 30 year old WR coach revert to the offense ran the prior year - he never called plays before. And they come into the swamp - struggling - and the new offense and OC scores 36 and betas UF.

may be able,to surprise a team or two or three with changes, we know Napier will continue to not change anything in his offense or defense. That is what the data suggests he is. Doesn’t adjust.

with the transfer portal and NIL- holding a recruiting class or a roster together is not the same as it was when Zook, Muschamp, and Mac were fired. Have NIL money…they will come. That is the way it works now.

give the players a better chance to win by changing things in the bye week. Win or lose at Miss State Napier should be let go then (aggies fired Jimbo a day after a 51-13 win so no big deal to fire a coach after a win).

My two cents.