**The end is not near, for Billy Napier at Florida**

We have a lot of athletic talent on the DL, but it isn't coming together and won't with this staff.
Do you remember Greenard and Zuniga being able to get pressure on the qb plus crash down on rb? Zuniga was a master at that against rb. Miami ran between the guards repeatedly on 1st and 2nd down and our edges did not crash down on their rb one time in that game. Anybody who has every seen Miami games under Cristobal knew that running between the guards was going to happen (and Mario would die on that hill if he had to as a former OL). Of course, the DT get worn down after stalemating for 3 seconds turned into tush push for 7 to 8 yards in the second half. The coaching staff just has made things hard on our players, e.g. making Uman someone who had to drop back to cover, so they could send a delayed S blitz. I wish a long break could change things, but I don't see it.

 

Tenn #1 scoring offense, #2 scoring defense. We are going to get throttled.

OT but miami #2 scoring offense with 49.4ppg. They ONLY scored 41 on us.

 

Interesting. It would also be an interesting problem to have.

when I first read your post I took it to read we won 8 games in the regular season. That, I think I would be leaning to keeping Napier. 7-5 regular season….we beat UCF, UK, FSU, Ole Miss and LSU? Trickier. But even me, who has wanted him gone since last year…I may keep him. Bowl game wouldn’t matter too much as the decision would have to be made before that.

With no can’t miss coach in the pipeline….i guess I’d be ok seeing what happens next year. This also gives time for a new president to be hired, new AD, smaller buyout, retain Lagway, maybe go all in with the transfer portal for elite players for a run with Lagway, and maybe get a larger pool of good coaching candidates if we bomb in 2025.

don’t see 7-5 happening but I would love to cheer on some victories.

 

The decision is already made, they just haven’t told him if you ask me. Even if his record improves, I don’t see where we keep him. Especially when fans are seeing what we are seeing.

To me, it seems like he’s had this big plan to implement and the reason it is taking so long is he is unable to multi-task. It’s like he lets the whole season happen, and then evaluates it. Has no idea the ST is an issue until the season ends…..then he spends all his time fixing that and let’s something falter. Rinse wash repeat. “Next year” is when he’ll worry about an OC because last year he had to focus on getting a DC…..and the year before as well. Zero sense of urgency on the field, zero sense of urgency on turning the program around.

 

Yeah, not looking forward to the Tennessee game. Their defensive line is really good and is going to give us fits.

 

I'm in here in Graceland and watched EP's old concert where he sang, "and now the end is near and so I face the final curtain."
The song reminded me about the OP regarding CBN. Lol

 

Not that funny honestly. Hope Billy can pull it out. He is a great dude and is doing the right thing for the players by helping them plan a future after football. I’m ok with that. The chances of winning the championship even with a Saban is almost zero. All this firing talk is crippling this program.
Our fans act like there are a boat load of coaches that want to come here . There isn’t. Brando said it best..”Florida is a toxic fanbase “

 

You could say every fan base is “toxic”. Fans are the same everywhere. Do you expect everyone to just say we are great and everything is roses when we are getting our ass handed to us?

 

The fan base expects better than to lose a zillion games in a row...I dont think fans are to blame when Mac, Muschamp, Mullen and oh lord BN gave them a myriad of reasons for complaining. Many of our fans came into the season more than patiently supporting a coach who had lost his last 11 season ending games in a row. Show me any top program which would have supportive fans in that scenario. BN has been afforded much more fan patience than he deserved and the others were flatly the wrong guys for the job. UF is a great program with great resources which deserves to at least be top 15 most years and if we aren't there I wouldn't point my finger at a toxic fan base Id point it at the underperforming product on the field and those responsible for that product.

 

I don’t think we give an assistant a raise to be interim but I could be wrong. And we aren’t going external unless it’s like SOS for a game.

 

Back door conversations won’t exist until you fire given they all share an agent. Meaning you can’t ask Sexton about Kiffin because Sexton reps Napier.

So firing now opens up more options.

That being said in the grand scheme of things it’s likely not a big difference either way.

The risk is your upside case. If somehow we sneak 5 wins will people want to keep him? That’s a true downside risk and why firing him early helps….but then again maybe we catch fire and win 8?

 

Almost every big time program complains about coaching when they don't win as often as they'd like--which is pretty much all the time. I simply don't see anything unique about our fanbase in comparison to everyone else. Bama cycled through coaches until finding the right one. Tennessee cycled through coaches until finding the right one. Georgia pushed out one of their all time winningest coaches because he didn't win quite enough. LSU fired two coaches this decade with national championships. Ryan Day has a ridiculous record but will catch unending heat if he can't beat Michigan this year. FSU fans were on top of the world less than a year ago but are openly asking how much Norvell's buyout is, and that's after firing his predecessor after only 18 months on the job. Auburn is doing the exact same thing after firing Harsin after 18 months and Freeze fizzling this year. So if we're toxic, then so is just about everyone else. It's kind of the nature of big time football.

 

the Florida fan base is so toxic it continues to sell out games even though the product on the field is horrible. What toxic fan base continues to show up to games with sell outs? None.

Fans are rightfully mad at the product- the coaching really- that they have had to endure with the last several coaches. That is in the UF administration not the fan base. We don’t get to hire the coaches.

 

The old “The fan base is the problem” line is getting so old. Any program with a history of success is going to react to failure exactly the same as we have. The failures on the field have absolutely nothing to do with us.

 

Nebraska fans are not toxic. I went to games there when they stunk the past three years.

The Nebraska home fans, give a standing ovation to the visiting team every single game at the end

A lot that could be learned from them

I could name more, but I don’t think I’m gonna change anyone’s mind

 

It just means more…

 

"Florida is a toxic fanbase" Apparently you don't get around much. Here's some fanbase's for you, fsu, um, lsu, auburn, ut, uk... They despise losing as do we. Florida fans don't tolerate going backwards once mountain tops have been reached. It's fair to say generally speaking fans know if a coach has it or not within two to three years. Coaches are brought in to win, participation trophies are for Kent State and the Sisters of the Blind.
I am fully aware when SOS left feeling UF fans were not satisfied with winning seasons of 9 or 10 wins. The thing is he had been at UF for a long while and I'm guessing he was a hot commodity for the NFL and wanted to try his brand of football with the Pros. Heck, LSU coach won the NC and year later got the boot. Fans are passionate about their football especially in the south, it just means more.
Hope this doesn't come off too snarky, your post are usually right on.

 

What the heck does a toxic fanbase have to do with anything. These coaches are paid generational money to win now! Do you really think that they care about the toxic fanbase? C’mon man!

 

I'm not sure either, but, seems logical.

 

Fans. Alcohol. Testosterone. Competition.

WCGW?