The difference i see is that CBN has been able to recruit in spite of the losing seasons he inherited and his own losing seasons. Still brought in cornerstone franchise pieces, but there was no legitimate talk of a "dead man walking" lame duck coach. This season there is. Either way you're right that it is what it is right now.
BN was asked about this in his Monday presser and acknowledged how it has made recruiting more difficult.
He inherited the one losing season that immediately preceded him, unless you are also considering Mac's last year in 2017 and the last two Muschamp seasons a decade ago to be part of that. I though Napier had done pretty well recruiting in general. Maybe not as great as most of us hoped, but the talent seemed to improve every year, and he's signed what looks to be a few superstars in the making. But we also lost several high profile commits right before Early Signing Day last season, turning what could have been a great class into a good one. Again, dropping your last five games couldn't have helped.
I actually commented on this before but the only player we lost that was highly rated was Filsaime and he even dropped 60 spots before signing day. We filled those spots with players that were as good or better. At DB we Lost filsaime, and ward but picked up Turner, bridges, Grimsley, Cormani etc. At linebacker we lost Adarius Hayes but picked up Pup Howard in his place. We lost Williams and Johnson on the Dline but DeAndre Robinson George Gumbs Jr. And Brien Taylor and of course added #1 Dlineman LJ Mcray so that also helped. At WR we lost Izaiah Williams but added Elijah Badger and Chimere Dike in the portal. IMO Those perceived recruit losses look bad if you don't look at who filled their place. We filled them with talent and experience, Turner, Howard and bridges all had experience, Grimsley and Cormani both were at one point or another considered 5 star DB'S (cormani being #1cb) Also added Jason Zandamela who was a 5 star OL. Grimsley and Zandamela were technically transfers but only because they enrolled early and participated in spring practice. Both are freshman.
If our AD is to be believed, Which is debatable, the coffers are going to open back up. It's not good strategy to ruin the class for the next guy, even if you're firing him at the end of the year. We need to keep the paychecks rolling if they want to fire or go for it but don't quit paying your employees.
Dike and Badger as well as others won't be here. Losing young talent hurts if you can't replicate portal success year to year. All of this sucks though. Having to recruit your own team every year as well as recruits and portal just seems exhausting for coaches. For older get off my lawn fans like myself it's hard to care as much when you don't follow players throughout their progressions. There was a time I could name the first 2 rounds of the NBA draft because you knew those guys for 3 to 4 years. I fell out of basketball other than just the Gators and now I can't name the top 5. Football is trending that way for me.
That's not what I was talking about. That post was a reply to one that said we lost all that talent right before ESD. I replied with who we filled those spots with. Had nothing to do with this class or next year's roster.
Losing young talent hurts for years to come. Portal guys are usually one or two years rentals but they are more developed and experienced. Id say all teams could use a half dozen key transfers every year but the homegrown hs kids are necessary to have a cohesive team. Trying to throw an allstar team together every year doesnt seem reliable. Kids transfering are doing so for many reasons and not all are good.
I get that and that's not wrong but there are ripple effects of that which is in part what we are feeling in some positions because we haven't developed talent and depth. Outside of coaching issues, watch any NFL game and you will see why florida has fallen off the map. Most of our significant NFL players are from several years ago. You see Georgia, Bama, osu etc Tackles, Guards, Ends, etc. Those are developed positions and I don't believe it looks very promising trying to lure high end portal talent now given the mess we are in.
Not trying to insert myself into the fray but wasn’t the defensive end that held out in a signing day (Jefferson)? Or was that Champ?
Agree totally. It is not like Napier was the only coach who had to suddenly deal with NIL or the transfer portal. Nor was he the only coach hired that off season who had to deal with it. Case in point…Cristobal at Miami was hired 8 days after Napier and he has certainly been more successful with NIL and the portal. The problem isn’t the changing land scape. Napiers problem is he is slow to adapt. He sticks to his process no matter what. “Evaluation” takes forever under Napier. Napier making adjustments/changes is like turning a cruise ship - slow and methodical, while other programs are turning a speed boat…fast.
Dylan Raiola was lured to Nebraska. Nebraska has gone through coaches like we have and have not been good. Yet he enrolled there. Today's CFB if there's a big enough they will come.
Raiola has family ties to Nebraska and Matt Rhule carried some excitement as a hire due to what he did at Baylor. Also, Nebraska just dumped $160 million into their football facility. Comparing Napier's performance and subsequent recruiting issues to Nebraska and Rhule isn't exactly apples to apples. I like Napier's recruiting for the most part. Mullen supporters can try to rewrite history all they want, Napier has recruited better by far despite whatever numbers built on smoke and mirrors they pull. That said, he's failed to fill certain positions and his own statement that you need 4 scholarship qbs has been unfulfilled.
