This is using final AP rankings and not rankings at time of play which is stupid 2020: Beat #12 2021: Beat # 21 2022: 0 2023: Beat #12 and #13 2024: We will see how final rankings play out. In total at Ole Miss (Not including 24) he is 4-9 and if you look at all possible (not pipe dream) candidates for UF, he has the better record. His overall coaching record at ole miss is 42-17 He could win at UF and he could probably get DJ a Heisman and he would do better than the previous failures at UF. UF isn't going to find a better option that has SEC experience. Cignetti ---maybe, I like his moxi, but he also has BN written all over him from a staffing standpoint. Go look at his staff at Indiana. UF could be competing with LSU again, USC again, FSU, Michigan? If they drag feat again they will likely have to go G5 or OC/DC with no HC experience again and that will go over well.
I wonder if SS’s statement,as weak as it was, was made because the behind the senses messages about potential candidates were not as positive as SS had hoped.
It's certainly possible. I don't think UF is an attractive job right now. No President and a likely lame duck AD. I can understand kicking the can. Unfortunately I think it sets up for 2 mid recruiting classes that impact depth for the potential new candidate. Kind of circles UF back to before they hired BN. Granted some wrinkles with NIL etc will have been cleaned up
I cant stand kiffy but im kinda seeing exactly what your saying. Im not of tge mind that a guy can just hit the portal and compete with the bamas snd georgias in the first couple years. Im looking at what kiffy has done this year after building his hs guys and adding a decent portal staff. What he has still doesnt rival the few powerhouse teams that have that hs pipeline running over time. The Kentucky loss is perplexing but the puppies almost fell victim also. Weird year but Kiffy looks like the real deal to me. He is at worst, holding his own in the sec this year with less.
I'll admit he is schizo and you don't know what you are gonna get and you're probably only going to get maybe 5 years out if him, but he has the SEC chops and you know he wants to win a title. I can only imagine what he could do with DJ. I know we all want a guy the represents the University well and BN is perfect in that role, he's just not a good SEC coach, that's not gonna change IMO.
If we hire Kiffy and in 2 years he bolts for the MFL we will deserve everything bad that happens. The warning signs are there for all to see - if we ignore them shame on us
At the very least if Florida is stuck with Napier, we can at least enjoy DJ firing the ball downfield for a few years.
Consider what happens if we wait until next year. First option is Napier does great (why we would think that I do not know, but it is possible), and he gets extended. All is well in gator nation! Second option is BN gets fired after another bad season. Good news is we saved some buyout money. Bad news is that total is only $5M on BN buyout. We stilll owe about $20M plus whatever we negotiate to keep assistants/coaches next year. The rest (cost of a new coach + buyout) remains the same. In an athletic budget of hundreds of millions, I would not weigh such a cost as a huge impediment vs. another year of damage to the brand and lower income from donations due to a poor product (if that occurs). I also believe our NIL game will degrade with continuing losing seasons and loss of faith in BN. As to timing, folks say we need a new president and that is true (my guess is BN would be fired if we did not have an interim president). Well, that search committee was just formed a few weeks ago. We are not looking at a new president until summer or fall next year. That President will either need to fire or keep SS. If he keeps SS, SS picks the next coach. If he fires him, he has to wait until he gets a new AD to hire a new HBC. The disarray of leadership at UF is certainly an impediment to structural change, and that seems like it will exist for at least another year or two. Finally, it is not every year that you have proven winning coaches from power conferences that seem available. This year there appear to be two. Also, I'm not seeing many other competitor schools hiring. Just fodder for noodling and how I'd look at this situation.
From the front page Everything Billy Said article: Q. I know the season isn’t over yet, but to this point what would you self-assess things like playcalling, offensive game planning from week to week from where you were… BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I’m not ready to do any of that. Focused on LSU right now. I thought part of his army was to self-assess; they should be doing that EVERY week, WTH???
I can not believe I am going to somewhat defend BN here, but the first 3 games he was terrible, after the bye week I thought that was his best period of play calling as a HBC here. That does not mean perfect, but we were seeing some what ifs. I really can not hold him to the fire for playing with Warner the last two games, after losing two QB's there are not many coaches if any who are going to be successful, especially playing against Georgia and TX. Yes, you can try to run all game, but with no pass option, teams will just stack the box.
If he came here and lefty for the nfl wouldn’t that mean he had quite a bit of success in those two years?
I think last year from the 2nd half of the South Carolina game to until Graham Mertz was injured in the Missouri game that Napier finally had it click offensively. The defense couldn't stop a nosebleed but the offense performed just shy of exceptional from my observation in this time span. Which then reverted back to what was uninspiring game flow of offense the beginning of this season - until they incorporated DJ Lagway more and ultimately when he took over as starter. The wheels have fallen off without DJ's threat to take the top off the defense. I have hope that with a healthy Lagway, Baugh, and (hopefully) returning receivers added along with anyone who wants to feast with DJ portaling in - that the offense can be exceptional next year. The players have demonstrated as much. What has not been demonstrated is Napier calling good offense for an entire season. It seems like it only opens up when Napier's seat is scorching hot and he is calling plays desperately to keep his job.
My counter to that is that if what you are trying isn’t working, then try something else. Try different personnel, try different plays, run wildcat, etc. The one constant with Billy is he runs the offense he runs with little accounting for personnel or what the defense is doing. UGA had a light box, so he calls a bunch of passes. UT has a single quality DB, so he runs isolation plays against their best DB. I have little faith that he will change his scheme and playcalling to attack the weakness of the opposing defense.
I do agree for the most part that Warner limits the play calling and you can't really fault Napier the last 2 weeks. If I had to nit pick, I would of liked to see the 2014 UGA gameplay enacted against Texas last week. I do think it would have been a closer game if we attempted to run the ball 50 times vs throwing it from the start. Slow the game down and limit possessions were the only way UF stays in the game. The fumble inside our 25 was huge, can't do that when you're already playing from behind. The missed gimme FG when it was 14-0 early in the 2nd, can't happen. It was 14-0 with 7 mins to go in the 2nd quarter. We then proceeded to give up 14pts to end the half with less than 2 mins to go, why because we are trying to throw the ball late in the half and turned it over. I kinda thought we might see Baugh run wildcat for a chunk of the day. Kelvin Taylor almost beat USCe in 2013 with a similar QB situation. I know Texas isn't UGA in 14 or USCe in 13, they're a totally different animal. Texas at times had 9 guys in the box and Baugh/Jackson were still effective enough to kill clock and move the chains.
The Offense does well with all personnel healthy, doing their job, and not facing a top 20 defense. We all want more production, fire, and scoring. I will be surprised if hiring an OC wasn't part of the deal to stay. A goodone willbe expensive. Lastly, any offense ever is a hell of a lot better with a great defense. We are playing hard but limping on D. Even when healthy we're not there yet. And won't be without a large budget.
