Reasons for Optimism in 2025?

People feared the schedule this year and hung on to it as a crutch during the offseason. My take was always that if the Gators were truly improved then 10 and 2 should be a reasonable expectation. Had we started the year playing the way we finished then that would have very likely happened. We were abysmal to start the year. There was no reason Miami should have blown us off our own field. They needed refs to save them from a 4 loss season against that weak schedule.

We have a couple holes to plug but while some of our opponents may get better others will suffer from attrition at key positions. Either the team figured out how to play defense and Lagway's leadership continues to infect the team or we regress again....

Playoffs were a possibility this year had we not lost mertz and lagway at times this year. Year 4 not too many if ANY excuses to continue to claim the schedule is insurmountable, not that that is what you wrote.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with the bolded portion above, but disagree with most of the rest. First, before I dive in, you can go back and look. I was demanding DJ Lagway to start from day 1 this season and thought he never should have taken a backseat to Mertz. Not only would it have helped us this season, but it would have given DJ that much more experience heading into next season where he can really start to shine. Lagway should have started the Miami game and if he began to struggle, he could have easily been pulled for Mertz. So, we didn't give ourselves a chance to beat Miami or TAMU, because the wrong call was made at QB.

Having said that, I don't think we played well enough under Lagway's leadership to go 10-2. To go 10-2 with our schedule would have been an incredible feat for a true freshman QB in this league. I think we would have played TAMU much closer, but probably not win. I think we would have still lost to Miami considering it would have been Lagway's first game as the starter and well, Miami is a pretty good team despite all the hate here. I do think we beat Tennessee if Lagway played that whole game. That game was obviously very winnable. The team simply began playing better in almost all facets of the game once DJ was named the starter (which of course, was not Napier's choice).

I do not think we beat Texas, of course and despite what many people here tend to assume, I do not think we would have automatically beaten Georgia if Lagway had stayed healthy. Georgia has a way of making adjustments and balling out late in games. I'll also point out that Lagway was a mere 2 for 6 passing when he left the game. He completed the one pass for 43 yards and the other for 4 yards. It's not like he was picking UGA's secondary apart. UGA is the same team that beat Kentucky 13-12, so I don't buy that we would have automatically beaten UGA. They love making games interesting. Most likely, we would have lost.

All things considered, with the way we played the last half of the season, if we had started Lagway from Day 1, I think we would have gone 8-4. Which isn't that bad at all with a true freshman QB. To go 10-2, we would have needed to be firing on all cylinders all season long. FWIW, if you look at Lagway's stats, he obviously still has a lot of room to grow. To be 10-2 in this league you need a QB who can pick apart defenses short and long range with one hand tied behind his back. Whether it's the lack of coordination on offense or DJ's inexperience (or both), it wasn't good enough to go 10-2.

So, the real test will be 2025. If the offense continues pedestrian type production, we'll know the issue isn't Lagway. Especially if he's getting sufficient protection. Next season needs to be a 9-3 or better season. That assumes no major injuries to DJ Lagway. If not at least 9-3, it's a bust of a season and we are wasting Lagway's talent. We'll see what happens.

 

I just hope the starters who still have eligibility stay instead of leaving for the NFL or the portal. It would be nice to have the majority of our positions settled before the season starts.

 

Good lord. The number of you guys who go straight to the negative is sad. Even a bunch of the "optimistic" posts were backhanded hits at Napier. There are so many reasons for optimism.

Obviously, DJ returning healthy. He will work on his game and be better. The team believes it can win any game when he steps on the field.

The team proved to itself that it can defeat playoff-level competition.

That leads to confidence. I bet almost every guy in that locker room can't wait to get started training for next year. They are hungry and have the alphas to drive the team to the next level.

Which leads to: S and C. This is the critical year 2 of our new strength and conditioning program. The changes made there start paying dividends in year 2.

The defense finally gets it. More aggressive. Tougher. Graham, Robinson, James, Howard will form an elite LB corps. Chatman and Harris are doing wonders with their units.

The offensive line will be a strength.

The RB unit is stacked.

Gonzales is an elite developer of WRs and we will get 2 experienced guys in the portal for him to use.

I'm not going to get into if this or if that. Every team has that. I for one am looking forward to next year. Sorry for the length of the post. I usually just lurk but had to throw my .02 in here because I came to this thread thinking it would be way more positive but yeah have lurked here long enough to know better.

 

The defense is the biggest reason for optimism in 2025. I was pretty disappointed with the coverage breakdowns against Miami and then to do it again against Texas A&M was pitiful. Pretty clear that guys started to understand their assignments as the season went on (my guess is Roberts took completely over at DC).

Having the same DC next year is going to pay dividends to go along with having a QB that looks like a future NFL Draft pick.

 

One reason alone for optimism is that the kids now believe they can beat anybody, which seemed to be lacking from previous years. That is huge and key is that many of our contributors are really young. It’s been a youth movement making plays on the field and shifting the team culture.

 

Maybe Billy learned to play the best players. If he finally figured out what everyone else has know for decades we have a good chance to be a solid team. I think a lot could hinge on Jackson and Banks NFL decisions. Real hard to replace interior DL.

Even if he got an "OC" it would still be Billy Ball. DJ's ability to hit verticle passes in tight windows really covers up the problems with the passing scheme. At this point I just hope he doesn't get a NorveL^10 extension.

 

I smelled your desperation before I turned on my phone.

Enjoy the journey.

 

Our coach is what his record says he is. Hopefully, it all comes together next year. 4 years is enough time for a top-tier coach to produce a team that can go to Atlanta.

I like the guy and wish him success for all our sakes.

 

Well articulated points. You should post more often.

 

X 100

 

Our OL has played well this year

 

This year was year two with players he recruited. Sophomores and freshmen. He was hired a couple of weeks before national signing day and that class was the result of Mullens mighty efforts. Know how many snaps(jrs. and srs.) on the OL and DL that that class got this year. 0

 

You have some solid points. However, assuming we will get two effective wide receivers as good as dike and badger is a big assumption. We have to hope vernell brown is an instant success or we get two more great portal receivers. There a still a lot of questions marks around Eugene. Also, we must replace Marshall and bridges, who was very effective at the end of the season, and we are very thin at defensive tackle.

We are trending in a positive direction but we are a long way from being stacked with talent in the way Georgia, Texas and Alabama are currently. We are still missing when trying to recruit the top talent in the state. Some view this as negativity but to me, it’s being realistic about where we are.

 

I fully expect us to be improved over six wins next year. On the other hand, I’m concerned that Georgia played down to us.

 

We'll be good at WR with development from Wilson, Abrams, Hawkins, Mizell, Brown, Burke and Jackson. A few promising Tight ends as well will help.