Reality and Progression, Vandy

Sums it up for me. Rough ride this season.
Nevertheless we are going bowling and on the cusp of a good top 10 to very good top 5 class.

Buckle up, may get bumpy Friday but this loss may sting and motivate the boys to grab a W in Tally. I do expect them to go hard. We shall see.

I see a good future ahead if Gator Nation continues to support the program.

 

Agree with both of you.

Predicted 7-5, still think its a possibility.

 

BN was demoted by Clemson's coach after a stellar year being their OC. He has had great experiences in various roles with the offense. He was liked so much by Saban that he was invited back a few times which says a lot.

He will/should be given a minimum of 3 years if not longer to turn this ship around. That will be plenty of time to see if he has it. A concern is that he has had plenty of experience as assistant coach and HC to have anyone claim he's learning on the job. That's why his time management and some play calling is so mystifying. Thankfully his recruiting is very good otherwise I think there would be greater noise.

I am hoping he pans out, no one wants a revolving door of coaches. He should be given as members of the team full respect but that doesn't mean fans can't critique. It's what fans do.

Personally, I really believe we will see a different team this Friday and I predict we will win. I think the team will come out inspired and highly motivated.

 

I work with a FSU fan. He is in agreement with you. I'm inclined to agree as well.

A couple of things have helped to sell me on Napier. I was impressed with how we competed and fought to the end with Utah. That was a game that I expected us to lose. I also was really impressed at how we responded in Jacksonville. Mullen's team would have laid down in the second half, just like McElwain's did in 2017. I know that's a small sample, but in his first season, I think he's done a pretty good job at keeping guys that he had nothing to do with bringing here committed.

Recruiting is very important to him and we haven't had a coach since Muschamp who valued it in this manner.

Think we'll be okay going forward.

 

Billy failed as an OC

 

Losing to either UK and Vandy will always be “unacceptable”, I don’t even want to know the last time we lost to both in the same year.

Obviously the guy gets a pass, everyone knew we were rebuilding. But year 1 was definitely underwhelming. Napier is going to need to show some recruiting chops and use the portal to bring in some difference makers. On offense it doesn’t feel we are miles away, we have an explosive backfield, just need a legit #1 WR and improve the overall speed of receivers. But our D (aside from the USCe game) has been a huge disappointment.

 

Perfect post. Couldn’t have said it better myself. We are who we are and that’s a very inconsistent team lead by a new coach in year one of a rebuild. Things are trending up although many of us want to see more wins on the field.

 

We are extremely lucky to have Billy Napier leading our Gators!

 

A very rational assessment of where we are are currently. If you swapped the Vandy & KY losses for the Utah & TAM wins, that’s about where I had us as well. Each week I’m still amazed of how many don’t know what the term “rebuild” is.

The new facilities, housing, strength & conditioning along with the added details in practice schedule, film study, NIL, nutrition and academics assistance has been impressive. More importantly he came in with a plan.

He knows where he’s at and is keenly aware of what he has. Roughly 80% of the roster is what he inherited. And it’s hard to unwire what someone has learned the 3-4 years prior. I think as the roster scale tips more towards players that he has recruited we’ll start to see more of his vision.

 

Receivers were open like they have been most of the year to the tune of 400 yards passing vs Vandy.
Did Billy make #2 drop a wide open pass near the goaline? Was that not a good play call? That cost us 4 points.
Was it Billy’s fault Marshall backpedaled past the 10 yard line and muffed the punt giving Vandy 7 points? Our starting returner was out. I have no doubt Marshall was coached heavily that if the ball goes over his head at the 10 to just let it go.
How about our QB’s refusal to keep the ball on the zone read? At least 10 times the proper read was for the QB to keep it. If he did that then maybe we have 550 total yards instead of 445. Was that coaching or was there some other reason AR didn’t want to keep it much when that would absolutely have been the correct read?

I’m sorry but our players didn’t execute against Vandy. Period. We could have won by 14 (the spread) easily just by doing the simple stuff right.

One last thing… someone here in another thread said it’s Billy’s fault the team came out flat. I hear you, ultimately it all falls on Billy. But if our players can’t get up on the road vs an SEC team that to me doesn’t fall on the coach. I played high school ball and I never needed my coach to get me pumped to play in a game. Maybe we are a reflection of the energy level our QB shows up with.

 

Great comments. Spot on. It definitely takes a season and then some for the culture and systems changes to become team habits. It's clear you DID put much thought into your comments. Thanks for posting.

 

Georgia Bulldogs : Should Fans
Be Impatient with Kirby Smart?
by Kit Anderson 306w ago
f
Georgia Bulldog's Head Coach Kirby Smart
has already lost some fans who believe he
should be fired based on this season,
The Georgia Bulldogs had a bright finish to their
season this year knocking off TCU more than a
month after falling late to a resurgent Georgia
Tech team Thanksgiving weekend. The win
finished out the first season that Dawg's fans
have had with a new coach to blame in quite some
time.
Even with a weak SEC this year the Dawgs
struggled throughout the season falling to Vandy,
Georgia Tech, and having a difficult time beating
the likes of Nicholls State. The Bulldogs also lost
in heartbreaking fashion to the Tennessee Vols
failing to keep them out of the end zone when
they were only seconds away from a big upset win
that would have put them back in the SEC race.
With the tough losses many fans have already
begun to lose patience with first year Coach Kirby
Smart. While the frustration is understandable it
is misplaced to the put the blame on the
shoulders of Smart. Kirby Smart is still in the
process of rebuilding a Dawgs team that suffered
from several seasons of poor recruiting. It is
important to give Smart the benefit of a doubt this
season considering that he is yet to have a full
vear under his belt as a head coach focused on
recruiting for Georgia and getting used to the
rigors of coaching a SEC team.

 

Title recommendation

Reality and regression

Time will tell. We have been here before and hopefully we have a different ending.

Go Gators
Go CBN

 

Personally, I want my face to be a darker shade of blue. I tried HARD right after the Kentucky, Tennessee and LSU games and I thought Napier got the message, but apparently not. Billy, if you are reading this, I am SERIOUS! Look how dark my face is. Are you gonna let me die, or are you gonna do what I want?

 

The muffed punt was symptomatic of our baffling return game, and special teams play all year long. Special teams have cost us big time this year. Needs to addressed.

 

I am cautiously optimistic. I hope he hires a good OC and gets better at clock management.