Gator Nation, I have been bummed since the bowl game, and with good reason. With that said, we realize why the Gators stunk it up. Bad timing to be invited to a bowl and AR opts out. His prerogative and we can't fault him. Unfortunately, we had a quarterback who had not played at all. That was not Napier's fault, but some want to blame him. Paul Finebaum provides another example of not knowing what the hell he's talking about with Gator Football! Look: Paul Finebaum Calls 1 Major Program A 'Disaster' We are going to read opinions about Florida and Napier and we SHOULD NOT BUY INTO THE NEGATIVITY. I have nothing to gain by making this post, but Billy walked into a mess. And, sadly, we are beginning to realize it as fans. I am not a fan of Bianchi but I think, this time, he's right; and he's closer to the program than Finebaum. Here's my takeaway from Bianci's article, and that is, give Billy time, he's going to turn this around! I've included the article below, if you want to read it. We are about to land a nice class, and I expect Napier will fill some holes through the Portal; hopefully, a qb like Grayson McCall. Gator Nation, we have no need to buy into the negativity out there, when thse pundits are NOT close enough to the program! GO GATORS!!! Better days are ahead of us, and I invite my fellow Gators to trust in the process!!! Gators crap out in Vegas, but Billy Napier will soon hit jackpot | Commentary
That’s not allowed. It isn’t what we do here. Sunshine pumping is forbidden… and you should know better. We should have had a search committee in place within 24 hours after the UGA loss
I agree. There was so much wrong with Florida football after Mullen and friends. Coach Napier made a wise decision to rebuild the program from the foundation up. He knew it wouldn't be pretty. The first thing Coach said was, "Please be patient." Let's try to enjoy the complete rebuild of Florida football happening right before our eyes. On another issue, I wonder what do we even call that guy FineBUM now? Dumbo? Coach Saban's Piss Boy? Asking for a friend . . . PS -- If you have trouble reading the Orlando Sentinel column, send me a PM.
Well you know I've been saying this for weeks that opting out is going to end the bowl games. Once AR got in his head he's better than everyone in the draft I mentally checked out of the season. I didn't watch the bowl game knowing full well we were going to stink up the joint and make the SEC hate us even more for losing to a PAC12 opponent. When you got Vandy fans texting you jokes you know you hit a new low. I even had one A&M bud text me that maybe they should have represented the SEC instead of us. I can't argue. I think they need to at least look at the matchups to make sure a 6-6 team isn't matched up with a 9-3 team. We were better off taking on Miami of Ohio or maybe UAB, although their game was 10x more entertaining.
A couple of things: 1. How tough was our schedule? It seemed to me it was more difficult than in previous years. Did his contribute to our lackluster record? It seemed we played hard most of the time which is refreshing. 2. Assuming we find a serviceable Quarterback ( not one who checks out midyear) and upgrade some positions through the portal and recruiting, we should be better even if our final record does not indicate it due to another daunting schedule. 3. Big ears Finebaum is a Class A Bozo.
I agree. Give him time. Our recruiting is on a current MASSIVE uptick. Our class, so far, is made up of 67% players that are rated in the top 300 of high school players. If you look at the previous years, it hasn't been that high since Urban was coach. Once Billy gets his players in here, I think he will make moves, regarding the coaching staff, if they still aren't getting it done on the field. Make no mistake about it, I think CBN has the compacity to see what isn't working and make changes. The roster and player culture are what he's working on now. Time is what's needed for CBN, I just worry that the majority of our fan base can't give him that time and may run him outta here. Here's hoping that doesn't happen.
Heres the thing. Yes, CBN needs to time rebuild the team from the ground up. Its clear that he is putting it together. However, he can never have another performance like he did at Vandy. Nobody was ready for that game from the top to the bottom after a nearly lights our performance the week before. It was a shocking and disturbing game to watch.
It’s gonna take him time. We should be patient. BUT there ARE questions that go beyond talent. There are very serious concerns about gm management, scheme on defense and offensive identity that go beyond talent. And this ridiculous notion I’ve seen all day that “impatient fans “ are the problem is seriously laughable. We aren’t making recruits go elsewhere. No 18 year old kid ever said “I was gonna be a Gator but UFlover1965 on Twitter said Napier was bad so I’m gonna go to Miami”. Lol. We didn’t call insane timeouts, we didn’t run HB dives into 8 man boxes or throw WR screens all day. WE are not the problem. This is the same argument for the last 12 years. And guess what, each of the previous 3 regimes- the boo birds were right. Half the fans blaming the other half is not helpful. Billy CAN be the guy. His plan to build a foundation is the best plan we’ve seen here since Urban. He has good (not great) recruiting chops and the players play hard for him. But he has got to put a better product on the field and the fans who comment such are not the problem. I find it funny that this is the only area of life where commenting negatively puts you in some awful box. You vote for a political candidate and if they aren’t doing a good job- you say so. You go see a movie with a fav actor/ and it’s a dud- you say so. You go to dinner at a spot you REALLY believed would be good but was sub-par- you don’t say “wait til they get all the GOOD ingredients “ you leave a bad Yelp review lol (well…. I wouldn’t do the last one because those people are awful/ but you get my point).
Napier doesn't run a scheme on the field. Never has. Look at Louisiana. What were they known for? Anyone? They ran a pretty vanilla offensive scheme, pro style QB with old-fashioned running. Very little use of the TEs. They just played sound football. If we wanted something different, we should have given Kelly the keys to Gainesville.
I watched it from Row 7 and trust me you can see a LOT more and much more easily pinpoint the problem(s) from there as opposed to TV. I came away from that game knowing pretty much why and how the season went the way it did. I don't care what the GNFP guy claims . . . I watched it. However, since we don't insult or trash any player(s) we'll just take this a rebuilding season whose recruiting Wednesday continues to lay the foundation for future Florida success.
Coach Napier is running plays currently used by NFL teams and all-time greats (like Spurrier). I don't know what else he can do with the hand he was dealt. I boldly predict many of the same plays will yield vastly different results next year and many will be claiming Napier "changed the offense."
Here's a link to the 2022 FBS SOS. The Gators had the 4th toughest SOS in FBS. But 2023 isn't going to be any easier. We open AT Utah, then host McNeese St., Tennessee & Charlotte. Then play at Kentucky, host Vanderbilt, go to South Carolina, get a week off then play Georgia in Jax, host Arkansas, then go to LSU & Missouri before hosting FSU to close the season. We swap out USF & Eastern Washington this year for McNeese & Charlotte, plus play Arkansas instead of Texas A&M and have more SEC road games. Florida always has a tough schedule so that can never be an excuse, IMO. ELO Strength of Schedule (SOS) - FBSCollege Football | WarrenNolan.com To me Florida is behind the curve on adapting to NIL and utilizing the portal to bring in big talent that could turn a program around quickly. We've lost several high school big time recruits this year who had us at the top of their list, but went to other schools that offered them more money, plain and simple. Cormani McClain was the first and there have been 2 more in the last 3 days, plus a couple of others I can't remember right now. LSU, USC and Tennessee turned their programs from mediocre to Top 10 in 1 season via the transfer portal. The Gator Admin. & coaches have to get up to speed and become more competitive in both those areas or we will languish in mediocrity, IMO.
I watched a video where a guy broke down the passing plays CBN was running. Then he showed the same plays being run by NFL teams that were really successful in the passing game. Same plays, the difference was the successful plays had a QB that could actually make the throws and WR/TE's that could actually catch the ball, run the route the way it was supposed be run, and made plays after the catch. Bottom line is we need the players.