Let's be honest about who we are.

I was almost born by then.

 

You mean the ACC blows along with all the teams in it?

 

Back to the original thread topic. What we are is THE FLORIDA GATORS. A university that has one of the best overall athletic programs in the nation, year in and year out. We have the recruiting base, alumni base, financial resources, facilities and academics that allow us to bring in the best of the best athletes in every sport and there are ZERO excuses why our football program should be in the condition its in. Three years in a row of losing 7 games is not acceptable and should not be rationalized away with excuses of NIL, COVID, "The Process" or youth. The AD is the responsible party for putting the pieces in place to make the engine that runs the athletic department train (football) to make it consistently successful and he has failed. It's time for a change at the very top and then work down from there until we are back where we need to be.

 

WSJ also has UF at number one in the south and at 15th overall nationally - including private institutions. USN&WR has them at 6th among all public universities in current rankings, as you noted.

 

We were number 1 public according to the WSJ recently, as well.

 

If fsu or uga were in the same boat as we are now we'd call it a dumpster fire. We've had 3 consecutive losing seasons and we are Florida, not vandy, not Mississippi State, but Florida. Yet we are really not even middle of the road in the SEC. Our D line and O line are not where they should be thus we can't pass block for very long nor can we rush the passer which places great pressure on our dbs. We are headed in year 3 of BN's tenure with the nations toughest schedule. So, if we are taking off our rose colored glasses we are about as bad as it gets. I'd like to say I have confidence in our HC to fix it but I don't.
Personally speaking, I think we have little choice but to retain BN due to the high cost of buyout, the fact that he will be the 4th coach to be fired in the last several years and the likelihood if he goes so does our top qb. All we have is a bunch of "maybe's" Maybe our youth will come of age. Maybe our last 2 classes will pan out. Maybe the coach will hire a new OC. Maybe our OL and DL will miraculously play better. I would like to think such things will happen but at this point I just can't. That's is where I think this program is currently.

 

Are we hosting our 2024 recruiting class this last weekend before signing day... like everyone else is?

 

Doesn't look like it.
Florida Gators official visitors preview: December 15th weekend | GatorCountry.com

 

Well, we're not hosting Adarius Hayes. According to TOS, he's at scUM this weekend.

 

4th and dumb

 

Seems like we got deja vu this year.

 

Well if they aren’t going all in then the fans shouldn’t either . Maybe they can start expecting to see big pockets of the stadium empty on game day .

 

Michigan is a top academic school and somehow competes for national championships. Notre Dame is always in the mix and is another top-ranked academic school. I agree with you that we should lower our expectations, but to do that we have to be patient. I think that if Napier is here for the long haul, he will create an amazing system that will bring the top people out of the state through Gainesville at least as one of their first options.

 

NB: the university and the UAA are distinct entities.

NB 2: Excellence in the class room and on the grid iron are categorically not mutually exclusive.

IOW, no one is not joining our football program, because our academics are too good; and if our school started to slip academically, that would not translate to better football in BHGS.

The simple fact is that our University is thriving, while or football program is spinning its wheels--independent of one another. But the UAA has taken great steps of late, to get us back to excellence on the gridiron: e.g.--the indoor facility, the upgrade to the stadium...

Where we're not quite where we need to be, is in personnel. That simple. Maybe Napier is the guy--IDK--though he hasn't looked like it so far. Hopefully he proves to be the guy.

...but the infrastructure is in place; the support is there; the fan base is there, the name, the good will, the history, the tradition, the geographical location... (the really hard part is done; the infrastructure is built; the necessary parts, intangibles, culture...it's all there).

We have everything we need to achieve excellence, we're just waiting to get the right personnel in, and we have this extra curve to negotiate, known as NIL.

Keep the faith. We'll get back to prominence on the gridiron in due course, and it will have nothing at all to do with how well we rank in USN&WR or other magazines academically, or how much jack our research departments continue to attract/generate (other than they will continue to generate goodwill for the school's name--which of course does not chase football talent away).

 

We're rearranging the chairs on the Titanic right now to see how many we need.

 

I think it’ll come down to a handful that keep spending

 

If you ask a parent who is paying for their child to go to college, many would say academics is more important, but love coming to the games.

 

I was a freshman in 1963. It was great to watch Gator football begin a meteoric rise. It’s still great going to the games. Football programs rise and fall, like many things in life.

 

Patiently waiting on our next great team.