Ahmad Black after the LSU game.

it's just that Gator Nation isn't used to going so long without having a winning coach/program. We are spoiled and rightly so. I truly believe coach N will make appropriate changes to defensive strategies after the season has ended and focus on targeting those positions that have a glaring weakness with recruiting. I also haven't seen a three down def line that has been successful since Derrick Copeland left Alabama after the 92 season. The next year ala went to the 4-3. I like coach N and I think he will get the Gator program back on top.

 

"it's not like there is another option".

I don't understand why the comparison is irrelevant to you. I'd bring up the early failures of Dabo Swiney or other coaches in year one but somehow those facts don't provide any insight on the non-predictive value of year one issues. So comparing Napier with coaches that have proved their worth isn't valid because he hasn't proved his worth yet? Okayyyy....

Like you said, It's not like there are other options. We have a fan base that seems cool with sowing the seeds of discontent with the only freaking option we have. Not saying you have been doing that but these comparisons are aimed at shooting down the notion that something is wrong with our coaches or they are bad because of what's happened so far this season.

We could conduct a poll on how much our coaches suck. We could be like Auburn.

What could go wrong?

 

Our fans impatience is understandable with that perspective. We've got similar issues with basketball and starting to sniff this with baseball too. Its part of the bargain at UF but also the appeal. We'll get our mojo back in all these sports - it will happen but it is a slog getting there. If Napier doesn't field a team that can compete by year 3 he'll be gone. Same thing with Golden. They both know that.

 

Not disagreeing with your numbers at all. But I would say that a lot of our D recruits are tweeners or misfits. We all know we recruited a lot of pass rushing DE's and tried to make them LB's etc. Or safeties who we tried to make into LB's. I LOVE V. Miller 's heart and effort, but I remember watching him in HS after he comitted I said to friends he's too slow to play in the SEC at his height and weight.
He saves our D with his guts and instincts, but he can be schemed into a liability like LSU torched him repeatedly. He is just one example of many. Burney is a good athlete but not really a player, same for our safety #0. We gotta go with who we got this season but it sure is ugly.

I do like coach Napier and I have confidence in him and his staff to turn things around. I do have confidence in their recruiting and their process which does not seem to include recruiting tweeners who really have no true position. We all hate the bend don't break defensive mind set, but I'm hoping it's just a result of being overmatched by the talent of SEC offenses.

 

gtr2x, is any of this sinking in? I realize that forums are filled with fans (short for "fanatic") and so some thoughts are many times more emotional than discerning. No one can be the thought police, except when you have a pretty limited (IMO) forum owner. I don't think we have that here. Your demeanor in your posts is mainly "I know how to discern....but I have this thorn in my foot I want to you here about" over and over and over. It is basically a form of beating a dead horse. I have posted, albeit for brevity and to lighten the room a bit (for those who are so inclined to receive this) and I will do it here. This is who we are, until further notice:



So tell us, how is your rhetoric any better than mine in results? As I have philosophized plenty of times, when you are on a roller coaster, you can complain that you don't like the feeling or you can go "whee!". Apparently, you prefer to say you don't like the feeling and then tell us how you would build the roller coaster less scary. While that is your "right" to do so, what you - and others - seem to miss in spades is that....we ARE on this damn roller coaster, whether you all like it or not. If you were on one, and all you heard beside you was "damn this is a bad ride!" over and over, isn't that a kind of buzz kill?

We don't like how this is turning out. We all get it. Reminding us all....again...is getting old.

 

Billy is having to start from scratch because this team is overall less talented, young and thin at several positions.He also had to install a new system relying on a talented but inexperienced young QB who has yet to play a complete game. Give it and him your support and stop the cry baby backbiting! GO GATORS

 

That’s the thing about lazy recruiting. You just go down the recruiting services list and shotgun it to see what you end up with without discern. Why else would we have like 10 DE/LB tweeners and like 7 non-twitchy 6’4” WRs? The star averages may look decent, but it doesn’t take into account how the hell we gonna field a complete team.

 

No clue what all that gibberish is about but if it makes you feel better, cool.

 

I've only posted the same thought several times, not sure why u don't get the perspective. Maybe u just don't like it, which is fine.

Sowing seeds of discontent?? Auburn comparison?? Cmon, that's weak.

For the last time, IMO other coaches' first year success or failure, including Saban, Dabo, Meyer is irrelevant to judging Napier. Naysayers can just as easily point to coaches that were mediocre or terrible in year 1 and never got better. Both comparisons are totally subjective and meaningless to me. Not sure why that is so hard to understand.

Napier may turn out to be a HOF coach and as a Gator fan I sure hope so.
Go Gators!

 

Hey, I tried. Have a good day.

 

Just to chime in here for a second, to be fair what you just said is exactly why we can't really judge anything off the 1 season since we all know that BOTH the best of coaches and the worst of coaches have had bad/mediocre 1ST seasons. Really the only thing we can do is watch recruiting, if the team gets more disciplined, try to Guage team chemistry etc because the same way we can get a good idea when a coach has lost the locker room we can also see when the locker room has bought in. That's what I'm seeing personally and those things don't take being more talented then everyone, just good coaching. The talent part will come from good recruiting, which has also seemingly been much better thus far.