Final coaching grades for 2022

I would give him a C- which is better than a D but not by much. IMO more was expected and even though he took over a team whose coach was fired, there was enough talent on the team for it to go 6-7. After an impressive win over Utah, it just seemed for the most part the team was not only inconsistent but showed very little improvement when improvement should have been seen. Losing to Vanderbilt and being blown out in the bowl game was humiliating. Clock management was poor and for me he is so low key that I wonder if he can really motivate kids for his pregame talk is meh. He has assembled an army of support staff but can anyone tell me what good has that done? I'm also concerned with his ability to evaluate and assemble competent assistant coaches. The D was beyond atrocious with very little improvement as the year went on. And the special team coaching was pee wee football like. One last thing and that is he seems to treat each game on the same level, does he not know we have rivals? Give me Urban who would more likely throw a rival shirt on the floor and step on it than talk nice about our rivals.

I am concerned about next year for our schedule remains tough and a 500 season or worse will not breath a sense of confidence. At the very least, a 7-6 record is needed. I have zero doubt he will be given 4 years to show improvement but if by the end of the 4th year we are a 7-6 kind of team, I just don't seeing it ending well for him.

Now, for having the kind of season we had and still manage to attract and hold a very good recruiting class is impressive. With this years play, he gave rivals ammo to recruit against us but yet we have a very good class.

 

I'm going with W

Don't want that crap messing with my GPA

 

Woohoo! He passed!

 

But he doesn’t get credit for it.

 

It's like he made a 30 on the final.

 

Post season Grade is appropriate.

 

What we have now under Billy Napier is SUSTAINABLE direction and focus. We are going to move up, and we are going to move up fast. The future is tremendous.

 

My roommates at UF called that a “Done+”

 

Don't agree at all! I am not simply a Gator fan who likes whoever is the current coach. I can rant on a coach, but it's way too early for GN to be doing that! What we saw this year was a culmination of players, mostly Mullen, who sucked big time! The Gators were very decent offensively, especially when AR was consistent. But, his consistency was sporadic, and he was off more than he was on. Most games were either won or lost, either by AR or the defense; and often a combination of both. If AR had been a consistent passer, we would not even be discussing a coaching grade.

Frankly, I am more disappointed that this post is not being shut down! It's ridiculous, embarrassing, and a shameful representation of Gator Nation!

 

I had predicted a 7-5 regular season. That would garner a C (average) grade.

Since the season was 6-6, I'll give him a C-

I'm leaving the bowl game off. That was an impossible situation.

 

What might not be obvious is the OP didn't write that, its from Adam Rittenberg on ESPN.com. Unless ThePlayer is in fact Adam in which case my apologies.

 

The grade is appropriate and unacceptable.

I did not see much to like this season, i am being told very positive things about the program.

I expect to see major improvements next season. They may not be reflected in W-Ls but should be visible on field.

If not then we are in deep trouble.

 

Still to early to grade his 2022 efforts or make a prediction about 2023 until the regular Signing Day and the portal closes.

 

I don't see major improvement this year. I think that happens 2024. This is a total rebuild. As of now, we lost a good portion of our OL, and we don't have an experienced QB on the roster. We do have a great class of recruits coming in. If going by the Under Armour game, our recruits are better than their star rankings. We are coming out of a period of 13 years of purgatory (sometimes hell) and this rebuild will take time, so patience is required.

 

Thanks for responding! I see mistakes like clock management, but I see a plethora of upside such as: recruiting, relationship-building, team discipline, and less game-time grid-iron penalties. For the most part, I like His play calling. He has a good game balance of pass and run. Nobody can fault his first year run game, nor can anyone fault him for the lack of quarterback production. Hell, AR had plenty of wide open receivers and was less than stellar. Apparently AR was his best option and, as we all know, AR was very inconsistent. It just seems to me that taking issue with a coach in his first year is unreasonable, yet I realize you are not alone. I don't like where the football program is, but that's not Napier's fault. When I researched the player's Mullen recruited and retained, he left the program in shambles. I think you know the talent Mullen gambled on that never panned out. Napier's literally picking up the pieces, and Gator Nation knew that! Let me pause and say that it could have been worse, and Napier played decently with the cards he was dealt. I am afraid this rebuild is two or three years away, and it irritates me to say it, since I am in the sundown of life. I have watched the Gators for almost seven decades. No one has been more patient than me. But, we all need to be patient with the process, because Napier's the best coach since Urban Meyer; and he's better than Urban because of improved discipline. He's better than Zook, because he doesn't call a bubble screen three out of four downs. He's better than Muschamp, because he's also an offensive-minded coach. I won't mention the shark man. Time will only tell if he is the best recruiter Florida has ever had. To me, Spurrier and Meyer were the best playcallers. We both know Mullen’s strength was playcalling as well, and if he had put an emphasis on recruiting and player discipline he'd still be the coach.

I don't know how to grade Napier as a playcaller. Frankly, this wasn't his team, and I feel he needs more time. Yes, that sounds like a cliché, but Billy is going to get us there. Ha, my life is depending on it!

Thanks for your passion. Go Gators!!!

 

Guess what...he gets to start over next year, because you know, the departures and all that. Wipe the slate clean of all misdoings! Yay!