First Year Coach Gator Coach Win Loss Records

Zooker!

 

Lumpy.

 

Folks, you have to realize we are in a new era. Lots of talk here about the poor talent that Napier "inherited" and that we have to be patient.
Well, Southern Cal brought in over 20 new players from the Transfer Portal and there they are- about to reach the Final Four. If you'll remember, Napier and Riley were hired on more or less the same day- so Riley got out of the gate fast and is going to the Final 4... Gators are 6-6. What does that tell you?

 

You’re right, I forgot the Zooker at 8-5.

 

how dare you spew such sound, logical, and factual information on here!
The pitchforks are coming for you via the blue hairs, Disney gators, and UAA sympathizers.

 

It tells me that we wouldn't pay for Riley (or Kelly).

It also tells me that even if we would pay, they wouldn't come here anyway.

Easier and better paying job for both of them.

 

Isnt LSU going to the SECCG?

 

Looked up the records of our head coaches going back to Spurrier during the regular season on how many ranked teams they played and their records against those ranked teams. Level of competition is good for perspective. The level of comp was fierce this year for CBN.

CBN - played 7 ranked teams (SC is ranked now) and was 2-5.

Mullen - played 3 ranked teams and he was 2-1. He won his bowl game against a ranked team to finish 3-1.

McElwain - played 3 ranked teams in the regular season going 1-2. Add the SEC Championship and Bowl game he was 1-4.

Urbs - played 5 ranked teams in the regular season going 3-2. He won the Bowl game against a ranked team and was 4-2.

Champ - played 5 ranked and lost all 5. Yikes.

Zook - he played 5 regular season ranked teams and was 2-3 and lost his bowl game against a ranked team to finish 2-4.

SOS - played 3 ranked teams and went 1-2 against them.

 

I can tell you with almost 0 doubt Riley wanted nothing to do with the SEC. He didn’t want to play Saban, Smart, Kiffin, Leach, Heupel and whoever FL and LSU was going to hire every year. He has it so easy out west. He played 3 ranked teams this year and went 2-1 and is in the playoff hunt. Same amount of wins we have against a ranked team. We beat our only head to head competition in Utah and they lost. Reminds me of Bowden not wanting to join the SEC because of how easy the path to the Nattie was in the ACC back then. Riley is no dummy.

 

Yeah and their only loss is to a team we beat. They played 3 ranked teams all year going 2-1. Not even apples to apples. Yes he built them through the portal and brought over a Heisman QB who already knew the system. Wonder why they are in the hunt. Easy peezy schedule and plucked his QB from his former team.

 

None of these records have any bearing on how Napier will do. Napier is either going to improve or he isn’t. We hope he improves, but there is no track record there to call it a lock or even a probability. We will just have to wait and see, hope things improve. Recruiting looks good, but recruiting isn’t everything. We shall see.

 

This.

The irony is the Pac-12 was a decent conference this year, but USC had a super friendly conference schedule. Pac-12 plays 9 conference games each year, which means each school plays all but 2 other schools each year. The 2 schools USC avoided this year? Oregon and Washington, the two teams that tied with Utah for second place behind USC. The only thing that could have made USC's schedule easier this season was getting Utah at home instead of in Salt Lake City.

 

We don't know what Mullen's view of recruiting was in the NIL era. Stricklin never opened the athletic association wallet. What did Mullen have to sell top recruits on? Middle-of-the-pack facilities? A non-existent nutrition program? How much of the work of running the program did Mullen have to do himself, versus the things that Napier's numerous assistants do? Did UF have money in the football budget to hire Georgia's top recruiting assistant away from them? UF demanded first class performance while paying for an economy class ticket. The game has changed dramatically over the last 10-15 years, and UF did not get with the (spending) program until Mullen failed and desperation set in. Throw in UF's strict academic standards (compared to Bama, LSU and most of the SEC), and an unwillingness to participate on the cutting edge of NIL payments, and you have a recipe for failure in the SEC. We were at risk of becoming Vanderbilt if we didn't start spending.

 

I agree with the "better scenarios". What bothers me is that Napier's team did not show much improvement in fundamentals (blocking, tackling, and penalties) throughout the season. The team has also been horribly inconsistent, playing great one week at South Carolina and then getting dominated by a weak Vanderbilt team the next week. He's also been unwilling to bring the backup QB in for even a series. He is a prisoner to the "legend" of Anthony Richardson. He has been unwilling to temper even the most ridiculous suggestions about AR (top-5 draft pick next year, etc.). All that does is put more pressure on his starting QB, and sometimes more pressure does not create a diamond.

 

I for sure have been overly critical given the loses to Kentucky and Vandy, but Year 2 is where you can fairly judge

We all know year 2 is where it is as:
Urban recruited some studs and in year 2 we went 13-1 and won national title

Bama in year 2 under Saban, went 12-2 and lost to the gators in SEC championship

Georgia in year 2 under Kirby, went 13-2 and lost in national championship.

Clemson and Dabo are the current outlier, took up to ~year 4 to turn Clemson into what they are today. Granted, that conference is a such a joke now, I think it can be turned around in year 2 easier for sure. Look at unc, a terrible football team who is 9-3. I do think Clemson's success has a lot to do with the ACC being so bad and FSU, miami and Va Tech being irrelevant.

LSU is also a mystery/outlier and with the right class and QB can probably win it whenever (Saban year 4, Miles year 7, Orgeron year 3)

 

Lincoln Riley was a known and proven commodity in Head Coaching at the D1 power 5 level. Napier was new and unproven at this level of Football. This is a ridiculous comparison.

 

Thanks for making my point. Yes- Riley is a known proven commodity at the Power 5 level and Napier seems to be learning on the job as evidenced by his so-so hires, being slow off the mark with Transfer Portal to poor game time management and the predictable and boring play calling. I think we can agree that Napier was outcoached in several of our losses and even by USF. He may learn the ropes of a big time coach someday and then again he may not.
Seems like it may be the same with our new Men's basketball coach.
Stricklin has not impressed with many of his hires.

 

Mike Norvell is someone I've been thinking about the last few days. He has had a trajectory closer to Swinney.

3-6 Covid year
5-7
9-3 (5 straight wins after starting 4-3)

 

You can spin it if you like, but your original posts implication is that Napier is not successful nor a good coach because he is not having the same success in year 1 as Lincoln Riley. Im simply calling shenanigans on that part. I dont disagree with some of the above sentiment, but I am an optimist and choose to think both Nape and Golden will put it together and find lasting success.

 

Six ranked teams...Kentucky is no longer ranked.