I am OK with our program (retrospective; long rant)

Fishing

 

We did not play Alabama this year

 

Do you really think that we look like an SEC roster? We were always a step slow a little weaker and not football savvy as we needed to be? We better give Billy 3 years before we even thinking about this nonsense. Talk that I hear a lot of Gator fans talk about. Getting rid of Coach Napier? It’s insane you’re going up against now your rivals who are at the top of their game. Georgia, Florida State, Tennessee LSU. We got a long road a hoe and there’s no one out there, that would be better than Billy to handle this.

 

What do you base that on? Almost every position group got worse as the year went on. Our single best win was the first game of the year, where there was no tape and nothing for Utah to scout. Great win and there were some good signs, but the fact they played so well against USC and A&M, and then crapped the bed against Vandy says something, too. Recruiting was about the same as it has been, the portal has been okay.

So why do you think Napier is undisputedly the best man to lead the program?

I'm not calling for him to be fired. But I also didn't call for Mullen or McElwain to be fired, and I think both of their first years were unequivocally better than this one.

 

If you think the recruiting was about the same you need to take a much closer look. The players we brought in are ranked way higher and don’t have all the issues

 

We'll see.

 

There’s not a we will see, there’s take a closer look. They had the highest player ranking average that we’ve had since urban

 

You could just skip the golf and go straight to the drinking part...

 

All our Gator brothers and sisters....just be cool. We are in great hands with Billy Napier, and our football future is going to be brighter than anything we have ever seen.

 

Note re OP: There were obviously numerous issues with personal conduct, cultural fit, effort level and general buy-in, starting virtually from the moment BN took over. But I doubt that all the guys who left did so voluntarily or because they were too soft or too lazy to work hard. Some just weren't good enough, while others didn't fit the physical profiles the new staff seeks to establish at various positions. But I totally agree with the overarching point that this is a total rebuild and will take time and patience to accomplish.

 

That's facts. The individual player ranking is higher. Napier also isnt bloating rankings with 3 star filler, a well known Mullen tactic.

 

Dude you want Billy fired now . I can see right thru ur nonsense

 

I don't dispute the fact that we lead the universe in transfers or the assertion that a lot of the departures were due to an unwillingness or an inability to toe the mark. I just think that in all likelihood, a significant number of those guys didn't quit so much as they were encouraged to seek their fortunes elsewhere because they didn't fit the bill in one respect or another. Grantham's army of "tweeners" and Mullen's galaxy of longshot three-stars come readily to mind. One way or the other though, I agree that we are seeing an example of addition by subtraction writ large, and that we are looking at a lengthy and somewhat arduous rebuild. I also believe that the recruiting rankings are largely BS.

 

Based on what I've seen out of the UA extravaganza, it looks pretty promising. We most likely have 2-3 5* guys who are not getting the recognition they deserve.

Then again, as soon as a recruit commits or signs with UF, they immediately lose a star.

 

The numbers he posted aren’t even close to correct. Tamu was right with us this year last time I checked (except they’re losing a hefty portion of their 30 million dollar number one class and I’m not sure we’re losing any of our true freshman). LSU had significant numbers last year. I don’t know the roster situations of every team in the country, but I know we needed a lot of players to leave this year if we wanted to take a normal sized class. We only have 7-8 spots left right now even with all the transfers we’ve had and signing a relatively small class of high schoolers so far. People who keep relentlessly crying about this huge number of transfers really must have no idea what’s going on. They act like we’re only going to have 20 kids on the roster come fall, when reality is that we’re almost full again already.

Are there some I would have liked to keep? Sure. Do the numbers seem scary? Not really, unless you don’t know what you’re looking at. Would I have preferred to keep last years roster in tact and sign around ten new players this year? Hell to the naw.

Just to add a little more to the point gatorpower implied about having minimal attrition the last few years. If our last coach had been more proactive in cutting some of the deadweight, we wouldn’t be in the predicament we’re in this year. NCAA gave everyone on a roster in 2020 an extra year of eligibility, but no extra room on the 85 scholly limit. All those extra years of eligibility have to go somewhere. I also don’t fault Billy for not flipping the roster and cutting a bunch of the deadweight last year. He didn’t have the time to evaluate exactly what he was walking into or to restock the cupboard, but this year there really wasn’t a choice.

 

I wondered about the numbers myself. Thanks for the input.

 

That’s one of the most terribly inaccurate posts I’ve seen in a long time. I’m not sure a single number is correct. According to 247, we have 23 leaving in the portal, including the dismissals. 37 MAY be close to the overall number of transfers, graduates, and early departures. My original count was around 10 graduates and early nfl declarations, so 37 total still sounds a little high, but that’s at least a little closer to reality.

 

We lost to Vandy. We almost lost to USF!! We got blown out by Georgia, Tennessee and Oregon state. We tried to score a little vs Tenn and Georgia but come on. Dude. Vandy.

Human nature is to spin things you’re hopeful about. We do it with our partners, politics and most of all- sports. The MO here is “man, we were so close” or “The players aren’t there but Billy will get them” and the negative Gators go
“SB CBN is awful and in over his head”. . Instead of both sides just being honest, we all end up playing spin masters and lying to each other. The truth is- we don’t have the talent, Billy is getting some but probably not enough yet to overcome sone serious issues…AND Billy will have to do a much better job on gameday. The job he did this year will not cut it. And I don’t think he’s “happy with the program or his performance and neither is anyone objective”. .