Is the 2023 Roster Still Better than What Billy Inherited?

A guy like Richt is a bit of a curse. He was one of the most successful coaches in all of football but just couldn't take UGA the distance. Now it was a different time and he might have made 2 or 3 CFPs in a modern environment.

But yes, eventually UGA said hey this guy is great but not great enough for us.

 

In year three, this years class will be sophomores. I expect them to be showing promise but not far enough along to be giving the top teams too much trouble. 24 should be better and 25 they will be as good as they’re going to get pretty much. Lagway and his class would be sophmores in 25. ThTs when I think we can really have major improvement.

 

This roster looks a lot better and the talent level across the board is much higher than what he inherited.

 

But they are very young

 

People here don’t seem to realize that coaches that have long term success are often the ones that have early success.

And now early success is much easier with the transfer portal

Just this year we had multiple first year coaches have great years. We’ve seen many coaches have excellent second years.

People love to point to Dabo but he’s incredibly rare. How many poor performers through 3 years ultimately turn it around? Clemson was also in worse shape than we are in.

In this era it shouldn’t take that long to turn around. Of course other teams are trying to win too so a title or bust mantra is extreme. But we should be able to get ~18 wins over the next 2 years.

 

This is my point. We are already thinking “year 4” may be our year when nearly all successful CFB coaches turn it around by year 2

That just seems incredibly defeatist and low expectations. It’s Napiers job to get a competitive QB for years 2 and 3

 

Our brand is at rock bottom. The only thing that will turn this around is rebuilding relationships at the HS level and forming relationships with HS kids over a period of 2-3 years.

This doesn't happen in a year, which is what you are expecting to happen.

It was easy for Meyer to come in, take a top 5 Zook recruiting class and make them champions in two seasons. Napier has a much more difficult job.

I don't care who our coach is. Alabama and Georgia are years ahead and they aren't slowing down. So, we can toss Napier away after a couple of years, find another up and comer and be right back where we are now. If you think UF is springing for a superstar coach and opening the piggy bank, you are sorely mistaken.

I see these attitudes and worry that once they take hold, we are settling in for another long decade.

 

No Coach on the planet is going to take our team and beat Georgia this year

 

Agree with the former statement...but to be honest we don't really have a clear idea if he is building either of what you mention. There isn't really a plethora of evidence that those goals are being met at this time. Additionally, completely outside of coaching, we don't really know if the UF administration will support the football program to the point that it can compete on an even playing field. Time will tell.

 

Oh that is true plus Georgia and Alabama are way ahead of where Oklahoma and Ohio State were when urban beat them also.

 

Next year‘s class is looking fairly promising though. We will see what happens on the field this year and see if these guys look like they’re going in the right direction. Let’s see if next year‘s class holds together and looks like what might be an elite class for the future.

 

We don't really know this yet. We lost some key players to the NFL and transfer portal since the end of the season.

 

Agreed. Holds together is key. I used to make it a point not to get too excited until pen hit paper. Now, its not until they are enrolled and in class with a schoolbook under one arm and the playbook under the other!

 

And then they can still leave and play elsewhere.

 

I would heartily agree that what we saw on the field last year left a lot to be desired. I've already said as much in this and other threads. And the transformation(s) we as a group have been calling for/hoping for/demanding/yelling at each other about since the moment BN was hired, is still in its infancy - at best. And I don't deny that the doubts/reservations/cynicism and scarcely veiled hostility being directed toward BN from some quarters has some "arguable" basis in recent history. It is what it is and only a nincompoop would claim otherwise. However, I would point to an incoming class that boasts the highest avg. player ratings/blue chip ratios in years. And that that class, unlike several other recent classes, has not included a carload of non-qualifiers, violent felons or obviously sub-par talents. I also take some solace in the excellent work that BN and staff are doing (in the early going at least) in putting together a great class for '24. And before the "yeah but it doesn't mean anything until you actually get 'em in class" crowd starts banging their little drum, the same can be said for all but a very few programs - pretty much across the board.

As far as the administration is concerned; I strongly doubt that they will ever join the scUM, bammers, dwags and atms of the world in a full-tilt boogie plunge into the seamier side of CFB. I just don't see that happening - and TBH, I'm just fine with that. They have, however, made an enormous investment in upgrading our facilities and staff that I personally find quite laudable. All of which brings me back around to a point that I've already made on numerous occasions. It is anything but a lead pipe cinch at this juncture that all will be well and that UF will again find itself luxuriating in the sunlit highlands of CFB Valhalla in the very near future. But we have absolutely no choice but to start from where we are now in the bid to get there. And again, for the umpteenth time, the continuous pummeling of a HC entering his second year, who has already run off a bevy of malcontents and no-talents and replaced them with solid prospects who at least seem to be good citizens that actually want to be Gators, is premature/ridiculous/mis-guided - at best. JMHO.

 

You were doing so well until this, and then it crosses over into idolatry.

You don't know whether they were malcontents, and certainly they were not talentless. And the idea that they are good citizens and want to be Gators may be true, but we have no idea whether they are better citizens than those who, for their own reasons, left.

And I don't understand the need to trash players who undoubtably gave us their best efforts for the time they were here.

 

One was dismissed from the team for being a locker room problem. Another because he wasn’t getting it done in the classroom. Two more quit on the team mid season because they were unhappy about playing time. Two others partied too hard the night before a game and were hungover the next day, on game day. Those are just a handful of examples. All malcontents.

 

And I would respectfully suggest that there are a whole host of things that you clearly know nothing about as well.

 

IMO, the rational way to think about this is to wait until end of year 2. Look at our performance, recruiting, possible staff coaching changes, and the overall state of the program. At that point, everyone would be in a much better position to project out the future trajectory of our program. It still may take more time, however to speculate with "if we win 6 then.. or if we win 9 then.. or if the D still under performs.. or the D overperforms... to speculate after this 1st year is an exercise in futility. Just my opinion.