Just to be clear those young guys were playing football right? And were recruited as 4* talent right? Just want to make sure they weren’t on the marching band. Have you happened to check out the schedule next year. I had a little hope last night with what I saw from the offense until the reality set in with what I saw on D.
And hopefully he learned he can't get turned to the inside, must force runner back into his help. I'm fine with him learning on the job now, along with any and every other young player that hasn't yet gotten much PT. To me that is more constructive then seeing #8 get torched again.
Yes I’ve seen and reviewed the schedule for next year in another thread. 9 wins is possible and year 3 we should expect this drastic of improvement. 7 homes games, 1 neutral site and at least 5 likely 6 (Miami) will all have new QB’s and we return a ton on both sides of the ball. FYI, 4* talent aren’t supposed to be day 1 starters or significant contributors as true freshman. 5* guys yes, 4* no.
Right, I think LSU vs UF would fall somewhere into non-elite, relatively close match of talent. Then that would suggest the score difference between us would fall well above the mean for the degree of impact from difference in talent level. Even I'm confused by what I just typed.
Reads to me like someone who has legitimate questions about what the coaching staff is doing to prepare and develop the players on our roster. The beauty of interpretation.
I am not sure if many teams are doing well in the portal unless they are also doing well recruiting high school kids, which goes back to my main point: coaches must recruit at least three successive top-5 classes to win the conference or three top-10 classes to be a perennial contender. Check out the top portal transfer rankings (2023 transfer ranking/ poll ranking/ regular recruiting ranking 2023) Louisville (9)[31] Auburn [18] Ole Miss (14)[23] Arkansas [22] Wisconsin LSU (15)[6] Kentucky [32] Indiana Oregon (6) Arizona State I will update later, but the summary is that high school recruiting is still the most important part of recruiting and portal recruiting is not always important especially if the team is already recruiting high schoolers well.
Appreciate your insight and ability to discuss in a constructive manner. I believe I might be a half glass empty realist and you could be a half glass full optimist. I’m having trouble seeing the same things you are with respect to schedule and wins/losses. I’m having trouble seeing the players we have combined with what we can get from the portal making that big of a step forward with that schedule. Got a great recruiting class but that shouldn’t have any bearing on next year according to most. So my question is what changes that makes next year that break out much improved season? I do agree if we can keep this class together and add a few more pieces that will help. Really high on Lagway.
But that guy has posted 42 million times about the portal. How can it be that the portal doesn't magically make your team amazing?
For a given level of talent, elite programs have a vertical shift in their graph of 5.2 points. This is an external factor, e.g. institutional support, fan support, branding that elevates their process to a higher starting point. Furthermore, elite programs are able to transform those player inputs through a process that results in a 1% increase in points as the talent level increases - at a team talent level of 600, that's six points, a TD. The process for an elite school is also much higher correlated with extracting more from their talent. At UF, we have lacked institutional support over the years (e.g. disallowing use of the various "shirts, forcing the team to commit to a 4-year scholarship, lack of facilities, NIL dysfunction, use of the portal?/pwo?). UF has lost its high school recruiting pipelines. UF has also lacked a process. I think/hope it is clear to the administration that football creates the brand for UF in a world where sports is a multi-billion dollar industry & constitutes the largest social impact. As fans, we need to push the administration for excellence just we do for academic areas that create impact. I think our branding has improved. Napier is reestablishing our recruiting & implementing a process. We've been in decline for over a decade, it's going to take time to get this put back together.
You’re right. Optimist for sure but also a realist. Was thinking 7 or 8 wins (Utah) this yr but it looks like I’ll fall short. The offense has taken some big steps and on paper we lose Pearsall. Defense is young with a 1st year D coordinator and all 1st year players in it. We had 6 true freshman playing at different times yesterday and all year. Those reps in the system will pay dividends for 2024. We also have, at the moment, two 5* defenders at Dline and Safety in the 24 class. The 2024 schedule looks daunting on paper but half our games will be against new QB’s and 7 at home. If everyone comes back (not likely as someone goes who should have stayed), we lose 1 player, Pearsall. Napier has the program going in the right direction. 2024 big jump in wins and consistency, 2025 playoffs and 2026 winning playoff games.
You make a good points, but I would disagree with regards to our current situation. Can’t expect 18 year old kids to step in and change things. Have to hit in the portal also. Case in point, Florida state was floundering and strike it rich in the portal and now look at their high school recruiting. They are top-five in the country as well as 10-0. Formula/ Good portal fills gaps=Wins= good high school recruiting= sustainability. You can jam them up because they are our arrival but what Norvell has done is nothing short of impressive. I know they don’t play a tough schedule, but they dominated an LSU team that was at full strength. No matter what anybody says kids want to play four teams that are winning not teams that are struggling to be 500. I would also say if you look at our young kids, they are not progressing like we thought they would at this point in the year those on the inside would tell you freshmen are no longer freshman, especially when they played 10 games.
Nope, I’ve been pretty much on board with Napier for awhile. Doesn’t mean I can’t critique or question decisions.
Hasn’t Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M shown it’s not just all about the Jimmies and Joes. Coaching is kinda important also?
You have a point. It would not be called the portal if it were not magical. Why not call it “Craig’s list for college free agent athletes” if it is not magical?
Good points. If the veterans on this team are so unmotivated and not bought into the program then I would expect Napier to encourage those guys to enter the portal and let him find his guys. He cannot sit around shrugging his shoulders waiting for 3 top-5 classes in a row, not if he is winning 5 or 6 games a year.
