Let BN do his job...

I mean I guess, can you show me a team that's never lost to Vandy or UK and plays them annually? We've lost what 4/5 total times combined to those two in the last 3+ decades. Does anyone have a better record against those 2 teams over that span then us? The point is will always win wayyyy more than we lose to those 2 but everybody loses eventually

 

There are major staff corrections necessary for Napier and it is obvious. If he goes in with all the same staff next year waiting for that "organic" growth well then weve got problems. You have to aspire to put an innovative offense out there and ours just flat out isn't. You have to put a defense out there that makes you jump out of your seat for positive plays and not negative ones. As of now...well you be the judge. If we get another year of stinky performance Ive got no issues...gulp...with trying to rehabilitate the image of a former Gator coach who I know isn't afraid to make all changes necessary to win.

 

Shouldn’t lose to all rivals, Vandy and Kentucky in the same year. Not sure it’s ever happened. Not sure what it says for Billy’s first year but not great.

Of more interest to me is: how many here that are concerned with Billy being questioned also support/defend 21 year old AR who gets ripped and blamed pretty consistently. I have much more ease questioning a 40 year old who’s in charge making millions over a 21 year old. Hoping those concerned w criticisms of Billy are also standing strong for AR because he seems to get 3x the criticism that Billy gets. Unjust imo as without AR we’d be in trouble.

 

doesn't that basically show that those loses are an outlier not a trend?

 

Cool Shane. You just seem to have been really down on Billy lately. And I’ve been reading your posts for years

Go Gators tonite. We definitely have a team that can win. Hate that the refs screwed us out of Ventrell for the first half. That’s gonna hurt

 

I plan on following Gator Country for a while, God willing. So, yes.

 

We've ɓeen able to score points when we've wanted for the most part. We avg 31 pts per game 343 ypg. That's 2 points and 24 yards less than lsu who is on the cusp of a playoff appearance.

 

I think it’s pretty clear that Billy is on a steep learning curve in his first year as a head coach at this level. But I also believe he can learn and become a better game day coach. I’d love to see him pick up an offensive play caller in the off season. I’ve been hollering for a new DC too, but maybe Toney’s side of the game is showing signs of improvement. We’re certainly in need of recruiting at LB and in the backfield

 

Did you see my comments about Anthony? I’m tirelessly defending him as I think he takes on tons of unnecessary criticism

 

Yeah, I was hoping to get Ventrell back but I guess the appeal did not happen.
Two things…
I believe Billy has it in him to completely fire up the locker room and I’m hoping tonight is the night.

SEC referees or ACC?

 

ACC I think. It changed after The Swindle - don’t know if they ever changed it back

 

Our coaching did not lose the Vandy game for us. Ultimately they’re responsible but they weren’t the reason

 

100%.

That’s why some didn’t think Mullen should have been canned, because who would replace him and there aren’t many sure fire winners. We are flirting with being Texas, Auburn, UT at this point.

 

I was one of those that thought that but the trajectory of the program by the time we canned him was so dismal, it was hard to see how Mullen could recover. Napier was a better hire than I thought would be possible. Prior to that point, I didn't think the program would go all out like, say, an LSU, UGA, or Bama. But with Napier we opened up the checkbook. He's proved he can build a program, I think it was a great hire.

 

Agree, he's done a lot to turn the culture around. I can't see either of our last 3 coaches being able to draw this resiliency out of the team. Chump, Mac and Mullen teams would have folded after that 3rd quarter and would have been blown out.

Now, its a matter of upgrading the talent.

As for Mullen, I have always felt that having a bad day, quarter or so isn't what gets you fired. When your boss loses confidence that you can fix it and turn it around is when you get shown the door. Who here thinks that Mullen would have turned it around?

 

Has he turned culture around? Propaganda. We are still waiting. Next season will tell us.
Mullen, wth, never should have been hired and stayed a year too long. Smdh. Ymmv
Go Gators

 

It would be more constructive to direct that ire towards Foley, Muschamp, Mac and Mullen as they were the ones that knocked this program down.

Billy is rebuilding a broken down program. It will take time.

 

At this point I think it’s Stricklin we have to statt looking at.

These are my thoughts on the situation based entirely on my observations.

After a 6-6 campaign I don’t know what to make of Billy Napier.

But why is he here? Why him?

Since Stricklin took over we have seen some UF firsts like the baseball, men’s tennis, and women’s outdoor track NC. None of those coaches were hired by Stricklin though.

Stricklin did have the McElwain “death threats” fiasco right out of the gate. Easily attributable to Mac being a weirdo and besides, Stricklim did not hire him.

Some years of moderate success.

Then the world turned upside down due to Covid.

And then 2021 happened at UF:

1. The Cam Newbauer story and disaster. Did he truly resign or did Stricklin fire him?

2. The Amato disaster.

Those two were huge PR fiascos.

3. Then Mullen proceeds to flame out worse than the Hindenburg, we have reports of Stricklin forcing him to fire Grantham and Hevesy, and then the supposed “tunnel incident” at South Carolina where Mullen became standoffish with some of our biggest boosters. Strickin had to fire his hand-selected coach he brought from Mississippi State.

Two of his hires were “fired” with PR disasters, and Mullen fired before it turned into one. Don’t forget the NCAA show-cause slapped on him.

Now look at a guy like Napier. Checked off all boxes except that don’t make up on-field performance. Appears to be an all-around nice guy, perhaps too much.

I think Stricklin hired him thinking the only reason to ever fire him would be on-field performance, and avoid scenarios like Newbauer, Amato, McElwain and his death threats, and Mullen with his tunnel antics and NCAA show-cause.

Like the rest of us, Stricklin is hoping the culture change and recruiting improvement translate into champiomships.

 

I don't think Stricklin gets a pass here either. He's done a pretty lousy job in my opinion.

But Foley's negligence and two poor hires (3, if you include Zook) put a stain on his otherwise successful tenure.

I also think UF's administration and President Fuchs have hampered our athletic program, especially in the major sports. They have sucked money out, left little for facilities until recently and put us behind our rivals.

Here's where I give Napier credit. He was able to get the UAA to open up their
checkbook and spend some money on recruiting. This is what will bring us back.

As for our coaching options, we were limited. Our admin will not spend big dollars on coaches. It's counter intuitive, when they spend more on buyouts than they would if they aimed a little higher.

 

Oh I think Stricklin is on thin ice. He goes as Napier goes.

In my opiniom Foley did well in retiring on his 25th anniversary as AD, but was also smart to do so before McElwain flames out.

He admitted in 2014 he thought Muschamp was the last football coach he would have to hire, and was not well prepared to undergo another coaching search. Looking back McElwain was not a good fit at UF if you did uour homework, but he was an offensive guy and came from the Saban tree. Enough to quiet down the Bull Gators.