Looking Ahead To The 2024 Season & Beyond - Thoughts?

Can’t argue with your post, missourigator. You are right. I should have said we need to hit the portal harder and SMARTER.

 

He’s got a big hole to dig out of and there aren’t a lot of bright spots that point to a solid future.

I’d imagine there is some heavy negative recruiting going on and a few people in the ears of current players.

 

Definitely mixed feelings. Napier is saying all the right things, and seems to be doing many of the right things.

Hard to judge the offense without an offensive line. But we have two offensive line coaches, so we should be seeing improvement here?

The schedule was rough this year. But it is going to be just as rough next year.

Some bright spots in recruiting. But also have some decommits already and likely a couple more before everyone makes it to campus.

Finished 5-7, losing our last 5 games to close out a dismal season. But our last three games, all against ranked opponents saw us within a score of winning in the fourth quarter. If those played out a little differently, we are looking at 8-4 and crowing at how bright the future looks. But we could have also lost to Tennessee and South Carolina and finished at 3-9. Yikes.

I'm cautiously optimistic. I like the patience FSU has shown, and the results they have gotten from their slow rebuild. I am hopeful that we can see the same results in year 4. But that 2024 schedule is rough. We can improve as a team and still finish with only 5 wins again next year.

 

I feel about the same however I dont think our schedule was as tough as people say it was. Sure There is more parity now than ever between everyone not named Bama and Georgia but Utah, Kentucky, Arkansas and fsu without their qb were winnable games. Obviously Mertz was out for fsu but the game was there to be won and I never bought into Kentucky or Utah with a backup QB either.

Secondly, to build off of that, we did play well against the meat of our schedule but still lost as you said. When a team can lose to inferior teams but keep up with superior ones that seems to be a fundamental issue of concern.

It's why so many fans were concerned about our 2nd half philosophy against Tennessee as well as other games. Also correlates to the inordinate amount of one score games Louisiana had with Napier. A win is a win but when you coach to do just enough to win often times you don't.

 

lolwut? Stop letting your past coach PTSD project onto the current situation. Billy already changed DCs. He's at least hinted at the possibility of changing OC, even though the problem with the offense is the OL and not the play calling. I can see where some others are coming from with regard to him potentially being a better HC without the play calling responsibilities. Regardless, he seems willing to adapt and this "omg Billy so stubborn" narrative is highly overblown.

 

My faith is waning. I have been on board and encouraged patience in others because I want so badly for him to be the guy.
That said, I’m starting to lose that faith. As others have pointed out, I can handle losses. Nobody wins every game and I am not demanding anything unreasonable. We are still losing games that we could/should win by making the same stupid mistakes and poor decisions from early last season. If a better team beats us, so be it. If a better, worse, or similar team beats us because we couldn’t get out of our own way, that is maddening.
Again, I REALLY want him to be our guy, but I am doubting that right now.

 

Florida Football: Billy Napier needs more than just better talent in 2024

 

The identity part was interesting hadn’t thought of that, but he’s right, 2 years in and we don’t know what are identity is.

 

TBH between our team being pretty awful to watch, free agency, and the death of amateur athletics at the collegiate level, I don't have a ton of interest any longer. I certainly hope we figure out a way to get back to having a winning program that we can be proud of, but my enthusiasm is dead.

 

Interesting. He is incorrect on one point. CBN will NOT be coaching for his job in 2024. CBN will be the coach at the start of 2025.

 

I don't see the Dabo comparison at all. Didn't Dabo win 9 games in yr 2 and has had 1 losing season in 16 years at clemson and that was 6-7. Also, look at who dabo had for coordinators when he started winning, veteran coaches.

 

Pearsall, Montrell Johnson, Cam Jackson, Caleb banks.

 

A little context : The ACC was still a basketball conference in 2008. Hard pressed to even name a elite team year after year outside of FSU who they them selves were dwindling for a few years and didn't bring any hardware to the Conference until Dabo was 6 years into his tenure. They also played a weak out of conference schedule back then and at one point lost 5 straight games to USCe. It's just hard to have a losing season in the ACC, especially back then.

He's done very well there bit over the 1st 4 or so years many thought he wasn't the guy to win them a championship. But they stuck.with him and he paid them back with 2 natty's.

If the best CBN could muster up in his 1st 7 seasons was two 2- loss seasons would that be enough for GatorNation?

 

Jackson and Banks were pushed around all year.

 

I’ll leave y’all with one thing. It’s about recruiting and we have the guy for it. I wouldn’t say Saban nor Smart nor Dabo are great X’s and O’s guys. Just look at Saban’s defense today. It all comes down to recruiting.

 

Hardly any pressure up the middle, we need at least one dominant DT.

 

Perfect.

 

Napier warned us that he was slow, I mean, he warned us that he would frustrate us with his slow, methodical approach. I prepared myself mentally for this by giving him limitless “Get Out of Jail Free Cards” until 2025. Florida cannot afford to fire Napier until 2025 at the earliest even if he craps on the field every week, so why bother getting worked up over this?

In 2023 I had no better expectations than I did in 2022, except the 2024 recruiting class needs to be top-5.

In 2024 the only added expectations:

• Another top -5 recruiting class for depth
• Upgraded staff (since all units underperformed in 2023, evaluate by recruiting)
• Eliminate “rookie” coaching blunders (in year 3… for a head coach with 7 years experience)
• Win a couple games against favored teams

In 2025 there are no excuses. By this point fans, boosters, and millionaire investors will have maxed out their patience with probably three sub-0.500 seasons in a row by this point. Napier only survives to 2025 if he recruits top-5 classes and investors fail to scrounge up $26M buyout plus $50M+ for the replacement.

 

I assure you, his 'process' did not contemplate the volume of self inflicted wounds. Gators give him next season, bc it makes sense.

We drop him like a bad habit, if he fails to deliver. Make no mistake--Billy Napier has exhausted his margin of error, and absolutely does not have the luxury of another 5 win season. Heads already begun to roll. That was not 'the process' working--that was a response to heat, from the process not working well enough yet.