I don’t think I would accept a job when management was discreetly courting me for a position that isn’t even officially open yet. Personally, I would wonder if they would do this to me since they’re doing it to the incumbent who’s still employed.
totally agree. AA had a game plan…tried it and if it didn’t work would move on to something else. If that didn’t work, tried anything. He tactically tried the right things based on stats and trends of the opponents- just often didn’t work. This year under Roberts we seem to have the Napier problem on defense that he had on offense…keep doing the same thing all game and regardless of opponent even if not successful. Toney did same thing year 1.
We still rock the Gator gear on a regular rotation and even make a point to let others in O&B gear know that they are “wearing the correct shirt/hat/hoodie” when I see them. This last batch of tees will have to last a couple years, though…
10-12 these guys would be major upgrades right now. Some of these offensive linemen would be stars here. Keep in mind, we were told they were not bought in and were not good enough in some cases. Braun, Farmer, and Mincey were all good enough in my book. Ryland Powell, McMillon, and McClellan all stars On our current team for sure. But we were told they were too slow, not good enough, etc., etc. and this again is one of our major problems that we don’t play the best players. Chris McClellan was a big-time recruit, Ryland Powell One of the better sack guys in the ACC, And McMillan has had an excellent career at Pitt ( told he was too slow). PFF stats for former Florida Gators that transferred out: Princely Umanmielen (Ole Miss) 12 pressures 1 sack 5 stops (gain of 3 or less) Trevor Etienne (Georgia) 24 carries 166 yards 6.9 yards per carry 4 targets 3 catches 25 yards Chris McClellan (Mizzou) 4 pressures 2 sacks 8 stops Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr (Virginia Tech) 12 pressures 3 sacks 8 tackles 11 stops Xzavier Henderson (Cincinnati) 35 targets 22 catches 292 yards 1 TD Jaydon Hill (TAMU) 4 tackles 1 stop 1 TD allowed 143.5 passer rating allowed Scooby Williams (TAMU) 6 tackles 6 stops 3 pressures Donovan McMillon (Pitt) 23 tackles 6 stops 1 forced fumble 1 INT 1 TD allowed 107.2 passer rating allowed Josh Braun (Arkansas) 120 pass blocking snaps 6 pressures allowed 1 sack allowed Micah Mazzccua (Nebraska) 67 pass blocking snaps 1 pressure allowed Jalen Kimber (Penn State) 5 tackles 74.0 passer rating allowed Richie Leonard IV (Florida State) 121 pass blocking snaps 1 sack allowed 5 pressures allowed Caleb Douglas (Texas Tech) 18 targets 10 catches 137 yards 1 TD Jalen Farmer (Kentucky) 79 pass blocking snaps 5 pressures allowed Gerald Mincey (Kentucky) 83 pass blocking snaps 5 pressures allowed Max Brown (Charlotte) 30/57 passing 1 TD 2 INTs 6 carries 31 yards Kamari Wilson (Arizona State) 2 pressures 1 tackle 1 stop 87.5 passer rating allowed
Not sure about that. The shine is gone from this program. Potential, for the reasons listed above, is still there, but NIL and facilities improvements at other programs tends to level the field IMHO. We have been playing catch up for years on facilities. Maybe we are there now, I don’t know.
This team would look worse. Same crappy OL/Dl. Playing for someone who is for damn sure not going to be there next year. Who cares? Demoralizing. If you can't block and tackle, not going to win. Leave it be. Perhaps our next coach will be our savior. Perhaps.
You say that with such certainty, wish you would have given all of us a heads up before the season. I didn't say anything about winning, but might learn something.
So what point is it obvious to the players that regardless of any official word Napier won't be here next season? Wouldn't that be just as demoralizing? An interim may not make things better but how much worse could we actually look? And what is the risk of that in comparison to the possible reward of some kind of spark lit by a new, even if temporary voice? There are several recent examples of interims changing the tenor of a team for the better and the players responding. Why the certainty it couldn't happen here? None of this is an absolute. We're always talking about possibilities and probabilities and making the best of what can be done. But demoralized won't begin to describe a long, grim death march of week after week of indefinite Napier as the losses keep piling up and the criticism getting uglier and uglier. At some point don't you tell the players their season is worth trying something different, even if that doesn't work either?
Do yourself a favor: look at our record after Zook was fired, because he stayed with us until the end of the season. Over those four games, we went 3-1, including a win over FSU, there. Not a one of you "run him off right immediately" people have offered a single reason as to how that would benefit us.
So keep Napier and we go 3-1 in our last 4 games? I would bet that its much more likely we would go 0 fer.
I wouldn't describe myself as wanting to "run him off immediately" but that a clean break and one sooner rather than later is best for everyone, himself included. I don't know of anyone, except maybe himself, that thinks he'll still be here next year, and have concerns that a lengthy lame duck tenure causes it's own set of problems. But you're welcome to your interpretation. Tomato, tomahto. But several people have given "a single reason" when they pointed out recent, contrary examples of interims that made a positive difference in a losing team's performance and even won some games no one expected. Rather than be further demoralized, the teams in question responded to the new, midseason chance and did something good with it, whether or not that interim was retained. You have offered the example of Zook from 20 years ago where a coach was fired midseason, allowed to continue coaching, and the team responded positively. To that I would say you might be right. There is definitely a precedent for it working and one that happened right here, regardless of how long ago. But since we're talking about mights and maybes and possibilities and probabilities, I'd suggest the opposite examples given offer similar rationale as to why there is precedent for a positive interim experience and that asserting how it absolutely couldn't work seems as unsupported as asserting it absolutely must work. I think the people disagreeing with you are suggesting we know what will happen if a lame duck Napier continues a downward spiral. We don't know what would happen under an interim. And the difference between losing a ton of games with the current coach waiting to be fired at the end of the season versus losing a ton of games with an interim doesn't seem like much. Plus there's a least the possibility, however low you may argue, that someone different lights the kind of fire under the players that Napier has been unable to do yet. Unfortunately for us all, I believe that Napier is no Zook.