Napier's 7-year contract

That's for sure.

Even when he did something wrong, he couldn't do it right.

 

Hunter is only a sophomore

 

Anyone notice how many "freshmen" and "recruits" have appeared recently bashing our coaches? Hmmm...what does this mean?

 

With all due respect Mullen was the guy who brought AR to Gainesville in the beginning.

 

I guess it all depends on how Beamer does at SC, because if Napier is fired then it’s automatic he will be our next HC.

 

The players definitely checked out. I’m sure that there is more than one reason. Normally in an org that stems from a lack of respect for leadership. Personally, I believe they saw a hypocrisy and a lack of accountability. I think the EJ/AR issue played a part even though the two players seemed to get along and encourage the other.

Also you cannot demand “relentless effort” (Mullen’s words) from players but not from coaches.

There were numerous times in 21 between play in the field and activity on the sideline that more than a few players had flat out quit.

Mullen’s recruiting classes often looked decent - above average. But by fall practice several of the better recruits weren’t in school and on the team. I believe that we have to put this on Admin’s shoulders as they rarely leaned a little into the margin. Spurrier and Meyer had often had issues with this as well. I really don’t see where a few marginal athletes each year are going to drag down the academic standing of a 50,000 student university.

To be fair to Mullen I believe that he may have checked out for the same reason McElwain did: they each came to the realization that UF was not committed to championship or even contention football.

Regardless, Mullen’s recruiting was almost always average-weak by fall. He did well with McElwains talent and worked the portal well. It only took one bad year from the portal for the wheels to fall off the wagon.

So we had average recruiting for four years, lack of commitment from the university, roster of players who had visibly quit the year before and when you looked at their numbers it looked like they had quit in the weight room too. Other than AR, Mullen really didn’t leave behind much upper level SEC talent and very little on field leadership. We can split hairs all we want on this but we both know that any good coach is going to come in and clean house. Personally, I agree that that was what was needed. We now have a roster of young players who when they don’t make a mistake and are in the right place can actually make an open field tackle. We have young receivers who play hard, block downfield, and actually carry out their assignments whether they are getting the ball or not.

While I’m not happy with the results I am thrilled with the effort of our young roster. If we give coach a chance to develop these kids, recruit more and a few years in the weight room we will all be happy with the result.

Galen couldn’t win with losing 30 scholarships. Spurrier struggled with a young team in 92 but still went 9-4. Meyer struggled with a young roster in 07. We all need to calm down.

 

I don’t think there are a lot of championship level coaches other there to be honest. The few that exist are already at better programs. We certainly don’t have a highly experienced former player ready to come save the day.

You see a few hires that have shown immediate success and then year 3/4 reality sets in. Jury is still out on a few coaches that are showing success now. Let’s see in a few years.

Think about all those hot coaches a few years ago. Fleck, Campbell, Frost, etc. We can certainly keep chasing them but I don’t think the athletic department or big money boosters are interested in that. I think it’s pretty clear they want someone for the long haul. I don’t have the answers but I’m damn sure tired of firing and hiring. Maybe BN can adjust and make some changes this offseason? I don’t know, but I like the improvement in recruiting, they are clearly building solid relationships. That’s truly all he can sell us right now.

Let’s see what 2024 brings and what the 2025 class starts shaping up to look like.

 

As there are different kinds of remodels, there are also different kinds of remodelers. There are the kind that knock your socks off, exceed expectations and are worth every penny, these are few and far between. There are guys who do an average job and have no creativity, delivering a passable but not exciting product, there are plenty of these out there. Then there are those who get all your money, tear your house apart, disappear with the money and leave you with an unlivable house and you have to declare bankruptcy or pray you can get Mike Holmes to film a couple of episodes of “Holmes on Homes” and fix your mess. The jury is still out on the Napier remodel but UF is paying top dollar and so far he certainly hasn’t exceeded expectations, not even the modest ones he has tried to establish, nor has he shown a great deal of creativity. He also seems to be deficient in some areas of basic construction technique and how to use tools, that’s why we are seeing so many people express uneasiness all at once, they fear that he may put a roof of some sort over our heads but we won’t be living in style in a Billy Napier home.