He took it as disrespect. I think it was after Mullen beat him in his first year and there. He made some reference to it the next year when they beat us and then Mullen was fired shortly after. You could tell it got under Drink's skin.
totally agree. Same playbook/play call on 3rd we- and opposing coaches - have seen since Napier got here.
Aside from some miraculous turnaround (chances slim and none), I think this is the best we can hope for.
I really don't think that he is. To be frank Napier doesn't seem like the brightest bulb on the tree, and is also exceedingly stubborn. It's a disastrous combination.
The chorus is louder this morning after Gator fans have had time to process. Nape needs to go. 6 straight losses. No improvement in the off-season. Expanded staff has yielded poor results. Slim chance with a brutal schedule for a turnaround. Florida isn’t Texas A&M with deep buyout money pockets. Somehow, someway the buyout needs to happen. This “process” isn’t working.
I am fortunate that my flight was boarding at halftime, I couldn't bear to watch any more of that train wreck. I was onboard with Nap first 2 years, but the writing is on the wall.
I've been vocal about reserving judgment until this year due to the state of the program Mullen left it in. I've also disagreed with the more fervent supporters that the Miami game wasn't a make or break game. I've always said it was. There is simply no way you have any excuse to lose a statement game at home against an instate rival who is also vying for a return to respectability. My concern last year was his preseason remarks about the defense as well as his propensity to just do enough on offense to get a lead and then going conservative over and over. He did the same this year with every positive comment and then laying that egg. Not hiring an OC was upsetting but I figured we had enough patches of offensive success even with a bad offensive line that we might see a better product with even just a solid offensive line. He is in over his head and it's not for a lack of trying. He's limited in his thinking and his concepts are just archaic. It seems he believes in the KISS method of keep it simple stupid and just do a few things really well regardless of scheme. That worked for Saban when he had a 2 deep of 5 stars but he even had to adapt to spread offenses eventually. Saying Miami had used a few unforseen wrinkles while we continued with the same unflinching gameplan regardless of situation was deflating. Once again our defense took the home crowd out from the get go. Once again pivotal moments early on where a punt or a field goal wasn't acceptable we ended up doing exactly that. It's your home field yet we played like we were trying to hang on from the onset. I've never seen such a bleak outlook for the remainder of a season and that includes the year of the credit card scandal. Just incomprehensible. Also, the portal giveth and the portal taketh away. A transition from such an already downtrodden program makes it almost impossible to maintain or attract any talent without a grandslam hire and I don't think there are any out there. This was as bad a performance as could have been. I believed he deserved a chance to show what he had in year 3 and he did. No excuses. There is no good answer to this problem right now either.
The Napier/Mertz combo somehow needed to call a time out before running a play coming out of a TV timeout after another Miami TD. Should have been fired on the spot for that. In the presser, he mentions the 2 roughing penalties, but demanded zero accountability when #1 of extended that drive. Didn’t even come out of the game. No fire from Billy. You think Kirby or Saban would have handled it that way?
A loss to Miami wasn’t going to seal Billy’s fate. Not if we lost close. Not if we gave maximum effort. Not if we had a gameplan that worked and simply got beat in the 4th quarter by superior talent. All those things would have shown progress. All those things would have given hope. All those things would have been tangible proof that “the process” is working and it just takes time. None of that happened. There is no progress. There is no improvement. The “process” is nothing but a steaming pile of crap designed to buy Stricklin job security, and assure Billy generational wealth for his family. We have been gaslighted, fooled, and deceived by two con men who have no business being employed at UF. BURN IT ALL DOWN!!!
Another issue some of us have harped on even as supporters up until now. This is what we have starting while Miami recruited and Portaled their offensive line to what it is.
Losing a well played game to a good team could have been overcome. That was crap. I’m not sure how good Miami is really going to be but we are still weak on both lines and Billy can’t call shit.