No excuse, Napier needs to go

Hey, I was there and the crowd noise was full-on for the first-half. Extremely loud, even though it was like 120 degrees in the stadium. I personally saw three people go down from the heat in eyesight of our seats. We had dinner with a freshman family member that night, and she said even she was roasting. The crowd noise most definitely died off in the second half after we got down three touchdowns, or so. But, blaming the crowd is BS.

 

I agree, much of everything else he's done wrong could have been largely mitigated by hiring an offensive coordinator. The lack of discipline on defense and their slow reaction time would still be an issue, but there's enough talent and experience on offense to put something on the field that can score more than 17 points in a home opener.

 

Not blaming the crowd, just that the crowd was expecting something to happen, bad or good. Once it went bad, it went quiet. Josh was at the game too and he agreed that the crowd noise was loud at first but it felt different to him, like the fans were not exactly into it. Ward should know because he was playing in the Pac 12 last year and said the Swamp sounded no louder than at Oregon. He never made any mistakes due to crowd noise so I have to agree with him.

 

The bright side and I have to say it because it is a big deal. 2 penalties, both roughing the passer. Meaning? The offense had zero penalties in Game 1. When was the last time the offense had 0 penalties in Game 1? You have to go back to Steve Spurrier's team in 1995 the last time a Gator offense had no penalties in Game 1.

 

It wasn't the crowd. The team lost the crowd WELL after things started going bad. He's got the wrong focus.

 

Very strange game with I think just two penalties each for both sides. Both of our two were costly, borderline, but, definitely unnecessary and undisciplined. Some other penalties should have been called against Miami, but, the ACC refs turned their heads. But, like you said, penalties overall were a positive.

 

This!! Lots of folks talking about us being manhandled or saying “play freshmen.” We are not the 2006 gators but we have talent. We are not coached well from a macro schematic perspective or technique (angles/communication/etc). Not to mention my favorite- we get penalties of aggression but don’t even get our moneys worth or show aggression otherwise! And it happens again and again!

The first 2 years were troubling but you expect coaching growth/changes in the offseason (recognizing that Napier moves slow). As of now there is just no debate that our coaching is horrendous from top to bottom and blaming players is misguided.

 

Can you blame the crowd for checking out?

 

I left before the 4th quarter for the first time in 30 years. You can blame me, but that sucked.

 

You can ask but he could do something special at his Alma Mater so who knows if he would leave.

 

Like most of you I've had a cloud hanging over my head all day. We were all hoping that during the offseason we would have climbed our way from the bottom of the mountain to at least part of the way up and then have real optimism that we would eventually climb back to the top where we were for almost 30 years. Then yesterday. You could see it early on in the game but then by the end of the fourth quarter it was clear.

As I watched many of the top 20 teams in action yesterday and it became clear that the speed and overall execution of the top college teams is just dramatically different than our speed and execution. Turn on USC/LSU right now and you'll see it.

I think fans would be more patient if they were seeing real progress but IMHO it's just not there.

I came to UF in 1979 and have seen a lot of Gator football over the past 45 years including having season tickets for most of that time. I can't imagine the University of Florida is going to allow this to continue.

 

Friday night, randomly I was at a brewery and randomly got into a convo with a guy who walked on at UF from 01-05.

Said that the difference between Zook and Meyer was that Meyer had UF believing in themselves come the 4th quarter in a tight game. Said Mickey Marotti was the REAL DEAL as the S&C coach.

 

let me ask you this, to a man who’s been through A LOT of UF coaching changes…we are in year 3 of Napier’s tenure….how many players have you seen LEGITIMATELY get better under his watch that we have on the roster? Didnt this look like how we looked vs Utah last year in a lot of aspects?

 

No. I think I might have at some point.

 

They also generally lacked offense in game 1 this time around.

 

Tough but fair read.

Florida Gators flailing, but coach Billy Napier isn't solely to blame

“Florida isn’t, and never has been, a turnkey national championship type of program. The two coaches who have done it – Spurrier and Urban Meyer – are among the greatest ever. Everyone else has struggled with the job. The overall takeaway is that you can win at Florida, but there’s no natural right to it. You’ve got to be exceptional.

Since showing up in Gainesville, Napier hasn’t even shown he’s mediocre. If his third Florida team is as bleak and uncompetitive as it looked Saturday against Miami, he won’t get a fourth year and the university’s administration and boosters will have more choices to make. There’s no guarantee they’ll make the right ones.

That’s why Florida is No. 1 on the first Misery Index of 2024, a weekly measurement of which fan bases are feeling the most angst.“

 

Well, OK....Maybe so


You're killing me '62

 

Begs the question: if we are not going to compete, then what is the point?

 

$$$$

 

so collecting paychecks to get our asses kicked. That's encouraging.