Elko at Duke, DeBoer at Washington, Dickert at WSU all great examples of schools with less talent than Florida. Dykes was projected 6-6 or 7-5 and he’s 12-0. Still very frustrating to hear people say “Billy hast to get his players” when I guarantee you none of these guys have their players as they are in their first year.
The problem is we'd overachieve one game, then underachieve the next two. - Utah : Overachieved - UK : Under - USF : Under - UT: Over - Mizzou: Under - LSU: Under - UGA: About as expected - TAMU: Over - USC: Over - Vandy: Way under - FSU: Expected / Slightly Over It was an inconsistent team. That's to be expected in a coach's first year.
I think your chart is based on preseason expectations. As the season went on, I developed the view that our roster is rather bad.....so in hind site, I think we overachieved vs everyone except Vandy and USF.
Coming down the stretch, Florida had a chance to finish 8-4. But, the Gators ended up 6-6 which included disappointing road losses to Vanderbilt & Florida St. An 8-4 finish would have been a B grade for me, a 7-5 (with either a Vandy or FSU win) would have been a C. But, Florida going 6-6 pushes it down to a D grade from me for this season. It just shows how slim the margin is between almost failing (0.500 record) and succeeding (> 0.500 record). "You win some, you lose some!" You end up 6-6. However, recruiting should also be taken into account. Napier's staff recently added quarterback Rashada (#49 overall, #7 QB) to make it a total of 18 4* athletes. Florida's class now ranks at #8 and could move up higher if more top players are added. So, the recruiting efforts would give Napier an A- combined with a 6-6 (3-5) record which is a D. After combining those two factors, the final grade for Napier would be a C.
this may be the post of the year. And anyone who says “well they don’t play in the SEC” isn’t paying attention because those teams position relative to the talent in that conference is the bar. Those coaches did more with less and flat out did a better job than Billy. It can’t be argued. Billy had more talent and a better staff and did not do as good of a job as those coaches. Now, I think you can chalk up a lot to talent, inconsistency at QB, depth, tough schedule etc and I do think Billy can get it done…. But he squandered opps and was not nearly creative enough and our coaches stuck to their guns stubbornly running bunch/2 TEs with nobody to play the position and soft zone on defense until game 7-8. The most damning quote was Fsu defender Jammie “I spelled my name wrong” Robinson when he said “that was a simple offense to adjust to” No bueno. He’s gonna have to figure it out. You should NOT be outcoached by Jeff Scott and Clark Lea - I don’t care WHO you have at QB. yes, it’s gonna take time but let’s be honest along the way folks, he has to do better.
Spot on. As a fan and a teacher, this is perfect. This is basically the first report card of the year. Terrible product. Do I see the promise, absolutely. Now show me.
I agree with all of this except the fsu quote. I mean AR missed passes and receivers dropped passes and yet still put up 38? How was it so easy to adjust to?
There is no reason we can’t be Georgia and Alabama with the right coach. It may 2 or 3 years but No reason whatsoever and no excuses. Totally agree with you. “Wes Chandler was Percy Harvin before Percy Harvin was born.”
Ironically I think Mullen would have had a better year this year 7-5,8-4. He is a QB whisperer and our D couldn’t be much worse. Even with TG. But - I think Billy is a program builder and a recruiting machine. In the mold of Dabo Swinney…May take a couple of years or three. “Wes Chandler was Percy Harvin before Percy Harvin was born.”
715, I like your analysis but I think 9 wins is extremely optimistic for Florida next year based on our schedule and who we have coming back. I just took a look at our schedule and I count no less than 9 games that I would rate as toss up games that could go either way. To win 9 games we are going to need to secure one of the very best portal QB’s and add some additional starters as well from the portal. I hope it happens.
None of those coaches at that point had to deal with NIL nor the portal. I know it cuts both ways, and Nape with ‘the plan’ should be turning that into an asset vs a liability, but it’s a totally different game with those dynamics. Just look at how many players we have lost to the portal in the second half of the season. I don’t think the other coaches were dealing with such hemorrhaging. Maybe I’m wrong, Probably am, but those seem like huge differences in roster management from just 4 years ago.
Speaking of Vanderbilt, i agree we should have won that game, however when people consider talent and roster, they should also consider experience. We have 4 seniors on our roster, none of whom play much. Vandy has 30+ seniors on theirs. So when you consider us "out-talenting" people, consider our roster has some serious experience holes, especially at LB which really cost us quite a few games this year. This year was always going to be a write off. I guess CBN could have gone Mullen and focused on the portal, but he didn't. Just consider that a team like Georgia picks up very few players in the portal. The portal is great for plugging holes or adding a few very good players, but not to build a team on. Anyway, 6-6 or 8-4 doesn't change us going forward getting to where most here want to be.. annually contending for SEC championship, playoffs, and NC.
