If Dan didnt quit on us and the team, he would have been here and we wouldnt be having this discussion. The thought of firing cbn after year 1 is absurd. i said from the beginning we had to wait until off season year 1 as our first data point and then off season year 2 He appeared. to make all the cotrrect moves, or so it appeared. He had smarter people than me convinced we were turning the corner this year. Obviously we were scammed
Collins was in on 7 tackles today (1 solo) including 1/2 tfl Football vs Mississippi State on 9/21/2024 - Box Score - Florida Gators
He really did get pushed back in runs between the tackles as did Taylor and as did Robinson. We got gashed with runs again, and Collins and the other young guys had a lot to do with that.
Nice try, find comparable situations as outlined above. Colorado is a closer comparison last year and they were terrible worse than us. none of those followed 3 previous coaches in a 10year span. Kelly at ND plenty of scheduled wins, same at uw with coach D. Kelly at lsu followed the ogre who was 1year removed from a nc. FTR not advocating for BN just pointing out you under estimate the task at hand several years ago
Kelly walked into a bad situation at LSU. They had a ton of players transfer, culture was a mess, and he had a ton of problems to weed through that took lots of time. At one point before he took over, I think their number of scholarship players was the lowest in the SEC due to so many leaving, getting kicked off, etc. There’s no way Dykes took over a more talented team at TCU than what Billy had here. The numbers show that as we had a top 15 squad talent wise. Those aren’t my numbers those are from people that do it for a living. Dykes played the right kids and aggressively hit the portal. He also had the mindset that they could win year one. DeBoer played the right guys and is a great coach. When, before he got there, was Washington great? all these guys and many others had aggressive and positive mindsets that they could and should win immediately. They played the right guys and they hit the portal hard. Billy didn’t do any of the three above. Think about our transfers. From these guys alone we’d be much better but they all left because they either weren’t playing OR they knew we wouldn’t win. Princely Etienne Ryland Powell - nice to have a guy that could rush the qb. Braun- doing well at Arkansas Mincey- should have started here Hopper McMillon That’s just a few that we’ve had walk that could have really helped us.
I agree with everything you said. With a caveat….when there is a coaching change, players will now transfer out. Period. Hopper, McMillon, Mincy…those players never even decided to meet Napier and his staff once Mullen was fired. That is typical at all schools when a coach leaves. Even Bama had over a dozen players bail when Saban left. Etienne (and McClellen not listed) is the biggest indictment of the transfers since he was a Billy recruit. The rest were all from the previous coaching staff and while some would certainly help performance at UF, none were recruited by Napier and staff and have zero loyalty to them. Just like all the LSU guys who bailed when Kelley was hired. what Napier failed to do was hit the portal hard for talented players that could start day 1 as soon as he got the job.
Oh yeah, I forgot McClellan. And yes, that philosophy that so many agreed with about him not hitting the portal Hard ultimately is what did us in. With regard to the players, not giving Billy a real chance, my thought process there would be: Sometimes you have to recruit kids and I wish you could have got some of them to stay. Even Kiffin would have to rerecruit the Wilsons, Mizells, and Jadan Baugh. I just think that’s part of the job.
Unfortunately none of those names were deemed acceptable candidates 3 years ago. There is no guarantee they would have had 8+ wins at uf year one with our schedule and roster. Wrt to departed players doing well at other schools they are role players with modest stats bc of the cast around them, not the alpha on the unit. Hopper is the most accomplished bc he made it to the league but mizz was pretty good on d and he was surrounded by good players. Impress us with a pick besides lane k which is where we have failed the last 4 hiring rounds and missing on the fan favorite for whatever reason. Followed by grasping for whoever in desperation to avoid criticism for botching the process again. Now is your time to shine
You also have a very few coaches that players have heard of and would want to play for. They have swag, they have the "it" factor. Those types will retain the majority of players because they'll think the new guy will give them the chance to play for championships (and get them good teaching).
Ryland Powell w 9 sacks doesn’t impress? McClellan playing well look up D. McMillon stats Braun an NFL guy Mincey starting Princely Etienne I’m forgetting a few but these guys are doing well.
Dyles got smacked as soon as he played an SEC team. That wasn't real greatness comparable to succeeding in the SEC. Petersen immediately before DeBoer was possibly better than DeBoer and had 2 PAC12 championships and a playoff appearance. The culture wasn't bad when DeBoer got there. I expect Kelly is going to get canned before he gets the success they want, so I wouldn't call him a success story. CBN has failed, but we don't have to minimize the problems that got UF to this point. There are few coaches who could step in and quickly turn UF around
We have been playing second-tier teams to date (Miami is the exception). We have been getting banged up against lesser competition. The diminished plays per player could be a reflection of a preservation philosophy.
Funny to me that Mullen took all the blame for Billy’s first two years yet our best two offensive lineman our Mullen in Barber and Slaughter
Generally it's the RJr who are starting over the RFr. Harris has flashed. Lovett is looking good. Kearney has talent as does Zandamela. Yes, CBN didn't bring in day 1 starters from high school, but let's not pretend Mullen left us stocked at OL. That's just silly. OL recruiting has been a problem since Meyer.
3 years in and we cannot name one lineman on the o line that Billy has recruited that is making a difference. The two best we have again are Mullen guys and it’s not even close.
So your argument is players with 1 year of pt should exceed those with 3 years of pt. Brilliant. I guess we should get rid of Lagway, Chiles. Graham. McCray. They must be Napier scrubs.
