WHAT Will/Needs TO HAPPEN IN YEAR THREE!

This is more realistic than some here who think anything less than 7 or 8 wins is grounds for dismissal.

 

As a fan, it would certainly be a humiliating nightmare, but objectively, it can be possible. What if all three schools win 10+ games next year, and we remain largely the same?

 

Yes, that’s easy. In that case, we would need to make changes in leadership. It would be unacceptable for scUM, SWAC, and a directional school in Orlando to all beat the Gators (Miami and UCF in our house), to win 10 or more games each, and for Napier to have a third consecutive losing season. It would mean they are progressing and we are getting worse, despite a fair period to show some improvement. So let’s hope that doesn’t happen. Frankly, if Napier is not 5-0 going into Tennessee, then I don’t think he has a future here.

 

Sadly, I think you're right. Which loss among those first five games would you expect the axe to fall?

 

Great seer, and most anointed one, insightful words you share. The pessimist in me has a gag order and is currently locked in the broom closet. The voices in my head say 7+ wins. Nonetheless, I have several sail options on deck...

Go Gators.

 

If he gets 9 or 10 wins in '24 in your opinion should he get a contract extension?

Without Franks getting hurt, we never see Trask. Suppose we go 3-2 the first 5 games, Mertz gets injured, Lagway comes and wins the rest of his games (except Georgia)... In your opinion, does CBN still get axed?

Since you were so definitive about the 5-0 benchmark, I would really like to hear what you think on the 2 above scenarios.

 

I don’t think it would fall during those five games, actually. I just think losing any of them would make a losing season a damn-near certainty. To fire Napier, the AD would have to be facing catastrophic loss of confidence from the fans, boosters, and administration. And I just don’t think that would happen until, like, November if the record is 4-7, locking in the losing season with the last game on the road in Tallahassee.

But if you’re asking which game sets the tone for how the season will go, then that’s simple: Miami. We have weak, dysfunctional team from a soft conference coming to our house and the entire offseason to make our team prepare with hate in their hearts. If the Gators show up ready and angry and beat them into the turf like in the Spurrier days of old, then we’re off and running. But if we get the same team that showed up for Utah last season — looking like it was in its first week of practice, two dudes on the field with the same number, can’t count to 11, can’t keep up with the snap count, routinely running designed plays short of the line to gain on third down — then we’re probably going to lose no matter how badly Miami does not deserve to win. And that will auger badly not only for the season but also for Napier’s future.

 

To clarify, I’m not definitive about 5-0 by any means. I just think the chances of a winning season and, therefore, Napier’s long-term prospects go way down if he does not win the five most winnable games on the schedule, which just happen to be the first five. Do I think he would be fired if he turned around a 2-3 season to go 9-3? Of course not. Do I think that’s a likely set of events? Not remotely.

 

IMO, with the transfer portal and NIL, each year's team is completely different than the previous year, with the exception of the top 2 or 3 teams (for now). I think the Mertz is limited with his mobility, and that will limit our team in some respect. However Lagway COULD BE a tremendous difference maker in our team. Think of Travis with the holes and Jayden with the corn dogs. No doubt in my mind if we swapped Jayden and Mertz last year, even with our crappy D, we beat the corn dogs. Like the NFL, most of the top teams today have a mobile agile running threat at QB (Purdy is an exception). Also I think our D is upgraded big time for many reasons from last year.

 

I hope much of that comes to pass. But I think you are hoping for too much in a true freshman. Mertz was actually one of the team’s few bright spots last year, and with better play calling and an even marginally improved OL I think he could end up being as good as Trask. Lagway might make for a nice change-of-pace, but I think it would be unfair to expect too much too quickly.

 

He ain't wrong, that's for sure.

 

I seriously doubt Lagway would be so polished as a true freshman, any more than Tebow would run the table if Chris was injured during the Tennessee game in 2006. Trask, Travis and Daniels were also experienced upperclassmen, not true freshmen.

 

How about Tua and Jalen when Alabama won the national championship.. Both True Freshmen.

 

I don’t think so

 

Jalen was class of 16, Tua was class of 17.

 

I'll correct my statement. Jalen led his team as a TRUE FRESHMAN to the National Championship game and lost.. Tua won the national championship as a TRUE FRESHMAN.
Back to my original point. Lagway, if he is good as we think, may be capable as a TRUE FRESHMAN to have major success.
Different times since Tebow was here. More true freshmen are playing and having success.

 

I'm afraid the playbook is already opened up.

 

It would have ended then and there. We needed Chris on that final drive to win that game.