The Florida Gators finished the regular season with a 6-6 (3-5 SEC) record after their loss to FSU in week 13. With the bowl game and the offseason quickly approaching, Gator Country gives you another chance to ask your Florida football questions.
GC provides part one of our Florida football mailbag, Nov. 28th edition.
Bigemorygator: Heard any rumblings about off-season moves with regards to the staff? Defense, Special teams, etc…
NM: I don’t expect Napier to make any staff moves unless one of his own is poached by another staff. I don’t expect Napier to add a special teams coordinator, as he believes his plan will be effective. Napier isn’t someone that’s going to put up with poor coaching, but he also isn’t going to overreact from year one of the program.
UFMBA14: Sounds like exit interviews are happening today. Any idea when we’ll start seeing the player posts about entering the portal?
NM: Transfers could happen before or even after the bowl game; I expect them to happen sooner rather than later. You could even see a handful of guys leave after spring ball.
Cbcoakley: Where do you see the main needs for transfers? Many on this board seem to think we need a bunch…but with our currently young team and solid incoming class, I think transfers will be highly opportunistic….
NM: There’s likely going to be many current players, including young guys, that will hit the portal in the off-season, opening up plenty of spots. However, I expect Florida to take a large recruiting class this cycle. The main need right now for the Gators is at tight end. Napier often runs two TE sets in his scheme and the Gators severely lack talent in that room. Florida had one of the least talented TE rooms in the SEC this season and that needs to change next year. I expect at least one, if not two tight ends brought in via the portal. The next need is the defensive line. I think Florida has very talented freshmen on the way in, but I’d like to see some veteran guys in the portal to bridge the gap for the youngsters. You can never have too many talented defensive lineman. Linebacker is another group I expect Napier and this Gators staff to hit hard. Ventrell Miller and Amari Burney are out the door and there’s only one linebacker commit as of right now. I think you can expect two linebacker transfers. Lastly, this isn’t much of a need if the staff convinces Ricky Pearsall to return, but Florida could use one more WR in the portal. I’m very comfortable with a room that consists of Pearsall, Douglas, Reynolds, a transfer WR, and the loaded freshman class.
Irgator12: How can the Gators improve on sealing the edge? It seems all our opponents knew we couldn’t do this and took advantage of it in every game.
NM: Having more talented players at the position will help with this. I thought Antwuan Powell-Ryland struggled with this early on in the year but started showing major improvement over the course of the season. The answer to a lot of those issues is simply recruiting.
OklahomaGator: If it is the Las Vegas bowl, will we get in the 14 extra practices with the game on Dec. 17?
NM: There’s not a set number of practices for Bowl games, but they do have to follow the standard NCAA guidelines, which is four hours a day and 20 hours a week. Florida likely won’t practice 14 times if the Gators play on December 17th.
Jcmiller910: Nick, what players do you see leaving early for the draft? Is AR gone? How big of an exodus of current players do you anticipate seeing this offseason? Will we see any possible coaching changes along the staff? How satisfied or dissatisfied is Coach Napier with this season. He talked all about improvement throughout the season, but we saw the same glaring problems throughout the season as they never really got better. What would you like to see moving forward? How do we make a great 2nd year leap under this regime? I feel as is we are left with more questions than answers after year one under this regime, which quite frankly is very disappointing! Thanks Nick, Go Gators. I know it’s a lot to answer.
NM: I expect senior O’Cyrus Torrence to “leave early”. He’s a senior but technically has a year of eligibility left. My prediction as of now is AR leaves for the draft. That is pure speculation based on hearing his responses to questions about it. I think the two main areas to watch here are Ricky Pearsall and the offensive line as the Gators could get a lot of production back on offense.
I don’t expect any coaching changes after year one unless Napier needs to replace someone that leaves for another job.
Billy Napier isn’t satisfied with this season, but he told us all offseason how thin Florida is on the depth chart. I don’t think Napier is surprised by anything that happened this year. The win against Utah tempered with expectations this season.
I would like to see Florida hit the transfer portal in the offseason as well as polish off a good 2023 class. Napier has the Gators sitting at the 8th spot in the recruiting rankings after a 6-6 season. The defense and the QB position are the key to 2023. Florida’s defense needs to take major strides next year in every area; Pressure, tackling, coverage, and run defense all need to be improved. QB play has to be more consistent as well. Whether it’s Anthony Richardson, Jalen Kitna, Jaden Rashada, Jack Miller, or a transfer QB, they need to be more accurate and take better care of the football. Simple execution cost the Gators this year.
Tmanjax: Do you think we will end up higher or lower than 7th in recruiting rankings after ESD? What does Billy view as THE most pressing need on defense next year? Scheme change? Coaching change? Player infusion?
What does Billy view as THE most pressing need on offense next year? Scheme change? Coaching change? Player infusion?
NM: That’s a pretty tough line, but I will say higher. Andrew would have a better answer for you. Desmond Ricks is a huge factor in that line. Napier isn’t going to change the defensive scheme or change coaches after year one. Talent acquisition is Napier’s biggest concern right now. Same answer for the offense, Napier isn’t going to change anything schematically, and he is the play caller. I think you could see different sets used more often based on how much the roster turns over on offense. A good coach can script the game for the strengths of the team.
Pan: What’s the story about the Tight End Position. It doesn’t appear to be utilized and we don’t appear to be recruiting the position either.
NM: I think Napier’s use of the tight end position was overblown upon his arrival. No tight ends under Napier at Louisiana reached the 300-yard mark, and just once did a tight end reach the 200-yard mark. For reference, Keon Zipperer had 177 this season in just seven games. Another factor is that Florida’s tight end room doesn’t have much talent. There are players in that unit that aren’t SEC caliber tight ends. Napier often uses two-tight end sets to help in the run game, as you saw often this year. I expect Florida to hit the portal for this position.