Our receivers were better in '90 as was our defense. In fact, the defense was vastly better. AR has more potential, perhaps, but Shane was SEC player of the year in 1990.
And when AR is healthy, he's great... We had more total yards than Tennessee had, but one play here and there on defense really killed our team. Some people think we're far away from where we need to be, but I'm not going to say that. Three good/great transfers and a top 7 or better 2023 recruiting class and we're going to be much further along than some people think we will be. And if we can keep AR for one more year then who knows how good we can be. Napier has a plan and I can wait and see it fully implemented. He's nothing like the last 3 M's were. Napier is methodical very organized is his philosophy and approach. The other guys just tried to wing it.
Couple of points. Meyer actually hindered that talent in 2005 by forcing the spread option on Leak and company. That was somewhat sacrificial to the 05 season however it paid off for 2007 through 2009. Maybe we don't get Percy without the offense either. Who knows but we might have actually won a title or 2 with an even mediocre offense that year. I believe our offense was so bad in the LSU game that year that Meyer brought back a fullback to block and made some minor tweaks that helped us beat Georgia and others going forward . Just found it interesting that Meyer was given some leeway even when fans got frustrated in 05 because they saw a bigger goal.
'89 Gators returned some really good players for Spurs. He said so himself..but he did do more with less. Shane Matthews was a 3x SEC 1st team QB and 2x SEC POY....I sure hope you are right about AR, because if so, we really have something special.
“No Excuses” that’s from the HBC himself. Any interview with him I’ve seen this year, he dismisses any question (like from Pat Dooley two weeks ago) or attitude that is other than “Win Now” and he maintains Napier feels the same way thank God. Spurrier was not afraid to elevate a 4th string QB and coach him up (All SEC in 1990 etc) or switch a LB like Mike Murray to DE or 3 years later, start a walk-on at WR. There is no “5 year plan” at UF. We need to beat Mizzous ass this weekend. No excuses.
How many years did we hear that Mullen couldn't recruit and that Grantham couldn't coach, and now those same people expect Napier to perform miracles. I don't make excuses, but I do point out facts and reality. There's a difference between excuses and reasons.
It's way too early for me to know if this is working, and what your saying is absolutely right on. Napier needs his personnel, and currently, we're not even close on defense. Year two and three will be huge upgrades to this program with recruits. With these new recruits we'll get a better idea how good the coaches really are. Grantham sucked but in his defense, I'm not sure he ever really had the right personnel either. I absolutely love what I'm seeing and know it'll take time. I love the offense. I like the play-calling. Every time a kid runs up the gut and gets stuffed the haters are spring-loaded to react. I always thought that was to keep the D honest. Occasionally, it actually produces yardage. Everything is changing for the better. Gatormade, the new facilities, the attitudes, the support people, you can see the kids embracing the new strategies and changing for the better. It's great to-be a Florida Gator. Go Gators
As a walk on. I’m not trying to convince you or anyone. I’m answering the OP’s questions BUT SOS took a walk on and made SM a player of the year. All in one season. CBN rbs as a 3 headed player = or > rhett in 1990. Linemen for SOS < current crop for CBN (none for SOS played in the NFL). In my view. He is not inheriting Furman. It's reasonable to expect wins against Mizzou, Vandy, FSU, a LSU team in disarray. That gets UF to 6. SC now looks winnable, and aTm seems like it's having major problems. HOW the team wins and loses is key - winning 8 games is a reasonable fan's expectation. CBN is still learning a bit as he goes. While I really look forward to success the errors will drive me crazy. I've seen Dickey, Pell, SOS, Zooker, Urban, the 3 M's and now CBN. Blind loyalty for me is done.
I’m not sure of the numbers. We only have 3 seniors? We have 20 commitments. Are we 17 under the scholarship limit? Do we know how many will declare early for the NFL? Will CBN not be renewing some players’ scholarships? How will this work?
I think there is a difference between process and results. Finding a qb and cobbling together wins (Mullen) while failing at recruiting or building an D while neglecting offense (muschamp) are examples. They had short term succtbut with glaring, critical failures long term to those who pay attention. I think many (most?) see Napier willing to grind thru the right process, and suffer some perceived failures, to win long term. Like a CEO who says that pain in the current quarter is less important than the long term. Can he do it? TBD. But I damn sure think it is the right approach.
I’m confident we can recruit well, have a strong culture, teach the guys to the point they maximize their potential, have the proper mindset (coaches and players) etc. Those are key, if not the key, aspects of college ball My concerns are mainly schematic on both sides of the ball
The CEO example works much better in a privately held company. Public company CEOs are quickly at the mercy of their quarterly results as big time football coaches are to their W/L.
Everyone knows the D is in shambles right now. With the plethora of analysts we now have on staff, my expectation is to see improvement in that area at some point this year. The staff knows how critical the Mizzou game is so I'm hopeful they develop a plan to limit the bleeding this weekend. We can't turn this collage of misfits into a top 25 defense in a week, that's obvious. But a plan that results in at least a handful of punts is not to much to ask for this game. If we can look somewhat better in our next outing and show some progression going forward, that would do a lot for my "Gator PTSD"!
I'm an optimist long term but have become a pessimist for this season. I just can't fathom how any hoped improvement wouldn't have reared its head by now. Not looking for a top 25 defense this year but as you said, a handful of punts against the likes of usf/EW and yes even UT. A handful in each game not over the course of 3 games.
Honestly thought the defense would be farther along at this point. Staff seems to be better at teaching and I had hoped that would translate. There does seem to be less confusion prior to the snap than under Grantham. Seems our problems are post snap. That being said, I'm still fully on board. Love the Blue Chip % in recruiting. Think we'll be building depth quickly. He's addressing our glaring needs in recruiting. Probably could use high level flips at LB and OL. Hope we see a more consistent upward trend to finish out the season. First 5 have been a bit of a rollercoaster.