Gator PTSD

Yes

 

I like CBN.

 

If we give the man the time and resources he needs he will get us there. We need off that coach recycling merry go round. We have wasted a decade + already.

 

In all seriousness I agree with your comments. I for one have learned that despite a coach eating, living and breathing football as well as their entire livelihood depending on it can still make unfathomable mistakes. Muschamp not changing his offensive philosophy, maclweins lack of strength and conditioning program, Mullen not recruiting/grantham/ reliance on portal instead of long term plans etc were each incomprehensible neglect.

I have concerns about game management but the staff has already shown an ability and willingness to adapt offensive scheme at times. Defense is more concerning but Toney has a reputation for adapting as does Napier so they get a long leash for now. Unfortunately some of the internet coaches are already claiming Napier is in over his head.

There is nothing so far in his plan or comments to think that Napier doesn't have everything covered regarding running the program. He even commented about studying why others here failed. That to me is huge. He and his staff will have bumps in the road coaching in the most competitive and dirtiest league in the country but that is nowhere near the same hurdle that the other coaches here made for themselves.

 

Billy inherited a decade long mess. Anyone that thought he was going to have a championship team year one is delusional. Urban inherited a very talented team or else it would've taken him a few years to turn the program around. We're the youngest team in the country, or close to it, with only 3 seniors in the two deep. Of those 3 seniors, only Ventrell Miller is a dependable player. I see a great deal of positives so far. I see the warts as well, so I'm not sunshine pumping, but people need to put the brakes on expectations this year. The defense had been so poorly coached and recruited over the last half of the decade that it is what it is. I expect improvement over the course of the year, and if it doesn't seem quite a bit better next year, then I can understand the grumbling to an extent. I wonder how many of the grumblers started a new job and had everything together at an elite level their first year on the job. Billy has said more than once that people need to be patient. He sees everything we see, but better as he doesn't just watch what's happening on the field as fans do, he also has the benefit of seeing what's happening at practice and film breakdown. Having said that, I'm as impatient as everyone else, but I do try to be practical about the situation. The way the offense played in Knoxville and the fact that the team didn't give up and came back to a point that I thought they were going to pull out another one against the Vols gives me a great deal of hope for the future of the program.

 

The first step in the problem-solving process is to recognize the problem. Napier has done something that has not been done since 2005 when Urban Meyer identified a bunch of problems, and the solutions led to two very different championship teams. I am not guaranteeing a championship, but I am saying that I like what I see so far. Muschamp, McElwain, and to some degree, Mullen failed to identify key problems early on. Mullen probably created problems for himself as his tenure went on. Napier has identified big and small problems that need to be fixed, and it may take a couple years for some of the fixes to yield expected results.

 

I think progress is the key here. If fans see progress, however incremental, I think there will be more patience...but if not then Katy bar the door. Here is what I would like to see:

1) The defense improving as the young guys get more reps....it still may be ugly by the end of the year, but at least there are some visible improvements (take-aways, forced punts, sacks, etc.)....and then a significant jump in performance in 2023.
2) Special teams really should try for at least one special play per game and no bone-headed errors.
3) Offense being able to dictate to other teams via the run, even when the other team knows its coming.
4) Some offensive variability and misdirection (if I ever see another blown-up bubble screen to Henderson, it will be too soon).
4) Reasonable off-season Coaching upgrades if we aren't seeing improvements in the team.
5) Recruiting at a HIGH level. If UF isn't routinely top 10-12 in the country we can count on being bottom 7-8 in our own league...that won't cut the mustard long term.

 

With the previous coaches there was a lot of rationalization over things they were doing. Everyone had their own interpretation. We hoped this or that would work out. That was exhausting.

With Napier I know a plan exists. I know there's X% probability that it'll work out. I know that the landscape changes & adjustments will have to be made. Napier seems to have incorporated that into his plan. Under this scenario, I'm at ease with allowing things to work out in the long term.

 

Really glad that he is here..... Love him and his "Big picture" goal. Yes, I'm a fan so I do scream at the TV when any Coach goes 10-15 times a game up the middle on a run play for no gain....... But that's on me as I don't know what his philosophy is..... i.e. setting up a different play maybe?..... Again, so glad he is here.
GO GATORS!!!!

 

1. "MAJORITY of uneasiness now?" I don't see even 15-20% of fans uneasy.
2. Depends- I don't buy that the team 'won't be good' for a few years.
3. Wins are the sole measuring stick always.
4. SOS wasn't a 3 year MNC. Was he? Riley? Smart?

NOW

All of this depends on how there is progression. SOS lost 41-3 versus UT.
a. Close losses to Vandy and Mizzou are one thing. Close loss to GA is another.
Can't lose to FSU this year.

b. Give him time to recruit?. SOS, Riley, Urban, others win with other coaches players- that is just how this works. Year two need W's.

Taking over a team with lots of students with bad habits is difficult. Will see many transfer out is my guess in off season. More for the youth movement.

c. Coaching offense- BIG concerns overall. This isn't SOS as OC. Urban had Mullen. Saban had Kiffen, Sark and other.s If he does not bring in an OC I don't see him around very long. I really hope I am wrong.

 

BIG concerns about the offense but none about the D? If we had even an average D this year we are probably a 1 loss team and maybe undefeated. Sadly we've seen this story play out three straight years although the 2021 Defense was okay for the first half of the year while the offense was giving away games before the wheels came off.

 

Great football coaches don’t come in one size, shape or flavor. I loved Spurrier and Graves before him. Loved the success Meyer brought us but, could I could never totally embrace him because of his persona.
Billy Napier embodies almost all of the traits and characteristics needed of a great football coach, in my opinion. I think that by surrounding himself with his “Army” of trusted coaches and staff members he makes his own job easier, but I also firmly believe there is no doubt that Coach Napier is the guy who is steering the ship.
I hope Gator Nation will not only give him time to rebuild our program but more importantly, support. He will get there because he is steadfast but not so stubborn and arrogant he can’t realize his own mistakes.
I also think that Jimmy’s and Joe’s are essential to buildig an elite program and BN can and will recruit well.
Go Gators!

 

Nice and concise summation.

 

If we can land top 5 recruiting classes that fit what Napier is doing then I have no problem with his lack of experience as a head ball coach for one of the toughest jobs in all of college football. Coaching the Gators has worn out many good coaches and instant success is not realistic.

I want a HBC that is NOT afraid to fire a coach in on his staff if he feels that they are not living up to his expectations, we cannot have a mild man like that last guy we had... I want a coach more like Kirby, unafraid to fire his non producing coaches. And it took Kirby a few years to get the talent that he needed to win consistently, so we need to be more realistic about a timeline when it comes to getting to where we Gator fans think our program should be.

As far as his style of coaching, it's hard to tell, because he does NOT have the right personnel to implement his schemes and philosophy with the players he has on the team right now. But he is going after a ton of DL which might mean that he is aware that we need a 4-3 base defense to compete in the SEC. This is a line of scrimmage league. Grantham killed us with that dated 3-4 base defense.

I'd also like to see us bring back the bump and run scheme to the defense, but that requires a good 4-3 base to get the right amount of pressure on the QB. We cannot let the QB have all day long to pass the ball, THAT NEVER FREAKING WORKS OUT for the defense. Too often we see the opposing team's QB have all day long to pass the football... we need more timely blitzes too. We do NOT have the luxury to sit back and let a QB pick apart our DBs.

More defensive pressure by our DL is the key to everything we need to accomplish as an SEC tough defense. We don't seem to have the constant pressure to effect the game right now. That aspect I do believe Napier knows is lacking. We'll see how this 2023 recruiting class works out, but If I were Napier I'd recruit as many good/great high school prospects (especially on the D-line) as he can. I know the 25 recruits per year has been suspended but the new consideration is the transfer portal. We have to work that into recruiting too.

If we win 9 games this regular season I think that would be a huge success, but even 9 wins is probably NOT realistic with the team we have in Napier's first year.

 

Spurrier and Meyer had far more talent to work with. It's one thing to win with other coaches players if they are good enough to win. The team SOS inherited was very talented and well coached, and that's from Spurrier himself. Meyer followed Zook, and although Zook couldn't get out of his own way during games, he was a hell of a recruiter.

 

Answers:
1. Because of what fans have gone through the last 10 years, being told “be patient” only to have it not work out… Will that affect the majority of fans uneasiness now?
OF COURSE
2. Will he get the 5 years to see it play out? We are not going to be good for a few years. There will be a LOTTA hand-wringing over play calling, personnel, coaching etc despite everyone saying in the off season “oh we will be patient.”
YES/NO - Defined:
Yes as long as recruiting ticks "upward" - Top 10 or better each year as scored by the reputable services. The closer to top 5 he is the better it will be for him.
Yes as long as the "on the field" performance is decent and winning % ticks upward.
NO if the locker room is lost, recruiting declines and the bottom drops out with wins.
3. What are the measuring
Sticks if it isn’t wins?
You can't really seperate the two, especially in a 5 year period. First couple of years I believe fan and administration patience will accept 6 - 8 win seasons.
Year 3 and forward all bets are off, the seat heats up, strong recruiting classes and challaging for SEC East titles will be a requirment.
4. Can CBN be the outlier to the 3 year championship rule? Dabo is the only active coach that took longer than 3 years to compete /win championships. What makes us think CBN can be that other guy?
I think it is possible as long as he does not lose the locker room and he recruits well. CBN exudes class, barring scandal I do think he could have as much as a five year run without a trophy but thats really pushing the envelope.

 

Lots of great observations and comments so far!

I see and read almost every post on Swamp Gas and know there was a small percentage that never wanted Coach Napier and so he'll be able to do nothing right. They were insinuating he was over his head and should be gone when the Rashada kid chose scUM. They got suddenly quiet when Florida landed some huge commitments.

They still come to the OGTs to gripe and moan when the first tackle is missed or Florida fails to score on its first play. That sounds crazy but it's literally that bad with some. Now a few consistently call those wet blankets out but we should be careful since they're always waiting.

The good news is the majority of us see and recognize we're in a major re-building effort . . . and it takes time. Yeah, we've heard that before but never before have we had a staff that's consistently working as hard as this staff.

We want to see progress? Yes and we're seeing it.

We saw recruiting results within the first 10-days -- even before the staff was assembled.

Coach Napier got three (3) starters, very selectively, from the transfer portal.

Success breeds success and we'll get more people involved in NIL and kids will want to be part of the something special they see being built in Gainesville. This all-star recruiting department was Coach Napier's vision and something he wouldn't have come to Gainesville without. We should remember he turned down other SEC programs and chose Florida as much as Florida chose him. There's a lot more coming too . . .

I think Coach Napier will also grow into the job as anyone would do with experience.

No doubt he gets enough time to build his complete vision.

 

Well stated, ET. And we all know it will take Napier some time to get to where we Gator fans think our football program should be year in and year out. Someone above had a mishmash of coaches that supposedly had success recruiting from their first year... well this is Napier's FIRST FULL year recruiting and the deadline is still 3 months away. Yet, some are already blubbering about the lack of success in recruiting? Lol, you can't even make this stuff up, it's so silly on its face...

 

I’d say AR> Shane
The 1989 gators roster was rough

I’m not convincing you so lets end it there