*** The end is near, for Billy Napier at Florida ***

All I can say is this: prepare yourselves for a losing season whether they fire BN now or tomorrow or the end of the year. Prepare yourself for a new head coach that will generate over 200 pages of threads of speculation on who it will be, between now and January. Then prepare yourselves for yet another complete rebuild and another 2 years of mediocrity while we get all new recruits to adapt to whatever system is the next great thing. Prepare yourselves for Lagway to go the next highest NIL bidder. Prepare to stock your shelves now with Blantons, Whistle Pig, and Horse Soldier bourbon. This will be your life as a Gator for at least the next 30-36 months.

 

It is not gossip. Buddy asked Urban and he said no. I highly doubt SS has approached anyone yet. That would be getting the cart before the horse. I no longer have a bit of trust in the current AD either! He should have no influence on the next hire. I have never been impressed with Lane Kiffen but he runs a fun offense, and we need to pursue him and let him accept it or turn it down.

 

I normally would not advocate for firing a coach this early in the middle of the season, but Buy-Out-Billy is a special case. In my opinion, he hoodwinked the entire University into thinking he was qualified to do this. I am almost sure his whole staff knew it as well, and they figured it was just a matter of time before the jig was up. That's absolutely why we didn't see any kind of development happen to our players there last couple of seasons, they were just winging it and "lame-ducking" their jobs.

I just don't want his presence there infecting anyone else in Gainesville. Giving that, "Oh, look, I can be completely clueless about a job, and still manage to make millions of dollars". It's a bad influence for the young guys

 

ThomasD89 said: ↑
Lagway is gone after this year. Zero reason for him to stay in this brave new world of CFB.
Yeah, I think you're right. Unless we make a splash hire, he'll look to move on. I don't think we'll make a splash, though.
*******
If we don't make a really splash hire, the football program is in trouble! Look at FSU with an 0-3 record. Does Norvell have a future at Tally? Miami recruiting will go through the roof, if we make a mediocre hire. We have to go after the best hbc, and I think we retain most players and maybe flip some recruits from Free Shoes.

 

From Jacob Rudner on X:
"When is the right time to part ways with a coach? It's not an exact science but, in the transfer portal era, speed is important and it could matter a lot for the Gators' future."

 

SS really is in no position to approach anyone about anything.

Napier is an albatross around his neck.

 

I wasn't sure I was going to post on what is a resolute group of fans. It is what it is. I knew that his "moment" was last year after he lost to Arkansas and the "Black-out" game. But I also wanted him to get a sense of urgency to pull out all the stops to right the ship and he never did truly did. And now, he has been exposed as to what is his ceiling and it is DAMN LOW. Time to move on.

I realize it is easy to talk about what you will do, like what I would do if I won a BIG lottery, and then reality comes and you can't always anticipate the actual emotions and reactions/rationalizations. I still hold (albeit without any real knowledge) that Napier was THE choice to navigate UF through what is a damn HUGE mess known as major college football. The NIL and the instant transfer setup is just plain silly and there is NOTHING, other than the name of the teams and their colors, that looks like what we recall from the recent past. I never said he was going to win us championships, just that he could park us in the upper-echelon and take a gander or two to reach the playoffs on occasion. At least until the system got sane. And that may not take place for a LONG time...if ever.

And now, we are faced with the new reality. It does not feel as if anyone is prepared to try out another Napier, but it is possible. I keep saying that the Grand Poobas who are writing the real checks (and the TV revenue) may decide to become Vandy 2.0, just don't expect there to be people in the seats and merchandise sold. That is a real economy and to just give it up feels unlikely.

And so to why I posted here. I am afraid the mess known as major college football is going to eliminate the entity known as UF football, pre-2020, and UF is going to become one of the "players" in earnest. IMO, hiring Kiffen at whatever price is going to be a coronation to that philosophy. You plainly do not expect major results hiring a candidate with potential anymore. You just get to spend increasingly larger sums to buy out their contracts. I hold LSU and Brian Kelly as a prime example of a program "going for it". Um, what has he done to earn his money? Is his results good enough? Kiffen is really no different. The next time he wins something big will be his first time. And quite frankly, I do not see myself being emotionally invested in a product that is a "player" in this arena. And so, I see the inevitable passing of Napier as HC as the passing of what I want UF football to attempt to be. I was not sure how much I was going to try to watch this season for several reasons but it feels like I am going to find other things to do on Saturdays. It is just that I am not sure I can peruse the Gator forums and remain emotionally disconnected. "Being friends" is a hard way to live after a long marriage. But we shall see.

 

From Neil Blackmon on X:
"Been going to Florida games since I was a little kid (1988 my first game).

I’ve been covering the sport as a writer for a while now, too.

This is as bad as I’ve ever seen Florida look.

Predictable offensively.

Toothless defensively.

No identity.

Just miserable."

 

Old conventional wisdom was not right and certainly not right for our program. Roster was not bare and with the portal no need to do, say, and believe as we did with saying it was ok to lose while so many others were winning in year 1 with plenty of issues to sort out. Mindset is pretty important and we should never ever hire anyone that needs 3-4 years to win.

Kiffen could come here next year and win 8-9 but that would include a major overhaul of the roster. I say major overhaul because with Billy both sides of the line have gotten worse if possible. Billy is not leaving loads of talent like everyone thought he would. We still get pushed around and cannot run the ball. I don’t know how it’s possible but the offense and defense have gotten worse.

 

Im with Neil. Miami= miserable. Yesterday beyond miserable. 25,000 left at halftime.

 

i will never be invested in Florida football like I used to be. Two things have ruined the game for me - free agency (aka NIL and the transfer portal) and the new player safety rules (targeting, roughing the QB and horse collar). We are going to continue to have 2 or 3 teams dominate and pilfer other teams rosters. I believe players should be paid but it has to be the same for all teams - even the NFL knows this.

 

I know it’s been discussed previously, starting with the Miami game, but realistically, it’s just getting our hopes up thinking Kiffen might come here.

 

Nicely said, and I feel your pain! I have watched Tennessee and FSU struggle to get the right coach. We need to not go after another project for hbc!

 

Billy Napier will not make it past the 2024 season | GatorCountry.com

 

Respectfully disagree Skink. I know no matter what I say, will change minds. It’s like that with a lot of things in life.

 

All I know is the football program is a total mess and the buck stops with the AD. Until there is a change at the top, the fix is only short term, IMO. But Sun Belt Billy will be the 4th coach we've fired since Urban Meyer bolted and that's not a good look for any potential new coach. Of course, the giant buyout clauses might be very attractive!!

 

BOT meeting this morning is to address this issue. You didn’t hear about BOT meetings when McElwain, Muschamp, and Mullen got the boot.

Stricklin is getting the boot.

 

Boosters, fans and most importantly the AD have to stop accepting the “ it takes years to win” mindset. We all knew that was flat wrong but many chose to say it was ok. This time the “ roster needs major overhaul thought” is correct but not last time. Too many accepted it was ok to be 6-6 and 5-7 while other new coaches were winning quickly. Heck, only reason he won 6 was because of AR. We win 3-4 with any other QB.

 

It may take years to “win” because of what our definition of winning is. But it doesn’t take years to show that a coach has “it” and will one day be successful.

With SOS and Urban we saw this right away. With Billy we never saw it.

It was never about losing to Miami or aTm but how we looked in year 3 of those losses.

 

The only way Florida gets Lane to come to Gainesville would be to.offer him a jimbo / Kelley type contract
At 10 years 110 mil.
Guaranteed!!!!!!

0 chance UF does that

So get ready for another small school type hire and get ready for him to be fired in year 3 once again,
Sticklin does not like KIF!!!
and I doubt very seriously he even calls him
Will end up with Finch or Golesh and they will be fired in year 3 and will owe them a crap ton of money and this revolving door will keep rotating until we get a pres and AD that really care about winning football games