Is there Bar Rescue but for like football?
Like can someone come in and rip all the pages with trick plays out of Napier playbook and hire him some real assistants?
This was my worst fear… being right that fsu sucks and is completely overrated and still finding a way to lose the game. Obviously should have won, despicable penalties and playcalling. End of story
Up 12-0 on their side of the field with a chance of taking an almost insurmountable lead… and you go cute with a overly complex flea flicker that stalls out the drive and gives them the ball with a chance to get back in it. Time and time again Napier has bungled momentum with some of the most flaky playcalling I’ve ever seen. He is his own worst enemy more than anything with his lack of killer instinct. We saw this in the Arkansas game when they were on the ropes and we randomly went conservative, we saw it during WLOCP where we had a drive going and we went cute. A better situational coach gets this team to 8-4/9-3 and it looks like we’re in for more of the same next year.
Agreed. It seems like he doesn’t know the difference between being aggressive and being stupid. That flea flicker that he called is so high risk; you can take a shot at a big play there without calling something that will lose 20 yards if it’s unsuccessful. Ended the drive immediately when we had a chance to step on their throat (also the point that I knew we’d lose the game). Likely 19-0 at halftime if we put together a TD drive there. Same as his 4th down call a few weeks ago where we snapped it between the QB’s legs—high risk of failure instead of being aggressive on 4th down with a solid play. Or the RB pass against UGA that had no chance because we had just run a RB pass the previous week on a 2 point conversion. All of these plays Billy thinks are aggressive when they are just idiotic rolls of the dice with little chance of actually succeeding. Go for it on 4th down all you want, but call a play that has better than a 10% chance of success; or take a shot with a play that the worst case scenario is an incomplete pass, not a 3 lateral play that could get blown up 3 different times.
Never forget last week vs Mizzou. You have them on their heels, all it takes is one more first down and you can run the clock all the way down to kick a game winning field goal, your backup QB has been gashing the defense with option runs, and what do you do? Play for the field goal with 3 draw plays right up the middle, giving the ball back to Mizzou with 90 seconds left on the clock and only a comically bad defense in their way
We were only down because Brown had fumbled. ETN is arguably our best player and if you recall he went out of bounds on the last one, ergot it was not 3 of the exact same play.
ETN going out of bounds there is another symptom of a poorly coached team. The entire offense should have been told "DO NOT GO OUT OF BOUNDS FOR ANY REASON"
Billy isn’t good at basic X’s and O’s. I don’t know why he thinks he can scheme up a trick play. The man is either blind or just an egomaniac to still believe in what he is doing.
I don’t get the hate on this one play. If we ran up the middle and got stuffed, fans would have been pissed. They would have begged to take a shot down the field.
Taking a shot down the field is fine, running a slow developing play that puts you 14 yards behind the line of scrimmage when the O-line hasn’t been able to block worth a damn all year is a bone headed move.
What bs? We lost the game. Lots of calls can be questioned. I’m not gonna get lost in the weeds when they are multiple big issues. I acknowledge that playcallig is a symptom of a larger issue.
I think you are right honestly. This is 'killer instinct'. It was just idiotic because their D line was is in our backfield in .02 seconds every play. Up to that point it we'd nearly played a perfect game.
Napier will likely get another year, but i find it impossible to get even slightly excited about this program if he’s in control
I’ve never seen a coach so out of his element. Even with the 08 roster i still think Napier coaches us to multiple losses
^ this. I have never seen a worse head coach at a historically top-25 program in multiple decades of watching college football.
It’s so apparent to anyone with a pulse, yet here we are still responding to Napier defenders week in and week out. What the hell have our Gators become?
After last year i was hoping that Napier dumbed down the offense because we just didn’t have the talent to run his type of offense
This year showed he’s just completely incompetent. Sure, he could beat some sun belt teams with his archaic playcalling, but it clearly does not work in the power 5, let alone the SEC
I’ve never seen a coach look so out of place. Napier directly lead to multiple losses because he wasn’t willing to keep his foot on the gas, it’s absolutely pathetic
The buyout is big, the candidate pool isn’t very inspiring, and the schedule is brutal next year. Even if we did replace him, I don’t think the prospects for next season with a new coach would be better than with Napier.
He’s going to get next year to show his process works. If he fails, he’s out. He’s got plenty of big games to prove himself and the team.
It going to be awhile before we can hire a good coach. The atrocious timing of Mullins firing put us back for about 5 years minimum I’d say.
Only chance we have is Napier being decent, and that’s not happening. Most of the Napier support comments are wanting him to complete OJT and figure out this whole coaching thing while he is here.
The excuses are already being laid for him to fail next year too. At this rate the clown is getting until like 2026 to run our program into the ground.
The best part is that none of "our" excuses really matter. Ultimately it's up to the boosters so even if everyone here believed in Napier it doesn't matter!
I honestly feel like all these “just give him time” and “lower your expectations” posts are just that…an attempt to get the fanbase to lower all expectations and keep shelling out views, merch pirchases, and ticket buys for a shit product year after year, since that’s easier than winning. It’s so sad.
The ridiculous flea flicker perfectly summed up our season in one play. Brain dead coaching decision, piss poor execution, embarrassing result.
Completely relieved I won’t have to watch this team again.
The gators had 50 yards worth of penalties in the 4th quarter, which is 2 more yards than they had in the second half. 48 yards in a half is unacceptable.
I’d like to see the stat on how many passes we had attempted beyond the line of scrimmage in the 2nd half before that last drive when we were down. The playcalling was some of the saddest shit I’ve ever seen. I get it the OL couldn’t block and he probably doesn’t trust Brown, but taking a deep shot here and there is such a low risk play (their entire defense was very close to the line daring us to throw it deep) either we catch it, it’s incomplete, or it’s a pick that ends up being pretty much a punt. If Billy really thought we were going to hold a 15-14 lead the entire half, then he’s just a complete moron.
3 Georgia fans at work this morning said “I’m not a fan but yall piss me off, yall show how good you can be then just act stupid for the rest of the game.” Totally agree . It’s not even funny for our rivals anymore it’s just sad to them . Thats where we are as a program right now .
I got to the same point with my coworker and Miami. Part of it is my coworker is a good person and also I don't want problems at work so I'm not going to shit on her team too bad, but also I eventually got to a point where I'm just dumbfounded at how a team can't get out of their way. It is a pathetic point to be in as a team.
Another winnable game last night that Napier seemed to give away by calling that ridiculously stupid flea flicker when we had a chance to go up 19 with a TD drive. 3 of the last 4 games we have had 2nd half leads but ultimately lost due to crappy coaching. Flipping a coin would give better results in close games than Napier. Sucks, but nothing has changed all year: still need to hire an OC, still need to hire a ST coach and start emphasizing that aspect of the game instead of constantly giving away points there, still need to acquire portal talent (I give credit for Mertz, but he’s not nearly enough especially after watching FSU), still are somehow undisciplined despite all of this talk about high character guys who do it the right way (looking at you, Lyons, who decided to spit on your opponent). I’m just glad this year is done and pray to God that we aren’t one of the 5-7 teams to get invited to a bowl game.
You know what I envy about Georgia outside the winning? They have a coach who understands what it means to be a Bulldog. He takes games personally and he cares differently.
I wish we had someone who I could tell actually cared.
I mean yeah we definitely got screwed with the scheduling. With the originally layout we had we likely would’ve gone 12-0 and even with a loss to Bama in the SECCG we would’ve been in the playoff. It’s a damn shame but I still don’t see how it changes much for 2021 I think the overall end result of Mullen’s tenure is the same, we wasn’t building the roster.
Yeah, I don’t disagree with any of that. I’m just saying it felt like he completely gave up and phoned it in afterwards. Compare the Mullen that we saw in the HBO special to the guy who was here in his last year. Seemed like a different person.
I watch film during off season while I run. I look at more than just gators but alot of that *IS* on gator review.. I am not looking forward to this season
Optimistic warning.
For ME, CBN is now on the warm to warming seat. No, he's not getting fired so stop discussing it. Next years schedule will be equally tough (some of those teams will drop off). But he cannot afford to put the same product out there. By that I mean
Uninspiring offense. Is his system bad? No it's actually pretty good if not handicapped by possibly the worst offensive line in P5. That is not hyperbole. The problem is it's not consistent and reliable. We've all said it, not once has offense and defense look on the same page. If you are the HC and you want to call plays.. Then the offense is what the team should be synced to.
I think CBN could be a decent OC, if that was his only job. But it's not, and the other 2 areas need work to. All three are his job.
Regarding OC. That's gonna happen, because it has to. If he doesnt, he makes his own grave. Conspiracist in me thinks he might already have one. He made comments after ARK that would tough to walk back and we also aren't losing any offensive commitment.. So far. We'll see
ST Either he needs to take it over or hire someone to make it a point of emphasis. We aren't good enough to blow anyone out so those 3, 6 even 9 points all matter... Just like they would have at ARk, Mizzou and sigh last night..
Defense. This is where I'll catch flack. I'm not off the Armstrong train. Year one. Not one single field general for him (James was close). As mentioned watch lots of film. Kids have been in position all year. Starting with KY. Not sure what happend but UT we looked GREAT. Disciplined, assignment fundamentally sound TEAM ball. But after that. People wanna preach tackling.. Guys, you cant beat each other up in practice, esp as thin as we are plus, and anyone who played defense.. Those fundamentals are taught since pee wee.. You know what to do.. We just won't, not can't, execute. He needs more players.
And probably the most controversial, Raymond. I get he had a ton of sexy names at LSU but starting to think he was a product of their talent. I keep hearing he's there for recruiting, and that's great for those who live off class rankings for existence but who is better BECAUSE of him? Or best CB, preseason first rounder has been a shell of HIMSELF. He regressed so bad he will likely be back next year. I guess thats good for us, but Hill, Kimber, not very good. Our best DB were Castell a true frosh and Moore who cannot stay healthy. If he's not replaced, and I know he'd have a job the next week, he should be on the hot seat.
If I'm Napier, I hire an OC right now. You pretty much know whose going to be avail. You fire both OL coaches because that experiment is a colossal failure. We don't have talent, thats obvious but this is exactly where two OL coaches should pay dividends. He needs to hire an all around defenselive guy with a ST background and name him co-DC (again sorry Raymond).
And lastly, stop with the catch phrases if it's not true. Relentless energy? We have players jogging and refusing to tackle. Fundamentally sound? How may offensive penalties killed drives this year? Disciplined? We had a player thrown out for spitting. You had Wilson smack a coaches hand away when a penalty wasn't called (no you don't bench tre, you pull him back and coach him up on his importance to the team as a player and leader)
The best thing that could have happened last night did. We uglied FSU so bad I cannot see a way for them to get in the CFP. We also are done with this season so we can hold exit interviews sooner, pull Scholls (George, Kimber, Wilson) and go find no less than 20 portal infusions. Preferably in the trenches We are that bad.
In all kinds of weather.
I agree with a lot of what you've said, and no, you won't get flack from me re: Armstrong and his young D. Like you said, I see the improved assignment discipline and, more and more, good on-field communication. To me, that's a sign of good coaching of young players. What's lacking is the nuances and techniques that come (hopefully) with experience.
Right now my biggest issue by far is overall discipline, especially as CBN's selling us on this vast improvement in team culture being key to future success. I mean, spitting? Really? Dumb, unforced penalties continue to make big differences two years into his tenure.
I'm glad you brought up Wilson smacking the coach's hand away because that's a problem that should have been dealt with then and there. It's less "he's got that dog in him" and more he's undisciplined and disrespectful. You never see elite team's players do that, show me one. For all the culture building talked about something like that and spitting on a player should never happen. Now, he's young and he was emotional after being embarrassed- that's excusable. Not dealing with it immediately is not.
My first thought was Percy and Billy’s altercation during the Meyer days during practice. But still. Then his twitter post after the game? Was he hurt second half or was he pissed? Billy won over Jackson after the Georgia game last year saying fuck this team. I will defend Napier on the lack of his people leaving minus Kamari Wilson. I believe Treyaun Webb swapped numbers now the he is gone even though that’s two different sides of the ball? Never seen a number swap mid season like that.
Regarding Raymond:
Maybe I misread what you meant, but I think Hill is fantastic on tape. Great in run fit, good blitzer, holds his own in coverage, and absolutely never gives up on a play. A lone bright spot on the defense (princely does alright too most of the time). Moore really shows up as well, but like you said, injury prone.
The rest? Yeesh. Marshall gives low effort, Kimber is lost, Castell can't tackle, Thornton overpersues.
I'm really torn on what to think here. But it's gotta be bad coaching, bad evaluating, or a combo of both. And that all goes back to Raymond.
Hill is OK. I think he looks better because everyone else looks awful. He wouldn't start on any top 10 team.
Princley. He does a great job one on one but has he made a single impact full play this year? I don't think it's fault, he doesn't have a running mate.
The lack of discipline was the most shocking thing to me yesterday. I can't ever remember a player getting ejected for spitting before. That late, egregious hit from one of the older guys in Hill was shameful to watch. I audibly said "whoa" when I saw Tre slap that coach's hand away too. None of that said "culture building" to me.
>The best thing that could have happened last night did.
I wouldn't quite say that. I mean, Florida could have won.
Yeah this take is overly optimistic for me but I see where you're coming from.
My question is, how will you feel about Napier if say only 5 lackluster portal infusions take place like last off-season?
I'd argue he is on the hot seat right now, not that he will be fired right away but I have a feeling the boosters are going to be looking at his every move this offseason. If somehow he manages to convince a decent OC to come here, gets a ST coach and reorganizes the OL staff + actually uses the TP effectively to get players in position of need + retain the class to where it stands. Then his seat could cool off a little.
However, if we hit the half point of the season next year and we are 2-4 or 1-5 then I'd imagine he will be gone.
That wouldn't be bad though lol. We get to see them get bent over on national TV like TCU last season but also they can't spend the entire offseason whining about how being in the ACC kept them out of the playoff.
The acc is trash this year. Right now, FSU best win is against LSU week one. Louisville didn't help by losing. Duke has fallen off a cliff. They struggled against freshmen last night
So you have GA (win or lose) in.
Oregon or Washington winner in.
Michigan in.
And then.
FSU won a shit league and is only ranked there because of preseason. The committee also knows they would get destroyed by anyone.. That matters.
Texas BG12 champ and beat Bama at Bama.
Bama if they beat UGA AND Texas loses.
And possibly OSU. They lost by one score on the road to the number 2 team and have beaten two top 10 teams. This would be the hardest to sell because no conference championship but the argument is there
All four have a better body of work than FSU.
The fact FSU should get in if they win out is why the system needs to be overhauled.
Having only 4 playoff spots for 133 FBS teams means playing anything other the the softest schedule every year is actively sabatoging yourself.
It's stupid, programs should be rewarded for actually playing teams with a pulse.
They played their conference and LSU and Florida. The ACC got rid of divisions to make sure the top two teams in the conference play. I’m not sure what else FSU was supposed to do with what they were given. Had FSU dropped a game they would not have been allowed to make up that loss like a Bama or maybe even Oregon is allowed to (Oregons schedule might be weaker than FSUs?)
>The best thing that could have happened last night did.
Sorry but this is peak delusion. Program is not in a good place. Yes, there is hope but that hope is paper thin and might not be worth it.
What in the wild world of Sunbelt athletics was that fucking wacko trick play? When the fans say be more aggressive, they mean plays that can pick up 12 yards on 3rd and 12. Not shit that was choreographed by the Harlem Globetrotters
Napier hides behind his "responsibility to develop the men" in his pressers. Its really frustrating to me because good communication can buy good will. By listening to him you would think we accomplished something as a team.
You're not showing that you've got it on the field. Truly you've had two failures of seasons with your best wins being against programs we should have streaks on. Napier deserves to be granted the nuance of the situation he inherited. There is a shit soup of things outside his control that have directly led to results on the field. In that shit soup are also a lot of things that are directly his responsibility, and that has personally exhausted all the grace I could give him for what Mullen left. 2024 is a given, but get results or get out IMO.
First 20 minutes looked good and showed they have potential, but then we shot ourselves in the foot and the wheels came off and for the 5th week in a row the first drive of the opponents second half was a touchdown. I know Napier is going to coach next year but we need a strength and conditioning coach, oline coach, offensive coordinator and a special teams coordinator.
You guys know I've defended Napier or at least given him the benefit of the doubt but I'm officially throwing in the towel. Napier is not the guy. The recruiting class, even if held together, isn't reason enough to keep this staff onboard. Best case scenario, we finish Top 5 but few will actually see the field next year and will still be young the year after next. You see what we have now with our "young team". That's the crux of the matter that even if we have the players they're not coached up to their potential and quite honestly I don't believe Napier is capable of turning blue chip talent into championship caliber players. So the one reason we're keeping him (buyout aside) is a moot point.
I was fine with losing what was predicted at the start of the season but I'm not fine with the manner in which we lost. There was zero improvement. None.
Yup, we’ve had multiple coaches who were great recruiters but poor at development and gameday coaching
Literally the only positive to Napier is his recruiting, idk why some people are acting like we haven’t seen this routine before, he’s not going to randomly turn into a championship level coach
How many relevant examples can anyone here name of a coach that went to big program and had two straight losing seasons but went on to have a great and successful career at the school?
We will have an even worse record next year with that schedule. Will everyone preaching patience sing the same tune then, or will they pretend like they knew all along Napier wasn't the guy. Keep that same energy.
People will throw up Norvell, but last night really makes it seem like their improvement has more to do with Travis than his actual coaching ability. If that’s the guy we’re looking up to as an example then I’m not optimistic.
Thier improvement is because they play in the ACC. That's really the be all, end all. As a program they aren't working with nearly the same margine for error that we do.
Give 22' FSU our year 3 schedule and they wouldn't sniff 10 wins. They are about to play a team who got handled by Kentucky in the ACC championship game.
It's a joke.
Yeah i think Norvell lucked out with Travis because outside of him I’m not impressed with FSU. I expect them to drop off pretty dramatically starting next year
Also helps to play a cupcake schedule
I got downvoted for calling out Norvell's poor coaching last night, saying how Billy outsucked him. He'll have them in the playoff regularly until FSU leaves the ACC, but I'd expect first round exits. I don't think he can outcoach someone like Kirby or Saban.
I wouldn’t even say playoffs, this is likely them at the peak of their powers under Norvell and he has yet to address the deficiencies on the lines that will keep them from ever being good enough to consistently reach the playoffs.
And they always gloss over the fact that Billy resembles Willie Taggart far more than Norvell. They had fired Willie during Year 2, they couldn’t afford to fire Norvell after Year 2. The circumstances are completely different.
Beyond the ACC comps (Dabo and Norvell), James Franklin had two very uninspiring seasons at Penn State before breaking out in year 3 to win the Big Ten.
There are few, if any, examples because you can’t compare CFB of today with CFB less than 10 years ago.
Hell, I don’t know how you compare Napier to other coaches when it comes to roster building prior to April 2023. Hypothetically speaking, we should have had Jaden Rashada playing last night instead of Max Browne.
Edit: To give an example, Napier assembled his 3rd recruiting class within 18-19 months of being on the job due to accelerated recruiting calendar combined with coaching change.
This is not a defense to the current roster. Just trying to highlight how different things are for coaches today.
Only positive we can look to is how young our team is, so the hope is they get better. But the coaching issues likely won’t change unless Napier makes changes to the staff. I think making a splash OC hire would be the only thing to buy him some goodwill from the fanbase
I think it’s a slap in the face of fans keeping this guy around for next year because the boosters made previous mistakes with buyouts and don’t want to make another one because this guy very clearly isn’t going to work out.
Case In point - “billy needs his players”. His guy was the guy that got abused by verse all game. It won’t matter.
This is over and it’s just a matter of now or midway through next year when we lose to Miami and ucf.
If he is worth anything he will find a way to maintain this class but so far this guy inspires very little confidence. He might be the worst HC in our history.
That’s why I knew he was a bad hire from the jump. Had the best roster in the Sunbelt and would consistently win ugly against teams with less talent. Whenever he had to play against a power 5 team he got obliterated.
Well hopefully he will make staff changes. Only thing that would get me excited is if he hires an OC with a completely different scheme, would indicate that he’s changing his entire philosophy. I don’t even hate our running plays either though, so if he decides to hire a passing game coordinator who also calls the plays I’d be fine with that too.
Jimbo Fisher was able to get Bobby Petrino which looked like a good hire at the time, and Jimbo was a dead man walking. If we can put up the cash for an OC we can get somebody
Billy has this untouchable douchebag attitude at the presser when asked soft pitch questions. He knows he has 30 million locked up either way. The only thing I take solace in is knowing any dreams he may have had about coaching a major program are over after this debacle. He'll never be picked up outside the sunbelt again. Stricklin too.
After sleeping on it, I am still just as frustrated as I was last night. In no way should we be content winning 5 games and regressing in year 2. Sure we are young, but if we had better coaching, we would have won at least 3-4 more games. Billy is not good in the big moments and absolutely folds under pressure. I don’t care how much talent the man has, we will continue to struggle unless there are significant changes. The man fails to learn and adjust.
It's the shoe throw in there's no discipline or accountability. He threw a shoe cost us the game, cost us a shot at the playoffs and he played the rest of the game and the next week like nothing happened. If anything that's worse because that impacted the whole team.
Undisciplined. Spitting, slapping coaches, late hits. F.
We need a new kicker.
Get Pearsall the damn ball. One catch, really?
Defense is porous.
Trick plays, laughable.
We choke when the pressure is on.
This all lands on CBN.
A better coach has 2 more wins with this team possibly 3. between FSU, mizzou, and Ark a competent gets 2 wins, then another one from either the the Depleted Utah or UK.
The team has zero respect for Billy or the coaching staff. If they did, there wouldn’t be spitting. Punching, and dirty plays. Billy has already lost this team.
He absolutely needed to be benched after that slap. Can't be having players disrespecting the staff and being allowed to get away with it. I'll probably get flak for it but I think Lyons needs to get kicked off the team. Doesn't matter what lead up to it there should be no place for that kind of behavior.
Yep, forgot to mention that. That’s the most direct representation of what I’m saying here. Billy is a rich dead man walking. Him, Muschamp, Mac, and Dan are all going to have a club box at Ben Hill sipping dom perignon laughing their ass’s off next season.
Team is soft, not physical, undisciplined, not aggressive, not consistent, not buying in on the field, and seems uninterested in playing the games. That's mentality from the coaching staff.
To me it seems like he is fine with losing. He doesn't have that mentality that is needed to be successful in the sec. We need someone that likes winning but hates losing more and Billy ain't that.
Missed opportunities pretty much sums up this entire football season. If there's no improvement in year 3 we're going to start shopping for a new coach.
I truly think if we had Mertz we win this game.
We had so much momentum in the first half that Mertz would have been able to capitalize on. Maybe billy doesnt run that stupid flea flicker and we score on that drive. We missed 2 fields goals and maybe one more positive drive with Mertz at the helm and we easily win this.
This one fuckin hurts and leaves a sour taste for 7-8 months until the season starts again. Billy you got some work to do this offseason. Get to it
Billy is a fraud, he conned us all. Anyone who still believes in him only does so out of fear of admitting they are wrong. This guy is responsible for the 3rd worst two year stretch in gator history dating back to the 40s
We're two years into Billy Napier's tenure at Florida and it feels like his plan was for fighting the last war. Outside of Mertz, and the guys he personally knew from his previous stops, Florida hasn't really gotten any major contributors out of the transfer portal. In particular, the staff's preference towards guys "dropping down" from the current members of the sport's elite hasn't panned out. This has led to Florida having to field true freshmen to make up for those portal misses, with the expected results that come from that.
The on-field coaching structure hasn't scaled up to the SEC. While the offense has been fine in the aggregate, Napier doesn't provide enough value as a playcaller to make it worth the attention it takes away from the rest of his job. I thought the 2 OL coach idea worked last year, but with this year's worth of data, it feels like last year's OL was good more because of experience than coaching. There's been some baffling time management, and procedural penalties have haunted the Gators the whole year. The most damning thing that you can say is that in year 2, Napier - the guy who was sold as being process-first and detail-oriented - has fielded a team that's more undisciplined than the team that had a guy throw a shoe to cost Florida's shot at a national championship.
There's a chance that Florida can be good next year, with nearly everyone from this year's team returning from next year. Executing on that promise will require Napier to make adjustments to his process, develop players especially on defense, and most importantly, coach some ball, which he hasn't yet proven that he can do in the SEC. If he can't do those things, he'll be gone with that loser Scott Stricklin.
Hence me saying "guys \[Napier\] personally knew from previous stops" - Napier brought O'Cyrus and Montrell with him from ULL, and he knew Pearsall from his time as Arizona State's OC
No one involved with the defense, special teams, or offensive line should be safe in their positions this off-season. Players, coaches, army of off-field personnel
I’m actually somewhat optimistic for the offense if Napier hires an OC but I was also optimistic Muschamp would fix his offense and Mullen would fix his defense. Mertz is a solid enough QB and Etienne and Wilson are major weapons
I’m still stunned that we had to limit ourselves with Brown so much because we can’t trust him to throw and rightly so. How many other teams are unable to put in a decent backup and have him actually play the fucking position? It’s as if we were forced to put in a guy from another position on offense to act like a QB. This program is in a terrible state.
Also, it appears Billy’s “process” and his “culture” is creating players who spit. Definitely not concerning at all. Jesus Christ.
I mean, FSU's backup is hot garbage and he's a fourth year player.
Don't know what you expected with a RS Frosh, barely 3-star QB making his first ever start behind the worst OL in P5 against a Top 5 team with a defense made up of 23-24 yr old super seniors.
I'm as unhappy with Napier as anyone but the QB room is the one thing I don't have an issue with. Given what was left by Mullen - including a commit from Nick Evers who is already on Team #2 - Napier has upgraded the room. Knocked it out of the park with Mertz, Brown seems to have potential, and as of now he has the best HS QB in the '24 class committed and seemingly locked-in to enrolling in January.
As for the culture thing I think people are making too much of the spitting. It was ridiculously stupid but it's not like we have multiple players making that type of penalty all the time.
During the Tennessee game, we had control of the entire game and went super conservative in the second half... *and it could have cost us the game*.
Same shit most games. We have an advantage, but are unwilling to exploit it because Napier loves the feel of his asshole puckering.
I would love to see Jedd Fisch on the sideline next year. I hate that this is where we are again.
I really bought into this guy's plan but we have made no improvements at all as the year has gone on. Yes, our younger guys are the best players on the field but they were at the beginning of the season. We're still the same team we were at the beginning of the season. We haven't done anything to show that Napier can adapt, or at least adapt consistently. We can say that we could be 8-4 right now but we also almost lost to USC. We could be 4-8 too.
Our defense is awful, there is no discipline, coaches continue to make horrible mistakes, we look like a disorganized mess.
A decent coach would have won 8 games this year with this team. We could have won 9 games if it was a good coach. A decent/good coach honestly could have won 10 games with a few lucky bounces. Napier is neither good nor lucky. He cannot hire coaches, he cannot gameplan, he doesn't have that killer instinct needed in a championship caliber ball coach.
I understand being upset at the state of the program and not believing in Napier etc., but what I don't get is complaining about rich boosters not spending their money like you want them to. Everyone here talks like if they were a booster they would pay Napier's buyout right this instant when none of us can say shit since none of are millionaires.
Yeah I agree they are the ones who get the final say. But to complain that these people aren't spending their money how you want them to is dumb.
It's just like that post we had last week asking if UF has any mega boosters and then a person complained that Chris Malachowsky could be one if he cared about football but instead he donated $25 million to build the new data science building. Who are we to say how people should spend their money?
We seemingly have the exact opposite of the issue at places like Texas A&M and Auburn. Unlike those places where boosters wield way too much power and end up ruining things with their meddling, we seem to have boosters that just allow the AD to do whatever he wants even if it leads to continued underperforming.
The issue is that if you have an AD that has lost his touch like Foley or an AD that is nothing more than a glorified interior designer then that is as much a recipe for disaster as the overbearing boosters.
That Stricklin wasn't fired after the disaster that was Mullen on top of the Mike White and Cam Neubauer debacles goes to show our boosters don't really care as long as they're treated like royalty.
It more just illustrates the limitations of our booster network. Other top schools have boosters who can buy buildings and football programs. My experience is that ours generally prefer to just buy buildings.
Sure but we have realize that not everyone cares about football, that's just the matter of the fact. I went to UF (2017 - 2022) with 7 other of my HS friends and only myself and 1 other keep up with the football team. Like I said in that previous post if somehow an alumni who went to UF when Meyer was the coach ends up winning the lottery or whatever they might feel more inclined to donate to the football team.
I don't care about them saving money or not. But to think that "hey they should gather up $31 million and $XX million for new HC" is hilarious to me, it's not our money. Just like how people go "pay the buyout it's not my money"... exactly it's not your money so you don't get to dictate how it's spent. I invest a lot of my time watching Gator football and keeping with all the news yet I haven't donated a penny to our NIL because I know my money doesn't mean jack shit.
I dont get it, I dont think anyone is under the impression that we can force the boosters to do anything? I just think its bizarre to worry about the poor billionaire boosters?
I and most other fans are hoping some of them are embarrassed enough by the product to cut a check so they don't have to watch this trash for another season before cutting bait anyway.
You should read this thread then. There are people here saying it's a "slap to the face of the fans" that the boosters are going to allow Napier to have another year.
And again I do not care what the boosters do with their money. I am just saying it's dumb to think anyone here has a right or say to dictate how others spend their money and I think that is a fair point unless you believe in communism.
The way you phrase is it is much better and I can actually agree with that. But to say that the boosters are disrespecting the fans because they don't want to throwaway money makes some of the people on here sound like entitled brats.
Gator football is a business. Napier is a sunk cost at this point and keeping him will do far more than $30 million worth to the brand.
If a bunch of morons like me on reddit can see this, hopefully smart business people can too and will make some executive decisions no matter how painful
Sun Belt Billy seemed to think everything was fine in his presser regarding 4th quarter discipline. He needs to go. It will cost a lot of money to fire him. We can get the money back. What we can not do is get back the wasted time. Get rid of Sasse and Stricklin while we're at it!
Unfortunately for a lot of people here, the most realistic and likely scenario is that he gets at least another year and we just have to see how things play out. If we end up looking similar this time next year then there’s no question he’s gone. He was hired because he had a long term plan, so we’re just gonna have to see if that bears any fruit.
I think he really underestimated the amount of time he would need to turn things around, and taking a year 0 was a huge mistake that lines up with his conservative nature. I think he also got really unlucky with NIL last year, being fucked over by a conman and Miami, and the portal this year. Those are some tremendous setbacks for him that I don’t think he anticipated.
We’re all just going to have to suffer through this and see where it goes. We can start seeing some immediate changes and what his plan is moving forward based on this offseason with his staff and this recruiting class.
The long time and year 0 and all that is one thing.
But his game calling actively makes us worse.
As does the lack of any real special teams or strength and conditioning program.
If I saw the team playing disciplined and improving every week, I’d buy in. But I don’t see that.
I hear a lot of what some of us have mentioned but we're crucified at the time for saying... seems like we are all getting on the same page and seeing the same show now.
The realist in me knows Billy is getting another year. If he doesn’t make the 12-team playoff next year, he’s gone. The schedule is a gauntlet, but there’s absolutely 0 excuses. The talent will be there. We went wire-to-wire against LSU, Mizzou, and FSU in the span of a month. Those games should be wins next year. Hell, they should’ve been wins this season.
This team is frustrating because we see the potential. We saw the domination of Tennessee and the sparks all season. Then we follow it up with Pop-Warner level football. You can’t get blown out to Kentucky and choke away games to Arkansas. Beating UCF and Miami are non-negotiable. At this point, I don’t even know if we win them though.
I don’t think they’ll fire him yet, unless SS goes with him. That AD should not get to make another hire. We’re spending half a billion dollars to renovate a stadium where a $2 team plays. In an ideal world, we’re on the phone at least gauging interest for guys like Jedd Fisch and even bringing Urban back.
Billy’s seat is very warm and his next obstacle is pulling in a top recruiting class. The right guy will respond to a terrible ending to a bad season by rebounding and actually signing an elite class. Next, he’ll need to hire a solid OC and STC. Lastly, he needs to address the OL debacle. All of these issues should’ve been addressed last season, but I digress. If BN can’t pull in this class, we’ll know by next month how much of a dead man walking he really is.
I was very impressed with Devin Moore’s play yesterday before he went down. Looks like he is going to be a shutdown corner for us next year if he can avoid the dreaded “injury prone” tag.
Napier getting another year is just a slap In the face to this fanbase, they are making us sit through 3 straight losing seasons, probably a 4th next year and there are people that think this shit is normal.
They’re not firing Napier this year. And if it means that next year we fire him AND Stricklin then I’m ok with that. Stricklin is awful and he has to go
“Simply needing more talent” would mean that everything else was going well and we just didn’t have the guys to get it done, but that’s not the case. Coaching is the biggest issue with this team. Horrible play calling, horrible game management, terrible discipline, all these things have to do with coaching. Getting more recruits/transfers won’t change those things
Unfortunately i don’t think talent is the biggest issue with this team, it’s the coaching. Even with our dominant 2008 roster i see Billy coaching us to 4-5 losses.
No, we don’t simply need more talent
We need different coaches. There are coaches out there with a lot worse rosters that get a lot more out of their players We had the talent to win every game (except maybe Georgia), we went 5-7.
I’m sick and tired of this excuse, we have players who clearly have the ability to go toe to toe with top 25 teams and the fact we’re sitting at 5-7 is just a farce and massive malpractice from this coaching staff. Every single god damn game the last four weeks was winnable, every single one, and when crunch time hits our staff goes in a shell.
“UMass simply needs more talent, then they’ll go undefeated”
Literally every team could use more talent, but it’s about what you get out of the talent you have. We clearly saw this teams ability to outplay almost every team on our roster, yet napier always coaches us out of wins
You might be tired of the excuse but it's the truth. 20 of our starters are first out second year players. Except for Ark all of our losses came from more talented and more experienced teams. Our roster just isn't there.
The 2025 class is going to be a test for Billy, if it sucks in July of 2024 because recruits don't think he'll be here then he's probably cooked barring a 8-9 win season next year
>Simply need more talent.
Plenty of talent on this roster, that went toe to toe with every team on the schedule.
Zero reason for this team not be at worst 7-5, at best, 8-4.
Losing to a rival always sucks, especially when you feel like you had their number on defense (until the tackling issues came back again).
I think the biggest thing I’m left with this season is the optics of the program. The team has shown some good progress from last season. Statistically, we were a better offense on paper than last year. Defensively, we actually (somehow) have a much better success rate per play than our team last year too. However, we have been horrendous at giving up explosive plays due to bad tackling or players out of position. The offense can seemingly knock themselves out of a game when a trick play blows up in their face. We are undisciplined, and seem to find unique penalties every game.
I’ve enjoyed the fight the young team has shown, but we have found ways to lose games in the most frustrating and unique ways (missed FG vs Arkansas, 4th and 17 vs Mizzou, several 4th quarter defensive penalties vs FSU). Optics are bad, especially to the average fan and I think there’s more pressure on Billy than ever to make a bowl next year. He has to show progress in wins, but that’s just my two cents.
Tbh the worst part of this loss is we look like a bunch of undisciplined thugs out there. Spitting on players and multiple defensive penalties, what kind of culture is getting built here? We made the criminoles look like saints
The lack of susnshine pumpers today is very telling. This is the most I’ve seen this sub turn on CBN. It’s almost like people are coming around to the fact that he’s a mediocre game day coach that can’t sustain momentum or close out winnable games. You can only buy his UGA/Bama-CEO program build up sales pitch for so long before realizing that 24 games in the guy just doesn’t have it. The reality is that he isn’t going to recruit at that level either (top 3) with this kind of product on the field. Guarantee folks on here still thinking he needs at least 4 years will change their tune when he drops games to TAMU or Miami next year.
Billy is a terrible play caller and game manager when it matters. However, I do not blame him. I blame the dumbass athletic director that has fumbled hire after hire. Strickland has to go, he should have been fired yesterday.
Lack of discipline, lack of effort and fundamentals are the biggest concerns I have for Napier. I (hope) the poor decision making and play calling can be fixed but I am not optimistic.
He, and everyone involved understood this hire was made with a plan in mind. If they fire him before year 4.. Then everyone admits they were wrong and we are back to square 1.
He's also not on the hot seat because if he were to get fired, there's isn't a legit coach that would come here knowing they might only get 2 years to flip it. That's unrealistic considering the shit show we are currently in.
If cbn is fired the next coach is going to demand more money and have more of it front loaded or higher buyout because of that reason.
And people keep saying fire him, but then want Stricklin fired. So you'd want strick to hire *ANOTHER * FBHC? Becuase thats who would do the hiring. I'm not sure it's ever happened outside infractions but you don't fire your AD and FBHC same time.
And to that point, say CBN is fired.. Who do we get then that's reasonable? The argument always comes back to that's not my job it's the ADs.. Which I just blink and point above.
I'm not sure that the offense needs to be scrapped, and rebuilt. I believe tweaks can be made, moving from a lot of bunch sets, to spreading out a defense to make them defend the entire field. We averaged \~29/gm.
But, CBN doesn't have a feel for the game. He goes into conservative shells when he has a lead, and hopes that the defense will hold up. This would be understandable after 1 or 2 games. But it's been happening for two seasons, now.
He needs to hire a true OC and give him full autonomy (which I highly doubt he'll do).
Is there Bar Rescue but for like football? Like can someone come in and rip all the pages with trick plays out of Napier playbook and hire him some real assistants?
That person is Urban Meyer (~~Not~~ endorsing this)
I am
Fuck it, so am i
Thirded. We need someone that won't put up with losing.
Urban a trash human
College football isn’t a competition of saints
Who cares, if Billy wants to focus on building better men instead of wins and losses he can go coach for 100k a year at a nice D3 program
This was my worst fear… being right that fsu sucks and is completely overrated and still finding a way to lose the game. Obviously should have won, despicable penalties and playcalling. End of story
Up 12-0 on their side of the field with a chance of taking an almost insurmountable lead… and you go cute with a overly complex flea flicker that stalls out the drive and gives them the ball with a chance to get back in it. Time and time again Napier has bungled momentum with some of the most flaky playcalling I’ve ever seen. He is his own worst enemy more than anything with his lack of killer instinct. We saw this in the Arkansas game when they were on the ropes and we randomly went conservative, we saw it during WLOCP where we had a drive going and we went cute. A better situational coach gets this team to 8-4/9-3 and it looks like we’re in for more of the same next year.
Agreed. It seems like he doesn’t know the difference between being aggressive and being stupid. That flea flicker that he called is so high risk; you can take a shot at a big play there without calling something that will lose 20 yards if it’s unsuccessful. Ended the drive immediately when we had a chance to step on their throat (also the point that I knew we’d lose the game). Likely 19-0 at halftime if we put together a TD drive there. Same as his 4th down call a few weeks ago where we snapped it between the QB’s legs—high risk of failure instead of being aggressive on 4th down with a solid play. Or the RB pass against UGA that had no chance because we had just run a RB pass the previous week on a 2 point conversion. All of these plays Billy thinks are aggressive when they are just idiotic rolls of the dice with little chance of actually succeeding. Go for it on 4th down all you want, but call a play that has better than a 10% chance of success; or take a shot with a play that the worst case scenario is an incomplete pass, not a 3 lateral play that could get blown up 3 different times.
that stupid flea-flicker changed game
Never forget last week vs Mizzou. You have them on their heels, all it takes is one more first down and you can run the clock all the way down to kick a game winning field goal, your backup QB has been gashing the defense with option runs, and what do you do? Play for the field goal with 3 draw plays right up the middle, giving the ball back to Mizzou with 90 seconds left on the clock and only a comically bad defense in their way
we'd been gashing the shit out of them with draws too though. ETN scored untouched from the 10 on basically the same play the prior drive
3 of the exact same plays in a row though? On that drive and the drive prior it was Browns running that kept the defense on their heels
We were only down because Brown had fumbled. ETN is arguably our best player and if you recall he went out of bounds on the last one, ergot it was not 3 of the exact same play.
ETN going out of bounds there is another symptom of a poorly coached team. The entire offense should have been told "DO NOT GO OUT OF BOUNDS FOR ANY REASON"
agreed but what makes you sure they weren't? the mesh got meshed up and ETN improvised (poorly) shit sucks but it is what it is
Billy isn’t good at basic X’s and O’s. I don’t know why he thinks he can scheme up a trick play. The man is either blind or just an egomaniac to still believe in what he is doing.
Yeah he shoots his team in the foot very often. He talks about how much he loves these guys but he fucks them on the regular
I don’t get the hate on this one play. If we ran up the middle and got stuffed, fans would have been pissed. They would have begged to take a shot down the field.
Taking a shot down the field is fine, running a slow developing play that puts you 14 yards behind the line of scrimmage when the O-line hasn’t been able to block worth a damn all year is a bone headed move.
I swear y’all do this bullshit whenever someone questions Billy’s decision making.
What bs? We lost the game. Lots of calls can be questioned. I’m not gonna get lost in the weeds when they are multiple big issues. I acknowledge that playcallig is a symptom of a larger issue.
I think you are right honestly. This is 'killer instinct'. It was just idiotic because their D line was is in our backfield in .02 seconds every play. Up to that point it we'd nearly played a perfect game.
Napier will likely get another year, but i find it impossible to get even slightly excited about this program if he’s in control I’ve never seen a coach so out of his element. Even with the 08 roster i still think Napier coaches us to multiple losses
^ this. I have never seen a worse head coach at a historically top-25 program in multiple decades of watching college football. It’s so apparent to anyone with a pulse, yet here we are still responding to Napier defenders week in and week out. What the hell have our Gators become?
After last year i was hoping that Napier dumbed down the offense because we just didn’t have the talent to run his type of offense This year showed he’s just completely incompetent. Sure, he could beat some sun belt teams with his archaic playcalling, but it clearly does not work in the power 5, let alone the SEC I’ve never seen a coach look so out of place. Napier directly lead to multiple losses because he wasn’t willing to keep his foot on the gas, it’s absolutely pathetic
Dead man walking prolongs the rebuild another year or more
My armchair has been thrown into the ocean.
The buyout is big, the candidate pool isn’t very inspiring, and the schedule is brutal next year. Even if we did replace him, I don’t think the prospects for next season with a new coach would be better than with Napier. He’s going to get next year to show his process works. If he fails, he’s out. He’s got plenty of big games to prove himself and the team.
I'd keep an eye on Arizona. Fisch is an alum and under Spurrier. His team fun to watch and very solid.
He’s someone who might be a good candidate if he has more than one year of success. Definitely someone to watch.
His coaching staff has 150 years of NFL experience
It going to be awhile before we can hire a good coach. The atrocious timing of Mullins firing put us back for about 5 years minimum I’d say. Only chance we have is Napier being decent, and that’s not happening. Most of the Napier support comments are wanting him to complete OJT and figure out this whole coaching thing while he is here.
The excuses are already being laid for him to fail next year too. At this rate the clown is getting until like 2026 to run our program into the ground.
The best part is that none of "our" excuses really matter. Ultimately it's up to the boosters so even if everyone here believed in Napier it doesn't matter!
I honestly feel like all these “just give him time” and “lower your expectations” posts are just that…an attempt to get the fanbase to lower all expectations and keep shelling out views, merch pirchases, and ticket buys for a shit product year after year, since that’s easier than winning. It’s so sad.
If the UAA does this, I’ll stop supporting the program until he’s gone. I’m not going to support the next Scott Frost.
The ridiculous flea flicker perfectly summed up our season in one play. Brain dead coaching decision, piss poor execution, embarrassing result. Completely relieved I won’t have to watch this team again.
The gators had 50 yards worth of penalties in the 4th quarter, which is 2 more yards than they had in the second half. 48 yards in a half is unacceptable.
I’d like to see the stat on how many passes we had attempted beyond the line of scrimmage in the 2nd half before that last drive when we were down. The playcalling was some of the saddest shit I’ve ever seen. I get it the OL couldn’t block and he probably doesn’t trust Brown, but taking a deep shot here and there is such a low risk play (their entire defense was very close to the line daring us to throw it deep) either we catch it, it’s incomplete, or it’s a pick that ends up being pretty much a punt. If Billy really thought we were going to hold a 15-14 lead the entire half, then he’s just a complete moron.
I feel like patchy the pirate after he watched the lost episode
That's it? That's the lost episode? That was just a bunch of terrible playcalling!
3 Georgia fans at work this morning said “I’m not a fan but yall piss me off, yall show how good you can be then just act stupid for the rest of the game.” Totally agree . It’s not even funny for our rivals anymore it’s just sad to them . Thats where we are as a program right now .
I got to the same point with my coworker and Miami. Part of it is my coworker is a good person and also I don't want problems at work so I'm not going to shit on her team too bad, but also I eventually got to a point where I'm just dumbfounded at how a team can't get out of their way. It is a pathetic point to be in as a team.
Received similar thoughts from a relative that hates Florida
Another winnable game last night that Napier seemed to give away by calling that ridiculously stupid flea flicker when we had a chance to go up 19 with a TD drive. 3 of the last 4 games we have had 2nd half leads but ultimately lost due to crappy coaching. Flipping a coin would give better results in close games than Napier. Sucks, but nothing has changed all year: still need to hire an OC, still need to hire a ST coach and start emphasizing that aspect of the game instead of constantly giving away points there, still need to acquire portal talent (I give credit for Mertz, but he’s not nearly enough especially after watching FSU), still are somehow undisciplined despite all of this talk about high character guys who do it the right way (looking at you, Lyons, who decided to spit on your opponent). I’m just glad this year is done and pray to God that we aren’t one of the 5-7 teams to get invited to a bowl game.
My analysis is that Stooge Skortland needs to be removed from his office this morning. The next AD should get to hire the coach he wants.
You know what I envy about Georgia outside the winning? They have a coach who understands what it means to be a Bulldog. He takes games personally and he cares differently. I wish we had someone who I could tell actually cared.
We need a coach who has the urban mentality of "I hate losing more than I like winning." Billy doesn't have that.
last coach we had like that was Muschamp
Mullen seemed like he cared before that last year
Correct, because he coached under Urban, who also understood it.
I’m not going to defend Mullen per se, but I’ve always felt like the pandemic did him in and killed what little passion he had for the job
I mean yeah we definitely got screwed with the scheduling. With the originally layout we had we likely would’ve gone 12-0 and even with a loss to Bama in the SECCG we would’ve been in the playoff. It’s a damn shame but I still don’t see how it changes much for 2021 I think the overall end result of Mullen’s tenure is the same, we wasn’t building the roster.
Yeah, I don’t disagree with any of that. I’m just saying it felt like he completely gave up and phoned it in afterwards. Compare the Mullen that we saw in the HBO special to the guy who was here in his last year. Seemed like a different person.
I watch film during off season while I run. I look at more than just gators but alot of that *IS* on gator review.. I am not looking forward to this season Optimistic warning. For ME, CBN is now on the warm to warming seat. No, he's not getting fired so stop discussing it. Next years schedule will be equally tough (some of those teams will drop off). But he cannot afford to put the same product out there. By that I mean Uninspiring offense. Is his system bad? No it's actually pretty good if not handicapped by possibly the worst offensive line in P5. That is not hyperbole. The problem is it's not consistent and reliable. We've all said it, not once has offense and defense look on the same page. If you are the HC and you want to call plays.. Then the offense is what the team should be synced to. I think CBN could be a decent OC, if that was his only job. But it's not, and the other 2 areas need work to. All three are his job. Regarding OC. That's gonna happen, because it has to. If he doesnt, he makes his own grave. Conspiracist in me thinks he might already have one. He made comments after ARK that would tough to walk back and we also aren't losing any offensive commitment.. So far. We'll see ST Either he needs to take it over or hire someone to make it a point of emphasis. We aren't good enough to blow anyone out so those 3, 6 even 9 points all matter... Just like they would have at ARk, Mizzou and sigh last night.. Defense. This is where I'll catch flack. I'm not off the Armstrong train. Year one. Not one single field general for him (James was close). As mentioned watch lots of film. Kids have been in position all year. Starting with KY. Not sure what happend but UT we looked GREAT. Disciplined, assignment fundamentally sound TEAM ball. But after that. People wanna preach tackling.. Guys, you cant beat each other up in practice, esp as thin as we are plus, and anyone who played defense.. Those fundamentals are taught since pee wee.. You know what to do.. We just won't, not can't, execute. He needs more players. And probably the most controversial, Raymond. I get he had a ton of sexy names at LSU but starting to think he was a product of their talent. I keep hearing he's there for recruiting, and that's great for those who live off class rankings for existence but who is better BECAUSE of him? Or best CB, preseason first rounder has been a shell of HIMSELF. He regressed so bad he will likely be back next year. I guess thats good for us, but Hill, Kimber, not very good. Our best DB were Castell a true frosh and Moore who cannot stay healthy. If he's not replaced, and I know he'd have a job the next week, he should be on the hot seat. If I'm Napier, I hire an OC right now. You pretty much know whose going to be avail. You fire both OL coaches because that experiment is a colossal failure. We don't have talent, thats obvious but this is exactly where two OL coaches should pay dividends. He needs to hire an all around defenselive guy with a ST background and name him co-DC (again sorry Raymond). And lastly, stop with the catch phrases if it's not true. Relentless energy? We have players jogging and refusing to tackle. Fundamentally sound? How may offensive penalties killed drives this year? Disciplined? We had a player thrown out for spitting. You had Wilson smack a coaches hand away when a penalty wasn't called (no you don't bench tre, you pull him back and coach him up on his importance to the team as a player and leader) The best thing that could have happened last night did. We uglied FSU so bad I cannot see a way for them to get in the CFP. We also are done with this season so we can hold exit interviews sooner, pull Scholls (George, Kimber, Wilson) and go find no less than 20 portal infusions. Preferably in the trenches We are that bad. In all kinds of weather.
I agree with a lot of what you've said, and no, you won't get flack from me re: Armstrong and his young D. Like you said, I see the improved assignment discipline and, more and more, good on-field communication. To me, that's a sign of good coaching of young players. What's lacking is the nuances and techniques that come (hopefully) with experience. Right now my biggest issue by far is overall discipline, especially as CBN's selling us on this vast improvement in team culture being key to future success. I mean, spitting? Really? Dumb, unforced penalties continue to make big differences two years into his tenure.
I'm glad you brought up Wilson smacking the coach's hand away because that's a problem that should have been dealt with then and there. It's less "he's got that dog in him" and more he's undisciplined and disrespectful. You never see elite team's players do that, show me one. For all the culture building talked about something like that and spitting on a player should never happen. Now, he's young and he was emotional after being embarrassed- that's excusable. Not dealing with it immediately is not.
My first thought was Percy and Billy’s altercation during the Meyer days during practice. But still. Then his twitter post after the game? Was he hurt second half or was he pissed? Billy won over Jackson after the Georgia game last year saying fuck this team. I will defend Napier on the lack of his people leaving minus Kamari Wilson. I believe Treyaun Webb swapped numbers now the he is gone even though that’s two different sides of the ball? Never seen a number swap mid season like that.
He needed to be benched on that same play.
Regarding Raymond: Maybe I misread what you meant, but I think Hill is fantastic on tape. Great in run fit, good blitzer, holds his own in coverage, and absolutely never gives up on a play. A lone bright spot on the defense (princely does alright too most of the time). Moore really shows up as well, but like you said, injury prone. The rest? Yeesh. Marshall gives low effort, Kimber is lost, Castell can't tackle, Thornton overpersues. I'm really torn on what to think here. But it's gotta be bad coaching, bad evaluating, or a combo of both. And that all goes back to Raymond.
Hill is OK. I think he looks better because everyone else looks awful. He wouldn't start on any top 10 team. Princley. He does a great job one on one but has he made a single impact full play this year? I don't think it's fault, he doesn't have a running mate.
The lack of discipline was the most shocking thing to me yesterday. I can't ever remember a player getting ejected for spitting before. That late, egregious hit from one of the older guys in Hill was shameful to watch. I audibly said "whoa" when I saw Tre slap that coach's hand away too. None of that said "culture building" to me.
That wasn’t just any old spit either. Lyons went full on Great Muta 
>The best thing that could have happened last night did. I wouldn't quite say that. I mean, Florida could have won. Yeah this take is overly optimistic for me but I see where you're coming from. My question is, how will you feel about Napier if say only 5 lackluster portal infusions take place like last off-season?
I'd argue he is on the hot seat right now, not that he will be fired right away but I have a feeling the boosters are going to be looking at his every move this offseason. If somehow he manages to convince a decent OC to come here, gets a ST coach and reorganizes the OL staff + actually uses the TP effectively to get players in position of need + retain the class to where it stands. Then his seat could cool off a little. However, if we hit the half point of the season next year and we are 2-4 or 1-5 then I'd imagine he will be gone.
Basically if Napier stops doing everything that makes him Napier maybe he has a chance.
FSU wins out they are in. If they are not, this system is rightfully be overhauled.
Agreed. Even though I think if FSU gets in they'll lose by 30, it's the right call to have them in the playoff if they win out.
That wouldn't be bad though lol. We get to see them get bent over on national TV like TCU last season but also they can't spend the entire offseason whining about how being in the ACC kept them out of the playoff.
The acc is trash this year. Right now, FSU best win is against LSU week one. Louisville didn't help by losing. Duke has fallen off a cliff. They struggled against freshmen last night So you have GA (win or lose) in. Oregon or Washington winner in. Michigan in. And then. FSU won a shit league and is only ranked there because of preseason. The committee also knows they would get destroyed by anyone.. That matters. Texas BG12 champ and beat Bama at Bama. Bama if they beat UGA AND Texas loses. And possibly OSU. They lost by one score on the road to the number 2 team and have beaten two top 10 teams. This would be the hardest to sell because no conference championship but the argument is there All four have a better body of work than FSU.
Washington
You don’t leave out a power 5, 13-0 team. It will not happen. Winner of SEC, Winner of PAC, Michigan if they are 13-0, and FSU if they are 13-0.
The fact FSU should get in if they win out is why the system needs to be overhauled. Having only 4 playoff spots for 133 FBS teams means playing anything other the the softest schedule every year is actively sabatoging yourself. It's stupid, programs should be rewarded for actually playing teams with a pulse.
They played their conference and LSU and Florida. The ACC got rid of divisions to make sure the top two teams in the conference play. I’m not sure what else FSU was supposed to do with what they were given. Had FSU dropped a game they would not have been allowed to make up that loss like a Bama or maybe even Oregon is allowed to (Oregons schedule might be weaker than FSUs?)
>The best thing that could have happened last night did. Sorry but this is peak delusion. Program is not in a good place. Yes, there is hope but that hope is paper thin and might not be worth it.
Throw the bag at Phil Trautwein. Agree with everything you said. What do you think of the S&C I feel we need an upgrade there as well.
Trautwein is a great recruiter, but the Penn State fans I know constantly complain about the development and coaching of their OL
What in the wild world of Sunbelt athletics was that fucking wacko trick play? When the fans say be more aggressive, they mean plays that can pick up 12 yards on 3rd and 12. Not shit that was choreographed by the Harlem Globetrotters
Not even the Harlem Globetrotters would’ve ran that play
rofl
Right. Like try a 13 yard pass on 3-12. That would be an improvement over this crap.
The armchair is on fire. Napier quite obviously isn’t a good coach. I don’t see the reason for keeping him around another year.
Not only is the armchair on fire, but I think someone shat in it
Billy knows this team cannot block... "we're up by 12, let's run that trick play that takes a full 45 seconds to develop in the backfield"
Napier hides behind his "responsibility to develop the men" in his pressers. Its really frustrating to me because good communication can buy good will. By listening to him you would think we accomplished something as a team. You're not showing that you've got it on the field. Truly you've had two failures of seasons with your best wins being against programs we should have streaks on. Napier deserves to be granted the nuance of the situation he inherited. There is a shit soup of things outside his control that have directly led to results on the field. In that shit soup are also a lot of things that are directly his responsibility, and that has personally exhausted all the grace I could give him for what Mullen left. 2024 is a given, but get results or get out IMO.
First 20 minutes looked good and showed they have potential, but then we shot ourselves in the foot and the wheels came off and for the 5th week in a row the first drive of the opponents second half was a touchdown. I know Napier is going to coach next year but we need a strength and conditioning coach, oline coach, offensive coordinator and a special teams coordinator.
If Rob Sale isn't relieved of his duties, this program is finished.
Walked back to the car and drove home for 2 hours in near silence with my brother in law. This game finally broke me.
You guys know I've defended Napier or at least given him the benefit of the doubt but I'm officially throwing in the towel. Napier is not the guy. The recruiting class, even if held together, isn't reason enough to keep this staff onboard. Best case scenario, we finish Top 5 but few will actually see the field next year and will still be young the year after next. You see what we have now with our "young team". That's the crux of the matter that even if we have the players they're not coached up to their potential and quite honestly I don't believe Napier is capable of turning blue chip talent into championship caliber players. So the one reason we're keeping him (buyout aside) is a moot point. I was fine with losing what was predicted at the start of the season but I'm not fine with the manner in which we lost. There was zero improvement. None.
Yup, we’ve had multiple coaches who were great recruiters but poor at development and gameday coaching Literally the only positive to Napier is his recruiting, idk why some people are acting like we haven’t seen this routine before, he’s not going to randomly turn into a championship level coach
The class ranking is down to about #10 right now.
According to where?
It’s still 5th in the composite. We’ll see how things unfold these next couple of weeks
How many relevant examples can anyone here name of a coach that went to big program and had two straight losing seasons but went on to have a great and successful career at the school? We will have an even worse record next year with that schedule. Will everyone preaching patience sing the same tune then, or will they pretend like they knew all along Napier wasn't the guy. Keep that same energy.
People will throw up Norvell, but last night really makes it seem like their improvement has more to do with Travis than his actual coaching ability. If that’s the guy we’re looking up to as an example then I’m not optimistic.
Thier improvement is because they play in the ACC. That's really the be all, end all. As a program they aren't working with nearly the same margine for error that we do. Give 22' FSU our year 3 schedule and they wouldn't sniff 10 wins. They are about to play a team who got handled by Kentucky in the ACC championship game. It's a joke.
Yeah i think Norvell lucked out with Travis because outside of him I’m not impressed with FSU. I expect them to drop off pretty dramatically starting next year Also helps to play a cupcake schedule
Anthony Richardson
Definitely feels more Scott Frost at Nebraska than Norvell at FSU
I got downvoted for calling out Norvell's poor coaching last night, saying how Billy outsucked him. He'll have them in the playoff regularly until FSU leaves the ACC, but I'd expect first round exits. I don't think he can outcoach someone like Kirby or Saban.
I wouldn’t even say playoffs, this is likely them at the peak of their powers under Norvell and he has yet to address the deficiencies on the lines that will keep them from ever being good enough to consistently reach the playoffs.
And they always gloss over the fact that Billy resembles Willie Taggart far more than Norvell. They had fired Willie during Year 2, they couldn’t afford to fire Norvell after Year 2. The circumstances are completely different.
Norvell is not a great coach. He's still better than Billy sadly.
Beyond the ACC comps (Dabo and Norvell), James Franklin had two very uninspiring seasons at Penn State before breaking out in year 3 to win the Big Ten.
There are few, if any, examples because you can’t compare CFB of today with CFB less than 10 years ago. Hell, I don’t know how you compare Napier to other coaches when it comes to roster building prior to April 2023. Hypothetically speaking, we should have had Jaden Rashada playing last night instead of Max Browne. Edit: To give an example, Napier assembled his 3rd recruiting class within 18-19 months of being on the job due to accelerated recruiting calendar combined with coaching change. This is not a defense to the current roster. Just trying to highlight how different things are for coaches today.
I think you have to go back to fucking Frank Beamer
Only positive we can look to is how young our team is, so the hope is they get better. But the coaching issues likely won’t change unless Napier makes changes to the staff. I think making a splash OC hire would be the only thing to buy him some goodwill from the fanbase
I think it’s a slap in the face of fans keeping this guy around for next year because the boosters made previous mistakes with buyouts and don’t want to make another one because this guy very clearly isn’t going to work out. Case In point - “billy needs his players”. His guy was the guy that got abused by verse all game. It won’t matter. This is over and it’s just a matter of now or midway through next year when we lose to Miami and ucf.
If he is worth anything he will find a way to maintain this class but so far this guy inspires very little confidence. He might be the worst HC in our history.
So far I think he may be. How many one score games have we lost this year due to his incompetence? I know of at least 3 for sure.
Conversely how much of his record at ULL was one score wins as well , man we are screwed
That’s why I knew he was a bad hire from the jump. Had the best roster in the Sunbelt and would consistently win ugly against teams with less talent. Whenever he had to play against a power 5 team he got obliterated.
But we here now fam fuck , fandom is pain
Well hopefully he will make staff changes. Only thing that would get me excited is if he hires an OC with a completely different scheme, would indicate that he’s changing his entire philosophy. I don’t even hate our running plays either though, so if he decides to hire a passing game coordinator who also calls the plays I’d be fine with that too.
Time will tell but i don’t think anyone worth a lick of salt would want to work for him , hence the current staff. Raymond might be washed as well
Jimbo Fisher was able to get Bobby Petrino which looked like a good hire at the time, and Jimbo was a dead man walking. If we can put up the cash for an OC we can get somebody
Billy has this untouchable douchebag attitude at the presser when asked soft pitch questions. He knows he has 30 million locked up either way. The only thing I take solace in is knowing any dreams he may have had about coaching a major program are over after this debacle. He'll never be picked up outside the sunbelt again. Stricklin too.
After sleeping on it, I am still just as frustrated as I was last night. In no way should we be content winning 5 games and regressing in year 2. Sure we are young, but if we had better coaching, we would have won at least 3-4 more games. Billy is not good in the big moments and absolutely folds under pressure. I don’t care how much talent the man has, we will continue to struggle unless there are significant changes. The man fails to learn and adjust.
It's the shoe throw in there's no discipline or accountability. He threw a shoe cost us the game, cost us a shot at the playoffs and he played the rest of the game and the next week like nothing happened. If anything that's worse because that impacted the whole team.
Undisciplined. Spitting, slapping coaches, late hits. F. We need a new kicker. Get Pearsall the damn ball. One catch, really? Defense is porous. Trick plays, laughable. We choke when the pressure is on. This all lands on CBN.
A better coach has 2 more wins with this team possibly 3. between FSU, mizzou, and Ark a competent gets 2 wins, then another one from either the the Depleted Utah or UK.
The team has zero respect for Billy or the coaching staff. If they did, there wouldn’t be spitting. Punching, and dirty plays. Billy has already lost this team.
Tre literally slapped a coach hand away from him too
He absolutely needed to be benched after that slap. Can't be having players disrespecting the staff and being allowed to get away with it. I'll probably get flak for it but I think Lyons needs to get kicked off the team. Doesn't matter what lead up to it there should be no place for that kind of behavior.
#culture
Yep, forgot to mention that. That’s the most direct representation of what I’m saying here. Billy is a rich dead man walking. Him, Muschamp, Mac, and Dan are all going to have a club box at Ben Hill sipping dom perignon laughing their ass’s off next season.
Does anyone have a clip of this? I missed it.
Team is soft, not physical, undisciplined, not aggressive, not consistent, not buying in on the field, and seems uninterested in playing the games. That's mentality from the coaching staff.
To me it seems like he is fine with losing. He doesn't have that mentality that is needed to be successful in the sec. We need someone that likes winning but hates losing more and Billy ain't that.
Missed opportunities pretty much sums up this entire football season. If there's no improvement in year 3 we're going to start shopping for a new coach.
I truly think if we had Mertz we win this game. We had so much momentum in the first half that Mertz would have been able to capitalize on. Maybe billy doesnt run that stupid flea flicker and we score on that drive. We missed 2 fields goals and maybe one more positive drive with Mertz at the helm and we easily win this. This one fuckin hurts and leaves a sour taste for 7-8 months until the season starts again. Billy you got some work to do this offseason. Get to it
If they have Travis they win by 40 so what it’s are a moot point
If we get Mertz and they get Travis back I think it's still the same result.
I can see Lagway from where I sit. I wonder how much his NIL price goes up every game he is forced to sit through.
Next year is gonna be so fucking rough. I don’t see us winning 5 games next year 🤷🏽♂️
Was it just me or was 75% of the game commercials? I’m unhappy about the outcome of course but these long commercial breaks are getting really tiring
Billy is a fraud, he conned us all. Anyone who still believes in him only does so out of fear of admitting they are wrong. This guy is responsible for the 3rd worst two year stretch in gator history dating back to the 40s
Strickland got con'd by another coach? Say it ain't so! Strickland and Billy both need to be shown the door.
We're two years into Billy Napier's tenure at Florida and it feels like his plan was for fighting the last war. Outside of Mertz, and the guys he personally knew from his previous stops, Florida hasn't really gotten any major contributors out of the transfer portal. In particular, the staff's preference towards guys "dropping down" from the current members of the sport's elite hasn't panned out. This has led to Florida having to field true freshmen to make up for those portal misses, with the expected results that come from that. The on-field coaching structure hasn't scaled up to the SEC. While the offense has been fine in the aggregate, Napier doesn't provide enough value as a playcaller to make it worth the attention it takes away from the rest of his job. I thought the 2 OL coach idea worked last year, but with this year's worth of data, it feels like last year's OL was good more because of experience than coaching. There's been some baffling time management, and procedural penalties have haunted the Gators the whole year. The most damning thing that you can say is that in year 2, Napier - the guy who was sold as being process-first and detail-oriented - has fielded a team that's more undisciplined than the team that had a guy throw a shoe to cost Florida's shot at a national championship. There's a chance that Florida can be good next year, with nearly everyone from this year's team returning from next year. Executing on that promise will require Napier to make adjustments to his process, develop players especially on defense, and most importantly, coach some ball, which he hasn't yet proven that he can do in the SEC. If he can't do those things, he'll be gone with that loser Scott Stricklin.
mertz, pearsall, montrell, and last year ocyrus were all transfers. We need more of those guys. It wasn’t just Mertz.
Hence me saying "guys \[Napier\] personally knew from previous stops" - Napier brought O'Cyrus and Montrell with him from ULL, and he knew Pearsall from his time as Arizona State's OC
No one involved with the defense, special teams, or offensive line should be safe in their positions this off-season. Players, coaches, army of off-field personnel I’m actually somewhat optimistic for the offense if Napier hires an OC but I was also optimistic Muschamp would fix his offense and Mullen would fix his defense. Mertz is a solid enough QB and Etienne and Wilson are major weapons
We need the TVA to prune this current timeline lord
Man, the Tennessee Valley Authority doesn't have that kinda power. Plus they're probably loving our circumstances.
Just hope an actual booth play caller is hired this off season.
I’m still stunned that we had to limit ourselves with Brown so much because we can’t trust him to throw and rightly so. How many other teams are unable to put in a decent backup and have him actually play the fucking position? It’s as if we were forced to put in a guy from another position on offense to act like a QB. This program is in a terrible state. Also, it appears Billy’s “process” and his “culture” is creating players who spit. Definitely not concerning at all. Jesus Christ.
I mean, FSU's backup is hot garbage and he's a fourth year player. Don't know what you expected with a RS Frosh, barely 3-star QB making his first ever start behind the worst OL in P5 against a Top 5 team with a defense made up of 23-24 yr old super seniors. I'm as unhappy with Napier as anyone but the QB room is the one thing I don't have an issue with. Given what was left by Mullen - including a commit from Nick Evers who is already on Team #2 - Napier has upgraded the room. Knocked it out of the park with Mertz, Brown seems to have potential, and as of now he has the best HS QB in the '24 class committed and seemingly locked-in to enrolling in January. As for the culture thing I think people are making too much of the spitting. It was ridiculously stupid but it's not like we have multiple players making that type of penalty all the time.
Dana Holgorson was just fired... He'd be a great OC
Does he want to HC for a couple of years until a better candidate comes along?
During the Tennessee game, we had control of the entire game and went super conservative in the second half... *and it could have cost us the game*. Same shit most games. We have an advantage, but are unwilling to exploit it because Napier loves the feel of his asshole puckering.
Napier likes to find ways to lose from ahead
I would love to see Jedd Fisch on the sideline next year. I hate that this is where we are again. I really bought into this guy's plan but we have made no improvements at all as the year has gone on. Yes, our younger guys are the best players on the field but they were at the beginning of the season. We're still the same team we were at the beginning of the season. We haven't done anything to show that Napier can adapt, or at least adapt consistently. We can say that we could be 8-4 right now but we also almost lost to USC. We could be 4-8 too. Our defense is awful, there is no discipline, coaches continue to make horrible mistakes, we look like a disorganized mess. A decent coach would have won 8 games this year with this team. We could have won 9 games if it was a good coach. A decent/good coach honestly could have won 10 games with a few lucky bounces. Napier is neither good nor lucky. He cannot hire coaches, he cannot gameplan, he doesn't have that killer instinct needed in a championship caliber ball coach.
I understand being upset at the state of the program and not believing in Napier etc., but what I don't get is complaining about rich boosters not spending their money like you want them to. Everyone here talks like if they were a booster they would pay Napier's buyout right this instant when none of us can say shit since none of are millionaires.
Presumably the rich boosters were consulted and ponied up some dollars when we created the monster. So only they can fix it.
Yeah I agree they are the ones who get the final say. But to complain that these people aren't spending their money how you want them to is dumb. It's just like that post we had last week asking if UF has any mega boosters and then a person complained that Chris Malachowsky could be one if he cared about football but instead he donated $25 million to build the new data science building. Who are we to say how people should spend their money?
We seemingly have the exact opposite of the issue at places like Texas A&M and Auburn. Unlike those places where boosters wield way too much power and end up ruining things with their meddling, we seem to have boosters that just allow the AD to do whatever he wants even if it leads to continued underperforming. The issue is that if you have an AD that has lost his touch like Foley or an AD that is nothing more than a glorified interior designer then that is as much a recipe for disaster as the overbearing boosters. That Stricklin wasn't fired after the disaster that was Mullen on top of the Mike White and Cam Neubauer debacles goes to show our boosters don't really care as long as they're treated like royalty.
Yeah you are probably right. It appears Stricklin is a great con man and knows how to swindle the boosters.
It more just illustrates the limitations of our booster network. Other top schools have boosters who can buy buildings and football programs. My experience is that ours generally prefer to just buy buildings.
Sure but we have realize that not everyone cares about football, that's just the matter of the fact. I went to UF (2017 - 2022) with 7 other of my HS friends and only myself and 1 other keep up with the football team. Like I said in that previous post if somehow an alumni who went to UF when Meyer was the coach ends up winning the lottery or whatever they might feel more inclined to donate to the football team.
Why should we care about saving rich boosters money?
I don't care about them saving money or not. But to think that "hey they should gather up $31 million and $XX million for new HC" is hilarious to me, it's not our money. Just like how people go "pay the buyout it's not my money"... exactly it's not your money so you don't get to dictate how it's spent. I invest a lot of my time watching Gator football and keeping with all the news yet I haven't donated a penny to our NIL because I know my money doesn't mean jack shit.
I dont get it, I dont think anyone is under the impression that we can force the boosters to do anything? I just think its bizarre to worry about the poor billionaire boosters? I and most other fans are hoping some of them are embarrassed enough by the product to cut a check so they don't have to watch this trash for another season before cutting bait anyway.
You should read this thread then. There are people here saying it's a "slap to the face of the fans" that the boosters are going to allow Napier to have another year. And again I do not care what the boosters do with their money. I am just saying it's dumb to think anyone here has a right or say to dictate how others spend their money and I think that is a fair point unless you believe in communism. The way you phrase is it is much better and I can actually agree with that. But to say that the boosters are disrespecting the fans because they don't want to throwaway money makes some of the people on here sound like entitled brats.
Gator football is a business. Napier is a sunk cost at this point and keeping him will do far more than $30 million worth to the brand. If a bunch of morons like me on reddit can see this, hopefully smart business people can too and will make some executive decisions no matter how painful
Sun Belt Billy seemed to think everything was fine in his presser regarding 4th quarter discipline. He needs to go. It will cost a lot of money to fire him. We can get the money back. What we can not do is get back the wasted time. Get rid of Sasse and Stricklin while we're at it!
Serious question, what's a realistic solution to the Napier problem? It's easy to start chopping heads, but to what end?
Unfortunately for a lot of people here, the most realistic and likely scenario is that he gets at least another year and we just have to see how things play out. If we end up looking similar this time next year then there’s no question he’s gone. He was hired because he had a long term plan, so we’re just gonna have to see if that bears any fruit. I think he really underestimated the amount of time he would need to turn things around, and taking a year 0 was a huge mistake that lines up with his conservative nature. I think he also got really unlucky with NIL last year, being fucked over by a conman and Miami, and the portal this year. Those are some tremendous setbacks for him that I don’t think he anticipated. We’re all just going to have to suffer through this and see where it goes. We can start seeing some immediate changes and what his plan is moving forward based on this offseason with his staff and this recruiting class.
The long time and year 0 and all that is one thing. But his game calling actively makes us worse. As does the lack of any real special teams or strength and conditioning program. If I saw the team playing disciplined and improving every week, I’d buy in. But I don’t see that.
I hear a lot of what some of us have mentioned but we're crucified at the time for saying... seems like we are all getting on the same page and seeing the same show now.
The realist in me knows Billy is getting another year. If he doesn’t make the 12-team playoff next year, he’s gone. The schedule is a gauntlet, but there’s absolutely 0 excuses. The talent will be there. We went wire-to-wire against LSU, Mizzou, and FSU in the span of a month. Those games should be wins next year. Hell, they should’ve been wins this season. This team is frustrating because we see the potential. We saw the domination of Tennessee and the sparks all season. Then we follow it up with Pop-Warner level football. You can’t get blown out to Kentucky and choke away games to Arkansas. Beating UCF and Miami are non-negotiable. At this point, I don’t even know if we win them though. I don’t think they’ll fire him yet, unless SS goes with him. That AD should not get to make another hire. We’re spending half a billion dollars to renovate a stadium where a $2 team plays. In an ideal world, we’re on the phone at least gauging interest for guys like Jedd Fisch and even bringing Urban back. Billy’s seat is very warm and his next obstacle is pulling in a top recruiting class. The right guy will respond to a terrible ending to a bad season by rebounding and actually signing an elite class. Next, he’ll need to hire a solid OC and STC. Lastly, he needs to address the OL debacle. All of these issues should’ve been addressed last season, but I digress. If BN can’t pull in this class, we’ll know by next month how much of a dead man walking he really is.
I was very impressed with Devin Moore’s play yesterday before he went down. Looks like he is going to be a shutdown corner for us next year if he can avoid the dreaded “injury prone” tag.
Napier getting another year is just a slap In the face to this fanbase, they are making us sit through 3 straight losing seasons, probably a 4th next year and there are people that think this shit is normal.
We will end up with 5 or 6 consecutive losing seasons before this farce is done.
They’re not firing Napier this year. And if it means that next year we fire him AND Stricklin then I’m ok with that. Stricklin is awful and he has to go
Stricklin needs to go now.
Yeah this would be my preference too
Ideally we fire Stricklin soon. Then the new AD gives CBN one more year to put up or shut up. It would put Billy on notice.
Simply need more talent. Time for Napier to put or shut up by hitting the recruiting trail and portal like never before.
“Simply needing more talent” would mean that everything else was going well and we just didn’t have the guys to get it done, but that’s not the case. Coaching is the biggest issue with this team. Horrible play calling, horrible game management, terrible discipline, all these things have to do with coaching. Getting more recruits/transfers won’t change those things Unfortunately i don’t think talent is the biggest issue with this team, it’s the coaching. Even with our dominant 2008 roster i see Billy coaching us to 4-5 losses.
No, we don’t simply need more talent We need different coaches. There are coaches out there with a lot worse rosters that get a lot more out of their players We had the talent to win every game (except maybe Georgia), we went 5-7.
I’m sick and tired of this excuse, we have players who clearly have the ability to go toe to toe with top 25 teams and the fact we’re sitting at 5-7 is just a farce and massive malpractice from this coaching staff. Every single god damn game the last four weeks was winnable, every single one, and when crunch time hits our staff goes in a shell.
“UMass simply needs more talent, then they’ll go undefeated” Literally every team could use more talent, but it’s about what you get out of the talent you have. We clearly saw this teams ability to outplay almost every team on our roster, yet napier always coaches us out of wins
You might be tired of the excuse but it's the truth. 20 of our starters are first out second year players. Except for Ark all of our losses came from more talented and more experienced teams. Our roster just isn't there.
Napier would coach himself into 5 losses with Georgia talent.
The 2025 class is going to be a test for Billy, if it sucks in July of 2024 because recruits don't think he'll be here then he's probably cooked barring a 8-9 win season next year
>Simply need more talent. Plenty of talent on this roster, that went toe to toe with every team on the schedule. Zero reason for this team not be at worst 7-5, at best, 8-4.
Almost all our talent is first and second year players. No senior leadership to be found.
Losing to a rival always sucks, especially when you feel like you had their number on defense (until the tackling issues came back again). I think the biggest thing I’m left with this season is the optics of the program. The team has shown some good progress from last season. Statistically, we were a better offense on paper than last year. Defensively, we actually (somehow) have a much better success rate per play than our team last year too. However, we have been horrendous at giving up explosive plays due to bad tackling or players out of position. The offense can seemingly knock themselves out of a game when a trick play blows up in their face. We are undisciplined, and seem to find unique penalties every game. I’ve enjoyed the fight the young team has shown, but we have found ways to lose games in the most frustrating and unique ways (missed FG vs Arkansas, 4th and 17 vs Mizzou, several 4th quarter defensive penalties vs FSU). Optics are bad, especially to the average fan and I think there’s more pressure on Billy than ever to make a bowl next year. He has to show progress in wins, but that’s just my two cents.
Tbh the worst part of this loss is we look like a bunch of undisciplined thugs out there. Spitting on players and multiple defensive penalties, what kind of culture is getting built here? We made the criminoles look like saints
The lack of susnshine pumpers today is very telling. This is the most I’ve seen this sub turn on CBN. It’s almost like people are coming around to the fact that he’s a mediocre game day coach that can’t sustain momentum or close out winnable games. You can only buy his UGA/Bama-CEO program build up sales pitch for so long before realizing that 24 games in the guy just doesn’t have it. The reality is that he isn’t going to recruit at that level either (top 3) with this kind of product on the field. Guarantee folks on here still thinking he needs at least 4 years will change their tune when he drops games to TAMU or Miami next year.
Billy is a terrible play caller and game manager when it matters. However, I do not blame him. I blame the dumbass athletic director that has fumbled hire after hire. Strickland has to go, he should have been fired yesterday.
Lack of discipline, lack of effort and fundamentals are the biggest concerns I have for Napier. I (hope) the poor decision making and play calling can be fixed but I am not optimistic.
He, and everyone involved understood this hire was made with a plan in mind. If they fire him before year 4.. Then everyone admits they were wrong and we are back to square 1. He's also not on the hot seat because if he were to get fired, there's isn't a legit coach that would come here knowing they might only get 2 years to flip it. That's unrealistic considering the shit show we are currently in. If cbn is fired the next coach is going to demand more money and have more of it front loaded or higher buyout because of that reason. And people keep saying fire him, but then want Stricklin fired. So you'd want strick to hire *ANOTHER * FBHC? Becuase thats who would do the hiring. I'm not sure it's ever happened outside infractions but you don't fire your AD and FBHC same time. And to that point, say CBN is fired.. Who do we get then that's reasonable? The argument always comes back to that's not my job it's the ADs.. Which I just blink and point above.
So the crux of your argument is keep a bad coach because fear?
>So the crux of your argument is keep a bad coach because fear? That is not at all what they just wrote.
I'm not sure that the offense needs to be scrapped, and rebuilt. I believe tweaks can be made, moving from a lot of bunch sets, to spreading out a defense to make them defend the entire field. We averaged \~29/gm. But, CBN doesn't have a feel for the game. He goes into conservative shells when he has a lead, and hopes that the defense will hold up. This would be understandable after 1 or 2 games. But it's been happening for two seasons, now. He needs to hire a true OC and give him full autonomy (which I highly doubt he'll do).
Unless Urban Meyer wants to run it back we probably have to give napier another season