Pulse on Napier

[NVGator]

I’m sure Sonny Dykes also said it was a process.

 

[SGG]

I don't completely disagree with anything here, you could be right. I just think it's too early to know. And some of the criticism is certainly justified, I've shook my head at plenty. However, my point is that there's a group that because they were unhappy with the hire, they aren't going to cut the guy a single break and take into account what he inherited. Napier isn't an unlikeable lazy prick like Mullen, he represents the school great and I think deserves just a little bit of patience.

Also, Napier lives and breaths recruiting, possibly more than he lives and breaths winning. Freeze isn't going to show up and just outrecruit him. I think the 2022 class, as solid as I think it is, is going to be the WORST class Napier has at UF. It's going to get better over the next couple of years and I think he's a top-5-every-year guy once everything is rolling.

However, at some point he has to win or he won't be around to recruit - but the cupboard will be full.

I wasn’t happy with the hire, at first, but he grew on me during the offseason. Then Utah happened and I felt like we were going to exceed everyone’s expectations. How could we not? We had the second coming of Tebow wearing the 15, right? We just beat a top 10 team in his first game, at home, in exciting fashion. Recruiting, process, PT was a defensive savant, etc.

It’s been downhill since. That’s not to say that there haven’t been bright spots. The recruiting is still good, not great. The fight the team has is a bright spot, but they wouldn’t have to display that fight if the defense didn’t shyt the bed in nearly every game and AR wasn’t a basket case mentally. It’s not on Napier that AR is mentally fragile. It is, however, on him for being unwilling to sit him when the wheels come off the wagon. The clock management is absolutely atrocious. We’ve played 12 games, and at least once or twice in every game, there have been ridiculous moments of timeout management, “scared money” late in the half, and so on. Those are the things that are alarming to me and everyone else that’s watched this circus. Could he still be the guy? Maybe. Time will tell, but it’s obvious that changes need to be made. Hopefully he makes them.

He’s certainly a more likeable guy than Butters or Cousin Eddie, and I hope he succeeds here:

 

[Egor's Assistant]

So we're comparing Napier to what HOF legendary coaches would have done with this team? "By God, Knute Rockne would have had us 10 wins!"



Seems like a waste of time. How many Spurrier, Meyer, or Saban's do you think there are? If you have to compare Napier to anyone, compare him to Kirby Smart and the way his career played out at Georgia. We were thrilled that Smart was hired, we laughed at him, and his mediocre start at UGA wasn't anything we worried about. Their fans wanted him fired, too.

Mark Richt 2.0

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

Spurrier would have sat AR.

I have no doubt about that…and he still would have won 10+ games.

 

[SGG]

Instead of continuing to poke the bear, maybe you should be grateful I ended your well-deserved vacation early.

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

So we're comparing Napier to what HOF legendary coaches would have done with this team? "By God, Knute Rockne would have had us 10 wins!"



Seems like a waste of time. How many Spurrier, Meyer, or Saban's do you think there are? If you have to compare Napier to anyone, compare him to Kirby Smart and the way his career played out at Georgia. We were thrilled that Smart was hired, we laughed at him, and his mediocre start at UGA wasn't anything we worried about. Their fans wanted him fired, too.

No, I’m addressing the other posters that compared Billy to SOS & Urban, one who went so far as saying SOS wouldn’t have been able to pull off a winning record with AR as the QB. I’m just setting the record straight on that nonsensical thinking.

 

[Gator By Marriage]

That statement requires clarification. SOS had been under criticism for some time for stubbornly refusing to go to the gun. It reached a cruscendo after the loss in Tallahassee in which Wuerffel took a beating. But, yes, the Sugar Bowl was the next game.

The SEC Championship against Bama was actually the next game.

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

I voted for not the guy/hope he stocks the cupboard, only because the choice below that said hot seat at the end of 2023.

Not to say he might not deserve to be on the hot seat at that time, but I just don’t see the administration moving that quickly to get rid of him.

As far as restocking the cupboard, I hope he does it but so far I haven’t seen him to be a dominant recruiter that others said he’d be.

 

[Gatormac2112]

There’s no such thing as stocking the cupboard for the next coach with the portal rules.

 

[GatorFL]

I wasn’t happy with the hire, at first, but he grew on me during the offseason. Then Utah happened and I felt like we were going to exceed everyone’s expectations. How could we not? We had the second coming of Tebow wearing the 15, right? We just beat a top 10 team in his first game, at home, in exciting fashion. Recruiting, process, PT was a defensive savant, etc.

It’s been downhill since. That’s not to say that there haven’t been bright spots. The recruiting is still good, not great. The fight the team has is a bright spot, but they wouldn’t have to display that fight if the defense didn’t shyt the bed in nearly every game and AR wasn’t a basket case mentally. It’s not on Napier that AR is mentally fragile. It is, however, on him for being unwilling to sit him when the wheels come off the wagon. The clock management is absolutely atrocious. We’ve played 12 games, and at least once or twice in every game, there have been ridiculous moments of timeout management, “scared money” late in the half, and so on. Those are the things that are alarming to me and everyone else that’s watched this circus. Could he still be the guy? Maybe. Time will tell but it’s obvious that changes need to be made. Hopefully he makes them.

He’s certainly a more likeable guy than Butters or Cousin Eddie, and I hope he succeeds here:

I think this is where I am at also. Except I was sort of meh about the hire, especially with Stricklin saying he had no other candidates in an offseason where Riley and Kelly jumped ship. I was at the Utah game and was suddenly sold on him, even though I knew that win was down to total luck.

I went to the next game (KY) and I was wondering if the same players were playing and the same coaches directing traffic. It had a much different feel to it and that began a long and painful downhill slide.

I'm willing to give Napier some time but he does need to make some changes. Agreed with everyone saying he needs to hire an OC and a ST coordinator. I view AR being gone as a net plus. It absolves Billy of benching him and maybe another QB can run whatever the system is more efficiently. I'm definitely not sold on Toney. I think at a minimum he needs to be coaching from the booth, not the sideline. If the D comes out next year and can't stop anybody on 3rd down, Napier better have plan B in his back pocket because the noise in the system will be absolutely deafening if that happens.

Oh and somebody tell him to wipe that stupid smirk off his face when our opponents are doing well.

 

[Spectator]

I think he has as much potential as any coach. A key factor is AR staying or not. The cupboard was not stocked for him to go 9-3. Look at the shcedule this year, it was strong. 2-4 vs top 20 teams, 2-5 if you count Kentucky before they fell apart. Other teams were 'up' this year, while UF was rebuilding. I like the moves to cure locker room cancer. Few coaches have the courage to do that mid-season. Not sure why some players didn't get on the field, they seemed ready in spring. Recruiting is looking good, I just don't like how the offer was rescinded from the Nease QB. I don't mind that he isn't a Gator, because he had an awful season and I see no big future in him.
Napier has to make changes on defensive staff. Toney should be gone. 29 pts a game is bad. I don't get the criticism of Napier on offense, we scored 32 per game. Next year will depend on how unselfish players are. Nobody likes to see a transfer be handed 'their' spot after he has been here doing the work for two years. It is not the easy quick fix many think it is. Plenty have had more success after they left UF. Plenty have come to Gainesville and not helped.
I really think if AR stays he could be great next year. I don't think he is ready for the NFL at all. If he does leave, who is QB for Napier next year? Kitna might be the guy but he has 5 minutes of experience. AR should have played more last year, Emory Jones sucked and still does. I wonder what AR would make in the NFL vs NIL and a brighter future if he stays?

 

[Swamped Gator]

Napier has made some head scratching calls this year, but overall the offense has been pretty solid. I don’t think a lot of the offensive struggles have been poor play calls, but lack of execution. Mainly AR’s lack of execution. AR has missed a bunch of easy throws in every single game this year.

I don’t dislike AR, but I’d like for him to leave. If you think he was afraid to run this year just wait until next year when he will be solely focused on the draft.

A perfect example of execution issues is the drive where Kitna came in and ran the read option. He’s nowhere near the athlete that AR is but he correctly chose to keep the ball and picked up around 7 yards. AR could’ve kept the ball so many times this year for huge gains and he refused to. I have concerns about Billy, but I’d really like to see him with his players in his system. Offense wasn’t the problem this year except for the Kentucky game. That’s the only game that the offense cost us a win and that was 100% on AR, not play calling.

Billy needs to fix the defense. That’s far more concerning than the offense.

 

[Gatorbait25]

I do believe Jay is owed an apology . It’s not like he spammed the board with the greatest hits of his gay porn collection .

 

[78]

Let me see if I can help here since your synapses obviously have quite a struggle to try to get past those pesky amyloid plaques.

Riley and Napier were both new hires this season at their new jobs at destination schools with multiple previous national championships. Both schools were coming off bad seasons having just fired a failed coach. Both just finished their first regular season this weekend.

See how you can’t get more apples to apples and bringing up Saban in this conversation is completely unrelated and asinine?

That's an odd reply if not downright snarky. Were you under some impression that we could have brought Riley to Gainesville? You do realize that was never going to happen for various reasons beginning with money.

There were no home-run candidates that fit the Florida mold available for our opening. I personally wanted Kiffin, but that wasn't happening either and I knew it. Some people just don't fit the culture, others have sketchy resumes, still others are simply too expensive for our almost small-minded view. Like Freeze. Auburn may want him. You'd never, ever see him at Florida, and frankly I wouldn't want him either. He's a sleaze bucket.

 

[MJMGator]

The Riley comparison is laughable. He was a top 5 coach at a great program with great players. He took several of them with him to another top program that plays in a pussy conference. Why wouldn’t he win immediately?

 

[78]

No, I’m addressing the other posters that compared Billy to SOS & Urban, one who went so far as saying SOS wouldn’t have been able to pull off a winning record with AR as the QB. I’m just setting the record straight on that nonsensical thinking.

AR wouldn't have survived the self-congratulatory sideline celebration during the Utah game. SOS would have told him he might as well get comfortable standing on the bench because he wasn't leaving there anytime soon. Kitna would be a far better fit for Spurrier's offense.

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

AR wouldn't have survived the self-congratulatory sideline celebration during the Utah game. SOS would have told him he might as well get comfortable standing on the bench because he wasn't leaving there anytime soon. Kitna would be a far better fit for Spurrier's offense.

I’m aware of that and have already said so. I was specifically addressing the other poster who said SOS wouldn’t have a winning record if he had to play AR.

 

[Homer J]

View attachment 51584

How many have faced top 20 teams in half their games?

 

[MertzJay26]

 

[jdh5484]

How many have faced top 20 teams in half their games?

SOS is part of those stats.