- Aug 17, 2018
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I don't think anyone is complaining about Toney leaving--and if Napier quietly encouraged it behind the scenes, that's encouraging self-evaluation for a unit that underperformed at times last year, to the detriment of the team's success. I also don't think the timing was coincidental: Napier didn't want to throw off the recruiting class and make this change before Signing Day.
But hiring Armstrong is underwhelming and all of us know it. I get ox wants us to be less miserable & it's not a bad objective in and of itself...but real talk: how is a totally unproven 29 year old Sunbelt Conference coach going to turn things around for a unit that will have a LOT of young players next season?
Coordinators frequently bounce around--but let's look at the competition from the last 12 months:
Bama got Kevin Steele...needs no introduction. Proven experience at multiple Power 5 schools.
LSU's DC was a former NFL coach for the Chiefs with SEC experience prior to that. Proven experience at every level.
Ole Miss got Pete Golding...Bama's former DC. Proven experience.
Auburn got Ron Roberts from Baylor--previously with Napier at Louisiana. Proven Power 5 experience.
Tennessee got Tim Banks (2 years ago) from Penn State. Proven Power 5 experience in the Big 10.
Texas A&M got DJ Durkin from Ole Miss. Shouldn't need an introduction to Gator fans; but proven Power 5 experience.
Mizzou got Blake Baker (internal promotion), but he'd previously been the DC at scUM and a LB coach at LSU.
I'm not saying I automatically expect the guy to suck because he's young...but is it too much to ask for/expect a prestige Power 5 program like Florida to act like a program with multiple national championships?? Why are we instantly hiring an unproven DC in a league where almost all the most recent hires have had Power 5 DC experience?
I WANT Napier to succeed. I think he's a definite upgrade in every way on our most recent coaches over the last decade, especially the last two, who were unquestionably lazy at key areas of their jobs. Napier is most certainly a hard worker; so it really baffles my mind that this dude is the best he could come up with on a hiring move that's almost certainly been floated about for longer than just the last 24 hours.
But hiring Armstrong is underwhelming and all of us know it. I get ox wants us to be less miserable & it's not a bad objective in and of itself...but real talk: how is a totally unproven 29 year old Sunbelt Conference coach going to turn things around for a unit that will have a LOT of young players next season?
Coordinators frequently bounce around--but let's look at the competition from the last 12 months:
Bama got Kevin Steele...needs no introduction. Proven experience at multiple Power 5 schools.
LSU's DC was a former NFL coach for the Chiefs with SEC experience prior to that. Proven experience at every level.
Ole Miss got Pete Golding...Bama's former DC. Proven experience.
Auburn got Ron Roberts from Baylor--previously with Napier at Louisiana. Proven Power 5 experience.
Tennessee got Tim Banks (2 years ago) from Penn State. Proven Power 5 experience in the Big 10.
Texas A&M got DJ Durkin from Ole Miss. Shouldn't need an introduction to Gator fans; but proven Power 5 experience.
Mizzou got Blake Baker (internal promotion), but he'd previously been the DC at scUM and a LB coach at LSU.
I'm not saying I automatically expect the guy to suck because he's young...but is it too much to ask for/expect a prestige Power 5 program like Florida to act like a program with multiple national championships?? Why are we instantly hiring an unproven DC in a league where almost all the most recent hires have had Power 5 DC experience?
I WANT Napier to succeed. I think he's a definite upgrade in every way on our most recent coaches over the last decade, especially the last two, who were unquestionably lazy at key areas of their jobs. Napier is most certainly a hard worker; so it really baffles my mind that this dude is the best he could come up with on a hiring move that's almost certainly been floated about for longer than just the last 24 hours.