Napier plans "unprecedented" staff at UF

oxrageous

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Stricklin made it clear he's open to the changes that are coming, no matter the cost.

"He gives such a compelling reason to why these things are going to help make the Gators better," Stricklin said. "It's not just, 'Hey, we need this because.' It was, 'We need this because' and then he goes through a detailed plan of what the pieces are, how they fit together and why that's going to matter.

"When someone can explain why they need resources, it makes it really easy to want to invest in that."
 

FireFoley

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The fact that it takes someone like Sling Blade to instruct the AD of a P5 school in the SEC (not named Vandy or UK) where only football should matter or does matter, on how to run a dept. and what you need to be successful is in and of itself a complete and total embarrassment. You have to ask an expert what the problem is when hundreds of experts can't solve the problem.

https://y.yarn.co/8ebfd0b7-3f3f-4397-8531-b71d7b74154f_text.mp4
 

Swamp Donkey

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It could end up being a lot of people, too. But the Gators are close to opening an $85 million football facility that will be able to house a much larger work force.

"We might have to go build some barracks, right?" Stricklin said jokingly. "He has the right vision. He's the right person. I love the character that he displays, the humility he displays, but he also has a plan. He's very thoughtful. He knows what's he doing there."


We're going to have to immediately build an annex, I suspect. I think we only built for a staff of 2 GAs, 2 QAs, and a few recruiting assistants.
 

UFHealthGator

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If all of this is true and the school's commitment to winning is real, then it will be interesting to see what happens. Not sure what made the light bulb go off all of a sudden.
 

Swamp Donkey

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If all of this is true and the school's commitment to winning is real, then it will be interesting to see what happens. Not sure what made the light bulb go off all of a sudden.
Likely, Ugaly going to an NC, laughing at our recruiting, and Stricklin needing to save his own ass.
 

CapitalGator02

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"When someone can explain why they need resources, it makes it really easy to want to invest in that."
The only time Mullen was passionate about a pitch to Stricklin was begging to skip practice to be first in line at Foot Locker to cop the latest Jordans
 

UFHealthGator

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Likely, Ugaly going to an NC, laughing at our recruiting, and Stricklin needing to save his own ass.

It is not the first time a$$sniffers compete for a NC. Committing to such massive increase in resources and spending is not Stinkinglings decision. This goes far above his head. Glad it is finally happening. Hopefully it is not BS.
 

Okeechobee Joe

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I sure hope it works out for Coach Billy Napier. I've been around a long time and. I've seen the UF program really chew up some coaches and spit 'em out. Even the mighty Urban was a mental train wreck at the end of his time in Gainesville. Napier didn't really come across to me as knowing a lot about UF, Gainesville, and the state of Florida other than saying his one trip to the Swamp was while he was on the Saban's staff at Alabama. Napier knew that Steve Spurrier was the coach here who "threw it around the park a lot", but everybody knows that. I guess Napier knows that Florida is different than the rest of the South and UF is different from the other SEC state schools. Or does he really know what he's getting ready to get in to?

When Napier talked about how important the line of scrimmage is in football in general and the SEC in particular and put emphasis on running the ball it sounded a lot like Will Muschamp talking about what a midline is. Blue collar type stuff you know, I just hope Napier doesn't start handing out hard hat awards. Remember those? When a reporter at the press conference told the new coach that he heard Napier ran a tight ship in regards as to how a football player should learn how to carry and present himself that sounded a lot like Doug Dickey many years ago who was coming back home to Gainesville during the Vietnam War era from a very different UF from the one he knew growing up on campus and playing quarterback for the Gators in the '50s.

I've seen a lot of coaches come in here and want to do the way they did things at Tennessee when Dickey coached there or at Georgia when Muschamp played there, etc. and now it seems Napier wants to do things the way Saban did things at Alabama and the way he did things at Louisiana. It seems to me those were worthy things, but those things that worked at other times and places will not necessarily translate to success at UF. The only coach I can remember at Florida who seemingly did things completely the "Florida way" was Steve Spurrier. Florida just being Florida. But then again that was then and this is now.

I have heard the name Billy Napier in the past when his name came up for vacant jobs at Mississippi State and Auburn. I have read about and admired his work ethic and approach to football, family, and faith. I never dreamed though that he would show up one day in Gainesville as the new head coach of the Florida Gators.

Best wishes to Coach. Maybe you can show us how to be winners both on and off the field. How to temper our pride with a good dose of humility, How to have hope in the midst of all the cynicism and negativity. And one other bit of advice. Learn how to get squeeze some rest among all the hard work you plan to put in. Work is good. Real good. But too much work and no time with the family will lead to burn out real quick.
 

LongTooth

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If he has the ability and humility to learn and adapt he is going to have to apply and hone those skills here like never before. If he can, then instead of UF changing him for the worse, he might have a positive and lasting influence on G-ville.

He knows people here are impatient. They’re also judgemental to the extreme and harshly unforgiving of any perceived failure. He seems to have thicker skin than his post-SOS predecessors. He’s gonna need it.
 

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