An Important Aside

[DRU2012]

With all the (deserved) discussion, anger and outright disgust at what we all saw last night at Tennessee, and the general consensus judgment that fault and responsibility falls entirely onto Billy Napier's shoulders, as someone who has come to lay as much of the blame at his feet as ANYONE out here, I thought it was only fair that I note a couple of "only right and fair" counter-thoughts:
Yes: The man has pretty well thoroughly demonstrated his complete unreadiness for competition at this, the highest level of cut-throat, fast-mind take-no-prisoners Championship play.
But there IS a place for him in college football.
Just NOT the SEC.
Further down, one of the smaller FCS schools or one of the "directional state" institutions (his "Ragin' Cajuns" were pretty well at that kind of. similar level) you find the kinds of kids he can work with, where he and they will be given the time and ROOM to grow and develop, to rise above the admitted relative mediocrity around them--become the "big fish in the small pond" if you will.
Good for them.
But BAD for anyone who mistakes THAT for being "READY FOR THE BIG TIME".
MAYBE our (supposed) "Braintrust" has learned from this experience. I USED to trust them--so I bought in and wanted BADLY to see our "New Coach" make good up here.
But it didn't happen, and I (along with so many others) are left wondering how they could get it SO far WRONG...but WE don't get paid ungodly sums annually to KNOW these things. Begging thecquestion, "How many such horrible decisions are they allowed to MAKE?"
At what point are THEIR jobs on the line?
We have made Billy Napier a rather wealthy individual at a rather young age. HOPEFULLY he can and WILL go on to spread his brand of "feel good"/"you can be better--FEEL GOOD" kind of everyday sports competition among the great majority of at best "pretty good" young boys-to-men young competitirs out there in vast numbers. Maybe there will even be a few more gems-in-the-rough like RB Johnson he can find, encourage, and help to excel, exceed all expectations.
WE on the other hand need one of those rare "Angry Unicorns", the kind of prickly genius who does things completely his own way--he might sometimes, even OFTEN rub folks WRONG, but when he's on your side you LOVE him--'cause he WINS!
THAT isn't Billy Napier. I wish him well. But I wish him GONE. ASAP.
Make no mistake. Not again. We are looking to win CHAMPIONSHIPS--NOT popularity contests nor elections.
Now let's go get one of THOSE in here.

 

[Escambia94]

Remember that Florida got lucky with Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer. There are only 2 national championship coaches active today, Kirby Smart and Dabo Swinney. Championship coaches are hard to find, and the magical formula is so different now that even the GOAT decided to retire earlier this year. What Florida needs now is the right balance of stability and relevance. Napier provides stability but lacks the on-field wins for relevance in the national conversation. I say that because there is a possibility that boosters like the stability with Napier and will demand that he hire a big OC for 2025 and use that as an opportunity for him to keep his job in 2026. We the fans prioritize wins, but boosters prioritize revenue. Despite the losses, UF is still the 4th richest university at $768M of endowments and 8th most successful athletics program with $200M of revenue. That revenue is not declining. With revenue sharing starting in 2025, UF is still in good shape for that $20M salary cap.

 

[DRU2012]

Remember that Florida got lucky with Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer. There are only 2 national championship coaches active today, Kirby Smart and Dabo Swinney. Championship coaches are hard to find, and the magical formula is so different now that even the GOAT decided to retire earlier this year. What Florida needs now is the right balance of stability and relevance. Napier provides stability but lacks the on-field wins for relevance in the national conversation. I say that because there is a possibility that boosters like the stability with Napier and will demand that he hire a big OC for 2025 and use that as an opportunity for him to keep his job in 2026. We the fans prioritize wins, but boosters prioritize revenue. Despite the losses, UF is still the 4th richest university at $768M of endowments and 8th most successful athletics program with $200M of revenue. That revenue is not declining. With revenue sharing starting in 2025, UF is still in good shape for that $20M salary cap.

I hear you--BUT I hope you are wrong, E--. About potential "Two more seasons of Billy Napier IF he hires an OC.." Because he STILL won't listen to him.
AND because IT JUST AIN'T FUN ANYMORE!
Two more seasons of Napier coaching here might well RUIN this program. Put us into a hole for another generation at LEAST--if we ever get out of it at ALL.
NO. It just won't DO. Those things like "stability" and revenue WILL in turn drain away, albeit in delayed fashion--but their potential RETURN will be even slower, GLACIAL, with a long moribund program floundering at the bottom of the SEC.
Rip the bandaid off at the end of THIS season.
It is the only way.

 

[DRU2012]

I'm just sick of him, sick of ALL of it!
And you KNOW I am far from alone in this.
The fans aren't necessarily "right" about this sort of thing--often NOT, and in its early reaction-heavy calls did strike me at the time as, well, "premature" at best...SHORT-SIGHTED old Gator OVER-reactionary self-destructiveness AGAIN.
But I have been forced by circumstance, by subsequent actual events--not to mention the clear STATISTICAL RESULTS now staring us in the face after THREE STRAIGHT SEASONS of this same, deteriorating crap.
At a certain point, "loyalty and patience" begin to look more and more like "BEATING A DEAD HORSE"!
Let us stop, think, apply caution, care and wisdom. It is time.

 

[Escambia94]

If I had to be in Scott Stricklin’s shoes I would be thinking about the following:

1. Revenue sharing starts in 2025. How can the Florida program take advantage of its 4th-largest total endowment (academic and athletic), 8th highest revenue athletic program, 12th most talented team, and 4th richest NIL program? Other than Texas, no other program in the country has the resources to succeed in this era of college football. What is holding Florida back?

2. Elite coaching has always been the key to success in any sport, but finding those unicorns has been elusive to all but the wiliest of athletic directors. Scott Stricklin thought he had the next Urban Meyer in Billy Napier, but this is not the case. However, in Stricklin’s defense, the college football landscape changed just as he hired Napier. It is not too late to save face and make changes.

3. NFL-style front offices are taking over. However, FBS football is not the NFL. What can college teams do to take the best aspects of NFL football operations and restrictive NCAA rules?

Does Stricklin have access to resources to take advantage of revenue sharing? Yes!
Does Stricklin have access to elite coaching? No.
Does Stricklin have an NFL-style front office? Sort of.

 

[DRU2012]

If I had to be in Scott Stricklin’s shoes I would be thinking about the following:

1. Revenue sharing starts in 2025. How can the Florida program take advantage of its 4th-largest total endowment (academic and athletic), 8th highest revenue athletic program, 12th most talented team, and 4th richest NIL program? Other than Texas, no other program in the country has the resources to succeed in this era of college football. What is holding Florida back?

2. Elite coaching has always been the key to success in any sport, but finding those unicorns has been elusive to all but the wiliest of athletic directors. Scott Stricklin thought he had the next Urban Meyer in Billy Napier, but this is not the case. However, in Stricklin’s defense, the college football landscape changed just as he hired Napier. It is not too late to save face and make changes.

3. NFL-style front offices are taking over. However, FBS football is not the NFL. What can college teams do to take the best aspects of NFL football operations and restrictive NCAA rules?

Does Stricklin have access to resources to take advantage of revenue sharing? Yes!
Does Stricklin have access to elite coaching? No.
Does Stricklin have an NFL-style front office? Sort of.

OK--You are saying that our "access to elite coaching", at least with Strickland making the choices, is extremely "limited at BEST".
BUT the fact remains, by everything you say (and DON'T say) above, BILLY MUST GO.
By his own standards:
He came IN here spouting and repeating that strange "tagline",
"SCARED MONEY DON'T MAKE MONEY!"
His actions did NOT seem to support what it SOUNDED as if that phrase actually appeared to MEAN. But finally, here in the middle of his 3RD SEASON came a situation that perfectly illustrated the right moment to apply that very philosophy in stark, even SIMPLE terms.
Against Tennessee with EVERYTHING on the line, for his team, the fans and his own CAREER, in a game where they were prohibitive underdogs on the road, in a game they mostly DOMINATED and SHOULD have long since have PUT AWAY, they had to come back to drive the field and score at the very end just to be faced with THE CHOICE:
Kick the P.A. to tie, or go for 2 and the WIN.
Your team is exhausted, YOUR mistakes have cost them multiple chances to be simply running out the CLOCK.
"SCARED MONEY DON'T MAKE MONEY!!!"
I finally GET it. Here is the perfect time to apply it.
Win or lose, you say it again NOW at your post-game presser and no matter what, you gain a measure of gratitude and respect, Coach.
From ME and a LOT of fans, for sure...
At the very least, perhaps a "reevaluation" would then be in order.
But as it is, SORRY:
Pull that hidden lever...
Open the trap door and send him down the chute to wherever or whatever padded irrelevancy awaits failed-but-now-wealthy large-scale Coaching disappointments.