"BOTTOMLINE II": Current state of college football

[DRU2012]

Another stab at summing up the state of our program now at UF:
Though I have lately come to generally eschew all those podcasts I used to follow, I DID somehow get snagged into clicking on Buddy & son's Friday show on YouTube, featuring (once more) this time another visit ftom Urban Meyer--and not only ended up watching it through, but in spite of everything actually enjoyed (and SUBSCRIBED to) much of his points!
He answered the "what if he were offered a blank check to come back and FIX THE PROGRAM??!" question (a frank, believably resounding "No Way!" answer---and I even liked (and accept) his reasons WHY)...Urban elaborates with all the prefacing material in which he gives us all some real perspective on not just his OWN "Glory Years" here, the players and circumstances and all that was required abd essential to those times and its success, but a wider picture of the whole UF history, how it's rarified expectations came to be, AND how, in the end, EVERYONE--Coaches and players above all--need to understand and accept it ALL: If it is somehow too much or not to their liking, then it is THEY who need to "MOVE ON"!
He had a lot more to say, but for this particular thread I mention the above mainly within the context of my questions and complaints concerning the CURRENT state of our program
--where we are at, where we're going, and HOW IN HELL WILL WE EVER TURN IT ALL AROUND, get things pointed and MOVING in that "right direction" again from here.
I have actually, pointedly and SPECIFICALLY ASKED that very question elsewhere here of late.
It isn't so much that I expect a clear, concise and immediately applicable answer to it here now (though of course I WELCOME yall's thoughts on the matter)...But it may be time to begin, each and ALL of us, to ENVISION what that "Road back to greatness" might LOOK like--and each of us imagine how we are to see it built.
As it is, without even a PLAN, we have NOTHING--nothing but this floundering mediocrity and hopeless emptiness.
And we are ALL still waiting, day by day, for SOME kind of positve move and/or active response from Coach & Co. to what has been of late an otherwise PARADE of BAD news.

 

[DRU2012]

(No response so far.
I admit it: Though I do indeed really FEEL the things I express here, I was quite PURPOSEFUL in the MANNER in which I expressed those thoughts. I was LOOKING for a response.
This thread was the culmination of some DAYS of a growing effort at getting that sort of "response".
Nothing.
It was time for a blatant, unadulterated version, standing on its own. An invitation to agree or disagree--and more: WTF are we to DO about ANY of it?...Or at the very least, what do we wish we'd see someone ELSE, or some "powerful group of OTHERS" do?)

 

[Leakfan12]

Is there a quick fix? Is Napier the guy? Right now he's not. Could things change? Possibly. Mike Norvell was 8-13 in his first two years at the other school and now he led them to a 13-0 record and a Conference title. Could Napier turn things around like Norvell? We can only hope. I could go on and on. Also, I wonder if Florida could hired Alex Golesh in 2025 if Napier doesn't do bleep in 2024.

 

[Escambia94]

The Head Coach is not the Problem
First we need to acknowledge that Urban Meyer is part of the problem. He fixed the Florida Gator program (not the team, but the program) in 2005-2006, then he broke it in 2008-2009. He hung around in zombie state in 2010 before leaving. Second we need to acknowledge that he fixed Ohio State program rather quickly in 2012 but was hiding some broken issues in 2018. He would have broken the Ohio State program in 2019 if he had returned, so he retired again. Third we need to acknowledge that he was a train wreck at the Jacksonville Jaguars. Urban Meyer is a jerk whose destructive behaviors are tolerated as long as he wins games. I listen to his commentary on the Buddy Martin Show, but I keep in mind that there is a reason he has been kept out of the University of Florida Ring of Honor. Furthermore, there is a reason that Buddy Martin is not part of the inner circle of Gator news. All that to say: I only listen to Buddy Martin and Urban Meyer for nostalgia. Those idiots have ZERO insight into what it will take for Florida to get back on top in the future. Urban Meyer is irrelevant in anything other than analyzing Xs and Os.

Urban Meyer is a reminder that the problem is not the head coach. Bernie Machen, Jeremy Foley, and the UAA put up with Meyer because he won games. Foley tried to catch lighting in a bottle by hiring the Texas head coach in waiting, Will Muschamp, but he did not put pressure on Muschamp to let go of micromanaging the offense and he leaned even harder on the Everything School mantra relying on the after glow of the Urban Meyer era. Foley then went with Jim McElwain hoping offense would solve all the problems while still pinching pennies on faciltiies. Scott Stricklin made the right choice in bringing in Dan Mullen to restore the Gator Standard, which he did until he just gave up. Even then, Stricklin was getting impatient with Mullen's lack of vision for the program (not the team), so he went with Billy Napier as a rebuilder who fixed a Louisiana program that went under NCAA sanctions and became one of the winningest coaches in the past decade. Napier was not brought to Florida for his offensive genius. He was brought to Florida because he worked well with the Louisiana athletic department to rebuild what was then Lousiana-Lafayette and move them into a new era of just Louisiana. Stricklin brought Napier to Florida to rebuild Florida from a has-been program to one that maximizes its NIL and big donator base.

Recruiting is the Solution, not the Transfer Portal
I am tired of seeing talk about the transfer portal. the portal is important for plugging holes, but only a small portion of the portal contains diamonds. The rest of the portal is full of castaways. Look that the top 5 transfer portal teams in 2023:
1. Colorado 78.15 (4-8, 1-8) [#29]
2. LSU 76.69 (#13, 9-3, 6-2) [#6]
3. Ole Miss 74.88 (#11, 10-2, 6-2) [#23]
4. USC 74.20 (7-5, 5-4) [#8]
5. Auburn 74.05 (6-6, 3-5) [#18]
...
16. Florida 56.35 (5-7, 3-5) [#13]

In 2022:
1. USC 97.21 (#12, 11-3, 8-1) [#70]
2. Ole Miss 85.56 (8-5, 4-4) [#27]
3. LSU 74.89 (#16, 10-4, 6-2) [#12]
4. Oklahoma 62.87 (6-7, 3-6) [#8]
5. Texas 61.10 (#25, 8-5, 6-3) [#5]
...
20. Florida 46.51 [#18]

The takeaway here is that the transfer portal looks like it is making a difference, but the reality is that a team that can recruit high school recruits well is also good at recruiting college kids from other teams. The teams that suck at recruiting high schoolers (Colorado #29) can sometimes get lucky in the portal like Deion Sanders who built his 2023 team from 85 transfer kids (#1) only to finish 4-8. He won the transfer portal war but lost a lot of games. LSU was #2 in transfer portal wars in 2023 but was also #6 in recruiting high schoolers, so they had a decent season at 9-3. In 2022, USC was #1 in transfer portal rankings but was #70 in high school recruiting due to the coaching change and NCAA issues--but they still had plenty of veteran players from their #7 class in 2021.

Billy Napier was doing well with high school recruiting until he lost a bunch of games and fired some coaches. Because Napier is losing high school recruits he needs to win big in the transfer portal in 2024. Some of the best transfers have already moved, so it is not looking good. The following 5-stars transfers have already found a new home:
- S Randon Fontenette TCU-Vanderbilt
- QB Brock Vandagriff Georgia-Kentucky
- LB Chris Paul Arkansas-Ole Miss
- CB Toriano Pride Clemson-Missouri
- OT Joey Tanona Notre Dame-Purdue
- WR Wesley Grimes Wake Forest-NC State
- LB Teddye Buchana Boise State-Cal
- QB Max Brosmer UNH-Minnesota

Florida is hosting some high 4-stars, and they desperately need to grab both of them. All that is left is 3-stars.
- DL Joey Slackman Penn
- WR Chimere Dike Wisconsin

Currently the Gators are #6 in recruiting, but if they lose LJ McCray (visiting FSU this weekend), Xavier Filsame (visiting Texas this weekend), and Amaris Williams (visiting Auburn this weekend), then this class will drop from 278.25 points to 248.64, which would be around #18, between USCw and USCe.

Napier
- 2024 - ~278.25 (6) - This ranking peaked at #3 with 298.62 before losing several recruits in November.
- 2023 - 284.22 (12)
- 2022 - 249.96 (17)

Follow the Money
Florida is #4 in donor base, meaning the rich Gators are pumping a lot of money into the program. The NIL rankings on the other hand are not too promising. By some estimates Florida is nowhere near the top 10 in NIL, meaning fans like us just sit on message boards complaining without donating funds that could be used to not-pay players for play (because that would not be legal, but everyone does it).

The jump in donations under Scott Stricklin with a big jump after hiring Billy Napier points to the above references about the reasons that Stricklin hired Napier. With the big booster donations, Florida is getting new facilities and will eventually get a modernized football stadium at $400M.

1. Oregon $969M ($500M Phil Knight)
2. Texas A&M $849M ($120M Centennial Campaign)
3. Texas $766M
4. Florida $763M ($22.5M Gary Condron, $12.6M Hugh Hathcock)
5. Georgia $716M

The top NIL collectives:

1. Tennessee - Sprure Sports Group
2. Texas A&M - 12th Man and The Fund
3. Oregon - Division Street
4. Texas - Texas One Fund
5. Miami - Canes Connection and John Ruiz LLC
6. FSU - Battle's End
7. USCw - House of Victory
8. Arkansas - One Arkansas
9. Ole Miss - The Grove
10. West Virginia - Country Roads Trust

Florida seems to rank around #16 in NIL. The Gator Collective and Gator Guard appear to have been scrapped in favor of Gator Victorious. Gator Guard had a goal of $20M and has a confirmed base of $5M before shutting down in favor of Gator Victorious. Gator Collective had a confirmed base of $1.2M before shutting down, largely due to reforms based on lessons learned from the Jaden Rashada incident.

Florida Victorious has a different CEO (Nate Barbera) and a board that includes Anthony Richardson, Hugh Hathcock, and Laura Rutledge.

 

[DRU2012]

The Head Coach is not the Problem
First we need to acknowledge that Urban Meyer is part of the problem. He fixed the Florida Gator program (not the team, but the program) in 2005-2006, then he broke it in 2008-2009. He hung around in zombie state in 2010 before leaving. Second we need to acknowledge that he fixed Ohio State program rather quickly in 2012 but was hiding some broken issues in 2018. He would have broken the Ohio State program in 2019 if he had returned, so he retired again. Third we need to acknowledge that he was a train wreck at the Jacksonville Jaguars. Urban Meyer is a jerk whose destructive behaviors are tolerated as long as he wins games. I listen to his commentary on the Buddy Martin Show, but I keep in mind that there is a reason he has been kept out of the University of Florida Ring of Honor. Furthermore, there is a reason that Buddy Martin is not part of the inner circle of Gator news. All that to say: I only listen to Buddy Martin and Urban Meyer for nostalgia. Those idiots have ZERO insight into what it will take for Florida to get back on top in the future. Urban Meyer is irrelevant in anything other than analyzing Xs and Os.

Urban Meyer is a reminder that the problem is not the head coach. Bernie Machen, Jeremy Foley, and the UAA put up with Meyer because he won games. Foley tried to catch lighting in a bottle by hiring the Texas head coach in waiting, Will Muschamp, but he did not put pressure on Muschamp to let go of micromanaging the offense and he leaned even harder on the Everything School mantra relying on the after glow of the Urban Meyer era. Foley then went with Jim McElwain hoping offense would solve all the problems while still pinching pennies on faciltiies. Scott Stricklin made the right choice in bringing in Dan Mullen to restore the Gator Standard, which he did until he just gave up. Even then, Stricklin was getting impatient with Mullen's lack of vision for the program (not the team), so he went with Billy Napier as a rebuilder who fixed a Louisiana program that went under NCAA sanctions and became one of the winningest coaches in the past decade. Napier was not brought to Florida for his offensive genius. He was brought to Florida because he worked well with the Louisiana athletic department to rebuild what was then Lousiana-Lafayette and move them into a new era of just Louisiana. Stricklin brought Napier to Florida to rebuild Florida from a has-been program to one that maximizes its NIL and big donator base.

Recruiting is the Solution, not the Transfer Portal
I am tired of seeing talk about the transfer portal. the portal is important for plugging holes, but only a small portion of the portal contains diamonds. The rest of the portal is full of castaways. Look that the top 5 transfer portal teams in 2023:
1. Colorado 78.15 (4-8, 1-8) [#29]
2. LSU 76.69 (#13, 9-3, 6-2) [#6]
3. Ole Miss 74.88 (#11, 10-2, 6-2) [#23]
4. USC 74.20 (7-5, 5-4) [#8]
5. Auburn 74.05 (6-6, 3-5) [#18]
...
16. Florida 56.35 (5-7, 3-5) [#13]

In 2022:
1. USC 97.21 (#12, 11-3, 8-1) [#70]
2. Ole Miss 85.56 (8-5, 4-4) [#27]
3. LSU 74.89 (#16, 10-4, 6-2) [#12]
4. Oklahoma 62.87 (6-7, 3-6) [#8]
5. Texas 61.10 (#25, 8-5, 6-3) [#5]
...
20. Florida 46.51 [#18]

The takeaway here is that the transfer portal looks like it is making a difference, but the reality is that a team that can recruit high school recruits well is also good at recruiting college kids from other teams. The teams that suck at recruiting high schoolers (Colorado #29) can sometimes get lucky in the portal like Deion Sanders who built his 2023 team from 85 transfer kids (#1) only to finish 4-8. He won the transfer portal war but lost a lot of games. LSU was #2 in transfer portal wars in 2023 but was also #6 in recruiting high schoolers, so they had a decent season at 9-3. In 2022, USC was #1 in transfer portal rankings but was #70 in high school recruiting due to the coaching change and NCAA issues--but they still had plenty of veteran players from their #7 class in 2021.

Billy Napier was doing well with high school recruiting until he lost a bunch of games and fired some coaches. Because Napier is losing high school recruits he needs to win big in the transfer portal in 2024. Some of the best transfers have already moved, so it is not looking good. The following 5-stars transfers have already found a new home:
- S Randon Fontenette TCU-Vanderbilt
- QB Brock Vandagriff Georgia-Kentucky
- LB Chris Paul Arkansas-Ole Miss
- CB Toriano Pride Clemson-Missouri
- OT Joey Tanona Notre Dame-Purdue
- WR Wesley Grimes Wake Forest-NC State
- LB Teddye Buchana Boise State-Cal
- QB Max Brosmer UNH-Minnesota

Florida is hosting some high 4-stars, and they desperately need to grab both of them. All that is left is 3-stars.
- DL Joey Slackman Penn
- WR Chimere Dike Wisconsin

Currently the Gators are #6 in recruiting, but if they lose LJ McCray (visiting FSU this weekend), Xavier Filsame (visiting Texas this weekend), and Amaris Williams (visiting Auburn this weekend), then this class will drop from 278.25 points to 248.64, which would be around #18, between USCw and USCe.

Napier
- 2024 - ~278.25 (6) - This ranking peaked at #3 with 298.62 before losing several recruits in November.
- 2023 - 284.22 (12)
- 2022 - 249.96 (17)

Follow the Money
Florida is #4 in donor base, meaning the rich Gators are pumping a lot of money into the program. The NIL rankings on the other hand are not too promising. By some estimates Florida is nowhere near the top 10 in NIL, meaning fans like us just sit on message boards complaining without donating funds that could be used to not-pay players for play (because that would not be legal, but everyone does it).

The jump in donations under Scott Stricklin with a big jump after hiring Billy Napier points to the above references about the reasons that Stricklin hired Napier. With the big booster donations, Florida is getting new facilities and will eventually get a modernized football stadium at $400M.

1. Oregon $969M ($500M Phil Knight)
2. Texas A&M $849M ($120M Centennial Campaign)
3. Texas $766M
4. Florida $763M ($22.5M Gary Condron, $12.6M Hugh Hathcock)
5. Georgia $716M

The top NIL collectives:

1. Tennessee - Sprure Sports Group
2. Texas A&M - 12th Man and The Fund
3. Oregon - Division Street
4. Texas - Texas One Fund
5. Miami - Canes Connection and John Ruiz LLC
6. FSU - Battle's End
7. USCw - House of Victory
8. Arkansas - One Arkansas
9. Ole Miss - The Grove
10. West Virginia - Country Roads Trust

Florida seems to rank around #16 in NIL. The Gator Collective and Gator Guard appear to have been scrapped in favor of Gator Victorious. Gator Guard had a goal of $20M and has a confirmed base of $5M before shutting down in favor of Gator Victorious. Gator Collective had a confirmed base of $1.2M before shutting down, largely due to reforms based on lessons learned from the Jaden Rashada incident.

Florida Victorious has a different CEO (Nate Barbera) and a board that includes Anthony Richardson, Hugh Hathcock, and Laura Rutledge.

A "tour-de-force" in terms of a "response", E--.
I could debate (at least DISCUSS) several points raised--but on the whole you have addressed virtually every issue implied in my previous "rants"...As usual, it "simply" comes back down to money money MONEY!
Big surprise there. But the REAL "Bottomline" turns out to be that either we finally "master the obvious" and resign ourselves to spending more--spending smarter and BETTER across-the-BOARD--or resign ourselves to remaining the second-rate, FORMER "Champion" we ARE, rather than one who could reasonably expect to compete at that level annually once more.
So. There's a WAY, BUT: Is there The Will to choose it? The money is there; are the people in place to gather and USE it?
All WE can do NOW is wait, see and HOPE.

 

[Escambia94]

A "tour-de-force" in terms of a "response", E--.
I could debate (at least DISCUSS) several points raised--but on the whole you have addressed virtually every issue implied in my previous "rants"...As usual, it "simply" comes back down to money money MONEY!
Big surprise there. But the REAL "Bottomline" turns out to be that either we finally "master the obvious" and resign ourselves to spending more--spending smarter and BETTER across-the-BOARD--or resign ourselves to remaining the second-rate, FORMER "Champion" we ARE, rather than one who could reasonably expect to compete at that level annually once more.
So. There's a WAY, BUT: Is there The Will to choose it? The money is there; are the people in place to gather and USE it?
All WE can do NOW is wait, see and HOPE.

I will break it down by roles and responsibilities:
1. The Head Coach is not the Problem. The University of Florida Athletic Association (UAA) Board of Directors needs a shakeup.
2. Recruiting is the Solution, not the Transfer Portal. Napier needs to get better at recruiting the portal, because no matter how good he is at recruiting nobody wants to play for a losing team.
3. Follow the Money. Fans need to donate more to NIL. Big donors need to establish a collective to augment the fan NIL and focus their investment.

 

[DRU2012]

I will break it down by roles and responsibilities:
1. The Head Coach is not the Problem. The University of Florida Athletic Association (UAA) Board of Directors needs a shakeup.
2. Recruiting is the Solution, not the Transfer Portal. Napier needs to get better at recruiting the portal, because no matter how good he is at recruiting nobody wants to play for a losing team.
3. Follow the Money. Fans need to donate more to NIL. Big donors need to establish a collective to augment the fan NIL and focus their investment.

Alright. That all adds up, makes sense.
But is it HAPPENING??! Any real sign that it is ABOUT to?
(AND...all the consequent follow-on questions:
1. The Head Coach is at least at the moment PART of "the Problem": Is he at the center of any movement/demand to get and SPEND all that potential cash? And what about that UAA Board of Directors "shakeup"?
2.As for "recruiting and the portal" being the solution, things were looking UP there for awhile, but with the losing has come a steadily building downward trend: By now each DAY is frought with more BAD NEWS for Gator fans. Personally, I am worn down to a nub of the once enthusiastic "WON'T BACK DOWN"-fan I have been for so long: That pisses me OFF--royally.
3. I don't know WHAT to say to this last part...
"Follow the Money"? Are we truly spending less than the rest in every phase of this "New Reality that is NIL"? We have some of the largest donors ( and more OF them) than any program in the country. As I understand it (and have been assured by those supposedly in a position to KNOW such things) that we have a HUGE "war chest" of funds available to us for every part of the program, now and into the future. Is it the way that it all is currently organized or invested that is somehow impeding our using it in a timely or effective manner?
If you are as accurate in your analysis as I believe you are, E--, then my follow-up questions here are valid, in fact KEY to any solid and meaningful return to relevance.
I see no path back to "HOPE" without clear answers (and eventual positive movement in consequence as a result).
My suspicion is that the folks currently in charge are aiming only for "respectable contention" now in the first place--CFB being just "one decently successful sport" among MANY, one facet of a "Great All-Around Public University" noted for its strong across-the-board "highest standards in ALL areas"--above all ACADEMIC. No small thing--and one I approve of...except up til recently we were able to achieve it along WITH a CHAMPIONSHIP College Football Program!
I am not ready to give up on that.
Are any of YOU?

 

[Escambia94]

1. The head coach does not choose how to spend cash. He cannot do that. He is not allowed to get into the specifics of NIL. All he can do is mention Gator Victorious and the NIL opportunities. UAA is not getting a shakeup. They are like US Congress--a large bureaucracy that wields all the financial power while someone else gets the blame.

2. It is hard to recruit Transfer Portal 2.0 when some schools have a Transfer Portal 1.0 mindset. Those are two different portals because NIL has created a free agency system for the top 10% of the portal.

3. Gator fans are perceived to be eager and enthusiastic about supporting the team, but none of that matters unless the fans send cash. I am not talking about boosters like Gary Condron and Hugh Hathcock. I am talking about Joe Bag O'Doughnuts the Gator fan on the message boards who complains about the Gators losing but never attends games, buys merchandise, or donates to NIL collectives. Florida has the #14 alumni base (413,000) and the #6 fan base (5.89 million). The alumni base does a decent job of donating to the alma mater. UAA is crunching the numbers trying to figure out why they are not raking in billions of dollars. (The answer is that many football fans are not willing to turn college football into a suped up NFL while getting soaked for thousands of dollars a year.) Fans need to stop blaming the boosters--they are the ones paying for stadium upgrades, coaching salaries, and buyouts.

 

[DRU2012]

I'm just asking what SEEM like "obvious questions"...I don't have answers either.
Regarding those questions,
(1) I know the actual limitations our Coach faces--but I do find myself privately wondering how much sh*t he might (or might NOT) be raising behind-the-scenes...Some (often large) portion of a Coach's power and responsibility is setting a TONE, a certain spirit and attitude AROUND a program, team and lockeroom, after all.
(2) I have little to add regarding #2--Things continue to worsen, if anything, and it has by now gone BEYOND merely "depressing".
(3) Personally. I don't have any idea where the answer or "blame" lies, nor was myself intent on blaming ANYONE in particular...I DID get the impression YOU had a solidly reasoned argument as to where more of the responsibility lies than elsewhere (and frankly, that you continue to do so--but haven't so far chosen to actually voice it here).
At this point, in lieu of BLAME I am desperately searching for some kind of practical way back on track towards that "REBUILD" we were all so bent on seeing clear signs of.
Instead of answers there are only more questions in an ongoing (and growing) storm of disappointment. So much is "behind the scenes", hidden from view; the few parts visible to us in this "new age" themselves appear by now to be part of an endless succession of what can only be described as "desertion of responsibility".
Aside from the once-cheered and trusted high-profile PLAYERS who suddenly jump ship through the portal but sign off with "Always a GATOR!" online on their way out the door (I REALLY HATE THAT), this still leaves a lot of unnamed, near-invisible folks out there who must be playing their part in this descent ("decay"? "evisceration"??!), while we remain ignorant of who or what else is really responsible--or for that matter much in the way of what is being done, at least ATTEMPTED, to mitigate the bad news.
In my opinion, the "timing" here post-season AWAY from the field has thus far been as ill-handled as play-calling and substitutions were during games much of the past season!

 

[DRU2012]

Still waiting on that OC announcement.

 

[Escambia94]

Still waiting on that OC announcement.

To be fair, offense was not the problem. The problem was time management by the head coach who was also micro-managing the offense. The scripted drives were always top notch, but it was downhill after that.

 

[DRU2012]

To be fair, offense was not the problem. The problem was time management by the head coach who was also micro-managing the offense. The scripted drives were always top notch, but it was downhill after that.

Weeeelll...I take your point, but not only could an OC HELP with those very same in-game snaffus, but the fact remains that beyond the "scripted plays" lies the bulk of each GAME, and though I too came to have great confidence in our Coach's scripted offense to open games and second halves, the contrast between that and what came after was like night and DAY.
Again: A like-minded, creative OC whom he could trust and work closely with, play-by-play, might go a long way towards helping to build a certain balance and consistency into the whole offense THROUGHOUT THE GAME...something that, let's face it, has been largely lacking thus far.
Accomplish that, and perhaps we are not so far from a dramatic turnaround as the experts and naysayers still generally forecast.

 

[Escambia94]

Weeeelll...I take your point, but not only could an OC HELP with those very same in-game snaffus, but the fact remains that beyond the "scripted plays" lies the bulk of each GAME, and though I too came to have great confidence in our Coach's scripted offense to open games and second halves, the contrast between that and what came after was like night and DAY.
Again: A like-minded, creative OC whom he could trust and work closely with, play-by-play, might go a long way towards helping to build a certain balance and consistency into the whole offense THROUGHOUT THE GAME...something that, let's face it, has been largely lacking thus far.
Accomplish that, and perhaps we are not so far from a dramatic turnaround as the experts and naysayers still generally forecast.

On paper Napier’s plan is a unique take and any AD would be a fool to decline it: focus on line of scrimmage with two OL coaches, be multiple on offense and defense with complementary football, have an off-field analytics staff managing special teams, etc. Those are all good ideas that would have worked if they were executed better. The OC cannot force Etienne to block the edge rusher, make Johnson catch the ball on a wheel route, make Douglas cut his corner post under the out route, or any of that. The offense as it was called was fine. What they needed in addition to the academics provided by the coaches was better strength and conditioning and Napier went out and revamped the strength and conditioning by moving Hocke lower in the staff behind Fitzgerald while also adding a dedicated nutritionist.

 

[DRU2012]

On paper Napier’s plan is a unique take and any AD would be a fool to decline it: focus on line of scrimmage with two OL coaches, be multiple on offense and defense with complementary football, have an off-field analytics staff managing special teams, etc. Those are all good ideas that would have worked if they were executed better. The OC cannot force Etienne to block the edge rusher, make Johnson catch the ball on a wheel route, make Douglas cut his corner post under the out route, or any of that. The offense as it was called was fine. What they needed in addition to the academics provided by the coaches was better strength and conditioning and Napier went out and revamped the strength and conditioning by moving Hocke lower in the staff behind Fitzgerald while also adding a dedicated nutritionist.

Actually, IMHO it is YOU, E--, that has the "unique take" here. I wish and hope you are RIGHT--if only the rest of that "plan" can somehow be reinstalled and properly operated this time. I admit to not having seen it all that way as it manifested on the field in 2023--but can also step back and recognize its practical promise from here, now that you so simply outline and highlight it above.
Do you still believe it is doable? Do we now have (or can still GET) the necessary tools to see it through in '24? And is it your opinion then that "the right OC" WOULDN'T be (at the very LEAST) a valuable addition on the sidelines after all?

 

[DRU2012]

By the way...
I have been so alienated by our season and the POST-season which followed, AND on a wider level in the general state of college football, that I got to the point there where for the last coupla weeks I was not only mainly disinterested in most of the bowl season match-ups, I was no longer even following the last few podcasts I had up until fairly recently still monitored...
However, I DID drop in on Ali Peek's latest when I saw its title: "Five Things Billy Napier MUST Do in 2024". I happen to agree to varying degrees with everything she proposes...But what also struck me was how poorly her points reflected on the general state of our team and program in the season just passed:
It was painful to listen as she reviewed all the weaknesses and breakdowns that served to require her suggestions there in the first place.
We really DID suck, guys--and almost ALL of it amounted to "unforced errors": SELF-INFLICTED damage, for SURE!
It is fixable...but in the meantime we are all TIRED OF IT! Each of us might have a different idea of which changes should be stressed, how, where, and HOW MUCH "change" is prescribed. But in general terms, her comments are worth reading and contemplating. There is a whole LOT of "reality" there, waiting to be absorbed and faced.
As for its timing, I cannot imagine a better or more appropriate starting point for assessing OUR "future" in particular.

 

[DRU2012]

I guess what I'm really saying is that although it is true that COACHES cannot always and constantly be held responsible for the sloppy, lazy, stupid or irresponsible moves, decisions, or outright FAILURES that PLAYERS make in the heat of crucial moments ON THE FIELD, it is ALSO true that the brutal regularity with which we witnessed such moments by this Gator team, again and again down the stretch the past season costing us a number of close games, does NOT happen to WELL-COACHED teams!
Some were of a sloppy, disorganized nature as to suggest perhaps an ORGANIZATIONAL "fix" might fit the bill: We are in effect giving Billy and his staff a certain "benefit of the doubt" in proposing that a sympatico OC might go a long way in avoiding (among other things) such in-game confusion in the future.
The other thing I personally believe we will need to see is a more "fiery" side to our Coach. I will go a step further: A Head Coach at this level MUST, like a flag-level military officer, have a certain RUTHLESSNESS. Every successful bigtime college football Coach, CERTAINLY through the years all our Championship-building Gator Coaches, have had it.
With the way money has become so much a blatantly BIGGER factor in every detail of building and KEEPING a Champion now and in the future, this will only become more and MORE the case.
It's been something like 90 years since Brooklyn Dodgers Coach Leo Derocher declared, "Nice guys finish last!"...We may not like it now any more than a lot of folks did then--but it STUCK, and for good REASON: There was a certain unfortunate truth to it.
And due to all the endless circumstances since, it's more true now than ever. We may not like it, but if we wanna WIN, well...
I'm not talking about cheating (this whole business with Harbaugh the past season and now Michigan about to maybe win the Natty is, altogether, an enormous ticking time-bomb about to give the whole SPORT a blackeye--but that's another story). I would still like to think a Coach could win, be as cold and hard at times as reality requires him to be, but do it with honor, loyalty and frank honesty. Billy could STILL be that guy--but he will have to show more "fiery determination" than we've seen so far.

 

[Escambia94]

If Billy Napier and Craig Fitzgerald cannot fix the program the right way then the Gator program is lost. The next coach will need to lie, cheat, and steal to win.

 

[DRU2012]

If Billy Napier and Craig Fitzgerald cannot fix the program the right way then the Gator program is lost. The next coach will need to lie, cheat, and steal to win.

Another way of stating the same point I was trying to make.
(Regardless, the whole online world of "sports journalism" may well find itself having to self-analize and re-evaluate after a Coach and program vilified throughout the current season for CHEATING potentially ends up WINNING CFB's own carefully considered and developed National Championship...Oh wait: They already have its "NEW! IMPROVED!" replacement, an expanded 12-Team format up and ready to GO.)

 

[Escambia94]

Another way of stating the same point I was trying to make.
(Regardless, the whole online world of "sports journalism" may well find itself having to self-analize and re-evaluate after a Coach and program vilified throughout the current season for CHEATING potentially ends up WINNING CFB's own carefully considered and developed National Championship...Oh wait: They already have its "NEW! IMPROVED!" replacement, an expanded 12-Team format up and ready to GO.)

The UF administration is too busy building up “the Harvard of the South” to allow lying, cheating, and stealing in football. On some level I can respect that. If that is what it takes to win a championship in today’s era of college football then I am fine with the football program languishing next to Vanderbilt. I lived through three national championships, and I have two academic degrees from UF. That is enough for me.

 

[DRU2012]

The UF administration is too busy building up “the Harvard of the South” to allow lying, cheating, and stealing in football. On some level I can respect that. If that is what it takes to win a championship in today’s era of college football then I am fine with the football program languishing next to Vanderbilt. I lived through three national championships, and I have two academic degrees from UF. That is enough for me.

I cannot help but agree...That pretty well was MY overall take as well.
However: Is that really the "stark choice" now?
If it is, then we really HAVE gone vastly astray as a society and culture, and I too will live with the result here, "apart". Proudly so.
But I still cling to the idea that maybe, just MAYBE, we can somehow have a modicum of each. We are still in the SEC, after all, and we ARE "still FLORIDA". I still want to see what a "stand-up guy" like Billy, "Hail fellow, well-met" that he is, can manage to eventually build here...
And if not him, then maybe his successor, the fortunate soul who gets to reap the benefits of all the hard work, sacrifice, capital and long-range thinking that is being invested NOW.
I have been hard on our Coach at times of late. But I recognize that there appears time and room for improvement, REDEMPTION in the form of a strong TURNAROUND. We may be seeing just that right now in the way things have seemed to more trend our way in the portal, after the bitter sting of disappointment around and after NSD.
The title of this thread was "BOTTOMLINE II", a redrawing of that "Bottomline"...and the "bottomline" HERE is that after everything, at this point we can but settle back, have a little faith and WATCH WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
Our degrees from UF carry more weight and prestige than ever, for whatever that is worth--and whatever happens out on the gridiron, we will be fielding teams filled with talented players for years to come.
In other words, at the very LEAST:
"There is every reason to have HOPE."