"Potentially Lethal"?

[DRU2012]

So many mixed views on Gators' supposed "potential" heading into the 2023 season...
I mean, all agree "it's a BEAR of a schedule", one of the toughest in the nation, and the assessments as to our likely performance and resulting ultimate record , at least from the P.O.V. of the various online "experts" is all OVER the place--from having to work to even repeat LAST year's outcome, to quietly confident warnings of everything from "an evolutionary advance on Defense" to at least "a potentially lethal offensive line-up".
Personally, I'm already tired of the talk.
While the Spring game (whatever its current appelation) may be of particular interest this time around, for the most part I am mostly just ready to hunker down, quietly monitor what can be gleaned between now and August from the normal ongoing seasonal processes in the meantime, hope we come through it all healthy, maybe even pick up a couple more promising pieces along the way, and finally find ourselves in position to do some damage, maybe even shock some folks with the progress we've made come Fall.
That's the most I can say, the best I can hope for at this point. A healthy, happy and HOPEFUL Spring and Summer to y'all, Gator Nation!

 

[Escambia94]

I will set my level of expectations at 6-6 and hope for the best.

 

[DRU2012]

I will set my level of expectations at 6-6 and hope for the best.

Can't really argue with that "level of expectation "--though of course I HOPE for at least "modest" improvement overall...But with this schedule, even just a ONE win improvement (to SEVEN, rather than 2022's six wins) I suppose would be (in terms of expectations) about the most realistic such "improvement".
All in all, by next December it probably won't have felt like any kind of "triumphant" ("smooth", or in any way "satisfying") campaign--but if we were to somehow gather 8 wins next season, we should probably consider it a very promising step in our devopment under Billy Napier.
I cannot speak to or for the rest of our somewhat unfoundedly hopeful Gator Nation as a whole, but personally I'm really hoping for SEVEN--and HOPE I will remember to be patient and appreciative if we equal or exceed that number!

 

[Leakfan12]

I will set my level of expectations at 6-6 and hope for the best.

Same here

 

[DRU2012]

Again, we are being "realistic"--and can only HOPE that we all remember to stay that way if and when that is exactly how things fall in the course of 2023.
As for the rest of Gator Nation, I can but "hope" that our younger, up'n'coming brothers and sisters themselves manage a certain level of patience and "perspective"...I suppose it depends on how it all actually plays out: ARE we at least "competitive", actually IN the games we lose?
One thing seems clear at this point:
I know and understand the reasons, the realities and "winds of fate" (NIL, etc) that brought us here, but the fact remains: I think we ALL were looking for a slightly better recruiting outcome in the ensuing interim/off season. This one was OK--but NOT a dramatic or particularly stirring improvement over recent such efforts. It looks better when you factor in some stand out pieces in the 2024 class thus far, but just going by '23 itself and heading into the spring at hand, never mind the "excuses and rationales" (yes, Rashada etc blah blah blah), we seem to have "question marks" rather than "exciting competitions", headikg out on the practice field.
Nowhere is this more true than at QB.
Unless (PWO) Brown somehow dazzles and bursts ahead of everyone else, I suppose the assumption (hope?) is that Mertz blossoms in this system--either that, or Billy likely WILL be out there searching for some last minute "rabbit from the hat" of the Portal after all...NOT where ya wanna BE on offense in the middle of the spring, right?
The very fact that I even find myself composing the above paragraph is pretty well a warning unto itself!

 

[Escambia94]

As long as Georgia is pulling away from the rest of what is currently the SEC East, winning 6 to 10 games does not mean anything. That method of showing improvement has failed us for 14 years.

 

[DRU2012]

As long as Georgia is pulling away from the rest of what is currently the SEC East, winning 6 to 10 games does not mean anything. That method of showing improvement has failed us for 14 years.

It is a mark of even MY "ongoing current waning interest" and overall agreement that I didn't even notice the above (and therefore take the chance to agree and further comment on it) until now...
Presumably we brought Billy in to CHANGE that longtime trend once and for all--and we are now simply waiting for that to indeed HAPPEN.
This very "method of showing improvement" (incremental) has INDEED "failed us for 14 years"! "M.O.S." just won't DO any longer.
I am therefore just not INTERESTED in "relative improvement" but rather "wholesale CHANGE", you know? There have been signs that this was Napier's method, goal and ultimate ongoing aim and plan. Those "signs" must soon begin to coalesce into some kind of clear "WAVE of success"...
Otherwise, as you say--"winning 6 to 10 games does not MEAN anything"!