Clark Lea is a hard pass. He is 14–30 overall with no other experience besides Vanderbilt, his alma mater.
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The Next Coach of the Florida Gators will be...
- Thread starter Escambia94
- Start date
Thankyou. I mean, yes, he has made a perenial underdog into a potential "tough out" for ANYONE in the SEC, but OUR "standard" at UF is considerably higher.
At least it was...As I await kickoff to this one in Jacksonville, the depressing thought occurs to me that I find myself dreading the outcome of this game in much the same way that Commodore students and alumni for YEARS must have had to face ANY SEC game
...And now I may well find myself feeling exactly this same way throughout the rest of OUR SEC schedule too.
Chris Klieman Background
Chris Klieman is 118-28 (80.8%) overall, 46-26 (63.9%) in the FBS (Big 12). He has been coaching since 2005, with head coaching stints at FCS North Dakota State and FBS Kansas State. He won 4 NCAA FCS national championships, 5 MVFC championships, and 1 Big 12 championship. His big game experience includes wins over #20 Arizona in 2024 as #14, #20 Oklahoma State as #23, #25 Kansas in 2023 as #21, and #18 NC State as #25. He kept the game close in 2023 with a 30-33 OT loss to #7 Texas.
Klieman does not come from a pedigreed coaching tree, so it can be hard to guess which coaches and which offensive/defensive styles he would bring.
Offense
Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman's offensive style focuses on simplifying the playbook and finding plays where the team can excel. He also emphasizes the importance of the ground game, and how it can open up passing opportunities. Here are some other aspects of Klieman's offensive style:
Running back
Klieman views the running back as the anchor of the offense, and expects other players to step up if the running back is taken away by the defense.
Dual-threat quarterback
Klieman believes that the running game can make the dual-threat quarterback more successful.
Offensive line coach
Klieman has given offensive line coach Conor Riley the responsibility of calling plays for the first time.
Potential Offensive Coaches
Matt Wells (AHC/ Co-OC/ QBC) is in his first year as Co-OC at Kansas State under Klieman. He has been head coach at Utah State (2013-2018) and Texas Tech (2019-2021) and could be considered as part of the Brent Venables coaching tree.
Conor Riley (Co-OC/ OLC) has been coaching offensive line for 22 years and is in his 6th year at Kansas State. He has followed Klieman around since 2013 and would very likely follow him to a new team.
Collin Klein was OC and QBC at Kansas State from 2017-2023 before taking a position as OC/QBC at Texas A&M in 2024.
Brian Anderson has been Klieman's RBC since 2019. He has also coached wide receivers or running backs at Western Illinois, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, Minnesota, and Illinois State since 1995.
Defense
Klieman is known for making adjustments to help his team, and he's not afraid to try new things. For example, he's switched the defense from a 4-2-5 scheme to a 3-3-5 formation, and he's become more aggressive on fourth downs.
Potential Defensive Coordinators
Joe Klanderman has been safeties coach for Klieman since 2014 and DC since 2019.
Van Malone has coached cornerbacks for Klieman since 2019 and was promoted to Assistant Head Coach/ Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/ Cornerbacks Coach in 2020. Malone has also coached at North Dakot, Western Michigan, North Texas, Texas A&M, Tulsa, Oklahoma State, SMU, and Mississippi State since 2003.
Chris Klieman is 118-28 (80.8%) overall, 46-26 (63.9%) in the FBS (Big 12). He has been coaching since 2005, with head coaching stints at FCS North Dakota State and FBS Kansas State. He won 4 NCAA FCS national championships, 5 MVFC championships, and 1 Big 12 championship. His big game experience includes wins over #20 Arizona in 2024 as #14, #20 Oklahoma State as #23, #25 Kansas in 2023 as #21, and #18 NC State as #25. He kept the game close in 2023 with a 30-33 OT loss to #7 Texas.
Klieman does not come from a pedigreed coaching tree, so it can be hard to guess which coaches and which offensive/defensive styles he would bring.
Offense
Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman's offensive style focuses on simplifying the playbook and finding plays where the team can excel. He also emphasizes the importance of the ground game, and how it can open up passing opportunities. Here are some other aspects of Klieman's offensive style:
Running back
Klieman views the running back as the anchor of the offense, and expects other players to step up if the running back is taken away by the defense.
Dual-threat quarterback
Klieman believes that the running game can make the dual-threat quarterback more successful.
Offensive line coach
Klieman has given offensive line coach Conor Riley the responsibility of calling plays for the first time.
Potential Offensive Coaches
Matt Wells (AHC/ Co-OC/ QBC) is in his first year as Co-OC at Kansas State under Klieman. He has been head coach at Utah State (2013-2018) and Texas Tech (2019-2021) and could be considered as part of the Brent Venables coaching tree.
Conor Riley (Co-OC/ OLC) has been coaching offensive line for 22 years and is in his 6th year at Kansas State. He has followed Klieman around since 2013 and would very likely follow him to a new team.
Collin Klein was OC and QBC at Kansas State from 2017-2023 before taking a position as OC/QBC at Texas A&M in 2024.
Brian Anderson has been Klieman's RBC since 2019. He has also coached wide receivers or running backs at Western Illinois, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, Minnesota, and Illinois State since 1995.
Defense
Klieman is known for making adjustments to help his team, and he's not afraid to try new things. For example, he's switched the defense from a 4-2-5 scheme to a 3-3-5 formation, and he's become more aggressive on fourth downs.
Potential Defensive Coordinators
Joe Klanderman has been safeties coach for Klieman since 2014 and DC since 2019.
Van Malone has coached cornerbacks for Klieman since 2019 and was promoted to Assistant Head Coach/ Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/ Cornerbacks Coach in 2020. Malone has also coached at North Dakot, Western Michigan, North Texas, Texas A&M, Tulsa, Oklahoma State, SMU, and Mississippi State since 2003.
Klieman wouldn't exactly be a "headline hire":
His K State teams, while often in the upper third of CFB in ranking and statistical terms haven't dazzled either. None of which disqualifies him from consideration, after the consistent blundering we've seen from this Gator regime's various squads (which happened AGAIN on Saturday against the Bulldogs--in this case ANOTHER special teams collapse thanks yo thd crucial botched snap on the 3rd-quarter fg to retake the lead--from justvoutside THEIR redzone to OURS on one play!). Those KSU teams at least generally avoid sloppy self-destruction!
I don't know that, given the circumstances, this is the alternative that provides "clearance" for firing Billy (and eating the $25 million buyout). If the 2025 recruiting class weren't mired in Disasterville I'd likely be more certain of that though. Indeed, more than anything else, if possible Billy might look at somehow dramatically improving that prospective class:
He may like the talented young group he has here now, but there are pieces (and DEPTH) still missing, and recruiting IS supposed to have been one of the reasons we fired Mullen and brought in Napier in the first place, as I recall.
His K State teams, while often in the upper third of CFB in ranking and statistical terms haven't dazzled either. None of which disqualifies him from consideration, after the consistent blundering we've seen from this Gator regime's various squads (which happened AGAIN on Saturday against the Bulldogs--in this case ANOTHER special teams collapse thanks yo thd crucial botched snap on the 3rd-quarter fg to retake the lead--from justvoutside THEIR redzone to OURS on one play!). Those KSU teams at least generally avoid sloppy self-destruction!
I don't know that, given the circumstances, this is the alternative that provides "clearance" for firing Billy (and eating the $25 million buyout). If the 2025 recruiting class weren't mired in Disasterville I'd likely be more certain of that though. Indeed, more than anything else, if possible Billy might look at somehow dramatically improving that prospective class:
He may like the talented young group he has here now, but there are pieces (and DEPTH) still missing, and recruiting IS supposed to have been one of the reasons we fired Mullen and brought in Napier in the first place, as I recall.
Based on resume and phase of career, I rank my only three candidates as follows:
3. 2024 Klieman has the same resume as 2021 Napier.
2. 2024 Cignetti has no resume comparison, but he is like a mix of 2024 Kiffin and 2004 Urban Meyer.
1. 2024 Kiffin has a resume like a mix of 1989 Spurrier, 2004 Spurrier, and 2024 Steve Sarkisian.
3. 2024 Klieman has the same resume as 2021 Napier.
2. 2024 Cignetti has no resume comparison, but he is like a mix of 2024 Kiffin and 2004 Urban Meyer.
1. 2024 Kiffin has a resume like a mix of 1989 Spurrier, 2004 Spurrier, and 2024 Steve Sarkisian.
@Escambia94, @Leakfan12, and ALL GATORS:
WELL, it's all a moot point for the moment now (that is sort of a general "AMERICAN THEME" at the moment, wouldn't y'all say?):
BILLY NAPIER WILL BE BACK FOR A 4TH SEASON.
Scott Strickland JUST announced it about an hour ago. For the exact wording and details I commend you to just about ANY Gator-centric OR SEC-focused site.
I have little more to say about it right this moment--that is why my noting the announcement is HERE, rather than in a posted thread of its OWN...It probably deserves one, but aside from the fact of the announcement itself I have little to add yet.
Fans won't be happy, but we don't know the background "contributing factors". Is there someone we wanted that we had learned we cannot get (at least "not YET"--for example, what if they learned that Lane Kiffen won't be moving after this season, no matter how the Rebels' season ultimately turns out?).
What about recruiting? Maybe now we keep more of the very real "young talent" (many currently out with injuries) that we already have, and this DOES allow Billy and his coaches to talk more authoritatively about "the future" when out there talking to prospective recruits. Perhaps they can raise the quality of the 2025 class after all.
It's admittedly a stretch, ALL of it. I cannot deny that. But what else can we do but HOPE from here? The die is cast, at least for the immediate future. It's not as if the alternatives weren't filled with at LEAST as many questions and dangers.
OK. Good or bad, right or wrong, a choice is made and we go from here. Questions WILL be answered. This much is clear:
We WIN, or the change WILL be made by the end of 2025. How MANY "wins"? Well, THAT will be the potential "sticking point"--in my view, we need a clear WINNING record, and look good DOING it!
But first things first: How do we finish THIS season? Does this battered team continue to play hard from here, regardless--especially in hearing that its Coach ISN'T going anywhere? DOES recruiting pick up, however chaotically last-moment the nature of it's scrambling execution?
I have been told by someone long close to the team and program that there ARE a number of "leans our way" who were concerned that this staff was on its way out...between these, AND a renewed lease on those same coaches' positive outlook and enthusiasm regarding their ongoing efforts, maybe we can at least "fill some holes", gather a little more depth after all in the relatively little time left to them in THIS cycle.
I'm admittedly TRYING to put the best focus possible on what is for us here at FLORIDA a somewhat unusual situation: We have come to be seen as no longer "predator" but rather "prey"!
The young up'n'coming athletes of today only have parents, older siblings and the CFB media to recall for them our once-vaunted position of perennial contenders.
We damn well better begin redrawing that image and reputation SOON, lest we be more permanently consigned to the lower reaches of SEC also-rans!
WELL, it's all a moot point for the moment now (that is sort of a general "AMERICAN THEME" at the moment, wouldn't y'all say?):
BILLY NAPIER WILL BE BACK FOR A 4TH SEASON.
Scott Strickland JUST announced it about an hour ago. For the exact wording and details I commend you to just about ANY Gator-centric OR SEC-focused site.
I have little more to say about it right this moment--that is why my noting the announcement is HERE, rather than in a posted thread of its OWN...It probably deserves one, but aside from the fact of the announcement itself I have little to add yet.
Fans won't be happy, but we don't know the background "contributing factors". Is there someone we wanted that we had learned we cannot get (at least "not YET"--for example, what if they learned that Lane Kiffen won't be moving after this season, no matter how the Rebels' season ultimately turns out?).
What about recruiting? Maybe now we keep more of the very real "young talent" (many currently out with injuries) that we already have, and this DOES allow Billy and his coaches to talk more authoritatively about "the future" when out there talking to prospective recruits. Perhaps they can raise the quality of the 2025 class after all.
It's admittedly a stretch, ALL of it. I cannot deny that. But what else can we do but HOPE from here? The die is cast, at least for the immediate future. It's not as if the alternatives weren't filled with at LEAST as many questions and dangers.
OK. Good or bad, right or wrong, a choice is made and we go from here. Questions WILL be answered. This much is clear:
We WIN, or the change WILL be made by the end of 2025. How MANY "wins"? Well, THAT will be the potential "sticking point"--in my view, we need a clear WINNING record, and look good DOING it!
But first things first: How do we finish THIS season? Does this battered team continue to play hard from here, regardless--especially in hearing that its Coach ISN'T going anywhere? DOES recruiting pick up, however chaotically last-moment the nature of it's scrambling execution?
I have been told by someone long close to the team and program that there ARE a number of "leans our way" who were concerned that this staff was on its way out...between these, AND a renewed lease on those same coaches' positive outlook and enthusiasm regarding their ongoing efforts, maybe we can at least "fill some holes", gather a little more depth after all in the relatively little time left to them in THIS cycle.
I'm admittedly TRYING to put the best focus possible on what is for us here at FLORIDA a somewhat unusual situation: We have come to be seen as no longer "predator" but rather "prey"!
The young up'n'coming athletes of today only have parents, older siblings and the CFB media to recall for them our once-vaunted position of perennial contenders.
We damn well better begin redrawing that image and reputation SOON, lest we be more permanently consigned to the lower reaches of SEC also-rans!
The next coach for the Florida Gators in 2025 will be… William Hall Napier.
Well, they damn well better take that $12 million we save on Billy's buyout by waiting at least another season before parting ways and throwing that (and MORE) into NIL and the Transfer portal--and it is now TIME (PAST time) to FINALLY get a full time OC (or whatever you wanna call the position) in to assume in-game play-calling once and for ALL.
Florida has the money for a buyout, but the AD and big ticket boosters are taking the safe investment with moderate returns versus the high risk investment with unknown returns. Stricklin has to believe that Napier’s trajectory looks like Eli Drinkwitz’s.
Or Mike Norvell’s.
| 2020 | Missouri | 5–5 | 5–5 | 3rd (East) | Music City[n 1] | ||
| 2021 | Missouri | 6–7 | 3–5 | T-4th (East) | L Armed Forces | ||
| 2022 | Missouri | 6–7 | 3–5 | T-4th (East) | L Gasparilla | ||
| 2023 | Missouri | 11–2 | 6–2 | 2nd (East) | W Cotton† | 8 | 8 |
| 2024 | Missouri | 6–2 | 2–2 | ||||
| Missouri: | 34–23 | 19–19 |
Or Mike Norvell’s.
Florida State | 3–6 | 2–6 | 13th | ||||
| 2021 | Florida State | 5–7 | 4–4 | T–4th (Atlantic) | |||
| 2022 | Florida State | 10–3 | 5–3 | 2nd (Atlantic) | W Cheez-It | 10 | 11 |
| 2023 | Florida State | 13–1 | 8–0 | 1st | L Orange† | 6 | 6 |
| 2024 | Florida State | 1–8 | 1–7 | ||||
| Florida State: | 32–25 | 20–20 |
Maybe...And maybe the boosters are playing their own version of "safest move" too--for them it's all about the money...with a significant savings automatically made in simply waitingvanother season before firing Billy; with a new estimated $20 million charge about to be incurred in 2025's arrival of "revenue sharing" with players, and finally the rationale that the only chance for rapid rise from here to there resides in the aggressive use if the transfer program and dynamic resuscitation of our NIL/ Florida Victorious program-Strickland had an enlarged opening fir just such short move--one that appealed to him all the more given the likihood that his opportunity to name another "next Coach" had probably dwindled to neigibkecay best:
In fact, with an interim University President who expressly resisted getting involved in Athletic Department, particularly FOOTBALL Progrsm-related decisions, tgd fact was z N d is that our AD'S OEN future employment here at UF probably depends solely upon Billy Napier making good, at this point.
I mean, taking all of the above into account, this decision goes from being "No WAY!" to more like "No WONDER!!!"
The question still remains however what it really means to and for all of US:
Seemingly it either unexpectedly pays OFF, or our situation in the coming year goes from "further downward spiral" to "UNMITIGATED DISASTER".
In fact, with an interim University President who expressly resisted getting involved in Athletic Department, particularly FOOTBALL Progrsm-related decisions, tgd fact was z N d is that our AD'S OEN future employment here at UF probably depends solely upon Billy Napier making good, at this point.
I mean, taking all of the above into account, this decision goes from being "No WAY!" to more like "No WONDER!!!"
The question still remains however what it really means to and for all of US:
Seemingly it either unexpectedly pays OFF, or our situation in the coming year goes from "further downward spiral" to "UNMITIGATED DISASTER".
Yeah--I guess Billy is currently benefitting by the inevitable comparative reminders:
He may not be dazzling the world with his play-calling acumen, but our football Coach hasn't embarrassed himself or the program's image in any way--and isn't likely to...in contrast to our so recently promising and much-lauded roundball Coach, who may well be in the process of one of the more dramatically sudden crash'n'burn self-inflicted descents in Gator, indeed College FOOTBALL history!
Geez, where did all THIS come from?
We are of course more a "Football FIRST"- School, but this would have been a good time for the b-ball squad to come into its own (as it has been lately showing signs of ACHIEVING).
Instead, we get just what we DIDN'T need now.
Indiana has doubled Curt Cignetti’s salary from $4M to $8M, extended the contract 8 years, and added a buyout. The new total contract value is $64M. The assumed buyout is 85% of the remaining cost.
I am "coming around" to the idea that, given Strickland having already given HIMSELF another year by giving BILLY another SEASON, the dye was cast for the time being--and from the proverbial "play-the-ball-where-it-lays" P.O.V., it makes sense to assess the current situation practically and realistically:
SO: IF Billy can now take a chunk of all that money we just saved in not having to BUY HIM OUT and parlay that, yesterday's "National Gator Future Demo Day in the Swamp" before all those bigtime recruits, PLUS the additional practice time AND continued weeks in the public spotlight that ond more win would bring, then (and at LEAST as important as all the rest, whether his own idea or part of "the latest deal re his still being here") Billy actually brings IN that full-time gameday OC/gameday playcaller, and maybe that "one more season" actually PAYS OFF, and things really DO fall into place.
We caught a glimpse yesterday of "what could be"...This team, healthy, focused and working together using all its potential assets CAN be a winner as currently constructed..."IF--"
YES--"IF":
IF all those conditions are properly pursued, holes and mistakes eliminated: Depth increased and the intangibles finally fully falling into PLACE, this CAN once again BE the Florida Gators we remember and have missed for so long...and NOT in some "eventual distant developmental future", but satisfyingly SOON and for seasons to come.
A LOT still must happen, and the odds say that it is probably JUST as likely it will all go to shit in the next 12 months ANYWAY.
Which, let's face it, is where a lot of us figured was/is our inescapeable fate in ANY event.
Instead, NOW at least we do have this one chance--Even if it DID only arise in a fumblingly selfish AD'S effort to preserve his OWN job.
The law of unintended, unforeseen consequences rears its magical head.
Or not.
SO: IF Billy can now take a chunk of all that money we just saved in not having to BUY HIM OUT and parlay that, yesterday's "National Gator Future Demo Day in the Swamp" before all those bigtime recruits, PLUS the additional practice time AND continued weeks in the public spotlight that ond more win would bring, then (and at LEAST as important as all the rest, whether his own idea or part of "the latest deal re his still being here") Billy actually brings IN that full-time gameday OC/gameday playcaller, and maybe that "one more season" actually PAYS OFF, and things really DO fall into place.
We caught a glimpse yesterday of "what could be"...This team, healthy, focused and working together using all its potential assets CAN be a winner as currently constructed..."IF--"
YES--"IF":
IF all those conditions are properly pursued, holes and mistakes eliminated: Depth increased and the intangibles finally fully falling into PLACE, this CAN once again BE the Florida Gators we remember and have missed for so long...and NOT in some "eventual distant developmental future", but satisfyingly SOON and for seasons to come.
A LOT still must happen, and the odds say that it is probably JUST as likely it will all go to shit in the next 12 months ANYWAY.
Which, let's face it, is where a lot of us figured was/is our inescapeable fate in ANY event.
Instead, NOW at least we do have this one chance--Even if it DID only arise in a fumblingly selfish AD'S effort to preserve his OWN job.
The law of unintended, unforeseen consequences rears its magical head.
Or not.
