DeBoer is doing it in record time

[Mark Wheeler]

If you believe it takes 4-5, or more, years to turn a team around, Washington was 4-8 the year before DeBoer took over. Went 11-2 last year and will now likely be playing for the national championship in his second season (and is about to improve to 10-0 against AP Top 25)

 

[drumlin]

I am guessing that since you note the UW coach in the subject line that you are criticizing Napier.
I don't think it's fair to judge two programs focused only on the coaches.
I am not too familiar with the facilities at Washington, but they had been better than what Florida had for years.
Gator fans are somewhat delusional in denying how bad things had been at Florida.
The student athlete living facilities were dumps compared to other schools, especially in the SEC.
Florida built their football facilities only recently.
In the mean time, Urban Meyer introduced a culture of entitlement and selfishness into the football program which apparently was difficult to remove, as evidenced by the poor attitudes during the Mullen coaching tenure.
While DeBoer deserves all the credit he is getting, this is also an example of matching an offense to an elite QB, who can make a huge difference (see Tennessee last year compared to this year).
I think Lagway offers some hope, not next year, but the following year, of being that elite QB.
I know that Zook, Muschamp, McElwain, Mullen, and now Napier, had/have their faults, but Foley and the UAA should have done something with the facilities way back when Spurrier was coaching.

 

[BD489]

I am guessing that since you note the UW coach in the subject line that you are criticizing Napier.
I don't think it's fair to judge two programs focused only on the coaches.
I am not too familiar with the facilities at Washington, but they had been better than what Florida had for years.
Gator fans are somewhat delusional in denying how bad things had been at Florida.
The student athlete living facilities were dumps compared to other schools, especially in the SEC.
Florida built their football facilities only recently.
In the mean time, Urban Meyer introduced a culture of entitlement and selfishness into the football program which apparently was difficult to remove, as evidenced by the poor attitudes during the Mullen coaching tenure.
While DeBoer deserves all the credit he is getting, this is also an example of matching an offense to an elite QB, who can make a huge difference (see Tennessee last year compared to this year).
I think Lagway offers some hope, not next year, but the following year, of being that elite QB.
I know that Zook, Muschamp, McElwain, Mullen, and now Napier, had/have their faults, but Foley and the UAA should have done something with the facilities way back when Spurrier was coaching.

Taking over a team with a worse record than us and excelling is a feat that the Washington coach should be proud of. All coaches are compared based on their W/L record. DeBoer deserves a ton of praise and Napier deserves some heat based on those records. Napiers plan on recruiting high school hasn’t gone as he’d hoped based on recruiting rankings nor the portal. Does it seem the UAA is a huge issue, it does. But that doesn’t excuse napiers poor game day coaching which has cost us wins and has changed his perceived trajectory amongst recruits.

 

[Termigator]

Washington was no better than we were 2 years ago. As far as a culture of entitlement goes, nothing is as bad as half of your 1st two signing classes leave to the Portal is. I hate to say it, but unless Napier can pull a rabbit out of his hat this upcoming season, this will be the worst 3 year stretch in my 71 years as a Gator. He’s got everything he’s asked for so far and he’s got no more excuses!!

 

[drumlin]

Taking over a team with a worse record than us and excelling is a feat that the Washington coach should be proud of. All coaches are compared based on their W/L record. DeBoer deserves a ton of praise and Napier deserves some heat based on those records. Napiers plan on recruiting high school hasn’t gone as he’d hoped based on recruiting rankings nor the portal. Does it seem the UAA is a huge issue, it does. But that doesn’t excuse napiers poor game day coaching which has cost us wins and has changed his perceived trajectory amongst recruits.

I agree with some things you say but not others.
One has to be careful about judging coaches by W/L record, especially short term, as in this discussion, the case with DeBoer.
He has been fortunate that he has an exceptional QB this year.
I can make you a long list of similar situations (Orgeron with Burrow, 2019, Fischer with Winston 2013, etc) where the team can have an exceptional year with a special QB only to not sustain the winning.
Last year the coaches everyone was pointing to were Heupel at Tennessee, Dykes at TCU, Kelley at LSU, etc.
Every year there will be some hot team that people will say "look at what they are doing".
But I only see a handful of programs with consistent, sustained success over a long period of time.
And I believe this is what Napier is trying to do, which as I mentioned before, is very difficult at Florida.
That's why I don't necessarily look at W/L record in the short term, but other things that are a little more difficult to judge.
I believe a firm foundation is necessary to build first and wins will follow.
Yes, there are things that have me concerned about Napier, but I believe it's still too early to judge his implementation of his plan.
It's not clear to me at this point that anyone can necessarily come to Florida and do a better job long term just like it's not necessarily clear to me at this point that Napier is a bust.

 

[Termigator]

I agree with some things you say but not others.
One has to be careful about judging coaches by W/L record, especially short term, as in this discussion, the case with DeBoer.
He has been fortunate that he has an exceptional QB this year.
I can make you a long list of similar situations (Orgeron with Burrow, 2019, Fischer with Winston 2013, etc) where the team can have an exceptional year with a special QB only to not sustain the winning.
Last year the coaches everyone was pointing to were Heupel at Tennessee, Dykes at TCU, Kelley at LSU, etc.
Every year there will be some hot team that people will say "look at what they are doing".
But I only see a handful of programs with consistent, sustained success over a long period of time.
And I believe this is what Napier is trying to do, which as I mentioned before, is very difficult at Florida.
That's why I don't necessarily look at W/L record in the short term, but other things that are a little more difficult to judge.
I believe a firm foundation is necessary to build first and wins will follow.
Yes, there are things that have me concerned about Napier, but I believe it's still too early to judge his implementation of his plan.
It's not clear to me at this point that anyone can necessarily come to Florida and do a better job long term just like it's not necessarily clear to me at this point that Napier is a bust.

I am not worried about him implementing his "Plan"; he is doing that. What I am concerned about is him sustaining his plan (too many of HIS recruits are leaving, including star players Etienne, Williams, Umanmielen and others), and for his Plan to translate to winning multiple "Big" games. He has shown he can win at least one big game a year (Utah 2022, Tennessee 2023) but he loses too many games that his roster talent is just as good as or better (Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Arkansas, etc.) I think he is a good guy, but I am worried he does not have that killer mentality that the Spurriers, Sabans, Smarts, Meyers and others have. He absolutely has to get his 2024 team in a Bowl to get another year. The University of Florida with the resources it has, simply CANNOT have a coach in any sport with 3 losing seasons in a row. He has been given everything that he has asked for, the time is now for Billy.

 

[BD489]

I agree with some things you say but not others.
One has to be careful about judging coaches by W/L record, especially short term, as in this discussion, the case with DeBoer.
He has been fortunate that he has an exceptional QB this year.
I can make you a long list of similar situations (Orgeron with Burrow, 2019, Fischer with Winston 2013, etc) where the team can have an exceptional year with a special QB only to not sustain the winning.
Last year the coaches everyone was pointing to were Heupel at Tennessee, Dykes at TCU, Kelley at LSU, etc.
Every year there will be some hot team that people will say "look at what they are doing".
But I only see a handful of programs with consistent, sustained success over a long period of time.
And I believe this is what Napier is trying to do, which as I mentioned before, is very difficult at Florida.
That's why I don't necessarily look at W/L record in the short term, but other things that are a little more difficult to judge.
I believe a firm foundation is necessary to build first and wins will follow.
Yes, there are things that have me concerned about Napier, but I believe it's still too early to judge his implementation of his plan.
It's not clear to me at this point that anyone can necessarily come to Florida and do a better job long term just like it's not necessarily clear to me at this point that Napier is a bust.

I’m not ready to say Napier is a bust, he has this year to show improvement while also getting lagway ready. I do believe his plan is not going nearly as well as he thought it would. It’s predicated on elite talent acquisition and he has not done that at this point. He didn’t hire coaches well and they have not developed the players he has brought in. Game day disorganization also a huge red flag. He has time to fix this but he’s creating self inflicted wounds I worry he needs massive changes to correct.