Looking at the rebuild by Billy Napier compared to Brian Kelly

[Mark Wheeler]

Both Florida's Billy Napier and LSU's Brian Kelly are part of the Coaching Class of 2022.

They have been with their respective programs for 1 3/4 seasons. In that time Napier is 11-12 (6-9) and currently not ranked. While on the other hand Kelly is 17-7 (11-4) and has been a mainstay in the polls.

One of the excuses used for those who want to give Napier a pass for a terrible first two seasons is the argument that he inherited a terrible roster from Dan Mullen, while Kelly has seen more success because he is able to piggyback on the talent left to him by Ed Orgeron.

Is that valid though?

Inside the Gators takes a deeper delve into each roster to give a more complete look at what each coach has accomplished in basically the same amount of time.

Looking at the numbers, Kelly has completed every bit of a big rebuild as Napier.

Only, he's been more successful with it, especially through the Transfer Portal.

From the official player participation report, of Florida's 22 starters on Saturday, Napier is responsible for bringing in 13 of them:

OFFENSE
WR Ricky Pearsall TR
WR Eugene Wilson HS
TE Hayden Hansen HS
RB Montrell Johnson TR
QB Graham Mertz TR
RT Damieon George Jr. TR
RG Micah Mazzccua TR

DEFENSE
DT Cam Jackson TR
DE Caleb Banks TR
LB Mannie Nunnery TR
CB Jalen Kimber TR
S Jordan Castell HS
S Bryce Thornton HS

On the other sideline, of LSU's 22 starters, Kelly is responsible for bringing in 12 of them:

OFFENSE
WR Lyren Lacy TR
LT Will Campbell HS
RG Miles Frazier TR
RT Emery Jones HS
TE Mason Taylor HS
QB Jayden Daniels TR

DEFENSE
JACK Jack Ovie Oghoufo TR
DT Jordan Jefferson TR
LB Omar Speights TR
LB Harold Perkins HS
S Andre' Sam TR
CB Javien Toviano HS

Depth Chart Breakdown (the players highlighted were brought in by the new coaching staff)



Note: This is the number of players listed on each depth chart, minus those who are listed multiple times

TEAM	OFFENSE	DEFENSE
LSU	21-of-32	19-of-25
FLORIDA	22-of-33	20-of-28

At LSU, 40 out of 57 (70.1%) were brought in by the new staff
At Florida, 44 out of 61 (72.1%) were brought in by the new staff

Percentage of production on Saturday via players brought in by the new coaching staff

Category	Florida	LSU
Pass Yards	100%	100%
Rush Yards	100%	84%
Receiving Yards	94%	12%
Tackles	66%	69%
TFL	25%	70%
Sacks	25%	88%
PBU	33%	50%
QH	0.0%	100%
FF	NA	100%

SOME THOUGHTS

* What we basically see here is that the new staff at both Florida and LSU have undergone a pretty big rebuild.

* Florda rolled the dice with Jack Miller III that first Portal Window and that of course has been a failure. The staff was able to rebound some with the addition of Graham Mertz, but while better than expected, he isn't a difference-maker at the position. On the other hand, Kelly went out and got a dual-threat quarterback, who was about average at his previous stop and he has turned into one of the best quarterbacks in college football.

* Kelly inherited two very good receivers, who have developed into top NFL draft choices. Napier inherited two NFL prospects in Princely Umanmielen and Jason Marshall Jr., and while Umanmielen has improved somewhat and should still be a second-day pick, Marshall Jr. has taken a couple of steps backward.

* Looking ahead to next year, as it stands now, you still have to give LSU the edge from a coaching and roster standpoint.

* After 23 games you basically know what you are getting from the two of them. Which one are you buying stock in?

 

[Panhandle UF]

The only thing Napier has going for him is recruiting and everyone thinking Mullen left him nothing.

Don't ruin it.

 

[Termigator]

I agree with all you say Mark, but at this point we have to give him 1 more year or else it will appear to be one of the worst jobs in college football. I know this will be a very divisive question, but how about a name no one has mentioned as a replacement; Jon Gruden?

 

[BD489]

I agree with all you say Mark, but at this point we have to give him 1 more year or else it will appear to be one of the worst jobs in college football. I know this will be a very divisive question, but how about a name no one has mentioned as a replacement; Jon Gruden?

If we won’t retire urban (and we should) then gruden has no shot

 

[drumlin]

This is a very good analysis, and one can't argue against it, except that it ignores three, in my mind, important things.
In essence, it's a classic apples/oranges comparison - they're both fruit and that's about it.
First, I counted (and I could be wrong here) 32 LSU upperclassment vs. 20 FLA on the depth chart.
Second, you are ignoring the culture aspect and how bad it was at Florida.
Basically, it seems to me, that Napier went nuclear and cleared out the roster to start fresh.
One can argue about his lack of use of the transfer portal, but it seems to me he firmly believes that a complete rebuild needs to be done through the high school ranks and not the transfer portal.
This will obviously take more time that the quick fix everyone wants.
Third, is that you also ignore the poor facilities that have existed at Florida for years compared to other SEC programs.
Not only just the training facility, but also student quarters were very sub-standard until Napier started.
Don't underestimate the effect this has had on 17 year old kids and the image Florida has had with recruits for years.
I would say Florida was finally at ground zero last year, and the image change takes time to filter to the underclass high schoolers.
I know these seem to be excuses, but in fact it's the reality of the state of Florida football before Napier arrived.
Maybe the majority of the people may not agree with Napier's process, but one has to be realistic with the whole situation that Napier inherited.
Will he succeed eventually?
I don't know, but based on the state of the program he inherited and his chosen process, we may not see improvement for another couple of years.