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Hypothetical question

Do you take Kiffin if it keeps Lagway and some of the high profile players?

Do you take Cig even if he doesn't retain some of our key players?

This isn't a debate if Cig can convince them to stay or not-part of me thinks Cig will be the type that lets kids walk if they don't believe, he isn't going to beg anyone to stay.

That said, does one situation sway you more than the other if Lane keeps the roster in tact?

New Story Age is Just a Number

Age is Just a Number

I have read a lot of people complaining about specific coaching candidates based on their age, and I do get it to some degree, but what age is too old? I think it depends on who you are talking about. Take Nick Saban, for example; he is 72 years old, but the guy is a young 72 if that makes sense, and I am pretty sure NO one on earth would have an issue if Saban came in for 4-5 years and turned things around before he passed it off to the next up and coming hot coach. Another guy who is a proven winner at this level is Urban Meyer, who is 60.

Do not get caught up in how old a coach is! Florida needs a guy who can command respect from recruits, parents, high school coaches, staff, and players, and his age will not matter.

Now, if you are telling me Florida is trying to hire a guy who will be the next head coach for 25 years, that is a different story, but that is not how things work in college football, for the most part. Don't get caught up or overly concerned about how old someone is.

I have no issues with how old someone is. To me and just me, I take each candidate one at a time, depending on how old they are. When the time comes, and Florida makes a move, we will openly discuss any potential head coach you want to discuss.

New Story The One That Got Away:

The One That Got Away:

It is Friday, and I want to have a little fun. My question to you is, No 1. Name one recruit who got away and that you wanted to end up at Florida more than any other recruit. Or, it could have been a coach that you wanted UF to hire, but they went another direction. No 2. This is the opposite of the one who got away, but I know we have some big-time fishermen on the board, so I need to see pictures of the biggest fish you ever caught. No pics, no bueno.
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Football My thoughts -- (long, sorry)

I hope everyone stayed safe and fared ok during the recent storms. I live on the west coast of Florida, and we need a break. That was brutal. Rumor has it there may be something else brewing out there in the tropics. Please say it aint so!

I posted (somewhere on here) before the first game this season about what Billy would need to do to keep his job. Of course it was all just my opinion. But I said that in order for Billy to remain UF's head football coach in 2025, the vast majority of Gator Nation would need to feel at the end of the 2024 season that the Gators were a significantly better, improving football team from the prior back-to-back losing seasons. In other words, Florida fans needed to feel that we were clearly headed in the right direction.

Billy needed that win last night, and it was right there for the taking. The defensive scheme and intensity were really good. That may have been the best defensive road game we have played in years. We got off the field on third down (Vols were 4-15 on 3rd); held them to 300 yds of offense; 8 tackles for loss; dominated the time of possession; etc. etc.

… and we still lost

Too many points left on the field and too many boneheaded moves as we all saw in crushing real time. We still cannot figure out how to get 11 guys on the field on Special Teams. Poor clock management, crappy play calling, and general unawareness.

The Mertz goal line fumble at the 1-yard line on first down was an absolute dagger. I know a lot of people will say you should have handed the ball to your running back. I was not in that camp. I was a “run 3 QB sneaks” guy. In my experience, you run the sneak to avoid exactly what happened – a fumble. It didn’t work. So, I don’t pin that on Napier, but there were tons of other boneheaded moves that fall on his ever growing hot seat. I am not going to go over all of them here as they have likely been covered in excruciating detail elsewhere. Suffice it to say that the timeout decision-making; offensive play calling; game management issues; and general vibe of uncertainty (why not challenge the spot when it looks like the refs gave you a bad mark?) do not make me feel like we are getting better.

On the bright side, we went on the road in front of 105k+ fans and competed. We played the last part of the game with a talented 19 year-old who made some mistakes but also threw an absolute dime in the 4th quarter to get us into OT. He is going to be special.

Those are the kinds of games that a Coach whose fans want a divorce must absolutely win.

IMO, the most important person to Gator football (SR) is not posting here much, if any, anymore because of comments that blame boosters for the performance of the Coach and Team and suggest that we have been lying to the fans about Napier. For real? Posters accuse "insiders" of telling untruthful rosy stories on purpose. Why would we do that? That is not how it works. If this thread turns into that, I will be disappointed. I get the frustration. Do you think it is fun to invest in something that does not succeed? People on here who know me understand how hard I take UF losses. I truly suffer. But, it's no fun to get popped by keyboard fans when something you posted previously does not turn out the way you thought it would. Why participate in that environment? I get on the message boards for fun.

moving on....

SR asked a good question a few weeks ago. “Who is the home run hire?” IMO, there is none, and if you are honest with yourself, your answer 4 weeks ago may be different today. There are flavors of the week but no home run hires. The key is that if we move on from Billy, we need to hire someone who turns out to be a home run hire.

Lane was the man, but now has put 2 losses on the board including a bad loss at home to a Kentucky team who got slapped around last night by Vandy in Lexington. Is Vandy’s Clark Lea today’s flavor of the day? No one has done more with less this year. I wonder where the "coaches on the list" will rank 7 weeks from now.

If Billy cannot demonstrate by the end of the year (and we have half the season left) that Florida Gators are substantially better than last year, then I believe he will be gone – and deservedly so. He has been given the keys to the Kingdom.

The question is are we the Magic Kingdom or Tire Kingdom?

UF is a different place than it once was. This is not necessarily the place where we can pick anyone we want (ie, when Urban chose us over the Fighting Irish because we were perched on top of the mountain). The light reflecting off our trophies has dimmed over the past 15 years.

I do not think SS is going to get fired this year. His hiring of Billy may, in retrospect, seem like a poor choice, but in Nov of 2021 it was widely praised throughout football. That is not a “mistake” that typically costs you your job – especially if Golden continues to improve. SS fired McElwain after being named our AD for less than a year. He also had a fairly quick hook with Mullen. He is not afraid to make changes. Do I agree with everything SS has done? Nope. Not at all. I would have demanded that Billy hire an established external O-coordinator last year. I just don’t think SS gets fired if Napier does not work out.

We have $28m reasons to want Napier to go on a winning tear in the 2nd half of the Season. I am still 100% pulling for him and this Team, but I am also a realist. I am not sure that Napier can fix the things that need to be fixed because most of the problems reside with him. I don’t know that he has the fix in him. That doesn't stop me from always wanting the Gators to win football games.

Hang in there. Just know we all suffer together.


KC

New Story Florida Gators versus Kentucky Wildcats Preview

Florida Gators versus Kentucky Wildcats Preview
Hector








The Florida Gators are back home for their next SEC matchup versus the Kentucky Wildcats. Both programs are coming off close conference losses as Florida lost to Tennessee in overtime and Kentucky lost to Vanderbilt.



Florida enters this game with a 3-3 record, including wins over UCF, Samford, and Mississippi State. Kentucky is also 3-3, with one SEC win over Ole Miss. Here is the preview of the Florida Gators vs. Kentucky Wildcats game.



Kentucky Wildcats



The Kentucky Wildcats will hit the road to Gainesville, Florida for their first SEC matchup versus the Gators. The Wildcats will be led by their head coach, Mark Stoops, who’s entering his 12th season as the head coach for Kentucky.



The Kentucky offense will be led by their quarterback, Brock Vandagriff. The Georgia transfer earned the starting quarterback role for the Wildcats but hasn’t played well this season. The redshirt junior has completed 59.8% of his passes for 951 passing yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions.



Junior wide receiver Dane Key has been the top-performing offensive playmaker for the Wildcats. Key leads the Kentucky offense in multiple receiving categories. Key has recorded 31 receptions for 452 receiving yards and two touchdowns.



The Kentucky defense is one of the best defenses in college football. The Wildcats rank third in the nation in total defense. They also ranked tied for ninth in scoring defense and tenth in rush defense in the NCAA.



Veteran EDGE rusher J.J. Weaver is one of the leaders in Kentucky’s defense. Weaver leads the Wildcats in sacks with four on the season. Two other Kentucky players to watch Saturday night are defensive tackle Deone Walker and running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye.



Florida Gators



The Florida Gators are coming into this game looking to secure another victory before heading into their bye week. Florida will have some major changes to their offense and could be missing some of their veteran leaders



The Florida Gators' offense will be led by their freshman quarterback, DJ Lagway. Former Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz suffered a torn ACL last Saturday versus Tennessee and will be out for the remainder of the season.



Senior running back Montrell Johnson is listed as questionable for this game. Johnson also suffered a knee injury against Tennessee. If Johnson is out, Florida will likely lean on freshman Jadan Baugh and JUCO transfer Ja’Kobi Jackson.



The Florida defense has played great defense in their last two games and looks to continue that trend against the Wildcats. Senior cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. has been a lockdown cornerback this season and has been able to be on an island and lockdown a team’s #1 receiver.



Redshirt junior EDGE rusher Tyreak Sapp has been one of the most productive defensive players this season. Sapp has recorded 23 total tackles with five tackles for loss, a team-high 3.5 sacks, three QB hurries, and a forced fumble. Two other Gators players to watch this Saturday are wide receiver Chimere Dike and linebacker Grayson Howard.

Football SIAP Galen Hall will be back in The Swamp Saturday

With the 1984 team. For those that aren’t as old as I am, Galen Hall was Florida’s offensive coordinator and took over as head coach when Charlie Pell was fired. The Gators went on to win the SEC that season (or finish with the best record, depending on who you ask) and also were named national champs by the New York Times and The Sporting News despite being on NCAA probation. I’d like to see some permanent recognition of that great team at Florida Field.

Big Whale Splash Hire Speculation

Rumors floating around with nothing or no one officially announced makes things interesting, exciting and fun.

Two rumors have floated, one is that we have some sort of behind the scenes agreement with a well known big time whale. The other is that Billy is getting another year. At the surface they contradict each other. But… both can be true(pure speculation of course)

What if the whale is Urb or Saban as GM and we keep Billy? 🤔

NonGator Ricky Returns

San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall will be active for the first time Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced Friday.

Pearsall missed the 49ers' first six games of the season after being shot during an attempted robbery in San Francisco on Aug. 31. He practiced for the first time this week.

Shanahan said the 24-year-old will be a "full go" against the Chiefs, according to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports.

The Niners drafted Pearsall in the first round in April. The former Florida stud's NFL debut should help a team that's missing receiver Jauan Jennings, who's been ruled out against Kansas City due to a hip injury. San Francisco also rosters wideouts Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, among others.

Another reason Billy needs to go THIS year

This is the top 30 coaches on the hot seat.
We are the only big name and will not have to compete with other big programs like we did last time. Who knows who will be looking next year. This has to be something to consider if it’s borderline.

1. Dave Aranda - Baylor
2. Billy Napier - Florida
3. Will Hall - Southern Miss
4. Trent Dilfer - UAB
5. Joe Moorhead - Akron
6. Sonny Cumbie - Louisiana Tech
7. Sam Pittman - Arkansas
8. Stan Drayton - Temple
9. Mike Houston - East Carolina
10. Ryan Walters - Purdue
11. Hugh Freeze - Auburn
12. Mike Norvell - Florida State
13. Mike Bloomgren - Rice
14. Ryan Day - Ohio State
15. Lincoln Riley - USCw
16. Mike MacIntyre - FIU
17. Brent Pry - Virginia Tech
18. Scott Satterfield - Cincinnati
19. Mike Neu - Ball State
20. Kenny Burns - Kent State
21. Don Brown - UMASS
22. Sonny Dykes - TCU
23. Shane Beamer - Carolina
24. Brent Brennan - Arizona
25. Lane Kiffin - Ole Miss - ???
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26. Brent Venables - Oklahoma
27. Jay Norvell - Colorado State
28. Jeff Lebby - Miss State
29. DeShawn Foster - UCLA
30. Mack Brown - UNC
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