Have not posted in a while and saw the nice thread by @SpaceGrits – thank you brother. I was in Greece for 10 days and had the trip of a lifetime. Beautiful, fun country.
Anyway, not a ton going on in Gator Land, so I am going to chat about just a few things.
I don’t post much on specific recruiting objectives and prospects because there are way better people here doing that like SRG, Heisman, Bblake, etc. And I know we have all heard this before, but Coach Napier and his team have one of the most detailed recruiting strategies in the country – period. The level of analysis and how a certain recruit “fits” or not is truly remarkable. I have seen it first hand in black and white (and red and yellow and green). Going forward, I expect us to lose far fewer Napier-recruited players in the portal compared to other teams as the “fit” is a huge element to CBN’s recruiting strategy. I would like to see us move more quickly which is difficult to do as the ship gets larger. I worry that there is an element of paralysis by analysis which we are working through. Trust me when I tell you that Napier gets it.
Gator Nation is still overcoming the effects of a war-torn country in its recruiting, and that continues to hurt us. We have had so many unsuccessful and “strained” coaches in the past dozen years that the great Gator momentum and winning traditions of the Spurrier, Wuerffel, Rhett, Urban, Tebow, Joe Haden, Pouncey, and Alex Brown eras have become more of a history lesson than a current expectation. So, to say Napier started at Ground Zero is a huge understatement. The UAA did its part: We now have top of the line facilities, a gigantic support staff; cutting edge “betterment” programs for the athletes; an NIL infrastructure that is really making significant progress; and, of course, Gator Nation on Saturdays in the Swamp. But you also have 18 losses in the last 3 years. That part is difficult to overcome.
Napier is not going anywhere anytime soon, but I think he needs to exceed some of our gloom and doom expectations for this coming year despite the brutal schedule – with the first game on the road at Utah being exceptionally difficult in my opinion. He needs to win a couple of games this year that we are not supposed to win – not to keep his job, but rather to feed the alligators – to show that we have the right guy.
I have had the benefit of spending some close time with the program and Napier in particular. The guy is as genuine as they come. He is smart. He feels what I fear some of the most-recent coaches did not – the breath of Gator Nation on his neck. We are all absolutely craving good news, progress, meaningful improvement of a longer-lasting variety. He 100% understands that. He also 100% believes in his plan. UF could have hired Brian Kelly IMO - but we didn't - and I am OK with that (for reasons we can discuss later).
The last 3 head coaches at UF had dysfunctional relationships with and among their assistant coaches. That is absolutely, positively not happening here. Having said that, BN is not afraid to part ways with an assistant coach who is not performing, but he is equally willing to double down in support of the assistant coaches he trusts -even when others are not. Batemen and Hocke come to mind.
I think we will know a lot more about our Head Coach this time next year. I am supporting him with my voice and my wallet. I feel like he is still a very good investment; but I have been burned before. This one just seems different, and I am simply trying to keep it real.
Sorry this was so long. See why I don’t post more often?? Haha
KC
Anyway, not a ton going on in Gator Land, so I am going to chat about just a few things.
I don’t post much on specific recruiting objectives and prospects because there are way better people here doing that like SRG, Heisman, Bblake, etc. And I know we have all heard this before, but Coach Napier and his team have one of the most detailed recruiting strategies in the country – period. The level of analysis and how a certain recruit “fits” or not is truly remarkable. I have seen it first hand in black and white (and red and yellow and green). Going forward, I expect us to lose far fewer Napier-recruited players in the portal compared to other teams as the “fit” is a huge element to CBN’s recruiting strategy. I would like to see us move more quickly which is difficult to do as the ship gets larger. I worry that there is an element of paralysis by analysis which we are working through. Trust me when I tell you that Napier gets it.
Gator Nation is still overcoming the effects of a war-torn country in its recruiting, and that continues to hurt us. We have had so many unsuccessful and “strained” coaches in the past dozen years that the great Gator momentum and winning traditions of the Spurrier, Wuerffel, Rhett, Urban, Tebow, Joe Haden, Pouncey, and Alex Brown eras have become more of a history lesson than a current expectation. So, to say Napier started at Ground Zero is a huge understatement. The UAA did its part: We now have top of the line facilities, a gigantic support staff; cutting edge “betterment” programs for the athletes; an NIL infrastructure that is really making significant progress; and, of course, Gator Nation on Saturdays in the Swamp. But you also have 18 losses in the last 3 years. That part is difficult to overcome.
Napier is not going anywhere anytime soon, but I think he needs to exceed some of our gloom and doom expectations for this coming year despite the brutal schedule – with the first game on the road at Utah being exceptionally difficult in my opinion. He needs to win a couple of games this year that we are not supposed to win – not to keep his job, but rather to feed the alligators – to show that we have the right guy.
I have had the benefit of spending some close time with the program and Napier in particular. The guy is as genuine as they come. He is smart. He feels what I fear some of the most-recent coaches did not – the breath of Gator Nation on his neck. We are all absolutely craving good news, progress, meaningful improvement of a longer-lasting variety. He 100% understands that. He also 100% believes in his plan. UF could have hired Brian Kelly IMO - but we didn't - and I am OK with that (for reasons we can discuss later).
The last 3 head coaches at UF had dysfunctional relationships with and among their assistant coaches. That is absolutely, positively not happening here. Having said that, BN is not afraid to part ways with an assistant coach who is not performing, but he is equally willing to double down in support of the assistant coaches he trusts -even when others are not. Batemen and Hocke come to mind.
I think we will know a lot more about our Head Coach this time next year. I am supporting him with my voice and my wallet. I feel like he is still a very good investment; but I have been burned before. This one just seems different, and I am simply trying to keep it real.
Sorry this was so long. See why I don’t post more often?? Haha
KC
