POLL: Thoughts on the Billy Napier hire
- Thread starter alaskanseminole
- Start date
No clue how he will work out. If he can fix recruiting while also not dragging us back to the offensive stone ages then he will be a huge success. My hope is he hires an OC. My one big concern is his offenses haven't exactly lit up the world.
I like the hire but I have no idea how he will do here. He’s young and hungry which I like and something we need. So was Muschamp and Meyer. One of those worked out and one didn’t. The more I read or tweets I see the more I like. Not a home run by any stretch of imagination but not sure if their was a “home run”. I think their is a high ceiling for him and he is considered a big time recruiter. Best case he does very well and he is here a long time. Worst case he’s like Zook and loads the roster up for the next guy. He’s more of a CEO type so who he hires as assistant coaches are very key, especially that first staff you bring in sets the tone. You don’t want to start off with some bad staff hires or you may not be able to get out of that hole. He likes to call plays which he seems to be just ok at. He’s had some good offenses at Louisiana (2019 & 2020) and some average ones. Again very interested to see who he brings on staff. I do think he immediately becomes the best recruiter in this state.
I'm still shocked by the Champ situation. I still like him. Hell, I'd LOVE to have him as our DC (and bring Briles back as OC).
As for Napier, nothing wrong with the CEO-type. It's worked well for Dabo. His success rested on the ability of his OC/DC for certain. Go get the talent and turn them over to his true stars.
Champ couldn’t be a CEO and was probably too high strung to be a head coach/leader and of course we know about his offense. Some guys are just better being coordinators. He’s one of those guys.
CEO type’s seem to be working a little better right now IMO (Saban, Dabo, Smart). I will also be interested in how Napier can handle the pressure cooker of UF & SEC football. Meyer, McElwain & Mullen couldn’t take it.
Seeing some of Louisiana-Lafayette's games these last 2 years, I notice that Napier's offenses can light it up averaging 33.0 pts per game. If he is to be a CEO type with OCs and DCs running the facets, he should look into bringing in a spread offense guy to modify our offense. And plus, a real defensive guru who can stress mostly man-to-man defense with the occasional zone coverage. I can see him doing this and of course recruiting better.
Dabo is about to lose his right arm (Venables) to Oklahoma (or so it seems) and it will be interesting to see how he does going forward. He's done a great job at Clemson, but he had a much easier go of it competing in a very mediocre ACC the last 10 years. It's taken Smart a few years to get his program built up, as I don't think he's historically been a really good in-game coach. But his recruiting has gone from really good to great and now he's got it rolling. Saban is the amazing one to me. He is the CEO type, but look at how many assistant coaches he's had during his tenure at Alabama. It seems every year some of them leave to bigger jobs and he just brings in new guys that just keep things going. The recruiting stays in the Top 5 every year, which is a major key, but Saban has a system and demands for perfection that players and coaches just buy into. Plus he's altered his style of play to adapt to his personnel and changes in the game. It's just been incredible to me what he's done since he's been at Alabama. Is it too much to dream that Napier could develop into a HBC like that or is Saban just a once in a generation or two coach?
Saban coaching tree. Young and is a non stop recruiter. I think he will put a support staff and coaching staff together that will impress. The 2023 and 2024 recruiting classes wiil be my gauge of the hires he makes. All in.
The more I read the less I like it. This job has absolutely chewed up and spit out the last three coaches and anybody that's confident a sunbelt coach is coming in here and going wreck havoc at Florida in the SEC thats wishful thinking. I know Mullens recruiting was a disaster but this feels like a step down. Ain't no way I would have pushed all my chips into the middle of the table on a sunbelt coach after what's happened to last three coaches here. But I can tell you who is really happy with it is Kirby and Nick!
And now that you got me started everybody talks about what a great recruiter Napier is but he has never in his life sighned ONE four star recruit. And that's the guy we're pinning our hopes on to go into the same living rooms as Nick and Kirby and Dabo and get a 5 star? I'm sorry I want him to succeed but I'm not impressed at all!
He’s a great recruiter. That is one thing he is definetly good at. Nobody in the Sun Belt gets 4 star recruits. Guess how many 4 & 5 star recruits Urban got at Utah & Bowling Green before he came to UF.
During Mullen's tenure at Florida he signed 2 Five star players, while Georgia signed 20, Alabama at least that many, too. I fully expect Napier to move us in the right direction recruiting-wise.
Not true. He was an excellent recruiter at Clemson and Bama. I believe he was ranked as the 14th best recruiter in the nation while at Bama. He brought in plenty of talent for those programs.
There was just a podcast on Ragin Cajun by one their reporters that just went into detail about Napier & his attention to detail and his recruiting. It was a good listen
I don't know a thing about him, and I don't much care either.
At S-U now days, all that matters is winning, nothing else matters.
How he goes about winning or recruiting is irrelevant.
IF he doesn't win, he'll be gone soon enough, as the carousel turns...
Serving as offensive play-caller, Napier reengineered the Ragin’ Cajuns quickly into a vaunted offensive attack. Louisiana ranked 2nd in the Sun Belt in scoring offense (31.9 points per game), 3rd in rushing offense (218.7 yards per game) and 3rd in total offense (424.3 yards per game).
https://ragincajuns.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/billy-napier/1008
Napier, a former assistant under such coaches as Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Alabama's Nick Saban and Florida State's Jimbo Fisher, among others, will make the leap to the Power 5 for the first time in his coaching career.
At S-U now days, all that matters is winning, nothing else matters.
How he goes about winning or recruiting is irrelevant.
IF he doesn't win, he'll be gone soon enough, as the carousel turns...
Serving as offensive play-caller, Napier reengineered the Ragin’ Cajuns quickly into a vaunted offensive attack. Louisiana ranked 2nd in the Sun Belt in scoring offense (31.9 points per game), 3rd in rushing offense (218.7 yards per game) and 3rd in total offense (424.3 yards per game).
https://ragincajuns.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/billy-napier/1008
Napier, a former assistant under such coaches as Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Alabama's Nick Saban and Florida State's Jimbo Fisher, among others, will make the leap to the Power 5 for the first time in his coaching career.
Dang, hate that these coaches are so mistreated. We should consider paying them more. Hard to make a living on the meager wages they receive.
I'm all in - he's got the right background and recruiting acumen. Will it work out - lol who knows but most coaches at this level are a crap shoot, outside of the 3-4 best ones. And those guys aren't leaving their current schools.
David Waters had on a Ragin Cajin beat writer (they exist) and the fanbase LOVES Napier. The guy had nothing but glowing things to say about him.
Punching Dabo(allegedly) in the face was enough for me.
That's the point I'm trying to make. Urban didn't leave Bowling Green and come to Florida. He went to Utah. Napier has no idea what he's about to get into. You need to cut your teeth on a Utah job before you jump into shark tank. If Florida was a different school that would be one thing but this job destroys coaches. Coaches that have way more experience. Im just not buying into all the hype.
It ain't the SEC that's chewed up and spit out the coaches imo.
It's the Socialist-U BLM Admin, the interfering moneyed Alumni being backseat driver coaches that always want their say, but never take any responsibility for when they 'screw the pooch,' along with the overly entitled fans that are killing the football program.
JMOHO, so others can scream and whine about me or anything else, but it won't matter until and unless things change here, so yawl have at it....
You do realize Utah was not P5 when Urban was there? And that Utah team was the first no -P5 to make a BCS bowl?
Now I agree the hype is way too much with so much unknown.
But who was the last CEO-type coach we hired that had never been a coordinator? Thats right, Urban Meyer.
now if Napier gets canned because he has a trash offense and insists on calling plays, well then he deserves to be back in the SunBelt. Even the guys on TOS who canonized Napier are for the large part pissed he wants to call plays
Wow is all I can say. Do you even know that when Meyer was at Utah that they were in the Mountain West Conference and they were a G5 program not a Power 5 program? Meyer went from a G5 program (Utah) to a P5 program (UF).
This is what I'm trying to say. Florida and LSU should be on the same level. Fair? If Napier was so good he would have never left the state of Louisiana. LSU didn't want him. Florida was not fighting LSU for Napier they were fighting Virginia Tech! Florida should be fighting LSU for coaches. That's a warning sighn to me that the programs expectations ain't where they used to be. That's when things start to slide. When Miami started settling on not chasing the premiere coaches they looked up 20 years later and wondered how they got there.
I’m not sure what your trying to say. You kind of keep moving the goal posts. UF went after who they wanted. Brian Kelly reached out to UF and we said “not interested”. So is Brian Kelly not very good since UF didnt want or pursue him?
It was still a in between step. He didn't just jump in the deep in. But I get it I can read the room. I'm sure everything will be rosey.
It's like he's not looking at the history of either two programs.
Utah was decent-bad-decent-bad all while
Playing in the MWC or worse. Meyer got them 10 wins his first season and then a Fiesta Bowl.
Napier took over a program from Mark Hudspeth (which had been winning 8-9 games every year) before he got the program slammed with probation.
Went 7-7 that first year and then 10 wins every year after, including this year when they're 11-1 and have a chance at 12-1 before he leaves.
Never once in the history of the program did they have double digit wins, he's gotten them 3 in a row.
It's not group think. There are plenty of concerns, mainly because other than him being hired.....nothing else to really go on yet.
I want to see Mr. CEO Recruiter guy make really good hires and close a good class despite how it sits so far. That should say a lot.
If he insists on calling his own plays....sigh....I'd like him to not focus on that.
Happens in every locker room with a disappointing season and a coach change. Especially when you committed to the coach and not the school
You dont know til you do on these guys.
Some are gonna make the leap no matter where they go, and some are gonna get exposed as not having good coaching skills or being able to run the ship well.
Only time tells.
I'll tell you one thing, our programs left itself from room to move in case it doesnt.
LSU has got no room to move now. If that one dont work out for them -- itll be a disaster. That will make that Malzahn deal look like peanuts.
I agree with all of this. A lot of folks don’t realize he took over from Hudspeth and the program got put on probation and then he reeled off the records that you just said 7-7 and then 3 10 win seasons in a row. His recruiting was as followed:
Sunbelt class ranking
2018- 5th (not technically Billy first class)
2019- 1st
2020 – 1st
2021 – 1st
To your point he needs to come in and be a CEO and run the program from the bottom up, recruit very good (which I think he will) & hire good assistant coaches.
well, some kids just need their spirits lifted up again. Thats just kids.
Some though, with negative behaviors -- time to give them some room to redeem themselves and then move on if they dont. You cant have somebody talking about you among the troops.
People get worked up about the money Auburn spends on coaches.
They couldn't care less. The richest man in the state laughs at that shit and pays it (also part of the problem, because he and his booster pals get what they want, control-wise) which is why Napier didn't go there last year.
Mr. Yellawood said "Nah"
Well, I know that theyve got some legal troubles they havent even started to fight over with the harassment and whatnot. (Title 9)
That goes the wrong way on them, which is probably will, and they miss bad on this one -- katy bar the door. You'll be able to light a match off that fire 2 states away.
