I have been a Gator fan since the early Ray Graves years and am a graduate. Love and follow the team and several sites but rarely post.
Coached high school football for forty plus years in the state, sent a few to Hogtown. In reading lead article about what to expect, I wanted to comment.
My first head job, I inherited a team than had gone 0-10 the previous two years. We struggled thru the first two years, going 3-7 then 5-5 before finishing 9-2 the third try. I used that season to move to a larger school that had been 2-8 the previous year. Again the process was 4-5, 6-4, 10-2, 10-2, 14-0 (Will White was my QB) and two state championships. So in my past, it was the third season that we became viable.
It takes time, more so in high school, as you have to play with what you have. Attitude change is the hardest part. I am extremely impressed with what Coach Napier has done to date with this issue. I have been fooled before, "top one percent of one percent and core values" of a predecessor, but Coach Napier seems to be sincere and honest. Obviously. if there were no major problems to be addressed and solved, a change at the top would not have been necessary.
In the recruiting aspect, I ignore stars and rather see who else has offered. We can place a very good football team on the field on the 5th, and as we all know, depth is an issue.
As a former coach, who now is late in life and running out of "next years", I only wish the fans would support the effort and try to eliminate the negative items I see so often. I have been in the room with great coaches, Bowden, Osborne, Spurrier, Carrol, etc and players with their parents. These posts hurt the process and become a weapon for the opposition,
So as Lawrence Wright said, you are either a Gator or you are Gator Bait.
Coached high school football for forty plus years in the state, sent a few to Hogtown. In reading lead article about what to expect, I wanted to comment.
My first head job, I inherited a team than had gone 0-10 the previous two years. We struggled thru the first two years, going 3-7 then 5-5 before finishing 9-2 the third try. I used that season to move to a larger school that had been 2-8 the previous year. Again the process was 4-5, 6-4, 10-2, 10-2, 14-0 (Will White was my QB) and two state championships. So in my past, it was the third season that we became viable.
It takes time, more so in high school, as you have to play with what you have. Attitude change is the hardest part. I am extremely impressed with what Coach Napier has done to date with this issue. I have been fooled before, "top one percent of one percent and core values" of a predecessor, but Coach Napier seems to be sincere and honest. Obviously. if there were no major problems to be addressed and solved, a change at the top would not have been necessary.
In the recruiting aspect, I ignore stars and rather see who else has offered. We can place a very good football team on the field on the 5th, and as we all know, depth is an issue.
As a former coach, who now is late in life and running out of "next years", I only wish the fans would support the effort and try to eliminate the negative items I see so often. I have been in the room with great coaches, Bowden, Osborne, Spurrier, Carrol, etc and players with their parents. These posts hurt the process and become a weapon for the opposition,
So as Lawrence Wright said, you are either a Gator or you are Gator Bait.
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