Very Poor decision ! - Napier not keeping Coach Rat

[Jeff from Jax]

The Florida Gators will not retain assistant director of player personnel Keiwan Ratliff as a member of new head coach Billy Napier's coaching staff, he announced in an interview with Zach Abolverdi of On3Sports.

Napier has brought in 20 coaches & off the field staff from ULL so why is there no place for
Keiwan Ratliff

Few of his hires from ULL have experience at the pinnacle of college football - the SEC; few of them will successfully transition.

Ratliff joined the Gators' support staff in 2019 under previous head coach Dan Mullen, beginning his college coaching career after spending time at the prep level. He was an off-field assistant who helped Florida in the secondary and as a recruiter over the last three years, after re-enrolling at the school and earning a degree in sociology in 2018.

Ratliff, a former Gators' All-American and All-SEC cornerback who played at UF from 2000-03, enjoyed an eight-year, journeyman NFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers. Ratliff was named a Gator Great and inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.

Stupid decision by Napier !

https://www.si.com/college/florida/...eiwan-ratliff-not-being-retained-billy-napier

 

[GordonGecko]

I love me some Keiwan, but the defense was clearly not getting it done.

 

[gatorbuilderorlando]

Outside of playing at UF - why do you think he deserves a job? I see a lot of his playing days quoted above but nothing of his coaching ability.

Honest question - I don't know.

 

[KingofHedgehogs]

The secondary was horrendous and easily the worst unit of the entire team.......

We can blame it on grantham, but even he was not 100% to blame.

Being a great player doesnt mean youre a great assistant, nor does it give you a pass, pun intended, when severe changes need to be done.

 

[GordonGecko]

The secondary was horrendous and easily the worst unit of the entire team.......

We can blame it on grantham, but even he was not 100% to blame.

Being a great player doesnt mean youre a great assistant, nor does it give you a pass, pun intended, when severe changes need to be done.

This was my point.

Our secondary is TERRIBLE. Why keep ANY staff who helped with the secondary?

 

[GatorTheo]

I don't know enough about the contribution of assistants to comment about them.

I do think chemistry is HUGE. If Napier can assemble a staff that works well together, I approve.

 

[KingofHedgehogs]

Outside of playing at UF - why do you think he deserves a job? I see a lot of his playing days quoted above but nothing of his coaching ability.

Honest question - I don't know.

Yea, I mean improving the secondary is not all on his shoulders, especially after two seasons, and with a possible limited role. However, on the flip side, theres not been any noticeable improvement in those two years either. As for recruiting, who did he recruit? .....then again, it probably doesnt matter because none of the secondary are that good.

So, theres no real reason, that I can see, to retain him just because of him being a former player. Didnt we gripe about Mullen not making certain changes in a reasonable time due to some loyalty he seemingly had to his coaching staff? Now Jax wants Napier to show some "loyalty" as well for an assistant who may not have earned it? Seems contradictory.

Napier seems to have a mindset of doing what's best for the program to succeed....and a true gator great would understand that(not saying he doesnt).

 

[gatorbuilderorlando]

One of my biggest issues with Mullen is that he wouldn't cut dead weight if they were friends or friendly. Napier cutting Rat actually give him a thumbs up in my view. He's well liked, a gator great so he'd be easy to keep - yet, he's gone.

That's leadership.

 

[Dannygator1989]

And again the "bringing all of the G5 guys with him! OMG NOOOO!!!!"

the most important one is our Co-Dc who is a young, bright up-and-coming coach who's a very good recruiter, but let's bemoan that. Two others are on the staff. The rest are support staff who have experience in roles that, before Napier, this program has never even thought about.

But oh whoa is us! Bemoan!

 

[Countygator1]

Napier's program now, he has to select his own staff.

 

[LizardGrad89]

And again the "bringing all of the G5 guys with him! OMG NOOOO!!!!"

the most important one is our Co-Dc who is a young, bright up-and-coming coach who's a very good recruiter, but let's bemoan that. Two others are on the staff. The rest are support staff who have experience in roles that, before Napier, this program has never even thought about.

But oh whoa is us! Bemoan!

Bemoan. What an excellent word.

I read this post and it made me think of

 

[Jeff from Jax]

Outside of playing at UF - why do you think he deserves a job? I see a lot of his playing days quoted above but nothing of his coaching ability.

Honest question - I don't know.

GBO,

Playing career not the basis for my statement about retaining him. He was on the support staff not the coaching staff.

He helped recruit Xzavier Henderson & several other players. I feel that his connection to the Gators & his NFL career made him a strong recruiting asset.

 

[Nicktheslick]

Jeff
We have lay aside our subjective wants and see how it plays out. I too would love to see him retained.