Momentum. UF had it, UT is bleeding it

#226
#226
05_never_again said:
UF probably shouldn't be in this situation as a program, but it appears to be a program where it matters a ton who the coach is. It's more like Alabama or Tennessee than Ohio St or LSU in that regard.

I would think that given location, resources, etc. a bad coach could still do pretty well there, but poor coaches are mediocre at best there. It seems like it takes a fantastic coach, like Spurrier or Urban, to get the most out of that program. Even Mullen, who was really successful at Miss St prior to that, didn't work out there.
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I think Mullen would have worked out well had they not had such high expectations and stopped meddling from some of the donors. He is in fact a good coach. His time at Ms St proved that. But Florida is known for having too many chefs in the kitchen (to be fair, so have we at times).

Granted, some of the high expectations came from winning 10 and 11 games in back to back seasons to start his tenure there. I guess UF hadn't gone through the wilderness long enough to appreciate a good, not elite coach.
 
#227
#227
RockyTop140 said:
I’d hate to see Golesh at UF. I think he’d succeed.
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#228
#228
Carp said:
I think Mullen would have worked out well had they not had such high expectations and stopped meddling from by donors. He is in fact a good coach. His time at Ms St proved that. But Florida is known for having too many chefs in the kitchen (to be fair, so have we at times).

Granted, some of the high expectations came from winning 10 and 11 games in back to back seasons to start his tenure there. I guess UF hadn't gone through the wilderness long enough to appreciate a good, not elite coach.
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What doomed him at UF is that he didn't like to recruit. He also has a pretty well-documented abrasive personality, which I wonder if that further shortened his leash.

Even by UF standards, they had kind of a quick hook with him. He started off great as you said. UF would have made a 12-team playoff in 2019 had one existed. Had a pretty good Covid year in 2020, then boom, the 2021 season headed south and they canned him. They're showing far more patience with Billy than they did with Mullen.
 
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#230
#230
05_never_again said:
What doomed him at UF is that he didn't like to recruit. He also has a pretty well-documented abrasive personality, which I wonder if that further shortened his leash.

Even by UF standards, they had kind of a quick hook with him. He started off great as you said. UF would have made a 12-team playoff in 2019 had one existed. Had a pretty good Covid year in 2020, then boom, the 2021 season headed south and they canned him. They're showing far more patience with Billy than they did with Mullen.
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I know the recruiting bit is something they always harped on, but they never had terrible recruiting classes the entire time he was there. They just thought they should be bringing in Top 5 or 10 classes every single year.

I hate to break it to them, but even brining Urban Meyer back isn't going to bring them annual elite classes in this new era. He bought players with the best of them 10 years ago. But now everyone can buy players and UF's NIL program is lagging behind other elite programs.
 
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#231
#231
Carp said:
I know the recruiting bit is something they always harped on, but they never had terrible recruiting classes the entire time he was there. They just thought they should be bringing in Top 5 or 10 classes every single year.

I hate to break it to them, but even brining Urban Meyer back isn't going to bring them annual elite classes in this new era. He bought players with the best of them 10 years ago. But now everyone can buy players and UF's NIL program is lagging behind other elite programs.
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The classes he pulled were ranked 14th, 9th, 8th, and 12th nationally. That'd be great for Tennessee (better than what Heup has done), but not at UF. This was also pre-NIL era.

UF should be one of the half dozen or so best recruiting programs in the country; they don't really have any excuse not to be. I also am not really a believer in the whole "now that everybody can buy players, such-and-such school doesn't have an advantage anymore." Shouldn't the schools that were the best at buying players under the table be among the best at buying players over the table?

People make that excuse for Alabama too, although they are kind of a unique case because they had guys for years (both under the table and over the table with NIL) who were willing to take discounts to play for Saban. Now that he's gone, they'll have to pony up to pay market prices like everyone else.
 
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#232
#232
05_never_again said:
UF probably shouldn't be in this situation as a program, but it appears to be a program where it matters a ton who the coach is. It's more like Alabama or Tennessee than Ohio St or LSU in that regard.

I would think that given location, resources, etc. a bad coach could still do pretty well there, but poor coaches are mediocre at best there. It seems like it takes a fantastic coach, like Spurrier or Urban, to get the most out of that program. Even Mullen, who was really successful at Miss St prior to that, didn't work out there.
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I think some of the problems are due to the AD's office. If I am right, then you can hire the best coach and still get mediocre performance.
 
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#234
#234
lawgator1 said:
Beamer. Yuck. Too bland.

Need some energy back in Gainesville. Kiffin or Golesh make the most sense.
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All you Gators need to relax. Building an elite program takes time. Dynasties aren’t built overnight. Napier is making the right moves now to build the juggernaut for the future. Fanbase needs to be patient and let him work his magic.
 
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#235
#235
DC_Vol said:
All you Gators need to relax. Building an elite program takes time. Dynasties aren’t built overnight. Napier is making the right moves now to build the juggernaut for the future. Fanbase needs to be patient and let him work his magic.
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Finally! A mature and rational voice amid the cacophony of cackles.

Listen to this man, Gators.
 
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#237
#237
NighthawkVol said:
Who would be on the UF coaching list? Off the top of my head:

1) Lane Kiffin
2) Alex Golesh
3) Rhett Lashlee
4) Jamey Chadwell
5) Shane Beamer
6) Eli Drinkowitz.

I'm not sure UF fans would be happy with anyone on that list other than Kiffin or Beamer. I think Kiffin stays at Ole Miss and Beamer probably doesn't fit at UF. Maybe Drink works.
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If it were me, Dan Lanning would be my first call.
 
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#241
#241
Lanning would be a fool to leave Oregon for UF, aside from being offered significantly more money than he could make anywhere else. The Big 12 is still basically between Oregon and OSU at this point. Sure Penn St. is technically there and Michigan is always looming, but Oregon is virtually guaranteed a Playoff spot every year.
 
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#242
#242
Dan Lanning laughed when he was asked about the Bama job opening but sure. He'll listen to the worst run Athletic department in the country. Florida could not afford what it would take to hire him away from Oregon never mind the fact he'd be stepping from one of the best P4 NIL situations in the country to one of the worst.
 
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#243
#243
lawgator1 said:
There's talk now in Gator circles of going after Heupel....
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I wouldn't blame them if they do, but I think that will end up like us going after Gundy. Heupel will get a raise out of it. Kiffin makes more sense to me as he's hit his ceiling in Oxford.

Still think Golesh would be a great hire. Selfishly I hope you don't hire him.
 
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#244
#244
Napier doesn’t have the same administrative support that Spurrier and Meyer had (and Josh has here)
I would not expect Lanning, AG or even Beamer (he’d use it to get a raise at USCjr) to seriously consider a move. My guess is Kiffin or Fisch would be their most likely candidates.
 
#246
#246
Lanning would be dumb to leave Oregon for any job, honestly.

He's the 4th highest paid coach in the sport, and the 3 guys ahead of him all have national titles (Kirby, Day, Dabo). He has virtually unlimited booster support. With those things usually comes having to live in a fishbowl and big expectations. Oregon certainly does have big expectations, but I don't think they're ever firing Lanning as long as he's in the CFP picture.

I'm not discounting the passion of their fans, but their fans are not crazy like most SEC fanbases are. I think a smaller percentage of their fanbase schedules their fall Saturdays around Oregon games, gets mad at friends of theirs who get married on Saturdays in the Fall, etc. I also don't hear any whining from that fanbase about how he "can't get over the hump" or the like. They all seem to think he's a great coach and want him to stick around for as long as he wants. Basically he gets the best of both worlds - a very large amount of support, but without the stupid expectations that usually come with it.
 
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#248
#248
DC_Vol said:
All you Gators need to relax. Building an elite program takes time. Dynasties aren’t built overnight. Napier is making the right moves now to build the juggernaut for the future. Fanbase needs to be patient and let him work his magic.
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Give him another 2-3 years, and Napier will have that Florida program exactly where they need to be.
 
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