Challenges Ahead for Billy Napier and Florida Gators Football
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00:00We were talking about the SEC today at great length, and I was stunned to listen to Billy
00:12Napier talk about how long it's going to take him to get the house in order in Gainesville,
00:19in the swamp.
00:20There is no way that those fans down there, and this is one of the hardest schools to
00:25get into in America.
00:27Everybody wants to go to Gainesville.
00:29Everybody wants to go to Athens.
00:31It's hard to get in there.
00:32You think those students pay all that money to go to Florida, they want to watch that
00:35football team lose every year like he's been losing down there?
00:38That guy is doomed.
00:39He is, and the schedule doesn't add to that, Scotty.
00:43They have an atrocious schedule.
00:45The ability for this team to potentially get to six wins is an uphill battle.
00:50Even with an experienced quarterback of Graham Mertz returning, they lose their starting
00:54wide receiver Ricky Pearsall to the NFL, Trevor Etienne is now playing for the Bulldogs
01:00across town for Athens and the Georgia Bulldogs.
01:03This is not going to be easy for Billy Napier.
01:05It's setting up to look like Ron Zook 2.0, and I brought it up all week as well.
01:11Who do they go to?
01:12I know it's an attractive job, but what type of name would you want to grab if you're the
01:18Florida Gators, if they live to, let's say, a 5-7 overall record?
01:23You're not going to get the likes of Nick Saban or anybody else.
01:27Do they go to a guy like Ed Ogeron, a retread like that, or do you go to a fresh coordinator?
01:32I guess only time will tell.
01:36I don't want to jump out of the SEC yet, but I do want to talk about ... I mentioned Chris
01:45DeBall.
01:46He's the most overhyped coach I've ever seen.
01:49He's gone down to Coral Gables.
01:51It's gotten worse.
01:52He gets all these great recruits, tons of speed, tons of athleticism, a five-star out
01:58the yin, and they don't win.
02:01Then Florida State, all they do is sue people and complain about the conference, and Clemson's
02:07not happy.
02:08How far are we from seeing Chris DeBall die in Coral Gables and the ACC implode if Florida
02:15State and Clemson leave?
02:17I think very close.
02:18I think the potential for Florida State and Clemson to bolt to the likes of the Big 12
02:23is a possibility.
02:24We already heard of the Big 10, and SEC wouldn't take on both of those schools, respectively,
02:31so we'll see how that plays out throughout the regular season.
02:34That's behind the scenes, and you're right about Chris DeBall.
02:37The pressure's on.
02:38It starts week number one against Billy Napier in Florida.
02:42It's an arch-rival in-state type of game, and basically Florida's playing with house
02:47money because everybody believes the Miami Hurricanes are back, but we saw this a couple
02:51of years ago when De'Ara King came from Houston to try and resurrect that offense.
02:57Now it is Cam Ward.
02:58It is Damian Martinez on paper.
03:01It's a dynamic duo, but we've seen Chris DeBall, coaches team down.
03:05I don't know.
03:06I need to see it before I believe it.
03:08The biggest thing, Scotty, they can score some points, but you can't lose to the likes
03:13of North Carolina and North Carolina State within the conference.
03:18You can't get kicked around by teams like Georgia Tech, and their defense sucks, so
03:21until that changes, I can't buy into Chris DeBall.
03:24I can't.
03:25I just can't do it.
03:28We are a long way away from the days of the U and Ed Reed and Jonathan Vilma and all those
03:35dominant defensive players.
03:36We're a long way away from Benny Blades.
03:38Yeah.
03:39We can't play now.
03:41It's terrible.