Law_Dawg

@LSUSMC You’re probably right that A&M just hired him based on hiring his dad with little to no due diligence. But at the same time an investigation doesn’t usually mean there’s publicly available information. He may well not have known he was under investigation. He hadn’t been arrested prior so there wasn’t a prior warrant. Unless this was something everybody at the Titans knew and was willing to share, this isn’t something a typical background check would likely uncover.

In fairness I don’t imagine this came up in the interview for what appears to be a nepotism hire. Not sure how A&M could have foreseen this as a possibility without a far more intensive background check than would be usual.

AR had pretty consistent NFL hype. Everybody said he’d go early and that’s what happened. Milton never got that hype. Some team will probably take him as a project in later rounds. Question is if he can get accurate before he gets cut. Throwing the ball 60 yards doesn’t mean much when you overshot your receiver by 20.

Napier seemed in the beginning to understand the challenge at UF better than a lot of the UF fans. The program is not in a good place and despite everyone clamoring about changes to college football mean any good coach should be able to win immediately, that hasn’t really shown to be the case, at least at the top level. But then you watch the Gators on the field and you have the same basic coaching mistakes coming up through year two. And Napier isn’t a first time head coach learning on the job. It’s like the staff don’t know who’s responsible for what. The opposite of the (usually) successful Belichick principal of “do your job”. The big question is what is UF gonna do about it. Even if they cut out the mistakes and play their best I’m not sure they win a game in November. Prior to that they play Miami, A&M, UCF, UT (the bright orange one), and UK. Is there a certain number of those games he has to win or he’s out? Or is the plan to give him at least 3 years? Regardless the UF administration needs to assess what a realistic timeline is to becoming competitive again and decide it Napier moves it forward or not. If not why keep him?

Rumor was he was sent to rehab for alcoholism. Don’t recall any confirmation on that, but part what’s fed the rumor was a comment awhile back from I think the GM that he’d spoken with him.

I noticed most folks seemed to think Napier had made a bad pick. I’d assumed it wasn’t so much Napier picking Mertz as it was Mertz being his only option. Seems like he did pick Mertz and made a good call at that.

I’d agree. Dumas-Jackson was a big get for UK but Vandagriff is the one everybody is gonna be talking about just based on him being the QB.

Given the killer schedule I wonder what the UF admin’s expectations really are for Napier to keep coaching in 2025. I’d think how they look may be a bigger deal than the final win total. Gotta stop looking lost on the field.

Napier deserves credit for that. I assumed when Mertz came in that Napier had basically struck out in the portal and took what he could get, despite his talk to the contrary. Turns out he did see something in Mertz.

Agree on Cochran though it looks like Muschamp can stay quasi-out with Kirk Benedict moving up from analyst. I had kinda thought Beamer would have to need up our next special teams coordinator.

Whereas Bama grabbed a coaching staff from Washington and they’re bailing after a month in Tuscaloosa.

The whole analyst thing is a pretty good deal. A coach can usually find one to stay in they game and network while looking for the next job and the school can essentially hire backup coaches. Had Bobo in the wings and now Benedict.

No big surprise he’s gone but who’s gonna want that job?

You would think the guys DeBoer brought with him would stick around longer. If they had NFL ambitions they should have been upfront about it.

Little sketch to involve himself like that but given the whole ordeal I think UGA came out better in the end.

That explains why prime went up and they’re adding ads to video.

Does anyone else on staff have any play calling experience?

Given the constant rotation I’m fairly sure we’ll ultimately be fine. Did raise an eyebrow when I saw we only have 5% of RB rushing yards returning. Then I remembered it doesn’t take transfers into account and we should be good.

I believe the Bama fans saying DeBoer was the only one offered. I don’t believe he was the only one actually considered and suspect that AFan is right about where he ranked in choice. Both can be true. Fact is offering the more preferred guys would have been a waste of time. Like I’m sure someone text Kirby and said “I gotta ask.” Same with Lanning though probably an little actual hope there.

I agree that partly there’s the idea that a better coach will have a better roster. There’s also probably some bias that a better coach with naturally be at a better program. That said I agree it’s pretty subjective. If Bama had hired Kiffin and Ole Miss replaced him with DeBoer, they’d have Kiffin at 3 (maybe even 2) and have DeBoer somewhere around 10.

Wouldn’t the horns be down if they were charging? You know like the only time a cow could be considered fierce?

Massive resources and no history of championships for fans to complain you aren’t living up to is a pretty good combo for a coach.

Article did say most of the 9k were traveling for the visitors. Still my quick math based on your numbers puts an average attendance of 3k at about 7% of the community attending each game.

Yep. Coaches are getting paid more than ever with shorter leases than ever. Gotta look at the short term prospects of a job. LSU is in a better position over the next 2-3 years than Michigan is.

The Google, the Bad, and the Ugly

Michigan investigation ain’t over yet. I’m sure that once he safely has an NFL job the NCAA will give him a show cause.

Since the collective at issue wasn’t officially affiliated with UF, I’d assume they’d have to show some sort of combined action with someone actually on staff at UF. Seems like the NCAA is trying to act like they’re doing something while the lawsuit is ongoing. Although the lawsuit itself is pretty stupid. Not being able to play for a year after your second transfer in no way affects your ability to sell your rights to your name, image, and likeness, since “NIL isn’t pay-for-play.” Also nothing stopping a “student athlete” from trying to get a deal with an entity associated with a different school. Again if NIL isn’t pay-for-play it doesn’t matter where they’re playing or even if they’re playing at all.

This is really the kind of article that should be done 3 years down the road. Also half the examples of what doesn’t work are structural or institutional issue of the job having little to do with the actual hire.

So used to seeing stories that read too much into nothing, it’s weird to see one that misses actual intrigue. The middle sentence is clearly Kiffin stirring the pot.

Someone he’s comfortable with who at least has southern ties. No T-Rob though.