After Florida moved on to its fourth coach since the departure of Urban Meyer, fans have gotten restless. They want a program like the one from Meyer’s tenure that competed for national titles and was a factor every season.
With the addition of Billy Napier, recruiting got off to a slow start, and fans have gotten frustrated with recruiting, especially since that believed to be the main reason Dan Mullen was fired in November.
Appearing on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” Chris Doering, a former Gators wide receiver and current SEC analyst shared his frustrations not with the program, but with the fanbase.
“The impatience is something that really frustrates me,” Doering said. “And when I say negativity, everybody has that vocal minority on the internet, chat rooms, everything else. But the fact that so many people are caught up in the recruiting, which the recruiting has gotten better the last week. This run of commitments that Florida’s had, in the last 7 to 10 days has, I think, changed a lot of people’s opinions. But guy hasn’t even coached a game yet. Let’s give him some time to build some relationships and start recruiting after he has those ties in the state that you need to be successful.”
Even with recruiting having been an issue, the Gators have still landed top-20 classes and multiple players that have been selected high in the NFL draft. They have had major holes in recruiting, especially on the defensive line.
“They’ve got to do a better job of recruiting defensive line, as I talked about with Auburn, Florida is known for their defensive line,” he said. “They’ve got to get better up front with stopping the run and creating pressure in that way.”
Later in the interview, Doering noted that Napier feels good about his starters, but that the depth will have a “major impact” on how the season plays out.
The Gators start out the season on Sept. 3rd against Utah in a game that will likely help or hinder fans perceptions of Napier.
Tyler is an experienced sportswriter that has seen his work featured in publications such as NBC Sports Edge, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and SB Nation. He is a massive pro wrestling fan and loves the Run N Shoot offense. You can find him on Twitter @TheRealForno.
