Paul Finebaum offered some perspective on Florida’s recent productive stretch in recruiting.

During his regular weekly appearance on WJOX in Birmingham, Alabama, Finebaum mentioned the 2024 opponents for Florida and said there is “caution and patience” baked into the cake for coach Billy Napier. Because expectations are below .500, Napier has a chance to exceed them, Finebaum said. And that brought him to the excitement being made over Florida reeling in several notable recruits in recent days.

“I think the mistake people are making is when they get excited about his recruiting, compared to which school,” Finebaum said. “Florida is recruiting better than it has been, but it’s still trailing Georgia, it’s still trailing other schools in the SEC, and it’s like a NASCAR race, you can still be in the top 5 or 6 or 7, but unless you’re going around Turn 4, you better jump ahead of somebody and that’s ultimately what Florida’s facing right now.”

No one is counting Napier out, but Finebaum said next year will be extremely important.

“Patience only goes so far with the Florida fan base, I don’t care how long it’s been since they’ve last been relevant,” Finebaum said.

Finebaum said Napier needs a notable win this season, and not necessarily to win 7 or 8 games, but “he needs to show people that he’s capable. He did that too early last year in his first game. He didn’t do it after that, and he needs to it somewhere along the line this year to give people hope.”