Coaching Carousel

[rtrn2glory]

Wonder how much the buyout is

 

[irishff1014]

Wonder how much the buyout is

This from an ESPN article

Napier's buyout would be roughly $26 million and sources told ESPN that high-ranking boosters have gathered the money to fund it.

 

[stlnd01]

This from an ESPN article

Napier's buyout would be roughly $26 million and sources told ESPN that high-ranking boosters have gathered the money to fund it.

Yeesh. Helps that their deal with Jaden Rashada fell through (unless he wins his lawsuit I suppose).

 

[T Town Tommy]

Hate it for Napier. He's a good coach... just wasn't ready for the big time yet. Hopefully he bounces back somewhere.

 

[Bishop2b5]

Hate it for Napier. He's a good coach... just wasn't ready for the big time yet. Hopefully he bounces back somewhere.

Same here. He is a good coach and I really thought he'd do well at UF. That's a tough place to coach, especially as your first big time job.

 

[stlnd01]

Same here. He is a good coach and I really thought he'd do well at UF. That's a tough place to coach, especially as your first big time job.

I don't really understand why Florida's such a tough place to coach?
Yes you have to play Georgia every year but it's not like they're only losing to Georgia. The rest of the SEC East is just OK. You've got all the resources, tons of talent on your turf (and it's not like the other Florida schools have been consistenly killing it either), etc.
Even if they don't win the SEC you'd think they could do better than they have been. But it seems like a place that just eats up coaches.

 

[Bishop2b5]

I don't really understand why Florida's such a tough place to coach?
Yes you have to play Georgia every year but it's not like they're only losing to Georgia. The rest of the SEC East is just OK. You've got all the resources, tons of talent on your turf (and it's not like the other Florida schools have been consistenly killing it either), etc.
Even if they don't win the SEC you'd think they could do better than they have been. But it seems like a place that just eats up coaches.

I don't have a complete explanation, but you're right - it just eats up most coaches and spits out the bones. Very high expectations since Spurrier and Meyer, and a fanbase that won't accept anything less than that again. Lots of talent in the state, but everybody is there recruiting against you, so it's hard to pull a big share of it. Probably a lot more to it, but yeah, it's a good place to tank your career if you're not a genuinely elite coach.

 

[zbikowski88]

Firing Napier won’t get rid of the bigger problem which is Strickland.

 

[ulukinatme]

I don't really understand why Florida's such a tough place to coach?
Yes you have to play Georgia every year but it's not like they're only losing to Georgia. The rest of the SEC East is just OK. You've got all the resources, tons of talent on your turf (and it's not like the other Florida schools have been consistenly killing it either), etc.
Even if they don't win the SEC you'd think they could do better than they have been. But it seems like a place that just eats up coaches.

In my mind Florida really should be Florida's premier program given the longevity, but that doesn't seem to be the case. To me Miami outside of the late 80s and 90s has been up and down, and unless the team is doing decent that stadium is often pretty sparse with people. I thought Florida had the better stats of the 3 big schools all time, but comparing them to Florida State it looks like FSU has been AP #1 for twice as many weeks and they've got a much better bowl record too. Florida has more wins all time, but it looks like they've got a worse all time winning percentage. As it turns out Miami has almost twice as many weeks at #1 than Florida too, although their bowl record ends up being even worse.

 

[irishff1014]

I saw Paul Finebaum was suggesting kiffin. If he could get the right pieces there the offense would be good yikes.

 

[INLaw]

Firing Napier won’t get rid of the bigger problem which is Strickland.

?

 

[calvegas04]

I saw Paul Finebaum was suggesting kiffin. If he could get the right pieces there the offense would be good yikes.

Hope Kiffin says no and his dream job is ND

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Hate it for Napier. He's a good coach... just wasn't ready for the big time yet. Hopefully he bounces back somewhere.

I really like him, I just don't know if I liked him for Florida. That's an incredibly tough job. Broke some pretty good guys in Muschamp, McElwain, Mullen before him. It's a tough gig that really only Spurrier and Meyer have excelled at.

I think plenty of AAC programs could do worse hiring him. Worst case he goes the OC/AHC route.

 

[Katzenboyer]

I saw Paul Finebaum was suggesting kiffin. If he could get the right pieces there the offense would be good yikes.

At this point in time, with what Ole Miss is doing in the NIL space, I'm not sure why he'd leave Oxford for Florida.

 

[Katzenboyer]

I don't have a complete explanation, but you're right - it just eats up most coaches and spits out the bones. Very high expectations since Spurrier and Meyer, and a fanbase that won't accept anything less than that again. Lots of talent in the state, but everybody is there recruiting against you, so it's hard to pull a big share of it. Probably a lot more to it, but yeah, it's a good place to tank your career if you're not a genuinely elite coach.

I've repeated myself on this a few times on the board since the NIU loss, but Florida's current situation presents the classic "Bo Pelini" conundrum.

Mullen was a good coach in Gainesville, although his last season wasn't great. But his offenses were prolific, he beat Georgia once (something his predecessors weren't doing), he brought them to three major bowls -- winning two of them -- and had two double-digit win seasons. The main complaint involved his lack of elite recruiting (his full classes were ranked 8, 7, and 10), and his somewhat bizarre press conferences (which got weirder when he knew he was going to lose the job).

You walk away from a guy like that, you better know you're going to get a guy who can exceed those results. Billy Napier, who seems like a nice guy, did good things at UL Lafayette. But his recruiting classes have been ranked 13, 15, and the current class is ranked 34, which is clearly not an improvement over Mullen - the guy who lost his job because he wasn't recruiting well enough.

I don't know who they get to replace Napier, but walking away from Mullen looks like a big mistake. And that can set programs back a decade.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I've repeated myself on this a few times on the board since the NIU loss, but Florida's current situation presents the classic "Bo Pelini" conundrum.

Mullen was a good coach in Gainesville, although his last season wasn't great. But his offenses were prolific, he beat Georgia once (something his predecessors weren't doing), he brought them to three major bowls -- winning two of them -- and had two double-digit win seasons. The main complaint involved his lack of elite recruiting (his full classes were ranked 8, 7, and 10), and his somewhat bizarre press conferences (which got weirder when he knew he was going to lose the job).

You walk away from a guy like that, you better know you're going to get a guy who can exceed those results. Billy Napier, who seems like a nice guy, did good things at UL Lafayette. But his recruiting classes have been ranked 13, 15, and the current class is ranked 34, which is clearly not an improvement over Mullen - the guy who lost his job because he wasn't recruiting well enough.

I don't know who they get to replace Napier, but walking away from Mullen looks like a big mistake. And that can set programs back a decade.IT

All true. Often times, however, there are things going on behind the scenes off of the field that become far too toxic and can't be ignored or repaired. It doesn't present itself on paper in terms of wins, stats, recruiting rankings. It was Mullen's second go round at UF as he was Meyer's OC. That's a lot of exposure at one place. Interestingly enough, he's still doing TV and collecting salary from UF, so he's not back in coaching either by choice or because no one has yet to make him an offer he can't refuse.

I think Saban and Smart have set the bar incredibly high in the present. At Florida, you are always going to be held to the standard of The Visor and Lord Florida/Pope Ohio. It's a tough job. Makes you wonder if they really do have to go big for someone like Kiffin versus say Jamey Chadwell or another G5 type guy like him or Napier. Even that isn't a guarantee though considering Mullen came from Mississippi State. You really just don't know what non football factors contribute to something like this going stale.

 

[Katzenboyer]

Jamey Chadwell would be a

All true. Often times, however, there are things going on behind the scenes off of the field that become far too toxic and can't be ignored or repaired. It doesn't present itself on paper in terms of wins, stats, recruiting rankings. It was Mullen's second go round at UF as he was Meyer's OC. That's a lot of exposure at one place. Interestingly enough, he's still doing TV and collecting salary from UF, so he's not back in coaching either by choice or because no one has yet to make him an offer he can't refuse.

I think Saban and Smart have set the bar incredibly high in the present. At Florida, you are always going to be held to the standard of The Visor and Lord Florida/Pope Ohio. It's a tough job. Makes you wonder if they really do have to go big for someone like Kiffin versus say Jamey Chadwell or another G5 type guy like him or Napier. Even that isn't a guarantee though considering Mullen came from Mississippi State. You really just don't know what non football factors contribute to something like this going stale.

Jamey Chadwell would be a really good hire, but I don't see them going G5 again unless Alex Golesh runs the table at USF.

If I'm them, my first call is to Kiffin. If he says no, I'd take a long look at Eli Drinkowitz at Mizzou. Make those two say no (which I think Kiffin will, ultimately.)

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Jamey Chadwell would be a


Jamey Chadwell would be a really good hire, but I don't see them going G5 again unless Alex Golesh runs the table at USF.

If I'm them, my first call is to Kiffin. If he says no, I'd take a long look at Eli Drinkowitz at Mizzou. Make those two say no (which I think Kiffin will, ultimately.)

Spot on.

Chadwell has won everywhere he's been, but I don't know that they're going to go that route. Chadwell could probably walk into Ole Miss or Mizzou and do quite well should either of those guys go to Gainesville. I'm a Chadwell fan and I want to see him bring that offense to the SEC with SEC caliber recruits.

 

[Irish#1]

All true. Often times, however, there are things going on behind the scenes off of the field that become far too toxic and can't be ignored or repaired. It doesn't present itself on paper in terms of wins, stats, recruiting rankings. It was Mullen's second go round at UF as he was Meyer's OC. That's a lot of exposure at one place. Interestingly enough, he's still doing TV and collecting salary from UF, so he's not back in coaching either by choice or because no one has yet to make him an offer he can't refuse.

I think Saban and Smart have set the bar incredibly high in the present. At Florida, you are always going to be held to the standard of The Visor and Lord Florida/Pope Ohio. It's a tough job. Makes you wonder if they really do have to go big for someone like Kiffin versus say Jamey Chadwell or another G5 type guy like him or Napier. Even that isn't a guarantee though considering Mullen came from Mississippi State. You really just don't know what non football factors contribute to something like this going stale.

Curious minds want to know. Please share.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Curious minds want to know. Please share.

Share what? Human beings acting like human beings. People don't get along. Egos. Type A personality clashes. Affairs. Conflict/disagreement with administration over minutiae let alone big issues.

 

[Irish#1]

Share what? Human beings acting like human beings. People don't get along. Egos. Type A personality clashes. Affairs. Conflict/disagreement with administration over minutiae let alone big issues.

I read your post like you might have heard some stories/rumors of what was happening behind the scenes.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I read your post like you might have heard some stories/rumors of what was happening behind the scenes.

In Mullen's case at UF, their facilities were not exactly up to par with their SEC rivals. They opened an $85M football facility in 2022 that Napier got to enjoy and Mullen never did. UF's administration was behind the curve with facilities, technology, etc.

For a very long time, people at Florida just felt that Spurrier did without it so they didn't need to spend money on it. The world and college football with it obviously changed since then. It changed since Meyer was there, let alone Spurrier.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

LOL

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Very hard for me to see the appeal, now and then.

We walked into a team that was 9-7 the year before and had Monte Kiffin, Rod Marinelli and Mike Tomlin on it's staff. Won a Super Bowl.

Never won a playoff game again. Now someone would be handing him the keys to a college program in the Portal and NIL era. Hey, stranger things have happened, but I'm a hard pass on this guy. He should have plenty of money and time to do whatever.

 

[NDohio]

Awesome - he will be on every message board that has a coach opening - he is good for the laughs...

 

[ulukinatme]

Someone will take a chance on him. Just about every other disgraced sports figure eventually is given another chance. Some team will be desperate enough and throw him the bag, especially now that they know he's interested. Looks like the "Gruden's coming" meme will be alive and well in 2024 and beyond.

 

[stlnd01]

Striking how much Jon Gruden and Lane Kiffin look alike.

 

[Irish#1]

Striking how much Jon Gruden and Lane Kiffin look alike.

I always thought it was Kiffin and Daniel Tosh.

 

[ulukinatme]

I always thought it was Kiffin and Daniel Tosh.

 

[NDPhilly]

Gruden was an idiot for writing like he's in his friends group chat and not a work email, but nothing he said was that awful. If Hugh Freeze has a job, he'll be fine.