re: 2024 Football Discussion Thread General Thoughts & Comments

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I already said Billy wasnt my first choice, but be logical about the complaining. ffs

He has no control over the money in recruiting, and apparently cant shape the staff how he wants due to buyouts.
Coaches run in packs, they stick to ppl they know. You rarely gonna see a guy hire someone he has no ties to or someone he knows didnt vouch for. Its literally all about who you know

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I do agree with this, I was kind of luke warm and cautiously optimistic about Napier as a hire (I personally was on the Lane Train, felt like someone who could inject "energy" and excitement into the fan base...felt like Lane had more ability to do that than Napier).

Didn't hate the Napier hire either, and expected the first year or two to look rough considering how Mullen spun out and stopped recruiting.

Napier has made a lot of mistakes, and I personally think the job is too big for him. However, I also think he's getting blamed for a lot of things that aren't really his fault or out of his control (things you mentioned).

Ultimately, it might not be "fair" but as the head guy, he'll bear the brunt of the results that he produces. There are definitely things that he's done, which have really led me to think that it would be beneficial for both parties to move on, that are the result of the decisions he made (a lot of the special teams gaffes, player management during the games, etc.).

Primarily, I think he made a major mistake being the OC/playcaller while trying to adapt to the SEC as a HC. I am not a huge fan of his offense, but I don't hate it either. It can be effective, and the run game is pretty strong and fun to watch at times. Pearsall was a nice addition, and Wilson has potential. If we could get an o-line to give Mertz/Lagway time to hit deeper routes, it would be nice to see a vertical passing threat develop. But our o-line as is doesn't permit that.

That said, I don't think Napier's play calling, nor the amount of time he's spending on being the OC, is really good enough to detract from the time he's spending, before and during, the game focusing on his big picture duties as the HC.

I'd love Marion, or even Korn, but at this point I'd be cool with Calloway getting full time playcalling/OC duties (granted that he's actually being given those duties and isn't being used by Napier to pretend like he's delegating while still micromanaging the offense behind the scenes).

I truly believe Napier could at least have the chance at being a halfway decent HC if he delegated play calling and focused on HC tasks. But if he doesn't, it'll be more of the same, and maybe even regression.