Florida’s difficult signing day and Billy Napier’s unfulfilled pledges
Like so many other prospects in his position, five-star quarterback D.J. Lagway relished his ESPN moment with a purple Willis High School banner behind him and a pile of hats in front of him.
Reaching forward, Lagway—one of the top players in the 2024 class—placed the blue Florida hat on his head. He pulled off his fleece to show off a white Gators tee. He then performed the “Gator Chomp” arm gesture, offering Florida supporters a sneak peek at what his potential might entail for the future of their cherished program.
Five-star quarterbacks and big-time recruiting wins. This was the intended appearance of the Billy Napier era.
But even with all of the anticipation surrounding the signing of a quarterback with Lagway’s caliber, the harsh reality remained that the Gators had a disastrous first day of the early signing period two years into the Napier era. Although Lagway was a positive aspect of the day, his dedication does not provide the whole picture.
Napier was aware of the circumstances he was taking over from the start of his tenure in Florida. His role as coach of a prestigious football program that would be fixated on talent acquisition and recruiting was to be the opposite of Dan Mullen. Furthermore, Napier and his team planned to win big-time recruitments in addition to participating in them.
“The fans can count on me to give it my all every time I don the Orange and Blue, and my teammates can count on me to work hard every day.”
Mullen had an odd reluctance to accept that this is a sport where winning big is largely dependent on signing teenagers like Lagway. It seemed as though he never fully realized how crucial it was to focus exclusively on recruiting. To be sure, he disliked discussing it.
Upon Napier’s hiring on December 5, 2021, he immediately embraced the idea that Florida could only succeed in the long run if it signed elite players.
Napier struck the notes that the whole audience heard as music. He talked about setting up a personnel department and branching out into creative media, on-campus recruiting, and, of course, name, image, and likeness. He talked about Florida’s new facility, its proximity to elite players, the administration’s eagerness to financially support the program, and everything else.
To fulfill those promises, Napier raised an army.
which explains why Wednesday is so perplexing. The reason for Florida’s failure is not that the coach does not understand or did not try to do what he said. There is just a problem with it.
Since Monday, Florida has lost four-star defensive linemen Amaris Williams (Auburn) and Adarius Hayes (Miami), as well as five-star safety Xavier Filsaime (Texas).
Since November 11, Florida has lost six players who are ranked in the top 150 nationally. Prior to this week, three additional four-star prospects—defensive lineman Nasir Johnson (Georgia), safety Wardell Mack (Texas), and edge rusher Jamonta Walker (Auburn)—flipped out of Florida’s class.
Since the quarterback is usually the face of a recruiting class, Florida’s ability to retain Lagway proved to be crucial for Napier. However, even that was not without a minor scare on Wednesday due to late pushes from teams like USC. And not long after Lagway signed, Florida lost another prospect when Izaiah Williams, a four-star receiver, transferred to Texas A&M.
Florida’s 2024 class is currently outside of the top 15, despite having previously appeared to be a lock to place among the top five.
This has suddenly become a class on Dan Mullen.
Only three players in Mullen’s final Florida recruiting class of 2021, which was ranked No. 12 overall, were among the top 100 players. Napier’s class has five players ranked in the top 100 and is ranked No. 16 nationally. Though the average player rating has slightly increased and the Gators signed a five-star quarterback, this is not the drastic improvement you would have anticipated.
The elephant in the room is something we should not ignore. Since Mullen became coach, recruiting has changed significantly, especially because NIL now plays a significant role. It is very difficult to put the entire blame on the coach in this new era of college football if his team is just losing to rival teams. In the shadows, there is mayhem.
You may also be quick to point out that, given the widespread use of the transfer portal, recruiting rankings are not worth as much as they were even five years ago. In a year, five-star players today may or may not be on other rosters. That is the current game.
However, following a 5-7 campaign, Florida lost 17 players to the portal, including Trevor Etienne, a standout running back, and Princely Umanmielen, one of its best edge rushers. Out of the four incoming transfers for the Gators, only two have come from Power 5 schools thus far.
As Florida’s coach, Napier set out to put together a team that could compete with SEC heavyweights Alabama and Georgia. All the same, the Gators are beginning to look a lot like Auburn did under Bryan Harsin. Although harsh, it is true.
Napier’s firing has been the subject of much discussion following Florida’s dismal 5-7 season that culminated in five straight losses. As things stand right now, it seems inevitable. The only thing wrong is timing.
However, that does not feel right. Smart people like Napier who are familiar with the mechanics of this sport are invaluable. And things rarely work out this way when a player like Napier is matched with a program that has the resources, location, history, and fan base that Florida has. Still, this cannot go on.
During a program’s development, you have to provide supporters with something to hang onto. You must be doing a good job of recruiting if you are dropping more games than winning them. Should your recruiting efforts be subpar, you will need to exceed expectations in the field. Napier bought some time for a while by pitching the idea that once his recruits joined the program, everything would change. Lagway would arrive with the remainder of this class and turn the tide.
Now it is just Lagway and LJ McCray, a five-star defensive lineman. Getting two five-star prospects is undoubtedly important, but if they do not like how things are going in Gainesville, they both have the option to leave fast.
There is not any energy. Absent juice. There is no logical way out of this.
What is happening? Is it zero? Given how recent the Jaden Rashada scandal was, there may be some truth to that. There must be more, though. It is not as though Florida does not participate in that field at all. We must presume that Lagway will not travel to Gainesville at no cost.
It is peculiar.
This is not a Napier fire column. It seems counterintuitive to fire a coach who understands the value of developing players into five-star prospects in a sport where there are so many coaches hired who do not see the need to do so.
Not too long ago, No. 1 recruit Travis Hunter switched from the Seminoles to Jackson State, leaving Florida State coach Mike Norvell furious. Today, Florida State is in a far better position.
Thus, what actions are required at Florida? The answer seems to elude everyone.
It is just getting more and more clear that a solution is required. and shortly. To be honest, Napier is struggling in the one area where he should be excelling.
What does Florida have without its players?
An army without purpose.
