I understand you guys are frustrated with how the season has gone so far. Believe me, I'm frustrated as well. We also knew there would be growing pains with Billy Napier and the new coaching staff considering the roster they inherited. I try to be as positive as I can be as a fan and as a writer, but I have to be realistic as well. With all that being said, I just have one thing to say to all Florida Gator fans: R-E-L-A-X.
The Florida Gators football program is in a rebuild right now. As I eluded to above, we have a brand new coaching staff after the university fired Dan Mullen. We know the history of the program with seven SEC Championships and three national championships. We as a fanbase expect to win championships almost every year, but there are some years where that won't be the case. 2022 is one of those years.
A rebuild doesn't happen over night, or even in a single year, it is a process. You have to establish a culture, get the players to fully buy in to your plan and build relationships with your current players and recruits. We all knew going into the season there would be some tough games. I'll admit that I feel like every game we lost was winnable aside from maybe the Georgia game where there was clearly a large talent gap. We even made some crucial mistakes in the four losses that could've easily been avoided. We even made critical mistakes in the wins against #7 Utah, USF and Missouri. It may not have been pretty in those games, but the team showed a lot of poise and growth.
Dan Mullen left the program in a really bad place. Recruiting was down, there was no depth at certain positions and there was no confidence in the team. Napier came in and made some key changes, hit the recruiting trail, added a few players in the transfer portal and we're seeing it pay off. Everything isn't gonna be perfect, but we're seeing a culture change within the program that was clearly missing.
Billy Napier is clearly the right man for the job. He's taking over a broken program and is putting his stamp on it. We as a fan base have to give him time to build it back to a championship program. As the old saying goes: "Rome wasn't built in a day." We can't contradict ourselves saying that we have to give Napier time, but also get frustrated because we lost a game. Anybody that thought we'd be a championship caliber team in year one was crazy. I'm asking all Florida Gators fans to relax and give Billy Napier time to build the program back to a championship caliber.
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