Florida football: Brandon Walker proves he doesnât know what heâs saying
by
Will Thomas43 minutes ago
Florida football has a good bit of optimism surrounding the program as we head into Billy Napierâs second season at the helm, but expectations for the 2023 seasons are understandably low.
The Gators are losing Anthony Richardson and still have questions to answer on the defensive side of the ball, so nobody is expecting the Gators to come out and compete for the SEC title this year.
That all makes sense.
What doesnât make sense is people who think the program is still sinking rather than making its way back up.
Brandon Walker from Barstool Sports has been doing season previews for a bunch of college teams, and his review of the Gators went a long way in proving that he doesnât really know what heâs talking about with UF.
First off, he projected Floridaâs record at 5-7, which I donât have a problem with. I think the Gators can manage 6-6, but if people have us dropping an extra game, itâs hard to blame them.
Walker goes through the Gatorsâ schedule, which is a very challenging one, and he was pretty sharp with his win/loss predictions.
Where Walker loses some credibility is actually in the very beginning of his preview.
âIf you wanna see a team that might get their coach fired this year, itâs this one. The Florida Gators. The Florida Gators might have to fire Billy Napier at some point this year.â
So letâs pause real quick to break that down. BW thinks that Florida is going to fire a coach halfway through his second season after taking over a dumpster fire because he isnât instantly churning out ten-win seasons.
I canât remember many coaches who lost their jobs after less than two years. Sure, it happens, but when the trajectory of the program is positive like it is in Gainesville, it just doesnât happen.
Walker also talks about Florida footballâs recruiting, and how that may be a saving grace for Napier to this point.
âAnd if he didnât have a five-star recruit [committed] right now, 5-star QB DJ LagwayâŚif he didnât have that guy committed, he might get fired.â
Sure, if Billy didnât have a great class coming in he might be on the hot seat. But guess what.
He does.
We can throw around what ifâs all we want to make our points seem valid, but it doesnât make them true.
For the University of Florida, and especially for Scott Stricklin, Napierâs success is incredibly important. They canât afford to fire him in the next 10 months just because he didnât wave a magic wand and create a championship.
And they certainly wonât do it because a guy at Barstool wants to pile onto UF while theyâre down knowing theyâll be back before Mississippi State ever is.
So yeah, national media still has very little faith in the Gators for this upcoming fall. But thatâs not what Napierâs vision is about.
Heâs looking at the future, which is looking pretty bright in Gainesville.
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Hail Florida Hail.