By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Here is the main question in my mind and it is one that Florida does not have a great track record of.

Will Florida be patient and allow Billy Napier to build the Florida program the right way?

Florida was one of the founding members of the SEC in 1933. It took the Gators 58 years to win their first SEC Football Championship in 1991. UF has won 8 SEC Football Championships overall and none since 2008.

It has been 15 years since Florida has won anything of significance in football. In the same time frame the Gators have had 5 head football coaches. Doing the math Florida hires and fires head football coaches every three years.

Billy Napier inherited a culture problem at UF that he has been working to improve since he walked on campus.

SEC coaches privately tell reporters that Florida has consistently been one of the most undisciplined teams in the conference over the past 5 seasons.

Napier has addressed the culture issue, and a sample size of results are known. The Tennessee win at home earlier this season was a huge positive for the program.

The Kentucky and Utah games were nightmares that show that the culture Napier is developing still struggles with dealing with adversity.

Florida is still a work in progress. Look at UGA early in Kirby’s tenure with ugly losses at home against Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech, and an ugly road loss to Ole Miss. Recruiting will fix all of that.

I heard Steve Spurrier say recently that Florida needed to recruit their way out the current situation they are in. Billy Napier is tearing it up on the recruiting trail. Florida’s 2024 recruiting class is currently ranked 4^th in the country.

The 2024 recruiting class has addressed the following positions to date:

BY POSITION:

Quarterback (1)

Running Back (1)

Receiver (4)

Offensive Line (4)

Defensive Line (4)

Linebacker (3)

Defensive Back (4)

Florida is recruiting on a national level with committed recruits from 8 states. UF is a national brand and Napier knows this and is using it to his advantage.

Moving forward the Gators must lock down the state of Florida better moving forward as only seven of the Gators 21 commits come from the Sunshine State.

The glaring weakness of Florida right now is on the lines of scrimmage. The SEC is an inside out conference meaning you build your team along the lines of scrimmage.

Kentucky exposed that when Florida traveled to Lexington. Napier knows his long-term success in Gainesville will depend on how he recruits and develops offensive and defensive linemen.

Florida whipped Tennessee on both fronts in that big win. Just the opposite with Kentucky. The Utah loss was a fluke in my eyes. Florida fans are loud and vocal bunch on social media after ugly losses like the one against Kentucky.

The Gator fanbase is a passionate bunch and the toxicity of social media doesn’t help on the recruiting side of things.

Florida expects SEC and National Titles. Things got off track over the past 15 years, and now Billy Napier is on track to fix it.

He is recruiting well, and that will fix a multitude of issues. Napier says winning is hard in media sessions. Winning is hard at Florida when you have a train track littered with poor coaching hires.

Now Napier is fixing the recruiting woes, and the Gator nation just needs to be patient for about two more recruiting cycles and Florida will be back among the elites of college football.

Time is a precious commodity, and patience and trust in Billy Napier will reap championship benefits for the Florida Gators. Time and patience Gator fans. Will you allow it?