The 2024 season has been the predictive mediocre for Florida Gators coach Billy Napier. Although 8-5 looks good on pen and paper in comparison to the previous years, it was never enough to appease the Gators’ yearning for hegemony on the scorecard. Napier also earned the ire of fans for his lack of offensive aggression and the occasional absence of control in times of dire need, especially during the latter half of the games. He further added fuel to the fire by holding his team accountable, saying, the team needs to learn from its woes and work on constant improvement to avoid further misery. But, deep down, he has since been planning how to get back on the good book, and escaping the field is not in his genes.
Despite the flak, Napier chooses to hold on to his decision tightly. He remains confident that he can contribute to the Gators’ offense as their primary play caller, a role he has handled since his first year at UF in 2022. But are his play-calling skills something remarkable? Can it foster value for the Gators going forward? Let’s dig deeper.
Billy Napier’s play-calling decision under scrutiny once again
Napier isn’t at all disappointed in his team’s 8-5 outcome. Rather, he sees a gap between the previous system and the current framework of college football amidst the new top 12 takeover and he is immensely proud of his players for carrying the load off his shoulders and doing whatever they could. However, not choosing a defensive coordinator for the season and continuing to call the play has come off as a desperate move for many fans and veterans.
Addressing it through a deeper lense, High-top Sports’ Shelton said, “We kind of learn more about him his press yesterday, I read it, I didn’t see it. But by reading it I felt like he was more open than ever before. But, and they asked him like why are you choosing to do this and he’s like look this is what got me.” However, the statistics somehow differ in his confidence to some extent. The 45-year-old’s passing offenses have never rated better than seventh in the SEC at UF or fifth in the Sun Belt Conference during four seasons at Louisiana.
Quoting the head coach, Shelton continued, “I’m not going to go away from that now because I’ve got people screaming at me, thinking that I should do otherwise because in my darkest moments that we probably didn’t know about or see I stuck to this, and now it’s got me to this point. I’m cool with it.” In his first three seasons, the Gators have failed to amass above 29.5 points per game with the highest final scoring ranking of 58. Last season, they stood at No. 64 scoring offense at 28.3 points per game.
But coming to the trail of the season, the Gators finally have seen some jump. Thanks to the resurgence of their quarterback, DJ Lagway, who led the team to a four-win streak and a spectacular bowl win to cap off the season. But it wasn’t all beds and roses for him. The midseason hamstring injury derailed his growth big time, but he managed to keep going.
DJ Lagway’s is hopeful after injury horror
Florida football’s leading light DJ Lagway is currently Pro Football Focus’ highest-rated deep passer and the highest-rated true freshman quarterback. And it’s not a surprise at all. I mean look at his high-flying numbers that feature 1,915 yards, 115 of 192 pass attempts 59.9% with 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions in a above than average season for the Gators.
Although Napier and his team couldn’t sustain the momentum, Lagway’s acute potential turned heads. But in between the season, he hit a snag suffering a left hamstring injury during a game against No. 2 Georgia in week 10. He had to leave the field crouched with pain.
The situation took a pear shape in the Gators’ locker room. But by god’s grace, he recovered earlier than expected. Based on his rate of recovery and potential to turn the tables for the Gators, ROC Football Boys host believes he is meant for more, and he’ll do even better after his injury horror.
It will be a treat to see Lagway exceeding expectations in another breakout year in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
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