Cajun Willie Taggart Mediocrity Appreciation Thread

[SoTxCaiman]

Also remember, just like most of these reporters, you can count the voices in your head as "sources".

[bimigator]

I just had a vision of Napier being told about this thread and sniffing "I'm not Cajun"

[Mojave Gator]

Mar 8, 2024 13:12:54 GMT -5 SoTxCaiman said:

Also remember, just like most of these reporters, you can count the voices in your head as "sources".

I doubt that some reporters have sources beyond what they pull out of their own asses. They are careful not to even hint at the identity of such sources, because they either lack credibility or don't exist.

[tapsgator]

I love this so much. Video title since it's protected: Florida Gators ready for next step with Callaway, Mertz, and Boardingham | Enoch Wangoy commits

Enoch is a rugby player from England. Russ Callaway is a former defensive intern. Arlis Boardingham caught 26 balls for 270 yards last year. Graham Mertz is Graham Mertz. We are locked and fucking loaded. I also saw where it's a good thing that our 2 overweight Defensive Tackles gained a combined 55 lbs. because "that's a big dude."

[tapsgator]

hailfloridahail.com/posts/florida-football-not-everyone-nationally-is-writing-billy-napier-s-obituary-just-yet-01hrywtb2d37

That's right you negative Nancy boys, PROMINENT national analysts say the Gators are back. By prominent I mean Greg McElroy and by back I mean "maybe they pull an upset against Miami (aren't we supposed to be favored?), maybe they beat UCF (be still my heart), and maybe they beat some SEC teams (looking at you Mississippi State and I guess Texas A&M)."

Now Prominent Greg is not going so far as predicting they'll win the SEC, or even be in the top 25, but they may go 7-5 in which case this jackass I mean respected journalist says that Napier will be back for Year 4! Tell me you're trying to kill a program without telling me you're trying to kill a program.

[wahhappen]

Mar 11, 2024 13:13:41 GMT -5 tapsgator said:

I love this so much. Video title since it's protected: Florida Gators ready for next step with Callaway, Mertz, and Boardingham | Enoch Wangoy commits

Enoch is a rugby player from England. Russ Callaway is a former defensive intern. Arlis Boardingham caught 26 balls for 270 yards last year. Graham Mertz is Graham Mertz. We are locked and fucking loaded. I also saw where it's a good thing that our 2 overweight Defensive Tackles gained a combined 55 lbs. because "that's a big dude."

Just an aside on how Callaway was so involved in "calling" in plays last year and how he learned so much and will now be an influencer on actual play calling... I was a kicker in high school, and they let me signal in plays sometimes. Am I ready to take the next step now?

I swear to God. We must be the only team in America in the year of our Lord, 2024, that requires a three-year ramp up for any of our players to be somewhat competent at playing their respective positions. Do other teams talk to the media constantly about now they now "know what they are doing" after having experience and how transfers have seen how to be successful elsewhere and can now share with the others "what it takes"?

[tapsgator]

I was talking to Bulldog fans and explaining that another team's fanbase cannot ever really appreciate the systematic destruction of the program because it requires acknowledging how great the Spurrier and Meyer years were. This was the best way I found to try to explain:

Only 6 teams have won a national championship in both football and basketball.

Only 2 teams have won multiple national titles in both of the Big 2, Michigan State was the other school and their last (shared) football championship was in 1966 and they won basketball titles in 1979 and 2000.

From the football national championship trophy in 2006 to the football championship trophy in 2008 so a 2 calendar year period we won 4 of the 5 national championships. We did something in 24 months that one other program has accomplished in the history of college sports.

And now we are being called spoiled because a 4th straight losing season (which is certainly a possibility and likely a probability) would be considered unacceptable. I struggle with how to be okay with that.

[SoTxCaiman]

Try not to throw up in your mouth when reading this Napier apology piece...........

link - Inflated Expectations

[wahhappen]

Apr 8, 2024 12:18:12 GMT -5 SoTxCaiman said:

Try not to throw up in your mouth when reading this Napier apology piece...........

link - Inflated Expectations

Summary of the article below:

"What you have just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it."

I can only assume this was some type of middle school journal project or unfinished piece that got published by mistake.

"While much of the attention has been put on the difficult schedule, the attention also stems from Florida fielding one of the better teams that have had in the past five or so years. They were aggressive in getting additional recruits on the front seven and prioritized developing weapons to build on Graham Mertz’s career year in 2023."

W T F I can't do it anymore. Can we please just time warp ahead 5 months and get this beatdown underway?

[tapsgator]

After clearing the vomit taste out of my mouth I did some fun research. At this point they really are insulting the fanbase's intelligence.

"Another notable increase in the report is a $6.55 million pool for assistant coaches. Especially in an age where college head coaches and assistants are on the move, programs simply have to pay top assistant coaches more than ever. Whether it be a promotion to another Power 4 or taking a step back and becoming a head coach at a smaller Group of 5 program, it is encouraging to see Florida taking this action."

Let's get in the way back machine, all the way back to December of 2021, with this article that had me (and I'm guessing a lot of us) excited about the new direction of the program:

www.si.com/college/florida/football/florida-gators-billy-napier-shares-coaching-staff-responsibilities-plan

"Napier will certainly have the resources required to surround himself with an elite staff, one that he said will be "unprecedented," as Florida has allotted a $7.5 million budget for hiring assistant coaches, compared to Dan Mullen's $6.1 million pool this past season."

That's what we in the legal field call "bullshit." There are numerous other examples in the article including his proactive plan to handle NIL and be out in front of it just like Georgia and Ohio State. Whereas the results. Where fucking as the results.

Back to the original article:

"To an extent, Florida is behind the curve on this, yet they have some of the most resources in the SEC. Ideally, this pool should have happened at the onset of Napier’s hiring. On paper, this still seems like a huge victory, as Florida is on track to produce a top-ten 2024 recruiting class. However, there are multiple reasons to show skepticism about the numbers and Florida’s overall recruitment budget outlook."

First of all, what? Who wrote that first sentence? Who proofread it? I would have been embarrassed if my 14 year olds had used that as the introductory sentence in a paragraph. When they were 11.

Number B, what fucking paper shows us on track to produce a top-ten recruiting class??? Especially in 2024 what with the fact that the recruiting classes of 2024 have been set formally since NSD on February 7th, and basically set since on December 6th. So you either missed by 2 or 4 months. Let's assume he was talking about the class of 2025 (we'll ignore the fact that this budget increase was from the 22-23 fiscal year so the effectiveness should be measured by the 24 class since everybody else seems inclined to act like this is brand new), I can find absolutely zero publications or services that have us in the top 10, here's our rankings:

On3: 17
Rivals: 25
24/7: 23

I really can't believe that there are people in the fanbase that blindly accept articles/propaganda at this point. The Dynamic Delta Duo are con men who somehow keep rolling their marks despite the fact that their minions are just repeating themselves 28 months after the initial hire. Seriously, if you look at articles from 2 years ago it is the exact same shit. It's the definition of insanity.

[wahhappen]

Let's take a look at a clip from this new fan experience:

[SoTxCaiman]

LINK - Top 25 Defenses for 20204

Looked over and over this list..... nope we didn't make it.

Embarrassing thing is these schools did:

Louisville
NC State
Air Force
SMU
Miami University, not the U, the RedHawks
Kansas State
Iowa State
Rutgers

Let that sink in...... these schools will have better defenses than THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, and I didn't even mention others like Utah and Ole Miss. Sad time to be a Gator.

[wahhappen]

Apr 10, 2024 11:07:57 GMT -5 SoTxCaiman said:

LINK - Top 25 Defenses for 20204

Looked over and over this list..... nope we didn't make it.

Embarrassing thing is these schools did:

Louisville
NC State
Air Force
SMU
Miami University, not the U, the RedHawks
Kansas State
Iowa State
Rutgers

Let that sink in...... these schools will have better defenses than THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, and I didn't even mention others like Utah and Ole Miss. Sad time to be a Gator.

There seems to be a disconnect between the national perception of our defense vs. reality. These rankings are mostly based on measurable data and on field results. They don't take into account the fact that we now have Ron Roberts (someone who is kind of in charge of the defensive coaching to an extent), an NFL-caliber sort of GM-type, and we got older since last year.

[tapsgator]

Before Ron Roberts my understanding is that many teams did not field a defense. Or if they did it was not modern.

[SoTxCaiman]

The University of Miami RedHawks, the F'n RedHawks! Are we close to rock bottom yet?

[wahhappen]

Apr 11, 2024 10:26:13 GMT -5 tapsgator said:

Before Ron Roberts my understanding is that many teams did not field a defense. Or if they did it was not modern.

Are you talking about Ron Roberts?

Ron Roberts is a son of a bitch! He sweats Gatorade. He sheds his skin once a year. I once saw him eat a live chicken.

[SoTxCaiman]

I heard Ron Roberts was the brain power behind Stanford's band on the field defense. Yeah it wasn't completely successful but just a few more tweaks (keep an eye on the cheerleaders) and watch out SEC it may be time to break it out again.

[Mojave Gator]

Apr 11, 2024 11:19:58 GMT -5 SoTxCaiman said:

The University of Miami RedHawks, the F'n RedHawks! Are we close to rock bottom yet?

The Redhawks went to a bowl game and we didn't.

Bit of trivia: At the end of the 1973 season, the Gators played Miami (then known as the Redskins) in the Tangerine Bowl. With Florida involved, it was anticipated that the demand for seats would exceed the capacity of the stadium in Orlando, so the game was moved to Florida Field. The Gators, obviously unhappy with the hand that they had been dealt, lost an uninspired 16-7 game. On that Miami team was a defensive back who would later have a hand in numerous Florida losses in the future - Ron Zook.



The Zooker at Miami, porn star 'stache and all.

[tapsgator]

gatorswire.usatoday.com/2024/04/18/florida-football-caleb-rillos-transfer-portal-walk-on/

Aw Hell yeah. I haven't been this excited since 7th year Senior Micah something or other joined the squad last year. He was so good he went to the Pro Day.

[tapsgator]

hailfloridahail.com/posts/florida-football-recruiting-60-days-later-peyton-joseph-decommits-from-gators-01hvv5bqgde1

I consider this good news. We're getting the whole blue chip prospects decommitting deal out of the way early. Right?

[wahhappen]

Apr 19, 2024 9:42:42 GMT -5 tapsgator said:

gatorswire.usatoday.com/2024/04/18/florida-football-caleb-rillos-transfer-portal-walk-on/

Aw Hell yeah. I haven't been this excited since 7th year Senior Micah something or other joined the squad last year. He was so good he went to the Pro Day.

He could have gone to the NFL, but he chose to come to UF. Plus, he is willing to sacrifice another year by redshirting. Not to mention he is going to take on a leadership role as a 5th year walk-on sitting out 3/4 of the season awaiting a scholarship to come available. Amazing. Just amazing work.

[wahhappen]

Apr 19, 2024 9:53:39 GMT -5 tapsgator said:

hailfloridahail.com/posts/florida-football-recruiting-60-days-later-peyton-joseph-decommits-from-gators-01hvv5bqgde1

I consider this good news. We're getting the whole blue chip prospects decommitting deal out of the way early. Right?

Not a big loss at all. Our O-line is already stacked. Also, he is too young and probably not enough of a leader.