Top Offensive Coordinator Candidates for Billy Napier

[Escambia94]

The following table shows the top OC candidates listed by source [2] source [3]. I compared that to another source [1] focusing on best candidates for the Gators. We all know that coaches tend to hire people they know so I added in Napier's likely list of OC candidates as source [5], starting with his current OL coach, Rob Sale, which is not a viable option for Gator fans. I listed coaches with ties to Florida as source [4] assuming the UF administration and boosters were pushing for an OC with UF ties.

In fantasy land, I would take Kerwin Bell in a heartbeat.

[1]	[2]	[3]	[4]	[5]	Name	Current School	Current Salary
4​	8​	1​	​	​	Warren Ruggiero​	Wake Forest​	$738k​
​	4​	2​	​	​	Phil Longo​	Wisconsin​	$1.25M​
​	1​	3​	​	​	Garrett Riley​	Clemson​	$1.75M​
1​	2​	4​	​	​	Ryan Grubb​	Washington​	$2.00M​
​	​	5​	​	​	Bobby Petrino​	Texas A&M​	$2.00M​
​	3​	6​	​	​	Andy Ludwig​	Utah​	$1.25M​
​	5​	7​	​	​	Mike Denbrock​	LSU​	$1.30M​
​	​	8​	​	​	Kendal Briles​	TCU​	$1.25M​
2​	6​	9​	​	​	Jeff Lebby​	Oklahoma​	$1.90M​
​	​	10​	​	​	Sean Lewis​	Colorado​	$850k​
​	​	11​	​	​	Chip Lindsey​	North Carolina​	est. $700k​
​	​	12​	​	​	Mike Bobo​	Georgia​	$1.00M​
​	10​	13​	​	​	Tommy Rees​	Alabama​	$1.90M​
​	​	14​	​	​	Liam Coen​	Kentucky​	$1.70M​
​	​	15​	yes​	​	Charlie Weis Jr​	Ole Miss​	$825k​
​	7​	16​	​	​	Jeff Grimes​	Baylor​	est. $700k​
5​	​	17​	​	​	Ben Arbuckle​	Washington State​	$100k​
​	​	18​	​	​	Will Stein​	Oregon​	$800k​
​	9​	19​	​	​	Alex Atkins​	FSU​	$1.15M​
​	​	20​	​	​	Beau Baldwin​	Arizona State​	$350k​
​	​	21​	​	​	Robert Anae​	NC State​	$850k​
​	​	22​	​	​	Graham Harrell​	Purdue​	$900k​
​	​	23​	​	​	Tim Cramsey​	Memphis​	$400k​
​	​	24​	​	​	Jake Spavital​	Cal​	est. $700k​
​	​	25​	​	​	Collin Klein​	Kansas State​	$825k​
3​	​	​	​	​	Jeff Scott​	​	​
​	​	​	yes​	​	Kerwin Bell​	Western Carolina​	$260k​
​	​	​	​	yes​	Rob Sale​	Florida​	$1.0M​
​	​	​	​	yes​	Michael Desormeaux​	Louisiana​	$755k​
​	​	​	​	yes​	Time Leger​	Louisiana​	$300k​
​	​	​	​	yes​	Willy Korn​	Liberty​	$300k​
​	​	​	​	yes​	Brent Key​	Georgia Tech​	$2.80M​

 

[DRU2012]

Still "too early" for Bell?

 

[Escambia94]

Still "too early" for Bell?

Shane Matthews thinks this is the right time, but he does not think Kerwin would accept an OC position because he has been a high school or FCS head coach since 2002 with the exception of a one-year stint as OC at USF under Charlie Strong. Shane also reiterated that nearly all coaching hires are done based on personal connections and Kerwin has no connection to Napier. On the other hand, Napier and a few boosters could easily put together a nice offer that he could not refuse. He makes $260k at Western Carolina. His son, Kade Bell, probably makes under $100k as the OC. I get it that coaches love to coach, but imagine if Napier and Hugh Hathcock approached Kerwin and Kade Bell and offered $1.5M to Kerwin (almost 6X current salary and 3X his highest salary at USF) and $175k to Kade as an analyst. Otherwise, nobody is looking for Fun N' Gun offensive coordinators. I am not saying Napier's OC needs to be Fun N' Gun, but if he wants to win football games with the recruits he has collected on offense and defense this is the perfect time to implement a Kerwin Bell offense with an Austin Armstrong defense. Let Napier continue recruiting and being that CEO.

 

[Leakfan12]

Byron Leftwich though he's more pro-style and he might be one-and-done when an NFL team comes calling.

 

[DRU2012]

At least Kerwin is a Gator...Billy TALKS about how important that is to this rebuild, but he says a LOT of things--and meanwhile there is that whole thing with "personal relationships". I have a feeling that in THIS case, with the Coach at least to SOME extent perhaps being "encouraged" to add an OC to in effect take over those duties onfield during games, this last will be a strong factor.

 

[Escambia94]

Byron Leftwich though he's more pro-style and he might be one-and-done when an NFL team comes calling.

Oooh! I have not seen that name on anyone's board.

Technically Napier's offense is pro-style, which is one reason that both Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson were evaluated by Frank Reich/ Thomas Brown (Carolina Panthers), Nick Sirianni/ Brian Johnson (Philadelphia Eagles), Shane Steichen/ Jim Bob Cooter (Indianapolis Colts). Mike McDaniel/ Frank Smith (Miami Dolphins). The Dolphins did not have a 1st round pick. The Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets, and Tampa Bay Bucs were not looking for a QB, but if they were they would have considered Anthony Richardson. All that to say: whether Gator fans like it or not, the Napier offense is a pro style offense. It is the same offense used by Carolina, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Miami, San Francisco, New York (Jets), and Tampa Bay. Byron Leftwich's offensive scheme under Bruce Arian would also fit in this category.

Final note on "pro-style offense": The Internet has misplaced this term quite often and it is a poor talking point. Most people who say that cannot tell the difference between an Air Raid and an Air Coryell offense--both of which are sometimes flip-flopped between pro-style and spread.

 

[DRU2012]

But so far, whether a product of philosophy or available talent, this is NOT an offense that "stretches the field"--ie. uses the long pass to "pressure opposing defenses", opening things up for the rest of their play-makers.

 

[Escambia94]

But so far, whether a product of philosophy or available talent, this is NOT an offense that "stretches the field"--ie. uses the long pass to "pressure opposing defenses", opening things up for the rest of their play-makers.

No arguments here. On paper the offense is fine. There is always a deep option but Napier does not specifically scheme the deep pass to be the default or only option. The main culprit is the offensive line. If we all had access to the game film and counted the number of times Graham Mertz gets hit we would be astonished. He gets hit on nearly every single dropback, but it happens off screen. Folks watching the game live or who have access to the “all 22 camera” footage are telling us that Mertz is the toughest QB they have ever seen at Florida.

Changing OCs will not fix everything overnight. The offensive line needs to perform better when switching between zone blocking and gap blocking. The receivers need to run routes correctly. The running backs and tight ends need to chip or block as necessary. All that needs to happen before the QB can gain the confidence to take the deep pass instead of the intermediate and short passes. Before we argue that scheme can fix the deep pass by responding with “but Steve Spurrier did it” or “Lincoln Riley did it” we need to remember that Spurrier is a rare Hall of Fame kind of coach. Riley is finding that scheming exciting offenses wins Heisman trophies but not national championships.

All I ask of Napier in 2023 is to use that OC brain and his army of analysts to find minor tweaks to his offense within his scheme to make opponents respect the deep pass and stop crowding the line of scrimmage. That alone could improve the offense by 10% in terms of air yards and red zone scoring. I doubt we get a wholesale change on offense in 2024 to a “spread offense” regardless of the new OC selection.

 

[DRU2012]

No arguments here. On paper the offense is fine. There is always a deep option but Napier does not specifically scheme the deep pass to be the default or only option. The main culprit is the offensive line. If we all had access to the game film and counted the number of times Graham Mertz gets hit we would be astonished. He gets hit on nearly every single dropback, but it happens off screen. Folks watching the game live or who have access to the “all 22 camera” footage are telling us that Mertz is the toughest QB they have ever seen at Florida.

Changing OCs will not fix everything overnight. The offensive line needs to perform better when switching between zone blocking and gap blocking. The receivers need to run routes correctly. The running backs and tight ends need to chip or block as necessary. All that needs to happen before the QB can gain the confidence to take the deep pass instead of the intermediate and short passes. Before we argue that scheme can fix the deep pass by responding with “but Steve Spurrier did it” or “Lincoln Riley did it” we need to remember that Spurrier is a rare Hall of Fame kind of coach. Riley is finding that scheming exciting offenses wins Heisman trophies but not national championships.

All I ask of Napier in 2023 is to use that OC brain and his army of analysts to find minor tweaks to his offense within his scheme to make opponents respect the deep pass and stop crowding the line of scrimmage. That alone could improve the offense by 10% in terms of air yards and red zone scoring. I doubt we get a wholesale change on offense in 2024 to a “spread offense” regardless of the new OC selection.

Agreed...and as for us "not getting a wholesale change to a spread offense in 2024", none but fools would EXPECT that:
An immediate "tweak" now, as you suggest, then some further more adventurous such "tweaks" NEXT season, no matter WHO is OC, is what I'd be at minimum looking for. In fact, we clearly have JUST the QB1 in Graham Mertz right now to RUN just such a "flexible pro-style offense"...Once we have DJ here and becoming acclimatized to the speed and widespread athleticism of the SEC (and hopefully a steadily improving O-line to help in all phases), we can THEN begin giving him "packages" he is brought in to run--In so doing hopefully beginning a smooth transition to his full time immersion in a much more OPEN AND EXPLOSIVE Florida-style offense.

 

[Escambia94]

Despite what I said above I would love a wholesale switch to Kerwin Bell's version of the Fun N' Gun. It will not happen, but I can dream.

 

[DRU2012]

Despite what I said above I would love a wholesale switch to Kerwin Bell's version of the Fun N' Gun. It will not happen, but I can dream.

For what it's worth, that very scenario IS the closest thing out there to some kind of (albeit somewhat imperfect) "repeat-of-history" blueprint...Personally, I just find it among the few attractive (and potentially successful) eventual "future plans"--but unfortunately one that may only come to pass when unfortunate events along some path of impending failure forces the issue:
In other words, the result of a whole series of poor choices, missed chances and down years between here and there.
I too would LOVE to see a QB just like DJ Lagway running an explosively dynamic offense overseen by Kerwin Bell at OC as soon as next year. I am not well-versed in the background forces currently surrounding all the individuals who'd be involved in seeing this coming to pass, but what I have heard does NOT inspire confidence in the idea that all the usual egos would somehow be set aside, as required, in time.

 

[Escambia94]

For what it's worth, that very scenario IS the closest thing out there to some kind of (albeit somewhat imperfect) "repeat-of-history" blueprint...Personally, I just find it among the few attractive (and potentially successful) eventual "future plans"--but unfortunately one that may only come to pass when unfortunate events along some path of impending failure forces the issue:
In other words, the result of a whole series of poor choices, missed chances and down years between here and there.
I too would LOVE to see a QB just like DJ Lagway running an explosively dynamic offense overseen by Kerwin Bell at OC as soon as next year. I am not well-versed in the background forces currently surrounding all the individuals who'd be involved in seeing this coming to pass, but what I have heard does NOT inspire confidence in the idea that all the usual egos would somehow be set aside, as required, in time.

Here is my rationale. When casual fans say they want a spread offense, they really mean "I want to see deep passes because they look cool". That is the epitome of the Fun N' Gun. Kerwin Bell's version has some of Lindy Infante's offense built in, which is similar to the offense still used by Clemson the Kansas City Chiefs and Billy Napier's teams to some degree. When it works, Napier's offense looks similar to what Kerwin Bell is already doing except Napier places much more emphasis on the running game and is more conservative with checking out of the deep passes.

Realistically, Napier's best bet is to grab an NFL OC instead of a college OC unless he is going to dip into his pool of Clemson-Alabama-Arizona-Louisiana coaches.

 

[DRU2012]

Deep passes "LOOK cool" because they WORK!!!
As for the rest of your "rationale", I sure hope you are RIGHT, E--: I can't say I was already tracking Billy Napier's career and offensive philosophy on the eve of our firing Dan Mullen--and therefore had him at or near the top of my "shortlist" of suitable "future Gator Head Coaches" 2 years back.
He sure seems to tick all the OTHER boxes, from where we're standing now: At the rate things are in fact falling into place, we will have the answers we need by next season or the one after...at the LATEST.
...In other words, by that same ol' "patience until 2025" mantra that has been coalescing from various disparate quarters, it seems...

 

[DRU2012]

I mean, how many more "RE-issues" of "Moving On" can I DO here?
So let's try a different APPROACH:
We've more or less granted our wallowing in mediocrity for at LEAST a "WHILE"--whatever THAT ends up being.
For the moment, that leaves all the things we CAN do (beyond recruiting well, of course, and eventually consistently WINNING) to improve the overall state (and hence resulting PROMISE) of our team and program.
So: Where to start?
Well, there's much talk of getting in a hot young OC. Note I included "young" as a defining adjective. I believe that CRUCIAL here, for a LOT of reasons. But who are available out there now at ALL? Creative, flexible and FRESHLY INNOVATIVE? I include "young" for the sake of our best chance at getting someone not merely "willing" but HAPPY to make this move at this relatively early point in their career, devopment and upward mobility, to work with and "under" someone like Billy Napier at a bigtime program (and historically powerful offense) like UF's to shape and remodel its pending "future return to Greatness"!1
We've done it here before...but who is out there NOW? Get the right guy and THIS particular "issue" is solved rather quickly, but otherwise all the same stuff continues to drag us down, keep us from the success that otherwise somehow continues to evade us--just out of REACH!
Who is "that GUY"--the "hot young hand" whom Billy can bring in and rely on--turn TO in a pinch to suddenly get us on a new track?
We HAD no such "answers" today.
That must STOP; it can no longer HAPPEN THAT WAY AGAIN! I have some OTHER such questions, but let's start THERE.

 

[DRU2012]

Note:
I'd forgotten how @Escambia94, had actually posted his own thread focusing specifically ON "List of OC Candidates" just a few weeks back
...But since I HAD "forgotten" it, my REfocus here is probably a good idea--since I am sure to hardly be alone. I commend you to that thread's "List" as a starting point--although to a certain degree I would ask we "start again":
A whole lot of "old guys" with their OWN "hide bound ideas" of what to do and how to do it that would likely only conflict with Billy's, or rub him the wrong way (starting with someone like Petrino, for eg.)...Of course, like Escambia, I too would "go for Kerwin Bell in a heartbeat".
(Doubt this last is happening for SEVERAL reasons, but we can at least TALK about it, if you like.)
That one has a lot going for it though (maybe TOO much--that could be one of the main PROBLEMS with it...I would HOPE that our Coach would simply take the best-qualified person he could get--but life sadly doesn't work that way nowadays. But again, we can talk about THAT too.
Any OTHER good ones?
Any other ADDITIONAL issues and moves we could move to address them between now and the start of next spring practice?

 

[Leakfan12]

There was Mike Bobo from Georgia, Tommy Rees from Bama, Charlie Weis Jr though unsure if the UF admin would have another Weis. I suggested Byron Leftwich. Bobby Petrino was on the list.

 

[DRU2012]

There was Mike Bobo from Georgia, Tommy Rees from Bama, Charlie Weis Jr though unsure if the UF admin would have another Weis. I suggested Byron Leftwich. Bobby Petrino was on the list.

No way Weis OR Petrino, in my opinion...Too much historical baggage with the latter--and well, not his fault but also same with FATHER of former. The others with neither Gator nor Napier connections that I know of.
No, in all likelihood will have to come from and through Billy himself.
By the way, there is another article out there worth checking out--if only as a barometer of the dangers we are now flirting with from an "angry mob":
"Hail Florida Hail" has just posted its latest under the category "Billy Napier", entitled specifically "A Crack in Napier's Florida Foundation".
The flaws and persistent, lurking dangers becoming clearly inherent in certain kinds of repeated failures--and all coming together in the unacceptable way we essentially missed the chance to WIN, after everything, against Arkansas. That last stirring, quick drive downfield with no timeouts getting us amazingly into field goal range with seconds left--all thrown away by another absurd failure of leadership on the sidelines...
The "Hail Florida Hail" people aren't the first to see or say it, but they mount their arguments and bring it all home in clearest fashion:
"This CANNOT happen again."
As they rightly conclude, he WON'T be fired after THIS season--but after yesterday, there won't BE anymore "Get out of jail FREE" Cards; No matter WHAT it costs, in money and/or time--maybe YEARS in return to floundering mediocrity--we see anymore such nonsense, more of the vacuum of leadership manifest in for example how the missing OC and Special Teams coaches AGAIN affected what happened on the field--this time at the end of a game we could have WON--and our Head Coach will not make it even to the 2025 season.
That doesn't leave a whole lot more room in which to maneuver. I mean, no one's PERFECT, we know THAT going forward for SURE...
In addition to the specific points already raised, then, it sure seems it could take a real "rabbit-out-of-the-hat" Bigtime Victory here in one of these last three games to recapture some small but crucial modicum of what might be termed the "benefit of the doubt". Gotta believe Billy and his ongoing program is still gonna NEED some of that at some point.
Personally, though, I still don't see it--which leaves me, along with this Coach, team and program, in a dubious position: teetering on the edge of naked exposure to hopelessness.
I HATE it. I expect the worst even as I know we are pretty well relying on somehow seeing our BEST! Only thing to do now is peek through fingers as we hurtle into the intersection AGAINST THE RED LIGHT!

 

[DRU2012]

(PS Just watched Billy's latest presser. He was asked again about that last sequence in regulation, and TRIED to peddle that lame story about "the PLAYER made a mistake" blah blah blah...WHAT A BOATLOAD OF HORSESH*T!
I mean, whether it is truly the way they've got things set up over there or NOT: That isn't the way a major, properly run program DOES things, so either poor organization or a bald-faced "excuse". Yeah--Listen to Ali Peak's latest and also that "Cracks in the Florida Foundation" from "Hail Florida Hail"...They boil it all down and lay it out, while I am frankly WORN OUT over it all.)

 

[Escambia94]

First let us count the top OCs:

1. Garrett Riley, Clemson, $1.75M
2. Ryan Grubb, Washington, $2.00M
3. Andy Ludwig, Utah
4. Phil Longo, Wisconsin
5. Mike Denbrock, LSU
6. Jeff Lebby, Oklahoma
7. Jeff Grimes, Baylor
8. Warren Ruggieri, Wake Forest
9. Alex Atkins, FSU
10. Tommy Rees, Alabama

From that list, I think only Rees is on Napier’s rolodex.

 

[Escambia94]

I forgot that I posted this before:

1]	[2]	[3]	[4]	[5]	Name	Current School	Current Salary
4	8	1			Warren Ruggiero	Wake Forest	$738k
	4	2			Phil Longo	Wisconsin	$1.25M
	1	3			Garrett Riley	Clemson	$1.75M
1	2	4			Ryan Grubb	Washington	$2.00M
		5			Bobby Petrino	Texas A&M	$2.00M
	3	6			Andy Ludwig	Utah	$1.25M
	5	7			Mike Denbrock	LSU	$1.30M
		8			Kendal Briles	TCU	$1.25M
2	6	9			Jeff Lebby	Oklahoma	$1.90M
		10			Sean Lewis	Colorado	$850k
		11			Chip Lindsey	North Carolina	est. $700k
		12			Mike Bobo	Georgia	$1.00M
	10	13		Yes	Tommy Rees	Alabama	$1.90M
		14			Liam Coen	Kentucky	$1.70M
		15	yes		Charlie Weis Jr	Ole Miss	$825k
	7	16			Jeff Grimes	Baylor	est. $700k
5		17			Ben Arbuckle	Washington State	$100k
		18			Will Stein	Oregon	$800k
	9	19			Alex Atkins	FSU	$1.15M
		20			Beau Baldwin	Arizona State	$350k
		21			Robert Anae	NC State	$850k
		22			Graham Harrell	Purdue	$900k
		23			Tim Cramsey	Memphis	$400k
		24			Jake Spavital	Cal	est. $700k
		25			Collin Klein	Kansas State	$825k
3					Jeff Scott
			yes		Kerwin Bell	Western Carolina	$260k
				yes	Rob Sale	Florida	$1.0M
				yes	Michael Desormeaux	Louisiana	$755k
				yes	Time Leger	Louisiana	$300k
				yes	Willy Korn	Liberty	$300k
				yes	Brent Key	Georgia Tech