Anonymous coaches offer opposing thoughts on Florida in season previews

As football season approaches, the various preseason preview pieces come out, some carrying more weight than others.

Two of the more-trusted outlets are Athlon Sports and Lindy's, both of which feature a scouting section with quotes from opposing coaches in their summer preview issues.The Florida Gators ended 2024 as one of the hottest teams in college football, but there are different schools of thought when it comes to whether or not Billy Napier and DJ Lagway are going to turn the program around.

The SEC assistant who spoke with Athlon offered a fairly positive perspective on the Gators.If Lagway continues to develop and stays healthy, they're going to continue to improve." he said.

"They dont have a killer at receiver, but theyre solid at running back.

Defensively, theyre young, but theyve finally got some guys in there that look elite."The same coach goes on to imply that Florida would have moved from Napier if it weren't for "the changing politics of the game" and a large buyout, all to say that 2025 is the decisive year for the Gators' head man."Lagway and that offensive line are legit enough to bring back a true Florida offense.' If they can be in the hunt for a playoff bid and start scoring points like those old Gator programs, I think (Napier) will be off the hot seat for a while."Lindy's received a much different report from an opposing coach, albeit one that allows for Lagway to prove otherwise."Its a shame what happened to this program," the coach said.

"I know Billy got it turned around in the second half after another slow start, but he makes (Dan) Mullen look good.

...

Ill take a wait-and-see approach on Lagway.

He makes a bunch of mistakes and is already banged up coming into the year, or at least he was in the spring."If Lagway stays healthy and succeeds, this coach has an out, but most of his criticisms are recruiting-based.

He went into a tangent about Florida being unable to out-recruit Miami, but the Hurricanes haven't done much with that talent and Napier is pulling in top-10 classes each year.

If the Gators can reach the Playoffs this year, the recruiting ranks don't matter muchThe coach who spoke with Lindy's did give the Florida defense some credit, naming defensive linemen Caleb Banks and Tyreak Sapp as future Sunday players.Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida football scouting report SEC Coaches talk to Athlon, Lindy's.

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