Florida Football: Gators Do Not Need A Offensive Coordinator (Yet)

As running back Lorenzo Lingard bolted through a wide-open hole against Eastern Washington’s defense, it marked the ending of two figurative droughts for Florida football’s offense.

Florida’s 52-17 victory on Sunday marked the first time the Gators have scored more than 35 points in a game since the infamous 70-52 home victory against Samford, another FCS program, 11 months ago.

The Gators’ 35-point victory against the Eagles was also the first time the Gators have covered the spread (-29.5) as the betting favorite since Florida’s 24-21 victory against Florida State last November.

When new Florida football head coach Billy Napier announced during his introductory press conference that he would be calling plays on offense for Florida starting in 2022, this idea was met with some skepticism.

Throughout the Power Five landscape of college football, many of the successful programs in recent years have had full-time offensive coordinators that have produced offenses that have ranked near the top of the pack both in the conference and nationally.

In last year’s college football playoffs, all four teams had a full-time offensive coordinator calling plays. Three of the four teams each had offenses that averaged 439 yards of total offense and ranked 24th or higher nationally, with the lone exception being Cincinnati at 415.2.

In comparison, Napier’s offense at Louisiana Lafayette ranked near the top of the Sunbelt in 2021, averaging 31.4 points and 414.0 yards per game.

As Napier began implementing a completely different offensive philosophy to a Florida program whose pool of experienced offensive playmakers was left practically empty, many Florida football fans wondered how this year’s offense would function.

Through five games the Gators have averaged 463.2 yards (5th in the SEC, 20th nationally) and 32.2 points per game (9th in the SEC, 36th nationally).

Though the Gators have managed to score 85 points and tally over 1,100 yards of offense in their previous two games, there are still some general concerns with Florida’s offense entering the midway point of this season.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Anthony Richardson has still thrown more interceptions (6) than touchdown passes (4), all the while completing a mere 55.7 percent of his passes.

The Gators have leaned heavily on their ground attack throughout most of 2022. Through five games Florida football has averaged 210.2 rushing yards per game, which ranks 4th in the SEC and 22nd nationally.

Despite ranking near the top in team rushing statistics, there has been no clear-cut alpha inside Florida’s running back room. Sophomore Montrell Jonhson Jr., who played in Napier’s offense last year at Louisiana Lafayette, currently leads all running backs with 282 rush yards, which ranks 12th among all rushers in the SEC.

Meanwhile, Florida’s production from its receiver and tight end room has been anemic through five weeks.

Redshirt junior wide receiver Justin Shorter currently leads the team in receiving yards with 318. However, 75 of his yards this season came on Florida’s first play on offense against Eastern Washington after hauling in a deep ball from Richardson.

Sophomore wide receiver Xzavier Henderson is the only Florida football player that has eclipsed 15 receptions in 2022 with 21 to his name. Despite this, Henderson has accrued only 202 receiving yards and one touchdown thus far.

Florida football: Struggles in the SEC

The Gators are about to enter a three-game gauntlet this month that features three defenses that are currently ranked in the top 35 in total defense, starting this Saturday with the Missouri Tigers.

Florida is currently winless in the conference this season at 0-2. Part of the reason is due to the offense’s struggles to reach the red zone and ability to protect the football.

In both of their previous SEC games, the Gators have averaged 24.5 points per game, all the while turning over the ball four times. In the red zone, the Gators have managed to score only five times on a mere seven red zone trips.

In comparison to last year, the Gators made 30 red zone trips against SEC opponents. They managed to score on 27 of those trips, including 21 touchdowns.

While it is fair for Florida fans to be critical of Florida’s decreased productivity in terms of passing and scoring this season, it is equally as important to understand the difficulty Napier and his staff have had to deal with since they first arrived in Gainesville ten months ago.

As previously mentioned, Florida’s cupboard of offensive firepower was left nearly empty before spring training.

In the receiver room, only three players returned from last year’s team with more than 100 career receiving yards and a touchdown to their name.

The same could not be said with Florida’s tight end room, as junior Keon Zipperer was the only returning tight end with actual in-game experience at that position for the orange and blue.

One of the reasons Florida fired Dan Mullen last year was due to his lackadaisical approach to recruiting. The evidence of this has been heard loud and clear on the offensive side of the football.

In Mullen’s final two recruiting classes (2020 and 2021), the Gators signed ten combined blue-chip prospects on offense, according to 247 sports. Of those ten players, seven are currently left on Florida’s roster. Anthony Richardson and Xzavier Henderson are the only two of those players that have started in multiple games for the Gators this season.

Speaking of Richardson, it has been well documented that part of Richardson’s struggles has been related to the team’s lack of depth at quarterback throughout the season.

Ohio State transfer quarterback Jack Miller III has been inactive through the first five games due to a thumb injury he sustained in fall camp. With no other quarterbacks on the roster having in-game experience. Richardson made it known publicly that he has tried to cut back on running with the football to stay healthy.

But when Florida had its back against the wall on the road at Knoxville two weeks ago, Richardson reminded the world what exactly he is capable of. Against the Tennessee Volunteers, Richardson threw for a career-high 453 passing yards, ran for 62 yards, and accumulated four total touchdowns.

Unlike Mullen previously, Napier has been unafraid to give his underclassmen a hefty amount of playing time this year. One of Florida’s bright points on offense this season has come from true freshman Trevor Etienne, who has run the ball 35 times for 223 yards and two touchdowns.

Florida football fans have been spoiled with a rich history of producing high-octane offenses. It’s fair to say that Billy Napier doesn’t have the same level of intelligence at designing plays on offense as Dan Mullen does. Nobody in the national media will ever refer to Napier as a quarterback whisperer or an offensive genius as they did Mullen.

But when Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin decided to hire Napier as the new head coach, it was not with the main intention to produce offenses that rivaled Steve Spurrier’s “Fun ‘N’ Gun” or Urban Meyer’s spread championship-winning offenses. He tried that previously with Mullen and it unfortunately failed.

Instead, Napier was hired on the idea that he would rebuild the Florida football brand back to a championship-caliber level by being one of the most productive programs nationally both on the gridiron, in the weight room, and on the recruiting trail.

In terms of hitting the recruiting trail, Napier and his staff have continued to set the trail ablaze when building Florida’s 2023 class. As of October 7, Florida currently sits 5th in the SEC and 11th nationally in the 2023 recruiting class with 20 commits. Of their 20 current commitments, eight are considered blue-chip players on offense.

Time will tell if Florida’s offense will start improving and eventually thrive against tougher SEC competition. Saturday’s homecoming game against a Missouri team that held reigning national champion Georgia to 26 points in a near-home upset will be a good litmus test to see what direction Florida’s offense is heading in.

But whether Florida’s offense manages to outscore the Tigers by multiple touchdowns like they did this past Sunday, or win by the margin of a field goal in a much lower-scoring game similar to their wins against Utah and South Florida, it is way too early for Napier to consider turning over offensive play-calling duties to a potential new member of his army.

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