For even the most dedicated of Florida Gator fans, they probably glossed over what the women's cross country team did over the weekend. Florida XC traveled to Columbia, MO, and placed 1st in the Gans Creek Classic. The Gators beat notable distance running powers like Northern Arizona, Oregon, Colorado, Virginia, and Utah.
As a result, Florida XC is now ranked 3rd in the country in the latest USTFCCCA national poll.
And when one really thinks about it, the fact that Florida is able to field a cross country team that is ranked 3rd in the country while Gator Football flounders around highlights what a failure the Billy Napier Era has been.
Florida XC is ranked 3rd while Football is 1-3
Cross country is probably the one sport where it's actually understandable if the Gators aren't very good. The state of Florida isn't exactly a hotbed for instate talent coming out of high school, and the training environment in Gainesville is a million degrees and is awful compared to what schools like Oregon and Colorado have.
And yet, third-year coach Will Palmer has found a way to be ranked 3rd in the country in a sport that only has two teams total ranked in the top 25 who are located south of Charlotte, NC (Alabama being the other).
So, what is Florida XC doing differently that Florida Football and Billy Napier seem resistant to doing?
At the core of their success has been their willingness to work the transfer portal and grab actual top-end talent, versus the Napier approach of hoping to find a diamond in the rough.
Of Florida's top five from Saturday's meet, three came to Gainesville directly from the NCAA transfer portal (Hilda Olemomoi, Judy Chepkoech, and Caroline Wells). The other two came to Florida from overseas (Tia Wilson and Desma Chepkoech). In fact, of the six runners who finished on Saturday, Wells is the only American in the group.
Some within the XC community bristle at a squad that is built using predominantly international runners, but winning is the name of the game, and Florida is doing whatever it takes to stay competitive in a sport it has no business being a contender in.
So why isn't that same mindset persistent with Napier?
Napier has never seemed interested in grabbing the best talent available. He seems to want his talent to fit into a neat little box, and he almost seems to thrive off grabbing under-the-radar guys that he attempts to build up so he can claim what a great foundation the Gators have.
That mindset might have worked in the pre-transfer portal era, but as Dabo Swinney and Mike Gundy have found out, the old model of "foundation building" just doesn't work in the modern era.
Among the problems that Florida has this year is that it has been getting mauled in the trenches, which is, in part, a byproduct of trying to grab a bunch of three-star offensive lineman and build them up rather than landing the top rated five-star guys out there.
Only now has Florida gone out and landed an actual top rated wide receiver and, shocking, Vernell Brown III looks like a top tier receiver.
And this past offseason when it was clear Florida needed help with their defensive tackle depth, Napier and crew largely sat on their hands.
There is a reason why schools like Ole Miss, Indiana, and even Vanderbilt are punching well above their weight in the modern era. They are willing to do whatever it takes to land talent to plug holes.
There is a reason why Florida XC is ranked 3rd in the country.
And there is a reason why Florida is 20-22 in the Billy Napier Era.