It's a brand new year for Florida Football, and since hope springs eternal, today is a day to dream about what is possible for the next 365 days.
Some of these might have little chance of happening, but the following are four New Year's Resolutions the Gators need to consider for 2025.
Hire an offensive coordinator
Let's get the most obvious one on most people's lists out of the way that is also the least likely to happen.
Billy Napier keeps insisting on being the offensive coordinator, and yet he still hasn't produced a unit that has been anything but adequate at best. In 2024, Florida was 64th in points per game and 82nd in yards per game.
There are two core critiques of Napier's offense:
- Despite having a cache of speedy wide receivers, Napier keeps insisting upon using two tight ends
- Nothing ever feels easy, and most plays require someone to make a special play to work
The reality if that in all five of Florida's losses in 2024, the Gators scored 20 or fewer points in each of them. Only five times did they top 30 points, one being Samford, and against FSU and Tulane, it required garbage time touchdowns to eclipse 30 points.
Napier does have an opening on his staff he could use to hire an OC. He also had a chance to hire one last year and didn't do it. Will 2025 finally be the year?
Sign a 5-star offensive tackle
In the Billy Napier Era, the Gators have yet to sign a composite top 100 overall offensive tackle in recruiting. Florida has landed top prospects in other position groups, but the inability to land a premier tackle continues to be a weak point.
Florida's offensive line did show signs of growth and became a serviceable unit by the end of the season, but like the offense as a whole it was far from elite. During the four-game winning streak, the Gators were still allowing double-digit pressures on DJ Lagway per game.
A five-star won't solve anything for the 2025 or, frankly the 2026 season, but if Florida wants to take a step forward, they need to be landing premier talent more often along the line year after year.
Get the depth chart right
Another very real critique of Florida from the 2024 season was how flawed the depth chart was to begin the season. We have mentioned multiple times how guys were getting 20+ snaps against Miami and Texas A&M who would struggle to get reps at UCF.
Eventually, Florida figured out their depth chart, and it was a big part of the late-season turnaround, but Napier and crew have to do a better job of identifying who their top talent is heading into the season.
Opening against Long Island and USF before having to face LSU and Miami should help, and hopefully, we won't see some of the arbitrary rotations against the Tigers we saw early in the season in 2024.
Make the playoffs
Heading into the 2024 season, we had said anything short of 8-4 in 2024 would mean Napier didn't have the program where it was supposed to be by year three of his tenure.
Say what you will for Dan Mullen, but had there been expanded playoffs he would have had the Gators in them in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
There is a narrative floating around that Florida now has a two-year window to do something special because of Lagway, and there is a hint of truth to that, but great programs in college football don't sit around waiting for windows to open; they keep a door wide open at all times.
So, if Florida falls short of the playoffs in 2025, we are not interested in hearing, "Well, just wait until next year." Gator fans have been waiting and are ready for the breakthrough to happen.