One of the ongoing running gags of the Billy Napier Era for Florida Football has been a lack of haste in the transfer portal every year and the annual tradition of not hiring an offensive coordinator. The Gators are once again repeating this cycle, and at this point, it isn't worth trying to get hopes up that Napier is ever actually going to change his ways while he is in Gainesville.
But if one thinks Gator fans who muse about the lack of transfer portal activity and the lack of an OC are just complaining to complain, all one needed to do was watch Ryan Day lift the national championship trophy to be reminded there is an ocean of difference to being "good" compared to being "elite."
Florida Football: Wanna Play A Game?
The talent gap throughout Ohio State's playoff run was evident, and it is not an accident that the only close game they had during their run was against Texas, the only other team ranked in the top five of the 247 Talent Composite they faced in the playoffs.
Last night, there was a string of tweets from fans all over the country commenting on how Ohio State won the national title in part because they spent $20 million on their roster. The Buckeyes had indicated back in August that ten players on their roster were making at least $1 million.
But that's not Ohio State's fault. They were willing to play ball and spend the money, while schools like Florida only act like they want to spend money.
The Gators made it a point of emphasis to let various media entities know how "aggressive" they would be in the transfer portal, only to go out and sign a grand total of four players out of the portal.
Florida isn't necessarily "poor" and would highlight keeping Caleb Banks, Jake Slaughter, and Tyreak Sapp, along with landing DJ Lagway in the first place, as signs of NIL money being spent. But whether it was sticker shock or pulling an intentional bait and switch, Florida made it very clear they were unwilling to spend money like the big boys.
Billy Napier doesn't have control on whether boosters are willing to spend money, but he does have control of the other key thing Ohio State did this offseason that led them to a title.
Like Napier, Day was the offensive coordinator for the Buckeyes in 2023. Unlike Napier, Day gave up play-calling duties and eventually brought Chip Kelly to town as his OC.
Whether it's scheme, route combinations, lack of feel as a play-caller, lack of elite talent, or just general game management, the reality is that Florida has yet to finish in the top 60 in points per game in any of the three years Napier has insisted on being the OC in Gainesville.
Ohio State, meanwhile, was 35th in points per game in 2023, made the switch to Kelly, and finished 9th in points per game in 2024.
One team won a national title. One team wants a pat on the back because they defied the comically low expectations Vegas set at the start of the season.
If the goal is to win a national title, Ohio State provided the blueprint for what has to be done in the modern era.