Dooley’s Dozen: 12 reasons Gator fans should be optimistic about 2023
We aren’t far from SEC Media Days and the season is close enough that you can almost smell the tailgate charcoal.
But there’s still a long way to go.
And during that time leading up to the first game and another season that goes by so quickly it resembles a hummingbird on steroids, you’re going to hear a lot of negativity.
It started early for the 2023 Florida Gators, right around the time the spring game ended. Ever since then, there have been plenty of people with reasons to be down on the Gators and they don’t have to look that hard.
But Dr. Football is here to turn the frown upside down as Dooley’s Dozen looks at 12 reasons you can be optimistic about this upcoming season. Don’t be afraid to try.
It’s the second year
Look, we’re not trying to say that Billy Napier is going to do what coaches before him have been able to do. He inherited a mess and still has a lot of mop duty in front of him. But we know that there is a tradition around here that coaches excel in their second seasons.
Steve Spurrier won the SEC, Urban Meyer a national title, Will Muschamp 11 games, Jim McElwain the SEC East. Nobody is expecting a playoff berth, but the second year for a coach is always better than the first.
Gator fans thrive in the feedback
Not all Gator fans, mind you, but a lot who I know believe Florida will be back because it is Florida. And they know the daggers are coming because they loved dishing them out when Gainesville was Titletown. That’s OK. Bring it. It’s always been Florida against the SEC. That won’t change. Ever.
The schedule is not as tough as we think
Compared to Georgia’s, it is a little ridiculous. But you can’t worry about the Bulldogs until that game. What’s everybody so worried about? Games at the two Columbias? An opener in front of 51,000 people? Three straight home games early to build momentum? FSU in the Swamp? Nobody is saying the schedule is easy, but it’s going to be way tougher next year.
Graham Mertz may be OK
The guy has played in 34 college football games and plenty of them were big ones. Forget the spring game. Florida showed nothing. Mertz has 38 career touchdown passes and it may just be possible that some of his issues were an offense that was stale.
I know people were looking at the shiny objects in the portal, but don’t you have to trust your coach once in a while.
There is a low pressure system
It is Florida and there are expectations that sometimes get a little whacky, but the level of pressure on this team is not the usual suffocating beast. Florida may be picked as low as fifth in the SEC East, which would be a record for the Gators. It allows for a chip on the shoulders of all the players.
There are areas of depth
They are not everywhere because he has had two years to revamp the roster. And he didn’t exactly inherit the ’95 Nebraska Cornhuskers. But they have built a great running back room and have used the portal to fill in some of the gaps. Napier had also upgraded the walk-on program which is especially important for practices.
Nobody is waiting on the quarterback
You know how some basketball teams struggle because everyone is waiting for the double-teamed superstar to do something on his own? That was kind of last year’s team. The play-calling was based on what Anthony Richardson could do, but he didn’t always do it. Therefore, a lot of holes to dig out from.
The new rules
Florida is going to be a team built on the running game with Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne. The new rules of college football are built to shorten games (clock not stopping on first down, for example) which should play into the Gators’ strength.
There are no more excuses
And that’s a good thing. Everything the players want has been provided for them including a new NIL plan, parking, a new facility that they will have been in for a year when the season starts and I could go on, but you’ve seen the bills. There should never be excuses, but we are finished bringing any of them up.
The bad eggs are gone
That said, not everyone who has left the program was a problem. Napier tried to convince players to buy into the process in Year Zero and a lot of them chose not to. It’s not like there aren’t still problems. Every staff has to deal with them. But there certainly won’t be as many.
The defense will be better
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. The personnel is better and new coach Austin Armstrong will make us all forget about third-and-Toney. Florida will only be as good as its defense and the vibe is good in that building.
It has to get better
Obviously, nobody wants to see the Gators go down the same path as some of the other bluebloods who have struggled this century. You want to be optimistic? Take a lesson from the great Ted Lasso. B-E-L-I-E-V-E. There. Feel better?
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