Expectations for Florida Gators against 2024's Schedule

The Florida Gators face the nation's most challenging schedule in 2024, and head coach Billy Napier needs to win.

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier needs to ignore the distractions that come with the nation's toughest schedule. / Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

The clock ticks down, closer to the start of Florida Gators football beginning for the 2024 season. With so many words spoken and written, the program readies itself to play hard for at least the next twelve games, hopefully more. 

The players diligently worked and toiled through spring and the first week of fall practice. Instead of months and weeks, the first game arrives in less than twenty days. With that said, as Florida football goes, the level of expectation rises that follows this football program, year in and year out. The standard in Gainesville is winning, plain and simple. 

Ignore The Headlines and Pundits

Regardless of how many wins Florida emerges with in 2024, some overpaid analyst, in an air-conditioned studio will cash a sizable paycheck. These people will lead their show with the splashiest headlines to lure viewers in, only to tell you what remains common knowledge. 

The University of Florida plays the toughest schedule in FBS this fall. Everyone knows this. Billy Napier could lose his job if the team performs poorly. Again, not really groundbreaking news to report. Remember, many pundits traffic and profit off fan misery.

The players and coaching staff, the only ones that actually can control what occurs between the lines, need to tune everything and everyone out. Horses wear blinders to keep them focused. Some Gators wear visors to do the exact same thing. 

Six Games Minimum

As mentioned, the daunting schedule looks rather tough. However, in winning six games, the Gators should save Billy Napier's job, Now, the catch - in order to win six games, the Gators need to pull off at least two upsets. To paraphrase known sportsman/prognosticator Dominic Toretto, "It don't matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning." 

Forget the aesthetically pleasing offensive works of art. Instead, those gritty, nail-biting, need-a-stop-on-fourth-down wins become imperative. Although, either way the season transpires for Napier, he will collect a hefty severance, the assistants suffer more. 

They depend on those steady paychecks to take care of their family. Six wins will not only keep Napier's job and his assistants employed, but will open the door for another layer of recruiting and building the program. 

Give No Quarter

Within the offense, Florida wants to run the ball, which will tire a defense. However, they also possess veterans at quarterback and receiver. If they manage to enter the middle of the third quarter with a lead, add onto it. While not quite saying run up the score, Florida needs to end games early. If the offense sets up anywhere near the redzone with a decent lead, sevens over three.

Nearly 800-years ago, St. Thomas Aquinas defined the virtue of mercy. With all due respect, he never needed to protect a lead in the SEC. By giving the defense breathing room, that allows the squad to become one-dimensional, pinning their ears back and rolling over offenses with pressure. With jobs/scholarships hanging in the balance, leave the niceties on the bus.