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- Dec 22, 2011
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Alright, Northern, here's one of my big "unsolved mysteries" questions (and forgive me for the long wind-up)...
Mario has been coaching for 5 years longer than Billy, fair enough. Regardless, from 2013 to 2016, they both spent 4 years at Alabama, Mario as Assistant Head Coach, Offensive Line Coach, and Recruiting Coordinator, and Billy as Wide Receivers Coach. Mario was named the National Recruiter of the year once by 247 and finished 2nd another year and his OL won the inaugural Joe Moore award for the toughest and most physical line in the country. I am not aware of any comparable distinctions for Billy, though the Alabama WRs were fantastic during his four years.
Both coaches then became OCs for a year, before getting head coaching jobs for 4 years each. Mario won two PAC-12 championships, Billy won twon Sun Belt championships. So in many ways, the career trajectories of Mario and Billy have been similar since 2013, but with Mario always being at a higher level (not an opinion, just an objective fact).
Now the question, why do Gator fans think that Billy was a comparable hire to Mario, or that he will win any head-to-head battles against Mario (either recruiting or on-field)? As just an example of this nonsense, I've seen posts on the Gator boards that claim a Billy recruiting victory over Mario for Knijeah Harris, who was a Manny offeree who Mario stopped recruiting. I'm just not seeing any reason for optimism as to Billy being a better coach than Mario, at least until you guys can try to prove it on the field in 2024 or 2025.
Mario has been coaching for 5 years longer than Billy, fair enough. Regardless, from 2013 to 2016, they both spent 4 years at Alabama, Mario as Assistant Head Coach, Offensive Line Coach, and Recruiting Coordinator, and Billy as Wide Receivers Coach. Mario was named the National Recruiter of the year once by 247 and finished 2nd another year and his OL won the inaugural Joe Moore award for the toughest and most physical line in the country. I am not aware of any comparable distinctions for Billy, though the Alabama WRs were fantastic during his four years.
Both coaches then became OCs for a year, before getting head coaching jobs for 4 years each. Mario won two PAC-12 championships, Billy won twon Sun Belt championships. So in many ways, the career trajectories of Mario and Billy have been similar since 2013, but with Mario always being at a higher level (not an opinion, just an objective fact).
Now the question, why do Gator fans think that Billy was a comparable hire to Mario, or that he will win any head-to-head battles against Mario (either recruiting or on-field)? As just an example of this nonsense, I've seen posts on the Gator boards that claim a Billy recruiting victory over Mario for Knijeah Harris, who was a Manny offeree who Mario stopped recruiting. I'm just not seeing any reason for optimism as to Billy being a better coach than Mario, at least until you guys can try to prove it on the field in 2024 or 2025.