Is this this ''kiss of death'' for Napier?

[PrestonyteParrot]

History has shown coaches being fired following such announcements.

Billy Napier to remain Florida head coach: AD Scott Stricklin issues statement

 

[18IsTheMan]

Hard to say. It depends on if this is the dreaded "vote of confidence" or if he's committing to Napier returning next year. If he can pull an upset and then beat FSU, I think he'll be safe.

I think UF folks are in the boat our fans have been in over the year, even this year, being encouraged by the team's performance in losing efforts, taking UT to OT and then playing reasonably well against UGA. If they can upset Ole Miss, LSU or Texas and then beat FSU to get to 6 wins, I think that'll be enough to keep him safe until next year.

If they only get to 5 wins with a win over FSU, that's a bit more cloudy. FSU sucks, so beating them won't mean much.

If they lose out, including FSU, with as bad as FSU is, I'm not sure how they justify bringing him back.

 

[Gradstudent]

I'm rooting for them against Texas!

Some of these 1 loss teams in the SEC need another loss,

 

[Harvard Gamecock]

This is known in the business world in it's most technical and expressive statements as
C. Y. A.

Now should circumstances change in the most immediate time frame, it can now be documented that"At the time" I expressed our utmost support for Mr.Napier but obviously events dictate that change is required to ensure our future success as a football program.
Again, we thank Mr.Napier for all his hard work and effort and wish him the very best in his future endeavors.

 

[3USC1801]

This is news to me. . . (taken from the ESPN article above about Napier)

“The buyout for Napier alone would have been more than $26 million, which would have been the second biggest in college football history, behind Texas A&M's $76 million for Jimbo Fisher last year.”

I can’t see Florida hesitating to pay the buyout.

 

[PrestonyteParrot]

This is known in the business world in it's most technical and expressive statements as
C. Y. A.

Now should circumstances change in the most immediate time frame, it can now be documented that"At the time" I expressed our utmost support for Mr.Napier but obviously events dictate that change is required to ensure our future success as a football program.
Again, we thank Mr.Napier for all his hard work and effort and wish him the very best in his future endeavors.

Yep, he made it possible to go with the flow and still be right.

 

[18IsTheMan]

It's being broadly reported that UF has committed to him returning next year.

 

[KingWard]

So, the answer to the original question is "no".

 

[18IsTheMan]

From UF's perspective, they have had a relatively quick hook with 4 of their 5 previous coaches. They probably shouldn't have fired Mullen so quick as he had 2 really good years, one good year and one bad year.

Part of the decision is probably just a realization of needing to do something different. Can't keep burning through coaches every 3-4 years.

Also, with revenue sharing and all that looming, paying these big buyouts becomes more prohibitive.

 

[Piscis]

From UF's perspective, they have had a relatively quick hook with 4 of their 5 previous coaches. They probably shouldn't have fired Mullen so quick as he had 2 really good years, one good year and one bad year.

Part of the decision is probably just a realization of needing to do something different. Can't keep burning through coaches every 3-4 years.

Also, with revenue sharing and all that looming, paying these big buyouts becomes more prohibitive.

Most UF fans think football started in 1990 when Spurrier arrived. They see themselves as perennial championship contenders in spite of the fact that before Spurrier they had never won a championship of any kind. When UGA (their most hated rival) started having more success and the rivalry started reverting to its historic trend of UGA dominance and UF was no longer winning championships, their fans lost all patience with whatever coach they had. The state of Florida produces a lot of talent but it also has a lot of football programs within the state and is heavily recruited by a lot of other programs from nearby states like Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina (Clemson signs a lot of Florida players), etc..

The few UF fans I know seem to be resolved to the fact that they need to stick with Napier at least for a few more seasons to see if he can build a program. Napier is recruiting better than Mullen, although it would be hard to recruit worse than Mullen, so the talent level is rising. They also acknowledge that as long as Kirby is in Athens they are going to have a tough time beating UGA on any sort of regular basis but they think getting back to 8-10 win seasons should be the first step and then they can focus on championships again.