Greg McElroy reacts to Florida's decision to retain Billy Napier as head coach

After entering the season on the hot seat, Billy Napier is staying at Florida. Gators AD Scott Stricklin announced the decision to retain the coach Thursday, and the reactions continue to pour in – including from ESPN analyst Greg McElroy.

McElroy broke down the “correct” move by Florida to retain Napier despite the potential for a third straight losing season. The pressure was mounting for Stricklin to make a move earlier in the year, especially after home losses to Miami and Texas A&M. But the Gators continued to rally, getting an SEC win over Kentucky, taking Tennessee to overtime and continuing to fight last week against Georgia after DJ Lagway’s injury.

To McElroy, Florida opted to allow “cooler heads to prevail” and expressed confidence in the development of a young roster. All told, 76 Gators are listed as freshmen, redshirt freshmen, sophomores and redshirt sophomores. Add in some key injuries, and McElroy approved of the move to retain Napier.

“I actually really like the move,” McElroy said on SportsCenter Thursday evening. “I think it’d be easy to succumb to public pressure and say, ‘Yeah, we’ve just got to move on. Rip off the Band-Aid and let’s go.’ But if you look at the roster composition, most of their best players are freshmen and sophomores. There’s still a long way to go before those guys develop fully.

“When you look at this season and dive a bit deeper, they’ve had to endure a lot of adversity. They lost Graham Mertz, their starting quarterback, against Tennessee. They had Georgia in a position where they could’ve pulled off the upset if not for the injury to their other quarterback, DJ Lagway. They’ve been without their best wide receiver for most of the season, and yet, they’re still competitive.”

Greg McElroy: Florida allowed ‘cooler heads to prevail’ by retaining Billy Napier

Looking at the rest of the season, McElroy noted the tall task Florida faces. The Gators entered the season with the hardest schedule in the country and still have three ranked opponents remaining in Texas, LSU and Ole Miss before the season finale against Florida State.

McElroy said Florida has momentum after the Georgia game, keeping pace with the Bulldogs after searching for an upset prior to Lagway’s injury. By retaining Billy Napier, the Gators are now ready to move on, especially on the recruiting trail.

“I also like the timing because if you look at the next three weeks, they’re probably going to be a decent underdog in each of the next three games, like you referenced – against Texas this week, against LSU at home next week and then, Ole Miss the week after that,” McElroy said. “So get out in front of it before you maybe lose a little momentum, but I think it’s the correct decision if you allow cooler heads to prevail.”