Pete Thamel reveals importance of Georgia game for Billy Napier's future at Florida

After two blowout losses at home, some wondered how much time Billy Napier had left at Florida. But as the Gators take a 4-3 record into the rivalry game against Georgia, ESPN’s Pete Thamel shared how that matchup could be important for Napier’s future.

Napier entered the year on plenty of hot seat lists after an up-and-down first two years in Gainesville. The Gators went 6-7 during his first season, but missed a bowl game in 2023 with a 5-7 record and saw a slew of de-commitments ahead of National Signing Day. That made 2024 especially important for Napier, and a daunting schedule made things even tougher.

The year started out with a blowout loss to Miami at The Swamp, and Texas A&M cruised to a 33-20 win in Gainesville two weeks later. Since then, UF has gone 3-1, with the only loss coming to Tennessee in overtime. While Napier’s future is still in question, Thamel said Saturday’s game against Georgia could help him flip the script and potentially stay at Florida.

“Considering where they were three weeks into the season – remember, they got blown out by Miami at home, they got blown out by Texas A&M at home and Billy Napier’s career at Florida was essentially DOA. I give them a lot of credit,” Thamel said on College Football Live. “Billy Napier’s kept that team together. They’ve come back, they’re 4-3 overall, they’re 2-2 in the SEC and they are very close to being 3-1. They obviously had that Tennessee game in overtime there.

“This is the kind of game that if Florida rallies for Billy Napier and pulls an upset, it’s gonna change the trajectory of him being on the hot seat to him having a chance to save his job – which, as Desmond [Howard] said, mid-September, nobody was thinking that was possible.”

Florida entered the season with one of the toughest schedules in college football, and the Gators have the hardest remaining schedule in the country, according to ESPN. That not only includes Georgia on Saturday, but also Texas, LSU and Ole Miss before the season finale against Florida State.

Napier is in the third year of a seven-year, $50 million to take over for Dan Mullen. His buyout would be at $25.67 million if the school moves on from him after the season, On3’s Pete Nakos previously reported.