Why Billy Napier will not give up play-calling in 2024

Multiple questions surround Billy Napier and Florida heading into the spring. Seemingly the biggest one revolves around play calling and whether or not Napier will give the job up. As of now, the answer, at least in the eyes of Nick De la Torre of On3’s Gators Online, is no.

De la Torre points the the moves Napier has made this offseason as to why he believes the head coach will continue to call plays. For the first time in Napier’s career, he let go of assistant coaches but they were on defense and special teams. No changes have been made to the offensive coaching staff.

Napier must not believe offense was Florida’s main issue in 2023.

“I take Billy Napier at his word,” De la Torre said during Tuesday’s episode of Andy Staples On3. “I think he’s an honest man. So, when he says ‘We take stock and we do rigorous evaluations of our staffs and of each other after every year,’ I know that Billy Napier, who has been a head coach now six years, had never fired an assistant football coach. So, when they took stock after 2023, shortly after the season, two defensive coaches were fired. The first coaches Billy Napier has fired as a head coach.

“Nobody on offense has been moved or changed. So, that tells me Billy Napier thinks the problem was on defense. ‘The problem was that we’re not strong enough.’ Got a new strength coach. ‘The problem was we had some procedural issues on special teams that kept creeping up.’ Got another guy for special teams. Clearly, the offense isn’t the issue.”

Usually, a change made in play calling signals the end is near. Whether an offensive coordinator is taken off the job in favor of the head coach or vice versa, it’s not a good sign.

Napier must feel he has job security at Florida, no matter what occurs during the 2024 season. And even if he did, trusting somebody else to call the offense would be taking matters out of his own hands.

“I keep going back to the point,” De La Torre said. “If Billy Napier believes his job is not on the line in 2024, then why make a change on offense? Furthermore, if he thinks his job is on the line, ‘Why would I give up playcalling and let some other playcaller determine my fate and my future?'”

No SEC program will be under a bigger microscope than Florida. Napier has produced two straight losing seasons and with the 2024 schedule, a third one is widely expected. Pressure is going to be through the roof to pull together some kind of positive results.

Napier feels confident in himself as an offensive play-caller to get the job done, at least of the time being.