Greg McElroy positively endorses Billy Napier for Florida rebuild

As Florida prepares to enter Year 2 under coach Billy Napier, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy has a bit of a warning: buckle up and get ready for the long haul. This Florida rebuild will take a minute.

The 2023 season might not be pretty, but the ESPN analyst has faith in what Napier is doing.

“What I would say about Billy, Billy Napier is going to build it,” McElroy said recently in a ‘fan therapy session’ on the ESPN College Football channel on YouTube.

“I believe that. I really believe that, I’m not lying to you. I believe that he can build it. But I also think, too, Florida fans need to acknowledge things are not always going to look the way they looked under Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier. Florida fans were disgruntled even going to the SEC Championship Game because they didn’t score enough points en route to the SEC Championship Game.”

The way Napier built his program at Louisiana, it might be unrealistic to expect a team that constantly threatens to hang half a hundred on its opponents.

Napier’s squads were built around a strong running game as the foundation, then relied on sound defense and special teams and execution in key moments to make the difference.

“Take all of that with a grain of salt,” McElroy said. “Your roster this year is not yet at a level in which I expect them to be competitive week-in and week-out in the SEC. I think 6-6 would be an achievement, to be completely honest with you. So understand where you’re at.”

Keep in mind that in 2022 Florida went 6-7 with a roster that included a likely first-round NFL Draft pick at quarterback in Anthony Richardson.

While Florida added Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz from the NCAA transfer portal, it’s probably unrealistic to expect a roster that still has holes elsewhere to do a whole lot better as the Florida rebuild continues.

“This is the same conversation, I might add, this is the same conversation I had with Tennessee fans a few years ago: Get to a bowl game and then we’ll assess it from there,” McElroy said. “Get to a bowl game, get your young players 15 additional practices to work and develop and we’ll go from there.

“But if you start thinking, ‘Hey man, championship or bust this year,’ I think you’re going to be in for a bit of a rude awakening. So let’s aim for six wins, hopefully get those extra practices. You use those extra practices as a springboard for what could be a really solid 2024 assuming you get a bunch of young guys involved.”

As McElroy points out, other SEC teams have taken that model and found some success. One of Florida’s rivals can lay claim to that. Florida’s rebuild could follow a similar path.

“That’s what I would hope for the Florida Gators: Use the Tennessee blueprint,” McElroy said. “Take a couple strides this year, set the foundation and then leap forward in the years to come. So if I’m Florida I’m not pressing the panic button just yet. I know it’s going to be a slow-build process because Billy’s done that before at Louisiana and has had great success in doing it.”