Joel Klatt describes how much pressure Billy Napier is under in 2025 at Florida

Billy Napier salvaged his job as Florida‘s head football coach with a strong finish to the 2024 season, due in no small part to the impressive play of then-freshman quarterback DJ Lagway.

Despite that reality Napier’s hot seat hasn’t actually gotten any cooler in the last few months, and FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt expects the heat could become unbearable if the Gators run into trouble during a pivotable four-game stretch in 2025.

During Monday’s “Coaching Pressure Index” episode of The Joel Klatt Show, the host pointed to the four-game stretch over five weeks between Sept. 13 at LSU and Oct. 11 at Texas A&M as a critical juncture for Napier’s continued future in Gainesville.

“Hottest seat in the country last year, performed well. I think that bringing him back is the right move. The Lagway relationship clearly worked. They finished really strong, winning their last four including wins against Ole Miss and LSU – those were big wins,” Klatt said Monday. “This year the expectations are much higher. The schedule is just as difficult but they’re much higher. And they have an incredibly tough four-game stretch early in the year. I think that they need to go at a minimum 2-2 in these games. This four-game stretch is at LSU, at Miami, (vs.) Texas, and at Texas A&M.”

But while those bookending SEC games will undoubtedly be important, especially if Florida is going to climb out of the back-half of the conference standings, it’s the in-state, non-conference rivalry game at Miami on Sept. 20 that will carry the most weight for Napier.

“So then we talk about where is that pressure game? The pressure game is the same pressure game as Florida State, which is Miami,” Klatt continued. “It’s one thing to lose some of these conference games, and understand the conference schedule is incredibly tough, including at LSU, at Texas A&M, and Texas we think is going to be a Top-2 team, maybe the top team in the country.

“But you’ve got to prove you’re not the third-tier team in the state of Florida, or even the second-tier team. So the game at Miami is actually the one where the pressure gets ratcheted up. Tough four-game stretch, I think they need to go 2-2. And if you don’t beat Miami, which other two teams are you beating? I don’t know.”