Paul Finebaum addresses Billy Napier's future, if he deserves another year at Florida

After showing some fight against Georgia, Paul Finebaum evaluated where Billy Napier stands with the Florida Gators, and whether his seat has cooled off a bit. 

Earlier this season, it seemed as if Napier was living on borrowed time in Gainesville, but Florida has rebounded quite nicely over the past month and change. Is it enough to grant him one more season, at the least? The SEC Network analyst isn’t going that far at the moment, but his mind could be changed. 

“The other side of that game yesterday, I mean, Billy Napier just will not go away, although I think he’s close to now going away, because the numbers game for him is insurmountable,” Finebaum said regarding Napier, via The Matt Barrie Show. “That was a game he had to win, and obviously he didn’t. He’s got to find a win somewhere, against either Texas, LSU or Ole Miss.”

While Finebaum believes Napier has one foot out the door at Florida, Matt Barrie is on the other side of the fence. He believes the run the Gators have been on lately might’ve already saved the coach’s job. 

“I’m going to take that the other way, Paul. I think Billy Napier has done enough to stay,” Barrie responded. “I think Billy Napier should get another year. You look at that team yesterday, so many players out, their best players out. They took Georgia — 20-20, I believe that was when they scored that touchdown, it was already in the fourth quarter. So here’s the argument … on a coaching departure, you better make sure who you’re getting is better, part one. Part two, you would better make sure that the guy that comes in is not going to set the program back before he takes it forward.

“Will you grant me that Florida’s playing hard for Billy Napier? At this point, who are you gonna get? Like, who’s coming in?”

Evidently, Finebaum can see a path for Florida to keep their current coach, but going off the scuttlebutt he’s heard from Gators fans, he believes Gainesville is ready for a new leader. 

“I think it’s easier to make a compelling argument for him, based on what almost happened this year. But spending the weekend with a lot of Florida fans, I’m just gonna give you my impressions from talking to them, they’re ready to move on, and really the only thing that’s keeping them with Billy Napier is D.J. Lagway, and now that Lagway is done, probably for the season, and I don’t know if there’s a guarantee that he comes back,” Finebaum stated. “I know that that’s kind of baked into the cake, but I’m not positive about that. So, I mean, it may be a split decision, which favors Billy Napier, because the only way I would agree with you to fire him is if you have somebody that is rock solid. You can get away with it. I mean, he’s done enough this year to show that he’s capable.

“The problem that he ended up with — we all focused on those ending games, the stretch he’s in right now. FSU exited. We didn’t factor the fact that Texas A&M early on and Miami were on the same level. So, I mean, his schedule has just been — I mean, you can put Clemson out with the same schedule, or somebody else, even in the SEC — Georgia with the same schedule, and they’re going to have problems. It’s that challenging, right now for him. But I mean, it doesn’t matter to me. I mean, I’m not advocating that he gets fired. I’m just simply saying, based on what I heard, he may be out of time.” 

Time will tell what the decision is on Billy Napier, but the path doesn’t get easier for the Florida Gators moving forward. They’ll face the Texas Longhorns in Week 11, a showdown that would be a huge feather in the coach’s cap if the team is able to get the win.