Paul Finebaum delves into irony of Billy Napier beating Lane Kiffin

It was rumored just a few weeks ago that Billy Napier could be on the way out at Florida and Lane Kiffin was a candidate to replace him. However, the narrative has changed dramatically since as the Gators handed Kiffin and Ole Miss a 24-17 loss on Saturday.

Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said even before that game that Napier would return as the coach in 2025. He now has the Gators bowl eligible and coming off of back-to-back top 25 victories.

Meanwhile, the loss for the Rebels is their third of the season and would seem to knock them out of College Football Playoff contention. SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum noted the irony in how things have shifted.

“I know a lot of people think we just throw that stuff up against the wall (with Kiffin to Florida rumors), but we weren’t,” Finebaum said on The Matt Barrie Show. “Forgetting what Florida did, if Florida had just continued to lose and the thing had gotten out of control — remember, in the second or third week of September, there were reports out of Florida that Napier was getting bought out.

“I said to you one of those mornings that Lane Kiffin would be the likely choice and I think he would have taken it presuming Ole Miss was out of a Playoff spot. That’s the irony. They’re out of the Playoff now, but there’s no job.”

Napier’s seat was looking pretty warm a couple of weeks ago with the Gators sitting at 4-5 and not many predicting them to win their next two games against LSU and Ole Miss. But they won both as the confidence in the coach’s ability to build a program is growing.

Napier is in his third season in Gainesville after four years at Louisiana, which he led to at least 10 wins in each of his final three seasons. However, his overall record with the Gators is a losing one, sitting at 17-19 with two more games on the schedule.

If Florida wins just one of those two, it will mark the highest win total in Napier’s tenure and is certainly a sign of things moving in an upward direction. It’s hard to believe that is the case after where things stood two weeks ago with Kiffin’s name being brought up as a replacement.

Napier still has a lot to prove next season, but for now, he’s proven he deserves another year.