Evaluating where Florida stands under Billy Napier: 'Mississippi State and Florida are on the same tier'

Florida lost their SEC opener this weekend at home to Texas A&M, scoring the last 14 points late in Saturday’s game to close the margin to 33-20 in a game that the Aggies dominated the majority of. Further putting the future of the Gators and head coach Billy Napier in question this season.

It’s well known that Florida’s schedule does not get much easier moving forward this season. But the Gators are 4.5-point road favorites this Saturday when they take on Mississippi State. A matchup that On3’s Andy Staples recently spoke about with Ari Wasserman and made a harsh statement regarding the state of the Florida program.

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“Florida is playing a team on Florida’s tier this weekend,” Staples said during Andy & Ari On3. “Mississippi State and Florida are on the same tier. Florida hired Billy Napier to get them to a much higher tier and he got them on a lower tier. That is why this is happening.”

Napier is in the midst of his third season with the Gators, leading the team to a 12-16 overall record and a disappointing 6-11 record versus SEC opponents. Now set to face a Bulldogs’ team in the midst of a rebuild under first-year head coach Jeff Lebby.

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A win versus Mississippi State is expected for the Gators and a loss could mean bad news for their head coach, but Staples believes the verdict on Napier is already set in stone.

“Whether it’s happened or not by the time they play on Saturday, the decision on Billy Napier has pretty much been made. I don’t think there’s a way out for him,” Staples said. “So rallying the troops, beating Mississippi State, well Jimbo Fisher will tell you what can happen after he beat Mississippi State. Because he got fired after he beat Mississippi State last year, so I don’t know that it matters.”

A 51-10 win over Mississippi State last season represented the last game of Fisher’s tenure as Texas A&M’s head coach. And Florida’s struggles paired with the Bulldogs falling to Toledo in a shocking 41-17 loss on Saturday makes this weekend’s SEC matchup fascinating both on and off the field.

“I don’t know what to think of this one, yes Florida should cover this. Because while they are not good and probably not capable of winning against most of their schedule, they should be good enough to out-talent Mississippi State here, one would think at this point in Jeff Lebby’s roster flip,” Staples concluded.