Joel Klatt: Florida is ‘pretty average program’ outside of Steve Spurrier, Urban Meyer

Things are a bit dire in the state of Florida for two major powerhouse programs, as both Florida and Florida State struggle on the field and face some degree of uncertainty surrounding their current head coach.

The problem is much more dire at Florida, where coach Billy Napier is firmly on the hot seat just three games into the season.

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FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt tackled the state of things in a recent podcast appearance, outlining some of the reasons the Gators, in particular, are in rough shape. One of the reasons might just surprise fans.

“If you really go back and study the University of Florida, you will see that they were not very successful at all outside of the Steve Spurrier era and the Urban Meyer era,” Klatt said. “Everywhere else, that’s a pretty average program. Pretty average program.”

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The FOX Sports analyst went on to further his claim, since realistically if you take away any program’s top two producing coaches the program will look significantly more pedestrian.

“Dan Mullen won 11 games once,” Klatt said. “They’ve got like, I think three 10-plus win seasons in their history, outside of Spurrier and Urban Meyer. Maybe you’re saying, ‘Well that’s every single program.’ No, not all the way.

“Go look at Ohio State. Every coach that’s coached at Ohio State wins and wins at a high level. Every coach that’s coached at LSU wins and wins at a high level. ‘Bama could be the same way. You’ve got titles with Bear (Bryant), (Gene) Stallings, (Nick) Saban. Like multiple guys, whereas at Florida, yes, you’ve got two guys that have won titles, but outside of that, man, it’s pretty bare.”

A few facts, first. Florida has won 10 or more games four times outside of the Spurrier and Meyer eras, with all four coming in the modern scheduling era. Each of the previous three coaches before Billy Napier has managed a 10-win season. If you extend to nine wins or more, that has happened 12 times in the program’s history outside of the Spurrier and Meyer eras.

Secondly, LSU went through a significant period of mediocrity from the 1980s to the 2000s, with Gerry DiNardo, Curley Hallman, Mike Archer and Jerry Stovall all producing multiple losing seasons while on the job.

In any case, Klatt was convinced Florida is a relatively average program and has been pushed further into mediocrity by the success of a few coaches elsewhere.

“Since Urban Meyer left Florida, guess what’s happened?” Klatt said. “Nick Saban has decimated that region in recruiting. Did you know that since Florida won their last SEC Championship Game, Alabama has won nine? Nine. Now you’re going to have to contend with Sark. (Kalen) DeBoer looks like he’s recruiting. Oh by the way, a guy who’s won two natties, Kirby Smart, isn’t going anywhere. You’ve got Dabo (Swinney) still who’s going to be hitting it as hard as he possibly can. And oh, by the way, one of the great recruiters in college football, we’ll see about his gameday coaching ability, Mario Cristobal‘s in your state.

“So Florida and Florida State are in a very precarious spot, because even though there’s an abundance of resources, everybody is coming in and stealing those resources. So how do you build this thing back? Question remains.”

The other real reason that Klatt sees Florida in trouble right now is the situation it finds itself in with Napier. Most around the program expect him gone following the 2024 season, but that will incur a significant financial burden.

That’s not something to be taken lightly in this day and age.

“Florida is a little bit more alarming (than Florida State), and the reason is, and by the way, I’ve heard people be like, ‘Well no, no, no, Florida’s the better situation because they can just get out from Billy Napier and they’ll be fine,'” Klatt said. “Ehhhh. Ehhhhh. Said that about the last few coaches.

“So OK, their buyout might be lower than the $65 million that Florida State would owe Mike Norvell, but it’s not low. It’s lower. Not low. We’re talking mid-20s in terms of millions of dollars. We’ve got programs that are worried about the $22 million revenue share that they’re going to give their players in upcoming years and you think we can just write checks for $25 million? That’s incredibly difficult to do. That taps into resources that should be used for things like player support, NIL. So now all the sudden you are taking resources and moving them to a place where they are totally wasted. Dead resources. You pay a coach $20-plus million to not coach. Those are dead resources.”

All in all, that leaves the Gators in a dicey spot, however you want to couch the program’s history.