Nick Saban on Billy Napier, Florida's struggles: 'The problem isn't the coaches'
There is a lot of heat on Billy Napier as the Florida football program is once again struggling in 2024. Napier is clearly on the hot seat already this season, but Nick Saban believes Florida has plenty of problems other than Napier.
The former Alabama head coach pointed out on ESPN College GameDay on Saturday that the Florida program has continued to struggle, no matter who the coach is, in recent years.
“Well, I think maybe the problem isn’t the coaches,” Nick Saban said. “You know, they’ve been through four coaches since Spurrier and Urban Meyer, who both created a tremendous culture of winning there. And sometimes the fanbase can just think ‘Well we can show up and expect to win.’ And not make the commitment to the program that you need to make to be able to continue to make the changes and investments you need to make to keep up with changing times.”
Saban added that from facilities to Florida’s NIL collective, he isn’t convinced Florida is where it needs to be. Yes, the Gators are struggling under Billy Napier and are now 12-16 since he took over the program. But Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen also struggled to win consistently in Gainesville.
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“Things change. … They should’ve taken advantage of building better facilities when Urban Meyer was there. What’s there collective been like?” Saban asked. “How have they adapted to this new model of college football? So it’s not just the coaches. When you’ve been through four coaches that haven’t had success, there’s something else that people should be looking at.”
Kirk Herbstreit weighs in on Billy Napier, Florida struggles
ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit also offered his thoughts on the Florida program and Billy Napier.
Herbstreit pointed out that the Gators’ facilities have been lacking until recent years.
“It’s amazing, I didn’t realize – I just assumed Florida has great facilities,” Herbstreit said. “I didn’t realize they just finished their facilities a couple of years ago. I go back and I think about the Dan Mullen era, it’s like what was so bad about the Dan Mullen era? I mean they were winning a lot of games. … I’m sure they would love to have that era back.”
Mullen did have two 10-win seasons across his four years, but he also went 6-7 his final year, including a 2-6 mark in SEC play.
Herbstreit added that Florida also appears to be lacking in talent.
“It just looks like a team that right now, the last couple of years, they don’t have the athletic ability you would expect to see in the SEC, especially at the line of scrimmage,” Herbstreit said. “They don’t have the defense. And I think they just lost their confidence overall. This program in the last 10 years, they average 7-5, the Florida Gators, 10 years, 7-5. It just doesn’t make sense to my brain.”