What they're saying about Billy Napier & the Florida Gators

The noise surrounding Florida head coach Billy Napier has only grown louder after another disappointing performance, this time a 34-17 loss at Texas A&M. Now sitting at 2-4 and facing a critical SEC matchup with Mississippi State this weekend, speculation about Napier’s future in Gainesville is dominating the national conversation once again. From national insiders to local analysts, the consensus is clear — time is running out for Napier to prove he’s the right man to lead the Gators forward.

Here’s a sampling from different personalities who cover the sport.

* Senior National College Football Insider Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, regarding coaches on the hot seat: “Napier is 21-23 in four years, and it seems as if he has been at Florida longer. Last year, he battled through a rough first half of the season, but he never lost the team, and the Gators responded well, winning their last four games to finish 8-5. Florida was 3-3 at this point last season with four ranked teams and two woeful ones remaining. The Gators are 2-4 this year, though the schedule isn’t quite as daunting with three Top 25 teams (Georgia, Ole Miss, and Tennessee). Winning four of the six — and I think the Gators are talented enough to do that — might be good enough to save him. But … what is much different now is athletic director Scott Stricklin’s tenure isn’t as tied to Napier as it was last year, when his situation felt more tenuous before his men’s basketball hire, Todd Golden, went on to win a national title last spring, changing the calculus in Gainesville.”

*On3 College Football Insider Andy Staples on the Andy and Ari Podcast: “I think if you’re Billy Napier, you spent the last three years with the fanbase wanting you fired. It’s probably been pretty miserable. And so, I would imagine, when it comes, I think there’s a good chance it comes on Sunday, regardless of the result of the Mississippi State game, that it will be a relief for Billy Napier.”

*Josh Pate, Josh Pate’s College Football Show: “I don’t know that Billy is going to be around much longer. Again, I love Billy Napier, so I don’t like talking about that. I think Napier is likely out. That’s not my opinion. That’s talking to people around Florida today. I think Billy Napier is going to be out. It may be after this upcoming game, and they’ve got a bye, but I do believe he’s going to be out, and I do believe the Florida job is going to come open. I don’t like it, but I think it makes sense, though. You don’t have to sell me on the logic behind it. I get it. He’s had time. The result is not good enough for you. I get it. This one would be infinitely less egregious than James Franklin, to me. So, if that’s the way it goes, that’s the way it goes.”

*Austin Perry, Outkick: “Napier remarked [on Monday at his weekly press conference] that he and his team needed to learn how to finish, but I’d argue they need to do a lot more than that.

Sure, the Gators scored 14 points in the first quarter against the Aggies on Saturday, but over the final three frames of play, they could only muster a field goal.

Maybe Napier is just equating “finishing” with the final 45 minutes of the game.

Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.”

*Tyler Forness, A to Z Sports: “It was the same old story for the Florida Gators on Saturday night, as they lost another winnable game 34-17 to the Texas A&M Aggies.

This one is solely on head coach Billy Napier and his continued stubbornness on the offensive side of the football. The Gators finally broke out on offense due to their incredible talent at the skill positions, but that was the only reason. It wasn’t due to the one thing that has harmed the Gators this entire season: Napier’s play-calling.”

*Benjamin Henderson, Hail Florida Hail: “How did we go from ‘Spot the ball’ to ‘The home team has a real advantage?’

The entire point of the “Spot the ball” tweet was that it was in response to the difficult slate of games Florida just faced, which included three of the four games being on the road.

But now that Napier’s road woes have continued, and now that he is 21-23 as head coach of the Gators, the excuse is that Florida has had to play at “tough venues.”

So, question then:

If being the home team is worth a touchdown, does that mean USF really won 18-9? Did Miami last year win 41-10? Did Arkansas win two years ago, 39-29? Did Texas A&M, FSU, Kentucky, LSU.”

* Connor O’Gara, Saturday Down South on Florida’s upcoming SEC game against Mississippi State and that a loss would lead to Napier’s firing: “Tell me I’m wrong about that. Ah, you’re gonna say that Scott Stricklin wouldn’t be able to pull the trigger? Nah. Think about the context here. You’ve got a home game against the coach, Jeff Lebby, who is searching for his first-ever SEC win. Mind you, he’s 0-10 in conference play in Year 2. This was a game that Florida dominated last year in Starkville, albeit with a season-ending, mid-game injury to Mississippi State quarterback Blake Shapen. You can’t turn around and lose that one, especially not for loss No. 5. Why is that significant? At 2-5, Napier would have matched last year’s loss total. In other words, he couldn’t have a better record and he would have 2 demoralizing losses in front of the Florida faithful. Losing as a double-digit favorite (again) would all but erase the good vibes from that Texas win, especially after the way the second half played out at Texas A&M.

Once again, Florida will be tasked with playing like Napier’s job is on the line. Perhaps that’s just what the doctor ordered.”