Is Billy Napier Coaching for his Job?

Technically, every time Billy Napier shows up to the Heavener Football Training Facility, he’s coaching for his job. That’s the title of the position on his contract that pays him a LOT of money, a real point of contention among many Florida Gator Football fans.

The seat got pretty hot after the Gators dropped the ball in the season opener. It got scalding hot when they no-showed against Texas A&M. Napier temporarily quelled the masses by beating Mississippi State and UCF.

He had a chance to turn the tide of the season in Knoxville, but couldn’t escape with a win in overtime. Just a few days later, he was directly asked on the SEC Teleconference if there were any discussions with the administration about his future.

“No, none,” Napier responded. “Yeah, I don’t have any control over that. I think one of the most important things that we can do when put in these positions and having these great opportunities is focus on doing the best job you can do for your players and your staff.”

Even though they lost to the Vols, Florida has shown a pulse as of late. You don’t have to be a Gator sunshine-pumper to think they’re trending in the right direction, particularly with DJ Lagway stepping in under center as the starting quarterback.

“You get into the season, you’ve gotta hit the reset button and it is literally, you are in the moment and the present and focused on the task at hand. One thing I can say about our team is I do think we are improving,” Napier said.

“I’m excited about this group of players. Their attitude. Their character. The way they’ve handled adversity. Obviously they put it all on the line last Saturday night and just came up a little bit short. I do think both the performance, character, and the moral character of our team has continued to improve. I’m excited about our opportunity that we have Saturday night.”

Florida Won’t Sleep on Kentucky

There was a time when the Gators may have overlooked the Wildcats. They won 31 straight games in the series until Mark Stoops came to town in 2018. Kentucky has now won four of six in the series, including three straight. Last year, Ray Davis ran them off the field with 280 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

“There is no lack of respect here for Kentucky, I can promise you that,” said Napier. “They’ve got a good football team. They’ve had a very consistent program, Coach Stoops has done a good job, so that’s not an issue at all.

As Andy Staples has often said, Napier wants to win football games the way Mark Stoops does at Kentucky, by playing physically in the trenches and running the football. Napier respects the way the Wildcats play and expects Saturday night to be a challenge in The Swamp.

“Kentucky has a good football team. Regardless of the record, when you turn on the tape you see a team that has height, length, and speed, and certainly has an identity in all three parts of their team, and can create a ton of issues for you. Strong defensive unit that has a bunch of veteran players. Obviously an offensive unit that has improved every week. And special teams, they’ve got dynamic returners that can cause some headaches,” said Napier.

“So Coach Stoops does a really good job. Have a ton of respect for him as a coach in terms of what he’s accomplished and the consistency in which they played.”