‘We’re starting on second base’ — Billy Napier takes cheap shot at Florida Gators, and it’s completely without merit
Once Billy Napier was fired as Florida Gators head coach, he refused to tell the fanbase thank you, and continues to take cheap shots.
The Billy Napier era for the Florida Gators was a massive flop. When they hired him ahead of the 2022 season, there was a lot of excitement around the program. After years of success at Louisiana, Napier was one of the hottest coaching candidates available and a widely praised hire.
Overall, it didn’t work nearly well enough. Napier struggled and was fired after a homecoming game win against Mississippi State. He got hired quickly at James Madison, and has loved taking quiet pot shots at the Gators.
Billy Napier’s latest shot at Florida Gators
Napier did an appearance on the Richmond ESPN radio affiliate and took another cheap shot at the program.
“Third time being a head coach. I think typically, when you get one of these jobs, it’s broken. There’s a lots of things to fix. You got long lists of problems that you got to solve. And I think here we’re kind of starting on second base a little bit, you know, we’re been benefiting from, you know, the last 20 years, there’s 18 Championships have been won here in football, and there’s been a lot of great coaches rolled through here. So we inherited winning culture.
James Madison HC Billy Napier
“I’m very impressed with the administration at JMU.
There’s complete alignment top to bottom. There’s a total commitment to winning. They’re very forward thinking. They’re out in front of the issues, and they’re anticipating and they’re moving with intent. You know, I think they’ve been very calculated.”
Napier brings up the idea that there were a lot of things to fix when you enter a job. Sure, the Gators needed some upgrades, which he got them. However, the discussion about starting on second base is absurd.
When Napier came into Gainesville, things were far from perfect, but he wasn’t walking into a dumpster fire. Dan Mullen made multiple New Year’s Six bowl games and the SEC Championship Game. He also posted a 34-15 record in his tenure, albeit a tough final season in 2021. Trying to say that Gators needed a lot of work just isn’t true.
Where things get even more absurd is the discussion about the alignment. It certainly seemed like it was a discussion about how it was different than in Gainesville. It’s crazy when you consider the administration gave him everything he needed and Napier didn’t live up to his end of the bargain: win football games.
It’s just another angle where Napier looks bitter with how things went in Gainesville.