‘Dead man walking’ National reporter pulls no punches when talking about Billy Napier’s future with the Florida Gators
The evidence against him continues to be overwhelming
The Florida Gators are in a tough spot heading into the SEC opener against the LSU Tigers, and it boils down to head coach Billy Napier‘s failures during his tenure that could be ending soon.
After beating Long Island 55-0 in the season opener, they faltered badly against South Florida 18-16, and there have already been a lot of conversations about him being replaced early on in year four. When you coach at Florida, you have to find a way to win, and that’s one thing that Napier hasn’t done enough with a record of 20-20.
Lack of discipline hinders Billy Napier
When it comes down to it, Napier is not coaching well enough, as his teams often lack the basics of discipline. In speaking on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will, Associated Press reporter Mark Long joined the show and highlighted Napier’s “comedy of errors.”
“The Comedy of Errors, really. Billy Napier talked about this team, the culture, the chemistry, the camaraderie that he felt this was different, right?” said Long. “Going into year four, they’ve done enough in terms of a top 15 recruiting class. They think they’ve got a rising star in DJ Lagway, all the things that they needed. And then on top of that, Billy just raved about the character, the culture, all those things that it was elite and that would be a difference maker in one of these games at some point. Well, it was a difference maker, alright? It cost them. You got the spitting penalty in the final drive, a pass interference penalty on the final drive. And that really just gets things going for USF, and they propelled themselves to an 87-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard field goal and a victory.
“So that’s the things, and it’s more what we’ve seen from from the billionaire era, which is, you know, not some of the undisciplined stuff, but just some of the coaching mistakes, poor play calling, confusion coming out of huddles, time outs coming out of time, out all those things, too many men on the field, penalties, all those things, you just look at it, you go, this is not supposed to happen in year four. So from that standpoint, I think it was probably eye-opening for Florida administrators who thought Billy was turning things around late last season. And for fans who have given this guy every opportunity and second chance, third chance, fourth chance, they probably feel duped by him.”
That’s the biggest thing. How is your team in year four, most of whom were recruited out of high school by Napier and not transfer portal players who just got here. It’s inexcusable. That pairs with his awful in-game coaching decisions, which cost the Gators against South Florida, but also in multiple other losses.
“If anybody out there really wants to go look at Tennessee last year, same stuff, just total game management meltdowns late in the game. Go look at Arkansas from two years ago at home. And there being complete chaos on the sideline, running a field goal unit onto the field when they needed a snap spike the ball, and they lose time off the clock, they don’t, and they get penalized, and they don’t get a chance at a field goal. It’s just this is who he is. He is in over his head. And anybody watching the Florida Gators realizes it or should realize it at this point. The shocking thing is that it’s taken this long. He’s 20 and 20 after 40 games, and that’s the worst coach in Florida history since Charley Pell in the 1980s.
“Again, I think anybody who watches the program, anybody, whether you’re alumni football, average fan, casual fan. You know, armchair quarterback. You cannot do business, and you go, he’s a dead man walking.”
At this point, it’s shocking that the Gators have let this go on for so long. Jim McElwein was fired just eight years ago during the season for going 22-12, a winning of 0.647, significantly higher than Napier’s 0.500.
With LSU, Miami, and Texas coming up in the next three games, it could tell the administration all they need to know, and it still might not matter.
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