On Saturday, August 31, the 19th-ranked Hurricanes stormed into Gainesville and humiliated the Gators 41-17 on their home ground.
Following the game, college football supporters and media pounced on Napier with a steamroller of vitriol, backing him up and doing it again just to be safe. Their main concerns were Napier’s job security and the timeliness of the university’s plan to fire him.
“Billy Napier is quite literally the worst thing to ever happen to this program, and you losers tried to fry me for that opinion,” Blue-Orange Gator posted to X.
“Reminder: Florida fired a coach who won 30 games in his first three years to hire Billy Napier,” Brandon Walker tweeted.
Abnormal Accrual said, “It’s possible Billy Napier won’t survive August.”
Shared by Gators SZN: “The Billy Napier experience is over.” “Time for a change.”
“85% of Billy Napier’s remaining contract is being bought out.” He has more than $26 million in assets, according to Brooks Austin of SI Network. “Saved you a Google.”
After Napier spent four years at Louisiana, where he had a 40-12 record, including a 7-7 record in his first season on the job, Florida hired him in 2022.
After two years of losing campaigns as the Gators’ head coach, Napier is at 11-15 overall.
Billy Napier of Florida: ‘No excuses’ following a crushing defeat against Miami.
Florida’s Gainsville — Billy Napier, the coach of Florida, referred to his team’s 41-17 defeat to Miami on Saturday as “embarrassing,” making no apologies but promising to address the issues.
After finishing 11-14 in his first two seasons and missing out on a bowl game the previous year, Napier was already under investigation going into his third. After a performance in which the Gators were outplayed and outcoached, that scrutiny will undoubtedly intensify.
Napier admitted, “To be really honest with you, it’s embarrassing.” That’s my emotional state. It is our children’s sentiment. There are no justifications. Keep quiet, be present, and get to work. We must perform better. I have faith that our guys will manifest and act accordingly.”
Miami outplayed the Gators up front and amassed 529 yards of offense, dominating every aspect of the game. The Florida offense, on the other hand, was ineffective for the most of the day and did not participate in the fourth quarter due to the injury sustained by starting quarterback Graham Mertz.
Mertz is in concussion protocol, according to Napier, and his condition will be updated the following week. DJ Lagway, a freshman who is ranked eighth in the ESPN 300 for the class of 2024, showed promise early on by spearheading a touchdown drive, but it was already too late.
Napier stated, “I had a strong feeling that we would perform better.” But I’m not here to offer justifications. It has to be repaired. Next week, we’ll have another chance, so we need to improve both as players and as coaches.”
Third-quarter spectators began to leave the Swamp. “Fire Billy!” was yelled by a fan in the concourse as the stadium began to empty late in the fourth quarter. Napier stated that he would have to take care to prevent his squad from becoming mired in the negativity that follows a defeat to a competitor in the state.
Above and beyond the criticism, though, are the ongoing concerns regarding Napier’s future as head coach.
Napier remarked, “We’ll have to navigate it.” “We need to act like guys and exhibit some level of maturity. In the end, you will show up and put in a lot of effort at work if you care about the team. This gang, I believe, will do that. But that’s beyond our control. It’s a component of their work, and they owe it to the team.”
Throughout the offseason, Napier insisted that this was the finest club he had since coming to the team in 2022 and he was pleased to have Mertz back. But the Gators were in control for a large portion of the day. On third down, Florida was 1 for 9 yards. With the exception of a 75-yard touchdown run by Montrell Johnson Jr., Florida managed just 64 yards on 27 rushes. Mertz completed 11 of 20 passes for 91 yards and one interception.
Napier expressed his disappointment at the performance, saying, “We’ll prove over time that we can play better than that.”
“I still have confidence in our team,” he stated. “I believe we’ve made headway. Not just for myself, but also for the entire team, the company, our supporters, and everyone who cares about this place, today is disappointing. As previously stated, I firmly believe in the young men who play for our team. We can play better football, in my opinion. However, we must go and verify that.”
