There’s a new name at the top of the list of potential Florida football coaches in 2025.
Anyone heard of Billy Napier?
The name’s been heard a lot around Gainesville lately, often accompanied by boos. Now a lot of people aren’t sure what to think of UF’s coach, though one thing is becoming clear.
If Napier can bat .250 the rest of the season, he’ll keep his job.
By the rest of the season, I mean every game except FSU. If trends continue, Jill Stein will win the presidency before the Seminoles win another game.
Assuming the Gators make that layup in Tallahassee, that leaves Georgia, Texas, LSU and Ole Miss. If Napier can go 1-for-4, you can forget about Lane Kiffin, Eli Drinkwitz, Vince Lombardi or any of the other names that have been thrown around as replacements.
The way that list has fizzled, Napier should keep his job. And please, forget what I wrote after the Texas A&M game.
Like approximately 98.7% of observers, I said UF should have fired Napier.
So what happened?
“I would tell you, this group they felt like they had maybe let the place down, let people down in terms of how we played earlier in the year,” Napier said after last Saturday’s Kentucky game. “They took that personal, and it was important to them to do that better.”
It was even more important for Napier. Had he lost to Mississippi State or UCF, the pink slip might well have come the following day.
Surviving those got him to Tennessee. Critics howled over Napier’s game management. That largely drowned out the fact that a 16½-point underdog went on the road and lost in overtime to a top-10 team.
Florida was no longer the joke it had been against Miami and Texas A&M. The 48-20 win over Kentucky drove that home.
The Never Napier crowd still considers Billy a lost cause. Many others now think he might not be the Sun Belt bumpkin he appeared to be a month ago.
That will change with events, of course. The first one being Georgia next Saturday.
I don’t think the Gators have improved enough to win in Jacksonville. But unlike almost every recent game, they won’t have to for Napier to be safe.
What they must do is avoid getting blown out, having 12 men on the field at crucial times or other hair-pulling gaffes. The same goes for the next three games.
But – the big but – they must win one of them for Napier’s sake.
Imagine if UF beats Georgia or upsets the Longhorns in Austin. Napier would immediately be a made man.
LSU could be a top-5 team when it comes to Gainesville. Beating the Tigers would be golden job insurance.
Beating Ole Miss wouldn’t be quite as impressive, but it would cure Gator Nation’s case of Kiffin Fever.
It was running 110 degrees a month ago. Two losses later, it’s about 102.5 degrees.
If Florida beats the Rebels, how could UF officials hire the guy who just lost to the guy they fired?
Fans would want a big-name hire to replace Napier, but that list is dwindling like Ole Miss’s playoff chances.
Dan Lanning isn’t leaving Oregon for less than $15 million a year. James Franklin’s a longshot. Lincoln Riley might be available for all the wrong reasons.
Napier’s youth movement seems to be finally moving in the right direction. Nine defensive starters could return next season. Most offensive linemen, running backs and DJ Lagway will return (NIL/portal willing).
Instead of yet again starting from scratch with a new coach, Florida would be better off giving Napier and his recruits one more year. But to do that, the Gators must go at least 6-6 and get to a bowl game.
And to do that, Napier needs one hit in his next four at-bats.
That won’t be easy, but it’s no more inconceivable than the mood shift around Napier.
After continually being just one game away from losing his job, he’s now just one game away from keeping it.
David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun’s sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on X @DavidEWhitley
