Billy Napier Tells Us Why His Name Is On The “Hot Seat”
As we start week 8 of the college football season, we have yet to see any head coaches lose their jobs. While names such as Sam Pittman, of Arkansas, may have cooled, others such as Dave Aranda, from Baylor, and Billy Napier, from Florida, We spoke with the coaches of the Southeastern Conference on their weekly call and talked to Napier on this subject.
Before we analyze what he said, let’s provide some context for why his name is on these “hot seat lists.”
Gators Under Napier
In what many considered to be a “Home run hire” when the Gators hired Napier in 2021. As the 28th head coach of the Gators, Napier has been less than desirable for Gator Nation. Florida is a national brand in college athletics, and this tenure started explosive as the Gators would defeat the then #7 ranked Utah Utes. Since that day, this story has gone downhill.
A 12-16 record in Gainsville is historically bad. This record is the worst winning percentage{42.8%} by a full-time coach since Raymond Wolf, who coached the Gators from 1946-49. The 12 wins in 28 games is the least amount of wins and shortest tenure by a full-time head coach since 1923-24 when James Van Fleet led the program and finished 12-3-4.
After an interesting offseason, the Gators would start 2024 with seemingly the toughest schedule in the nation as teams such as Miami, Florida State, Tennessee, Georgia, and others appear on the slate. For Napier, this has not bode well, as the rivals have not been defeated. In these games, the Gators have amassed one win in nine games. The 2024 home opening loss, 41-17, to Miami, marked the first loss in a home opener since 1989. The 41 points are now the most the Gators have allowed in a home opener in program history.
Florida has not been successful in conference play under Napier, and this may be the most glaring issue. With a 6-11 record in SEC play, the Gators are seemingly light years away from Atlanta in the 2020 season under Dan Mullen, who finished 8-4 and #12 in the nation. Furthermore, the Gators had been invited to three consecutive New Year’s Six Bowls and back-to-back 10-win seasons.
Finally, we look at the losses. Of the 16 for Napier, the results have been quite ugly. First, the Gators have amassed 11 of these against ranked opponents with only 2 wins. To delve deeper, of all the losses under Napier, 10 have come by double digits. In the six games that were not, the Gators would trail by at least 10 in three of them.
Napier Responds To Being On “The List”
As mentioned above, the name “Billy Napier” is listed on essentially all of these “lists.”. When asked, Napier would tell us the following:
“Yeah, no, I mean, I think I don’t have any control over that, right? So, you know, I think one of the most important things that we can do when putting these positions and having these great opportunities is focused on doing the best job you can do for your players and your staff.”
“Um, you know, you get into the season; you got to hit the reset button, and it is literally you’re in all my presence and focused on the task at hand. And, you know, one thing I can’t say about our team is that I do think that we are improving.”
“I’m excited about this group of players, their attitude, their character, and the way they’ve handled some of the adversity. Uh, and obviously they put it on the line last Saturday night, and came up a little bit short.”
“But I do think, uh, both the performance character and the moral character of our team have continued to improve. So I’m excited about our opportunity that we have Saturday night.”
What’s Next?
For a coach who is 8-13 in his last 21 games, he had to expect someone to ask at some point. Right? With the transfer portal in full effect coming up, December 9th, 2024, to January 7th, 2025, college athletics and the business decisions around it have changed.
With this, could we see Gators AD Scott Stricklin make a decision?
For those curious, as of December 1st, 2024, the buyout for Napier sits at $26.7 million if he were fired without cause.
The buyout is structured in the following way:
Within 30 days of termination: $13,998,437.50
July 15, 2025: $3,499,609.13
July 15, 2026: $3,499,609.13
July 15, 2027: $3,499,609.12
July 15, 2028: $3,499,609.12
The agent of Napier, Jimmy Sexton, would negotiate a deal where Napier receives 85% of his remaining contract if he is fired without a clause. The amount would also decrease with each game coached.
What will happen next? Honestly, no one knows, but Billy now has at least acknowledged he is on someone’s list.
