Billy Napier is a controversial name among Florida fans right now.
Since taking over the job in 2022, Napier has yet to lead the Gators into a winning season, with 6–7 and 5–7 records. Currently sitting at 4–4 heading into week 11 of the 2024 season, a win against Texas could shift this year’s record and people’s overall perception of the coach.
It’s not a lack of experience on Napier’s part that has frustrated Florida fans over his sub-.500 tenure. Though this is only his second head coaching job, following a three-year stint at Louisiana from 2018 to 2021, Napier has been in major programs in the football scene since the early 2000s.
After wrapping up his playing career at Furman, Napier joined the Clemson Tigers as a graduate assistant, where he stayed for six years in different positions. Then he joined Alabama in 2011, where he served as an analyst for Nick Saban, one of the biggest legends in college football, in 2011. He then became one of the wide receivers coaches from 2013 to 2016.
The start of Napier’s third season with the Gators was controversial in itself. Florida hosted in-state rivals Miami in Gainesville but fell 41-17. What Napier said in response to the loss rubbed some people the wrong way.
“I do think that we have character,” Napier said. “We got to go to work on the football part. And I think we got to become a more consistent team, and we have to execute better. If we can focus on those things and not necessarily what some guy in his basement is saying in rural central Florida on social media, then we got a chance to get better.”
If the best way to recover from this comment was to start winning games, Napier still has some work to do, and the Gators are heading to Austin after a 34-20 loss to Georgia. He has since apologized for the “terrible choice of words,” and emphasized that he meant to say his players should block out outside noise.
He said to be successful, the Gators needed to ignore external influences.
That will be a challenge in Austin, both from Longhorn and Gator fans who are not pleased with how the season is going. But Napier is not a stranger to success, having taken the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns to three bowl games.
Napier and the Gators will look to repeat and improve some of their better performances, including a near upset against ranked Tennessee in Knoxville or the 48-20 win over Kentucky the following week.
The result of the upcoming game will have a big impact on Florida’s goals for the rest of the season and, likely, Napier’s future with the team.
