The Florida Gators football program is at its wits' end with Billy Napier, even after a 29-21 win over a ranked Texas Longhorns team at the “Swamp,” and is set to fire him barring a “magical run” to close the season.
On3’s Brett McMurphy reported damning details on Napier’s reality in Gainesville in a report released Tuesday. In it, McMurphy revealed that a source told him Napier’s staff, specifically, Gators general manager for player personnel, Jacob LaFrance, and his “Sun Belt Billy” reference on social media aimed at the fanbase in a frustrated way, had a “tone deaf” reaction to the Texas win.
That leaves Napier needing to win the majority of games left against the TAMU Aggies, Mississippi State Bulldogs, Georgia Bulldogs, Kentucky Wildcats, Ole Miss Rebels, Tennessee Volunteers, and Florida State Seminoles, lest he get shown the door.
“In the last 75 years, Napier is Florida’s 12th full-time head football coach, dating back to 1950. Napier is the only one in that time who has not finished a season ranked in the final Associated Press poll,” McMurphy wrote.
“And barring what multiple sources called ‘a magical run, a miracle finish’ to this season, he won’t have the opportunity in 2026.”
As McMurphy’s source revealed, UF’s power brokers do not see Napier as “the guy” for the Gators.
“There’s still a divided camp at Florida. The administration would love for Billy to win and be successful, but the people that pay the bills – the big money boosters – they know he’s not the guy. They’re over him. There’s too much evidence he’s not the guy that can win a national championship,” the source said.
Assuming Florida doesn’t run the table, the Gators will finish with worse seasons than Tennessee, Ole Miss, and the South Carolina Gamecocks, who all hired their head coaches within a few years of when UF hired Napier and are much further ahead.
That shouldn’t be good enough, and from the sounds of it, it won’t be. Only spiteful wins against Florida’s fanbase can save him now. And if they do, the alignment will still be off and the vibes will remain unhealthy.