The Florida Gators have secured another massive win as the team is seemingly playing to keep coach Billy Napier in town.
The Gators were staring down a rather bleak future two weeks ago with a 4-5 record and little hopes of making a bowl game. Florida had LSU, Ole Miss, and Florida State left on the schedule while still desperately needing two wins to at least play for something meaningful this season. While many felt like it would not happen, the Gators have pulled it off in dramatic fashion as the Tigers and Rebels both had College Football Playoff dreams smashed.
One person on the Florida Gators sideline has been particularly happy about the performance of the team across the past two games. Coach Billy Napier was the subject of an internal meeting weeks ago as continued pressured has been put upon to program to make a change. Napier was originally hired to return to Gators to the highest levels of competition, but the coach has not even locked down the SEC yet.
I’m happy for Billy Napier.. he was awesome this morning on GameDay
What a coaching job.. I, like a lot of folks, thought he was gonna get run out of town.. instead beat LSU last week and now Ole Miss this week
WHAT A TURNAROUND FOR THE GATORS pic.twitter.com/QEYRdPfON7
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 23, 2024
To the dismay of some Florida Gators fans, Napier was announced to be the coach “moving forward” but the 2025 season was never mentioned. Some fans have theorized that Napier may coach the team throughout 2024 before getting the costly boot from the Gators athletic department. However, this has not been confirmed, and Napier may very well still be fighting to stay with the team beyond the 2024 season.
After the Florida Gators secured two big ranked wins, it is going to be hard to fully commit to running Napier out of town at the end of the 2024 season.
What are the Florida Gators Pros and Cons of Keeping/Firing Billy Napier After the 2024 Season?
With the 2025 season a question mark despite the two big wins, the Florida Gators athletic department will likely take time moving forward to ponder the situation.
On one hand, Billy Napier has not lived up to the expectations that the Gators have set for the coach, with no major titles to show for. The coach was hired to “revive” the program, but rather has kept the team at arguably the same state that it was in prior to his hiring.
Napier has recorded a 17-19 record in Gainesville thus far with one bowl appearance, which resulted in a loss. The real struggle for Napier has been within the SEC, as the coach has a 10-14 record that was recently improved. The road to a College Football National Championship is difficult even with a conference title, but without any greater level of success in the SEC, the Gators will have trouble making a championship.
However, the flip side of the conversation involves what Napier brings to the program in terms of recruiting success. The recruiting classes that Napier is credited with for the Florida Gators have been ranked 17th, 12th, and 3rd nationally, in order of occurrence. This past 2024 class was the best class Napier has ever had, including stud five-star quarterback DJ Lagway.
While Napier has needed more time than many fans have the patience for, good things can be on the horizon for the Florida Gators.
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