Billy Napier’s time with the Florida Gators may be nearing its end, and Paul Finebaum offered a compelling reason why the program should consider moving on from him sooner rather than later.
Napier’s Gators dropped to 1-2 after a lopsided 33-20 defeat to Texas A&M on Saturday, a game that wasn’t as close as the final score suggests.
Florida was also blown out by Miami in their opener, 41-17. The Gators’ lone win came against FCS squad Samford.
“They cannot afford to keep Billy Napier because he has been an abject disaster,” Finebaum said on Sunday during an appearance on The Matt Barrie Show. “What we saw Saturday was pretty similar to what we saw in the first game, and there is no reason to believe it’s going to get much better.”
Napier was showered with boos during Saturday’s home loss to the Aggies, which he wasn’t upset about.
“I don’t blame them …” Napier said. “I mean, ultimately when you play a certain way in this arena, you’re going to be criticized.
This is one of those places where there’s history and tradition and expectations. There’s been a lot of really good football teams that played in that stadium in the past.
When you play ugly ball and maybe it doesn’t look quite like we all want it to, then, hey, it comes with the territory.” Napier is 6-11 against SEC opponents during his two-plus seasons at Florida. He’s 12-16 overall.
The Gators face a tough stretch to close out the season, with five of their last seven games against nationally ranked teams, including top-10 powerhouses Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, and Ole Miss.
