Billy Napier enters Year 3 with Florida hopeful while facing ominous vibes, daunting schedule
DALLAS (AP) — Billy Napier enters his third season as Florida coach in maybe the toughest position in college football: Head coach at an Southeastern Conference powerhouse whose program is struggling to gain traction and facing one of the most daunting schedules in the country.
Napier arrived at SEC Media Days on the hottest seat in a conference where they say “it just means more” — so that makes it the hottest seat in the country.
The vibes around the Gators seem ominous. Napier sounds hopeful.
“I love our team, and I really like what I’ve observed,” he said Wednesday. “I just think we’ve got for the first time, we’ve got some stability. The roster’s kind of stabilized. I think we’ve got competitive depth. There’s credible leadership at the players level.”
Napier was hired away from Louisiana-Lafayette after the 2021 season, taking over after Dan Mullen was fired. He stepped into a program that had fallen behind in recruiting, facilities and staffing.
Napier hired an army of analysts and staffers with a plan to try to stack the type of high school recruiting classes that would give the Gators a team that looked more like Georgia’s and Alabama’s.
It’s not that Napier ignored the transfer portal, but a methodical rebuild can be a tough sell at a program that has won three national titles.
The Gators went 6-7 with future first-round NFL draft pick Anthony Richardson at quarterback in Napier’s first season. In need of signs of progress in 2023 to ease the worries of fans and lock in blue-chip recruits, the Gators regressed to 5-7.
Now, Year 3 seems as if it’s a make-or-break season for Napier, who rattles off stats that support optimism.
Florida returns 17 starters and players who have made 463 career starts and 41,000 career snaps. The Gators rank fourth in the SEC in returning production.
Still, all the talk about Florida this offseason has focused on a daunting schedule and Napier’s job status.
