Billy Napier has always been a good guy. From his days as a hungry assistant coach killing it on the recruiting trail to his Group of Five head coach days, he’s been a good guy. But sometimes, good guys make dumb decisions.
I said Napier was over his head when he took the Florida job, and I meant it. Since Urban Meyer left, a big name was needed to deal with that long shadow. Will Muschamp wasn’t it, Jim McElwain wilted under the pressure and Dan Mullen had SEC street cred but quickly tired of the work required to live up to Meyer. And as each new coach began to falter, an impatient booster group and fan base lost their minds and wanted the next guy. Sun Belt Billy, as many called him, didn’t have the name recognition to thrive, and it became evident early.
I’d be an idiot to say Napier shouldn’t have taken the job. A decade removed from a college football rehab stint — aka an analyst job at Alabama under Nick Saban — Napier was offered millions to drive a huge SEC program. He probably would have done it for free. It’s a dream job. But it can become a nightmare quickly.
He started out fast, with a huge upset win over then-number seven Utah. But it went downhill quickly.
Napier has had a couple of losing seasons already in Gainesville and is under fire. But he was under fire before he coached a game, as evidenced by Napier coming out and defending recruiting efforts in the spring after he was hired. Yes, the man was hired in 2021 and is already defending recruiting six months later. And he hadn’t coached a game.
In 2022 Napier made a huge mistake. He made QB Jaden Rashada the focus of his QB wants and needs. Florida flipped Rashada from Miami with promises of millions of dollars before he even took a snap. Rashada’s camp was already becoming known in recruiting circles for being greedy and having their hands out and it became clear this would be a money grab. And Napier and company bought in.
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Those who think Napier had no idea what the Gators collective was doing with Rashada need to live on a different planet. At the time, it was against NCAA rules and certainly flew in the face of NIL guidelines, but honestly, everyone was doing it. I don’t fault Napier for that. I do fault him for going so far in with a kid with solid but not spectacular skills and who certainly didn’t look the part of a program changer or saver. And a kid whose family and advisors were clearly in it for the money. Current Gators freshman QB DJ Lagway looks much more like the part, but even he wouldn’t be worth the ridiculous amount of money offered. I’m convinced that the early negative attention on his recruiting efforts made Napier panic, and Rashada was the biggest example of that anxiety. And here we are.
Napier is being sued, Rashada is on his second college stop (and not his last, trust me) at Georgia, and the Gators are a laughingstock nationally. Back-to-back losing seasons, 2024 and 2025 schedules that would make even Nick Saban flinch, and suddenly, it appears Napier could be three and done in Gainesville. Much of it isn’t his fault, as Mullen left a weak culture behind with a limited roster. But college football is tough these days — you make the big money, and then big things are expected. Rashada was a massive and dumb mistake, and Napier is paying the price. And it’s unlikely he can survive the combination of losing and off-field errors.
