Now see, the Gators have been in a bad spot almost the entire season. Standing on 4-4, a lot of the losses were a direct result of Billy Napier not making proper decisions for the team. The first was benching Cormani McClain without a valid reason. Then came the entire QB issue with Graham Mertz, starting instead of DJ Lagway. Billy Napier’s entire play calling on the turf has been abysmal as well. It took the guy 6 games to finally figure out what in the world was he even doing and the Bulldogs game is the perfect example of Billy Napier finally calling the right shots. And despite that loss, it looks like Napier managed to prove himself capable enough to linger around as the HC.

Because back on X, Florida Gators shared Lagway’s Instagram story approving Napier as the 2025 Gators HC. “DJ Lagway approves of Billy Napier being back in 2025,” Florida Gators wrote in the caption of their post. Yes, folks, Napier is here to say. See, every single analyst on the board had predicted that Napier would be fired. It was understandable why. A 3x national champ team was losing 17-41 to the Hurricanes and 20-33 to the Aggies. The entire offense and defense were a blunder, and Napier, with his predictable play calling, always managed to take away the win from the Gators.

Then comes the entire conversation of who is going to replace him. See, a few days back, Paul Finebaum mentioned that Lane Kiffin had a lot of chances of switching sides and joining the Gators. Ole Miss is going to face off against the Dawgs as well and if Kiffin loses, then it puts him “one step closer to the swamp.”

However, it looks like that narrative is going down the drain. Because somehow, Napier and Co. managed to keep the Dawgs trailing behind them going into the second quarter of the showdown. Kind of wild when you think about it. The sole reason why Dawgs even managed to flip the script and win was because DJ Lagway was out for his left hamstring injury and Florida had to fall back to their 3rd starting QB.

If, by sheer luck, Lagway had remained in that game, then the Gators could’ve won. See, there are some other facts to this. Carson Beck was awful in that game. This guy is considered one of the best QBs out there but managed to throw 2 massive interceptions in the first half itself and barely had any good passes. Another handicap that Georgia had was their lead runner was out. Trevor Etienne was out from the second half because of his rib injury and that subdued the Bulldogs’ elite run game completely. What Napier can look forward to now is the Longhorns showdown.

The swamp meets the desert; Billy Napier’s shot at redemption

The Gators are going face-to-face against the Texan monster. Now the question is, can Napier turn this into a redemption arc? First things first, let’s talk about Napier’s crown jewel. “He’s trying,” was what Napier had to say while talking about Lagway and his probability of making it to the Longhorns game. See, from what we could dig out, the chances of the 19-year-old freshman hitting the turf against Texas is pretty low.

If Napier has to fall back on Aiden Warner, then there is no shot they are winning the game. Despite Quinn Ewers performing abysmally against Georgia and getting sidelined, he still is the better QB and Warner does not stand a chance. However, with some miracle, if Napier does manage to hold back Texas, then it is sure to add more credibility to his name.