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Source: Imago
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via Imago
Source: Imago
Oh no! It looks like Florida Gators HC Billy Napier’s woes aren’t ending anytime soon. Poor Napier! Throughout the 2024 season, he struggled to keep his seat cool. After all, he was on thin ice, fighting to save his job. His $27 million buyout even started making the rounds. Just when Napier was hoping for a fresh start in 2025, he’s hit with another blow.
The Gators have lost their defensive backs coach, Will Harris. Yes, another instance of coach poaching. However, Napier had plenty of warning and should have locked the doors to keep Harris away from Miami Hurricanes HC Mario Cristobal
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Billy Napier to face post-spring portal jitters
It’s been a while since anyone’s had anything good to say about Napier. His record is a disappointing 15-18 over nearly three seasons, with only two wins against Top 25 teams. Unfortunately, the Gators do not have such heavy pockets to get rid of him. And while fans might be itching for a change, they just lost their DB coach—who, despite being in Gainesville for only one season, actually managed to improve the team’s fortunes. Analyst J.D. PicKell highlighted this on his podcast.
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USA Today via Reuters
NCAA, College League, USA Football: Florida at Tennessee, Sep 24, 2022 Knoxville, Tennessee, USA Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier during the first quarter against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports, 24.09.2022 16:15:08, 19107825, Billy Napier, Tennessee Volunteers, NCAA Football, Florida, Florida Gators, Tennessee, Neyland Stadium PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xRandyxSartinx 19107825
The analyst shed light on the grim reality, “I think that’s the biggest loss here for Florida, like I think defensively.” Harris’ efforts helped Florida finish at No. 64 in the nation in PFF’s overall defensive metric with an 81.0 rating. Under his tutelage, the corps’ improvements were phenomenal. PicKell further continued, “Will Harris is a great DB coach, there is no way around that. But the big impact here was what will Harris brought in helping put together Florida’s top 10 class. That’s the big loss here.”
The coach played a big role in landing five-star receiver Dallas Wilson and blue-chip defensive backs Ben Hanks Jr., Hylton Stubbs, and Lagonza Hayward. Looks like Napier should have done some background research. After all, Harris has been on Cristobal’s radar for quite some time now.
As the analyst said, “This is a dude that Mario Cristobal has been trying to get on his staff since Mario Cristobal was at Oregon and Will Harris was at Washington.” Yes, so the persistence was on. It’s just that it paid off now. Now will Napier have to deal with the aftereffects of the coach’s departure? Of course.
It affects directly in the post-spring portal. The players will be grappling with one question, “If the coach that recruited me to Florida is no longer there, does that change my decision to stay at a school like Florida?” Already Napier lands in choppy waters as he is up with a gamble.
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Billy Napier and his risky bet
Right now, Napier is carrying the burden of his $51.8 million seven-year contract on his shoulders. But who cares? Not Napir at least. He is open to taking risks. That’s when he counts on himself rather than disposing of the playcalling duties to anyone else. Now is that going to cost the Gators? Definitely. After all, Napier’s “NO OC” rule did not promise them any grand results earlier.
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via Imago
SPORTS-FBC-BIANCHI-COLUMN-OS Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier says the performance of his team was embarrassing in Saturday s blowout loss to Miami in the season opener. Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel/TNS Gainesville FL USA EDITORIAL USE ONLY Copyright: xOrlandoxSentinelx 120583588W WilliexJ.xAllenxJr.x krtphotoslive944768
Under him and his play-calling, UF has barely gone past a 29.5 PPG average. However, even then, Napier looks forward to balance being the Gators’ offensive coordinator and play-caller at the same time. That’s when Athlon Sports analyst Steven Lassan sounded an alarm: “He’s far from elite, and they just have mistake after mistake, issue after issue.” Do you remember the 2023 mishap in Tallahassee?
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Being the CEO of offense, Billy Napier landed in the hot seat with terrible situational play calls. He called just one running play on the first three drives of the second half and went three and out each time against Florida State. Meanwhile, Will Harris’ social media post hints at him not leaving on his own accord, further bringing side eyes to the Gators HC. So, what’s the best way to save himself from the heat? Napier will have to land someone as good as Harris.
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Is Billy Napier's stubbornness with play-calling the Gators' biggest downfall this season?
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