The SEC never sleeps, and neither do the hot takes. Just days after Florida’s Billy Napier watched his team drop a jaw-dropping 18–16 home loss to South Florida, the same USF program that had never beaten the Gators before, fans, pundits, and Twitter warriors were already sharpening their knives. “Fire him,” they shouted. “What’s he even doing?” But LSU’s Brian Kelly isn’t playing that game. Nope. He’s standing firmly in Napier’s corner, and he’s not sugarcoating it.

Ahead of LSU’s Week 3 SEC opener against Florida, Kelly didn’t hesitate to call the critics “crazy.” “People talk about whatever they want. It’s crazy,” he told reporters on Monday. Kelly’s message was simple: Napier’s building something real and it takes time. “He’s a really good football coach,” Kelly said. “He’s building a culture that’s fit to his eye, doing it his way, and that’s awesome.”

Kelly’s defense wasn’t just about being nice. It was personal. He brought up his own past, when he took over at LSU from none other than Ed Orgeron, the national champion-winning head coach. “I came in here right, and Ed was here and he won a national championship right? But he did it his way. It was his way and that’s fine… I do it my way. It takes time to put in your philosophy and the way you like to do things,” Kelly explained. “Billy’s come in after two or three other head coaches that changed the way the other coaches did it. And now he’s starting to stabilize that program.” In other words, Kelly’s basically saying he has been where Napier is now.

Truth is, Brian Kelly wasn’t immune to the hot seat either. 3 years at LSU and no national title? Brian Kelly finally broke their curse of 3 straight season-opening L’s, knocking off Clemson 17-10. That defense? Straight savage, holding the Tigers to 31 rushing yards and pitching a second-half shutout.

That’s a subtle way of saying rebuilding isn’t neat, and it sure isn’t fast. Players need time to adjust, schemes need room to breathe, and culture isn’t something you can order off a menu. Let’s not pretend Florida’s situation looks good. After cruising past LIU with a 55–0 win to open the season, the Gators got smacked around by South Florida, missing opportunities and racking up 11 penalties for 103 yards. Their offense gained just 276 total yards, while USF piled up 355. It wasn’t pretty. It was downright embarrassing.

But Kelly’s message is clear: All great things take time. “It takes what it takes, and he’ll get that thing where he wants it,” Kelly said. “I think he’s got it right now. They beat us last year.” And let’s be honest. Kelly isn’t ignoring this week’s matchup. He remembers that sting from last season’s loss to Florida, and the LSU players surely do too.

Billy Napier stares down heavy odds in LSU showdown with Brian Kelly

Florida doesn’t get much time to sulk. One week after collapsing at home to South Florida, the Gators now walk straight into Death Valley for a Saturday night brawl with No. 3 LSU. From Vegas to the polls, the message is loud: Napier and Florida are double underdogs.

The Tigers are 2-0 and looking locked in. A top-10 road win over Clemson already put them on the map, and a solid 23-7 home win over Louisiana Tech only confirmed it. Garrett Nussmeier is firing on all cylinders, the receiving corps is elite, and the defense looks sharper than ever. LSU’s not playing around. They’re aiming for the playoffs, and everyone knows it.

Florida’s side of the story is rougher. The Gators thrashed Long Island in Week 1, then unraveled against USF with penalties, turnovers, and bad decisions. That 18–16 loss knocked them out of the AP and Coaches polls in one swing. Now they’re back to fighting for national relevance while LSU sharpens its playoff resume. Napier kept it real about the week 3 match-up: “This will be a challenge,” he admitted. “A challenge for every individual in the organization… But I do think the game can teach you a lot, and we’ll have our opportunity to respond.”

History makes this one even more tense. The all-time series is tied 34-34-3, but LSU has dominated lately, winning four of the last five. Florida snapped the streak last year in Gainesville, but they haven’t won in Baton Rouge since 2016. Add in Kelly’s near-perfect home-night record at LSU (13-1), and the Bayou odds lean heavy on purple and gold.