The seat is hot for Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier. Their recent loss against the South Florida Bulls pushed it over the edge. The Gators were not meant to take an L had they not been flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Courtesy of defensive lineman Brendan Bett and his spit-gate controversy. Meanwhile Napier refuses to surrender the play-calling duties of an offense that resists ignition. But Brian Kelly thinks there is enough of Napier hate going around.  

On September 11, Cory Diaz, an LSU insider for the USA Today Network, tweeted, “Brian Kelly on Florida coach Billy Napier: “Give that guy a break.” “He’s building a program. He’s the fourth coach there in the last 10 years.”” The Tigers’ head coach takes part in a one-hour radio call-in show which is aired live from TJ Ribs on Acadian Thruway. This time, the topic had to be Napier, who is back on the hot seat. The Florida fans are familiar with this kind of situation.

After all, the same problems that have flummoxed Florida under Napier cropped up again in an 18-16 loss to USF. Undisciplined play? Check. Penalties? Too many. Game-clock management? Poor and late. Turns out that Napier could no longer count on his savior from last season. His quarterback, DJ Lagway, too, looked uncomfortable throughout.

This is just the beginning. A brutal schedule awaits the Gators. Napier’s boys have got back-to-back road games against LSU and Miami, before facing Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Florida State. And one thing is common among eight of them. All of them are currently ranked teams. But Kelly won’t allow the heat of the criticism to burn away Napier’s hopes.

On September 8, the Tigers’ head coach said,  “He’s building a culture that is fit to his eye in terms of what he wants to do. He’s doing it his way, and that’s awesome.” Kelly added, “People talk about whatever they want. It’s crazy.” That’s what makes the LSU head coach defend Napier when the majority of the college football world sees no hope. Last season, the Gators sealed a 27-16 victory over LSU.

Paul Finebaum sounds an alarm for Billy Napier

Turns out that after the Gators’ fall against the Bulls, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum got clarity on Napier’s hot seat debate. On The Rich Eisen Show, he said, “In terms of Florida, they will be revealed this weekend. They are at Baton Rouge. Not a good place to find yourself after losing to your not-even cross-state rival.” Their loss against USF is considered to be one of the worst defeats by the program in the last 12 seasons.

It’s under Napier that the program witnessed its first loss in The Swamp to a Sunshine State team other than Florida State or Miami since 1938. A concerning question looms: if Florida crumbles against a cupcake rival like USF, how will they keep up against the Tigers? “Florida this year has Florida State and Miami on the schedule. Miami is next week. And they lose to the weakest of the three. I did the calculation on Florida’s 12-game schedule. USF is either the 10th or 11th best team on their schedule,” noted Finebaum. 

The ESPN analyst’s take came just after Associated Press reporter Mark Long’s comment went viral. “Again, I think anybody who watches the program, anybody, whether you’re alumni football, average fan, casual fan. You know, armchair quarterback. You cannot do business, and you go, he’s a dead man walking,” he did not mince his words. Napier would have still kept hoping against hope, had there not been a replacement’s name already looming. In this case, Florida’s next head coach prospect is someone who brings more experience to the table, already threatening Napier. 

That’s none other than the former Oakland Raiders head coach, Jon Gruden. “Listen to me when I tell you this. If Billy Napier gets fired, and I think he’s going to… Jon Gruden will be in play for that job…Jon Gruden has had conversations in the past with people who care about Florida’s interest…desperately wants back in, and he desperately wants a college job,” dropped host Frank Frangie on his 1010XL: Gators podcast. Is Brian Kelly all-in on Billy Napier, or is he just one bad Saturday away from jumping ship to the doubters?