This offseason is shaping up to be loaded with drama. With some highly dramatic transfers and other notable developments, 2025 is going to be an exciting season ahead. We’ve seen some players gearing up to make waves this season, and some revamping their narrative as they change teams ahead of the season. One more dramatic addition to this offseason will be Billy Napier dismissing DL Stephon Shivers from Florida. That’s something you don’t get to see every day in college football, even away from the turf.

Shivers arrived at Gainesville after flipping his commitment from Georgia in 2025. “When was the last time you’ve seen a 380-pound guy run a 75-yard touchdown?” Billy Napier said of the DL during spring camp. There were high hopes for Shivers this season. He came in as a talented recruit and was going to see action this year, replacing NFLer Desmond Watson. In 2023, he tallied 90 tackles (20 TFLs) and 11 sacks. But beneath the hype, there were serious off-field concerns that have now come to light.

We now know that Stephon Shivers was involved in a horrific crime. The DL was arrested two weeks ago on charges of false imprisonment after a physical altercation with a female. The victim alleges that this abusive conduct went on for more than three years. The charge is a grave one, and Shivers can expect 5 years of prison time along with a $5000 fine. He currently remains under house arrest. When the news first broke out, Florida’s management came out with a statement. “We are aware of the situation with one of our student-athletes. We will continue to gather facts, cooperate with and monitor the legal and administrative processes,” it read.

However, as more facts came to light, it was clear that Billy Napier could not afford to keep him any longer. According to police reports, the incident involved a violent altercation, during which Shivers allegedly a—ulted the victim after confronting her about something found on her phone. The report also states that the situation escalated, with claims that he physically struck and choked the victim. Despite being granted conditional release to attend school and football practice. But Billy Napier knew that this time, the limits crossed by leaps and bounds. Shivers joins a growing list of players who have been arrested during Billy Napier’s time as the Gators’ HC. This is the first time in a long time that the administration dismissed a player because of their criminal activity.

Stephon Shivers’ newest addition to Florida’s crime-laden history

The Urban Meyer era, aside from its productivity, holds a concerning record of arrests. 31 players had run-ins with the law in the four years that Meyer was at the wheel of the Gators’ ship. The documentary series American Sports Story touches upon the 2008 National Championship-winning team under Meyer, which is infamous for the number of criminal cases players were dealing with.

The most shocking crime came by way of Aaron Hernandez in 2007. He was part of an incident that saw five gunshots being fired, which gravely injured 2 passengers in a car. Former WR Chris Rainey sent an eerily threatening message to his then-girlfriend, which read ‘time to die.’ Other charges in which Meyer saw his players getting the rap for were burglary, DUIs, larceny, obstruction of justice, and even s–ual a–aults. The crime record under Urban Meyer is now trickling down to Billy Napier. Ironically enough, Georgia is facing a similar situation under Kirby Smart, who is seeing a series of incidents like these.

Crime and college athletics are a pairing that has run for decades. Some of them end up being so ghastly that programs simply can’t afford to just rap them on the knuckles to keep their career alive. Billy Napier has not only a PR mess to deal with. He also has to figure out a way to make up for the loss of Stephon Shivers, who had big responsibilities ahead of the season. How Napier makes up for this loss at this point in the offseason is surely going to be a major test.