Florida’s Napier unwilling to make change that could save his job

In 2024, Napier was on the hot seat at Florida after his first two seasons netted the Gators an 11-14 overall record. Florida started that season at 1-2 but ended on a four-game win streak that saw the Gators beat No. 22 LSU, No. 9 Ole Miss, Florida State and Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl to finish at 8-5.

It looked like progress, and because former five-star quarterback DJ Lagway had been given control of the offense, there appeared to be hope for the future.

Napier is on thin ice with the Florida Gators

That hope has basically evaporated after No. 13 Florida lost at home to USF, though, and that’s largely because Florida looked shellshocked and unprepared for a game USF squad that had just taken down a formerly ranked Boise State team.

The Gators were terrible when it mattered most, going just 4-of-12 on third downs. They were undisciplined, committing 11 penalties for 103 yards, and that included this unthinkably stupid flagrant unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with the game on the line.

Napier had the Gators unprepared to play. Even Lagway looked like a second-rate version of himself, completing 23-of-33 passes for 222 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

With games against No. 3 LSU, No. 5 Miami, No. 7 Texas and No. 16 Texas A&M all coming up in a row, there’s a real chance that the Gators could find themselves at 1-5 by mid-October, and then Napier would really be in trouble.

As things stand, no change at Florida makes it look like there’s no chance. A change would have given Napier the slightest of chances to survive this stretch, because even change for the sake of changing could have been enough of a variable to jumpstart this team.

We know who the Gators are with Napier calling the shots, though, and it’s not good enough.