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Professional sports have been in the southeastern United States for a long time. But college sports are even more important here. Expectations are super high for SEC football coaches. Billy Napier is feeling the heat as he enters his third year at Florida.
It almost feels like he won’t get a fourth.
Napier, who is also being sued by former Florida quarterback recruit Jaden Rashada, now at rival Georgia, said he “is comfortable with [his] actions.” Okay, but that doesn’t change the fact Florida has arguably the hardest schedule in the country and the Gators may go 3-9. Florida probably needs to go at least 8-4 before a bowl game to ensure Napier of a fourth season leading this college program.
As if he needed full-throated support from anyone, as Napier is a full-grown man, he got the backing from former Auburn, Boise State and Arkansas State head coach Bryan Harsin. For as good as Harsin was at Boise State and Arkansas State before that, he was atrocious in his year-and-a-half run at Auburn. He was a fish out of water who couldn’t recruit and didn’t relate to SEC players or its culture.
Here is what Harsin said to defend Napier. He may have a point here, but he is the wrong messenger.
“Coach Napier has always handled himself with class. He’s a winner, 40-12 at his last program! He’s following 10 years of fired coaches and is working to build some consistency with Florida. He deserves the benefit of the doubt.”
“I’m comfortable with my actions.”
– Billy Napier
Coach Napier has always handled himself with class. He’s a winner 40-12 at his last program! He’s following 10 years of fired coaches & is working to build some consistency with Florida. He deserves the benefit of the doubt. https://t.co/JjmL5Cp3Sx— Bryan Harsin (@CoachHarsin) May 29, 2024
All this says to me is Harsin is getting ready for Napier to become good, ole Sun Belt Billy once again.
I have said it before and I will say it again. Outside of Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer, Florida football is a dysfunctional mess historically. The Gators’ only SEC championship pre-Spurrier came in 1984, and they had to vacate it due to scandal. Between Spurrier and Meyer, they have three national championships and three Heisman Trophy winners, if you count what Spurrier did as a player at UF.
To put it simply, Florida needs a truly dynamic head coach to have everyone involved pulling in the same direction. When they get that guy, they do extraordinary things. When they get someone like Napier or the many other coaches who have failed since Meyer left over a decade ago, you get one of the most chaotic programs in the country. Napier may be a good head coach, but we will never know.
Like Harsin, Napier had great success at the Group of Five level. What he did at Louisiana prior to taking the Florida job is nothing to sneeze at. He may have bombed as Dabo Swinney’s offensive coordinator at Clemson, but Napier was in fact the first successful Nick Saban coaching rehabilitation project while at Alabama. Unfortunately, there is no Saban to turn back to in 2025. Napier is cooked.
Harsin’s quote tweet signifies that he is not so different than the Florida head coach. He wants a job!
