Florida football coach Billy Napier stood tall on the podium and took accountability for an inexplicable 18-16 loss to USF that left the 89,909 that packed The Swamp with an all too familiar sinking feeling.
“Not good enough, and it’s my responsibility,” Napier said afterwards.
The goodwill that Napier built in guiding the Florida Gators to an 8-5 record and back-to-back upsets of LSU and Ole Miss in The Swamp is now lost. This season was supposed to be different, with budding star quarterback DJ Lagway, an experienced offensive line led by All-American center Jake Slaughter and a defense that returns eight starters.
Instead, there were remnants of the same mistakes we’ve seen in the first three seasons under Napier that suggest that the job is simply too big for him. It began with an illegal substitution penalty in which too many players were on the field on defense on what would have been a fourth-down stop late in the first quarter. The drive ended innocently enough with a 38-yard field goal from USF kicker Nico Gramatica.
Then, a botched snap over the head of Florida punter Tommy Doman that gifted USF two more points as the ball dribbled through the back of the end zone for a safety.
Take those away and Florida escapes with a 16-13 win over USF but still plenty of questions heading into a stretch closing the month at No. 4 LSU (Sept. 13) and at No. 7 Miami (Sept., 20).
Now, ending September with a 1-3 record appears likely, which could serve as the death knell for Napier and his staff heading into a bye week before a return to The Swamp against Texas.
When asked if he was the right man for the job, Napier responded: ” I’m more concerned with doing my job to help lead these young men. That’s a big picture question, and I think right now it’s more about today. It’s more about what we do tomorrow, and I think that’s what we’ve got to get consumed with.”
With the loss, Napier dropped to 20-20 overall and 14-7 at The Swamp.
“I’m consumed with doing the best job I can do for the players, leading the staff, and getting the football fixed,” Napier said. “Because ultimately that’s going to decide how far we go around here.”
Florida football has yet to start 2-0 under Billy Napier
This is the fourth straight season where Florida has failed to start 2-0 under Napier. Before there were built-in excuses of playing Power Four teams like Utah (twice) and Miami to start the season.
But this season was set up for Napier to ease into the grind of the SEC schedule. Only USF, which had upset Boise State the week before and came into The Swamp with confidence, decided to spoil the party. The Bulls outgained Florida 391-355 and played like the more poised, better-conditioned team in the fourth quarter.
Again, this is Year 4 under Napier, with four recruiting cycles and close to the entire roster built by him and his staff.
“I don’t want to discredit South Florida,” Napoer said. “I think they did a lot of good things out there. I have respect for how they play. Give them some credit for hanging around and finding a way to win the game. But I do think that we had our opportunities to win the game tonight, and we’ve got to go get it done.”
There is the issue of the $22 million buyout, nothing to ignore in the revenue share era of college athletics. But at what point do Florida fans get fed up with the same undisciplined miscues. Florida defensive lineman Brendan Bett spitting on an opposing USF player during a critical fourth-quarter drive could be excused if it was the first time it happened involving a player in the Napier era. But less than two years ago, Florida defensive lineman Jamari Lyons did the same thing, resulting in him being ejected against Florida State.
“We’ve got to clean up these things that are under our control,” Napier said.
How much more time does Napier get to clean up the messes he continues to create?
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Like it or not, Florida football coach Billy Napier finds himself back on hot seat following numbing USF loss
Reporting by Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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