Billy Napier sends definitive message after Texas upset: ‘I’m not giving up on the team’

Going back to the 2024 season, Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier has found himself on the hot seat. Amid a three-game losing streak in September of this season, however, the pressure was boiling over for Napier and the Gators. Then, he showed some proof of concept with a massive win at home over the Texas Longhorns.

The season certainly got off on the wrong foot for Florida, and there’s no hiding from that. However, by beating Texas 29-21, the Gators did prove that there is plenty of reason to be excited moving forward about this Florida team. Certainly, Napier hasn’t given up on this unit.

“I would say, for me, that’s the football team I thought we had in the very beginning,” Billy Napier said. “We finally kind of put it together there and played all three phases very complementary, all parts of the team really good. We started fast. That was a huge emphasis in the game. Got the crowd into it. Man, you’ve got to give these kids some credit. I think nowadays in college athletics, maybe there’s a little bit of a black eye about the sport, what it can teach, what locker rooms are like, and I can only speak for ours. I’m not giving up on team.”

Prior to the Texas game, the last time Florida had taken the field, the Gators had only been able to put up seven points in a loss to Miami. The week before that, they had just 10 points and five interceptions against LSU. Against the Longhorns, however, Florida put up 29 points and was much more efficient on offense in general, averaging 7.0 yards per play. It was a major step in the right direction for the Gators in 2025.

“That’s a football team. I’m humbled to be a part of it. For them to do what they’ve done over the last couple of weeks,” Napier said. “I think is to be commended in today’s world. They didn’t blame anybody else. They took ownership, and they went back to work. It’s been a challenge. You guys know because you write about it every day. But we handled some adversity. This is just the beginning here. We’ve got a lot more games just like that when it gets to really good teams in the future.”

Florida snapped their three-game losing streak and got back on track. Napier knows he’s still on the hot seat, though. So, the next challenge is going to be building on that bit of success.

“We’ve handled adversity. Now can we handle a little bit of success? I think that’ll be really important. In general,” Napier said. “I’m extremely proud of the staff and the players for the way they held together and the work that was done in the open date.”

The schedule doesn’t get any easier from here. Next week, the Gators will be back on the road to take on Texas A&M. A win there, and Napier may be able to say that Florida’s season has turned around.