David Pollack defends Billy Napier's handling of his firing at Florida

Florida fired head coach Billy Napier over the weekend, following a win over Mississippi State. It was an awkward ending, perhaps made moreso by the fact that Napier didn’t give the administration much to publicly lament outside of the record on the field.

To that end, former Georgia star and current college football analyst David Pollack praised Napier. He did so on the See Ball Get Ball podcast.

“Billy Napier, first of all, unbelievable job handling all the criticism, all the negativity,” Pollack said. “I don’t know that I ever saw him say a negative word. He was always so positive, so gracious.”

Pollack was surprised that the fourth-year Florida coach was able to remain so composed after being on the hot seat for almost a full year. There’s a lot that comes with that.

“You’ve got fans yelling things things at him that you would not yell to him in the streets if you saw him,” Pollack explained. “Absolutely not. Like absolutely not. And then his family and what he has to go through and what you have to hear.”

Through it all, Billy Napier maintained his steadfast approach. He never publicly lost his composure, nor did he complain about the pressure he was under, noting that’s what coaches get paid for.

In the end, he simply wasn’t winning enough at Florida. Pollack highlighted that point.

“The bottom line is this: 6-7, 5-7, 8-5 with a big rebound last year and then 3-4 at this point in the season,” he said. “At Florida, man, with what I just told you about (Steve) Spurrier and what I just told you about (Urban) Meyer, it’s not good enough. You watch this offense and you’re frustrated. You don’t remember Urban Meyer offenses. You don’t remember Steve Spurrier offenses.”

It’s true, Billy Napier’s offenses often did little to inspire imagination. And even when things were working, the sometimes questionable playcalling frustrated fans even further.

Look no further than the third-and-1 call late in the fourth quarter, when Florida was trying to kill the clock with a two-point lead over Mississippi State. Rather than hand it off to Jadan Baugh, who was at 150 yards rushing on the day, Florida called a rollout for quarterback DJ Lagway, who Napier himself had admitted was not 100% healthy as a runner earlier in the week.

The play was stuffed, gifting Mississippi State a chance to win the game. Fortune favored Florida and a late interception sealed the game, but the damage was once again done for Billy Napier. It left an impression.

“And that’s why when you transition to the next coach, it’s got to be an offensive coach,” Pollack said. “Dan Mullen had a pretty good run at Florida. I know they ran him out, but he actually won some ballgames, and Georgia fans remember wheel route. That happened a bunch. But when you look at the University of Florida and you look at their decision now to move forward, I think there’s a bunch of people you can go after.”