Greg McElroy, Josh Pate detail path for Billy Napier to save Florida job again

Earlier this week, noted college football expert Josh Pate received a call from a friend he described as a “smart, football-minded guy” that suggested Florida head coach Billy Napier “prolonged the inevitable another week” following last Saturday’s home upset over a Top 10-ranked Texas. Pate immediately challenged his friend and suggested Napier’s midseason ouster in Gainesville might not be as “inevitable” as some Gators fans might hope.

Now, as Napier and Florida (2-3, 1-1 SEC) turn the page and hit the road for Saturday night’s primetime game at No. 5 Texas A&M (5-0, 2-0 SEC), Pate made it clear the road to salvaging Napier’s job as the Gators’ head football coach isn’t as tenuous as once thought.

“As long (Napier) still has his job, and especially if that team is still all-in – which they clearly are – he can mess around and continue to win games,” Pate said Tuesday on the lastest episode of the Always College Football podcast with ESPN analyst Greg McElroy. “So if you’re telling me he’s not qualified for the job, you need to fire him today. … But if you don’t fire him today, chances are – they may be small – but the chances are they could string some wins together here. And by the way, … they’re a one-loss SEC team. They’re not mathematically out of anything in the league standings. So, look, if it was a one-off against Texas, this will be a moot point, the results will solve this conversation for us.”

At that point, McElroy pointed out Florida is talented enough to not only compete down the stretch, but possbily even string a few big wins together like it did last season when then-freshmen QB DJ Lagway went 6-1 as the Gators’ starting quarterback after replacing an injured Graham Mertz.

“I’ve got to be honest, when you watch them, I don’t hate their matchup against anybody. Like are they going to run the table? Probably not,” McElroy said. “(But) they’re a tough out and I expect them to play well down the stretch, I really do. And maybe they can somehow play their way back into contention and it’ll be one of the great stories of the college football season.”

After Saturday’s game at No. 5 Texas A&M, Florida still has Top 25 games against 10th-ranked rival Georgia on Nov. 1 before closing out the regular season with matchups against No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 12 Tennessee and No. 25 Florida State.