Nick Saban: Billy Napier 'has done a really good job' keeping Florida together ahead of Texas showdown

Nick Saban knows a thing or two about handling adversity in the SEC. Ahead of Florida’s Week 6 matchup against No. 9 Texas, the former Alabama head coach had high praise for Billy Napier’s leadership in Gainesville.

During ESPN’s College GameDay, Saban credited Napier for keeping his team united amid a challenging start to the 2025 season, similar to how it went down in 2024 in Gainesville. The Gators enter the weekend 1-3, but Saban emphasized that maintaining belief inside the locker room is no small feat.

“I do think Billy has done a really good job in the circumstances that he’s in with not losing the team,” Saban proclaimed. “I think that’s really, really important in a game like this.”

All told, Florida’s tough early slate has included matchups against multiple top-25 opponents, and the Gators’ offense has struggled to find consistency. Still, Napier’s players have continued to compete hard, and now they’ll get another chance to turn things around at home against a premier program.

Facing an undefeated Longhorns squad making their SEC debut in The Swamp, Napier’s ability to keep his team focused and resilient could make all the difference in one of Week 6’s marquee showdowns. We’ll see if they can get the job done, as the pressure mounts for Florida.

Steve Spurrier encourages Billy Napier to ‘hang in there’ amid Florida’s struggles, hot seat talk

Moreover, Nick Saban isn’t the only one voice some support for Billy Napier. It’s been nearly a decade since Steve Spurrier last roamed an SEC sideline, in the midst of his 11th and final season at South Carolina, which was cut short when he resigned in mid-October 2015.

It’s been even longer since the Head Ball Coach built his reputation in Gainesville during his 12 seasons (1990-2001) as the Florida head coach. Despite all that time away, Spurrier knows as well as anybody the pitfalls that come with being an SEC head coach, especially when wins are hard to come by.

It’s through that experience that he’s able to provide sage words of advice to Florida’s current head coach in Napier, who is facing serious hot seat pressure amid a slow start to the season.

“Oh, hang in there. ‘Hang in there’ is about what we’re all saying right now,” Spurrier said when asked what advice he’d give Napier by ESPN‘s Marty Smith during a Friday afternoon hit on SportsCenter. “I think the local papers and national media have sort of hinted that our Gator offense has been like a D, and our defense has been like a B. So one’s got to get better and the other stay there or get better also. But, yeah, we’ve got to play better and coach better.

“And our schedule’s been tough, we all know that, it was the No. 1 toughest schedule going in (to the season). If we had Texas’ schedule, not to say anything bad, but we’d be 3-1 also. But we’re 1-3 because we played some really good teams. I think we’ve got a good chance, if we play up to our potential.”

— On3’s Alex Byington contributed to this article.