Paul Finebaum reveals how serious Billy Napier hot seat talk is after South Florida loss

There is no doubt in Paul Finebaum‘s mind that the Billy Napier‘s seat is scorching right now at Florida. The Gators are coming off of an 18-16 loss against USF over the weekend and all the talk in the days that followed has been about the coach’s job security.

There was talk of firing Napier last season, which was his third year in Gainesville. However, after a 4-5 start, he ended up saving his job by reeling off four straight wins to close out the season, including a pair of top 25 victories against LSU and Ole Miss.

But after Saturday’s results, Florida fans are again beginning to grow restless. Finebaum appeared on Always College Football with Greg McElroy, where he explained why he believes Napier may not be able to get himself out of this one.

“I believe (the hot seat talk is real),” the SEC Network analyst said. “I think it was real last year. It just so happened that he managed to take advantage of Ole Miss, of LSU, of a very weak FSU team and went on this run that was exciting. Beating Ole Miss and LSU at home really mattered. It helped him and (athletic director) Scott Stricklin helped him too by dialing up that vote of confidence at just the right time. (DJ) Lagway coming back was really the ticket that every Florida fan felt great about. But Greg, you talked about it on your show and here, Lagway was always a mystery.”

Lagway entered this season with big expectations but finished Saturday’s loss 23-of-33 passing for 222 yards and one touchdown with one interception. That simply wasn’t enough as the Gators managed just 16 points, losing on a last-second field goal as time expired.

Billy Napier now owns a pedestrian 20-20 record only two games into his fourth season at the helm. Given the tradition and presitge of a program like Florida, that just isn’t going to cut it.

Perhaps a win this weekend against No. 3 LSU would help sway public opinion. But if things continue to go south in SEC play, the writing is on the wall.

“I just didn’t expect the Gators to look so inept at various points on the field,” Finebaum said. “To me, the Napier thing, I mean he’s 20-20 in his fourth year. We know what happened to every other coach with far better records. The only thing that will save him is if Florida decided to start thinking like a mid-level team and be happy with mediocrity. But I don’t think Gator fans are gonna be happy with that based on a couple of shows so far this week.”