JD PicKell addresses the heat facing Billy Napier, Shane Beamer entering 2024 season

On3’s J.D. PicKell joined The Paul Finebaum show on Tuesday, where he elaborated on some thoughts regarding the future of some big-name SEC coaches.

With such a pivotal season coming up this fall for many of the conference’s programs, two names stand out to PicKell as being in potential danger in Florida’s Billy Napier and South Carolina’s Shane Beamer.

While PicKell made sure to preface his statement with the fact that he’s a big fan of both coaches, he sees those two names having the warmest seats in 2024, especially if they can’t win some games on the field.

“I think the name that keeps coming up in a lot of college football public circles is, what’s going to happen at Florida with Billy Napier? Billy Napier’s someone who I’m a huge fan of. I think he’s done a really good job with what he inherited. Now, it hasn’t been the job they wanted to see done on the field — not just from a, what they haven’t done the last couple of years perspective at Florida in Gainesville, I think just the schedule they have here to finish,” PicKell said. “Like, Nov. 2 through Nov. 30 for them is absolutely brutal. You started with Georgia, and then you’ve got Florida State at the end of that thing. I mean, it is a very, very difficult schedule, in what feels like a really high-stakes year for Billy Napier and company. So I think that’s one that you’ve got to look at.

“Another guy that I’m a huge fan of is Shane Beamer in South Carolina. Wasn’t the year that they wanted to have last year. I’d probably pump the breaks a little bit more on making a definitive statement on Shane Beamer and his future in Columbia. I think they overachieved the past two years, so to have one down year this past year, I think you kind of wait and see and you don’t get over-reactionary. But those are the two that I’m curious to see how they respond in 2024.”

As PicKell explained, Florida’s schedule will be a gauntlet, and South Carolina will have a lot of eyes on them after a disappointing campaign last season. Still, the bar is the bar for both programs, and their fans want victories, not excuses.

Time will tell what happens to Billy Napier and Shane Beamer beyond this season, but it’s easy to see why some think their jobs could be on the line. We’ll see if they’re able to prove their doubters wrong, or if they’re looking for new work in 2025.