What they're saying about Billy Napier & the Florida Gators

Following last week’s 26-7 loss at Miami, the Florida Gators are just 1-3. And, there are lots of questions about the team and the future of embattled coach Billy Napier, who now is 20-22 as Gators coach.

Can UF and Napier climb out of the massive hole they’ve dug for themselves? Would a win next week vs. No. 10 Texas quiet talk of Napier being on the hot seat? Will quarterback DJ Lagway find his rhythm? Is the UF offense ever going to show any signs of life? Can this group overcome mounting injuries on defense?

Among Gator Nation and across the country, many have opinions about UF’s predicament. Here’s a sampling from different personalties who cover sport and one current opposing player.

*Former UF coach Urban Meyer, now a TV commentator for Fox Sports, speaking on The Triple Option podcast: “When I took over the Florida Gators, you know what the expectations was. National championship. That’s not it any more at Florida right now. It’s just not. It’s let’s get to the SEC Championship Game, which by the way I picked Florida. The way they finished (2024), the quarterback talent they had, the players were fighting for their coach. It’s not turned out, but it’s also if they started with Penn State‘s schedule right now everybody would be saying, ‘Man, Florida’s doing great.’ But they didn’t. They didn’t have that luxury, and it gets even worse. … The reality is they’re 20-22.”

*Josh Pate, Josh Pate’s College Football Show: “I assume that this is it for Billy Napier. I assume that he will lose his job, which I hate because I love Billy Napier, but it is what it is. Bottom-line business and he has not gotten the job done there. Florida deserves better. They invest to the degree where they have the right to think they deserve better and they’re not getting it right now. 

This is a major story. These jobs don’t come open very often. We thought maybe it would happen last year. It didn’t. I just don’t think you avoid that trap door twice. So it sounds like an inevitability that this is gonna happen. The thing about that is, OK, when?”

*Paul Finebaum, SEC Network/ESPN on Matt Barrie’s podcast: “Billy Napier, because he is the offensive coordinator, diminishes his opportunity to be a very good, if not great, head coach. He’s not — he’s a mediocre head coach,” Finebaum said. “His record is what? 20-22? The fact that we’re still discussing this as a possibility that he survives [from being fired] is a testament to what I’m not really sure, but the end is very near.

However [AD] Scott Stricklin decides to do it and what matter, I really don’t know. And quite frankly, I don’t really care because he is not coming back as Florida’s head coach.”

*Miami quarterback Carson Beck: “I know DJ (Lagway) personally. This off-season, when I was recovering from my injury and whatnot, we were with the same PT people, so all of April and May, I saw him almost every single day.

He’s a great kid and very, very talented. And a lot of the time, it’s a tough road being a quarterback, especially for a big-name school. He’s super talented. He’s very gifted, and what he’s able to do, and he’s a great kid, and he works his butt off. So, you know, it’s always hard, because I’ve been through it as well. You know, they love you, they hate you, and then they love you. You just can’t define your self-worth off that.”

*Trey Wallace, Outkick: “We put too much faith in Napier turning things around in 2025. The Gators sit at 1–3, and the supposed return of Lagway from shoulder surgery has turned out to be a dud. For now, Florida is dragging out a decision, hoping something changes, but the signs suggest otherwise. Does anyone in Gainesville really believe Florida will suddenly find an offense? If not for their defense against Miami and LSU, the losses would look far uglier, and Napier might already be gone.”

*ESPN’s Pete Thamel: “[Napier] was encouraged to bring in an offensive coordinator to take the load off of him, in particular. And he got some leverage at the end of the year, and he didn’t do it. Now, he has left himself exposed. That’s Billy Napier’s fault. Billy Napier’s unflappable belief in [himself] and his plan have left him alone on an island right now.”

*Benjamin Henderson, Hail Florida Hail: “The Florida Gators racked up a grand total of 141 yards on offense on Saturday against Miami. If this were an abnormal result out of nowhere, it would be a shocking result. But Saturday night wasn’t in a vacuum; it was the result of a continued descent of an offense that Billy Napier refuses to give up.

And the failed 4th down call to open the 4th quarter perfectly encapsulates everything that has gone wrong in the Billy Napier Era.Despite everything feeling like it was going wrong for Florida, the Gators were only down 13-7 and had the ball to open the 4th quarter. Faced with 4th and three from the Miami 33, the Gators opted to go for it rather than kick a 53-yard field goal.

Going for it was actually the correct choice, but TJ Abrams proceeded to run a two-yard hitch and was stopped short. Mind you, Napier had the benefit of the change of quarter timeout to go over his entire playsheet, and the best he could come up with was a two-yard hitch to TJ Abrams.”

*Ryan Roddy and Andres Rodriguez, WRUF: “The year is 1986, the Oprah Winfrey show just debuted and ran for 25 seasons, the price of a gallon of milk was just over a dollar and the median price of a house was $95,000.  This is what the world looked like the last time the Florida Gators opened its season 1-3. Thirty-nine years later, the Oprah Winfrey show long ended, the price of a gallon of milk is just over $4, the median price of a house is $415,000 and the Gators are once again 1-3.”

*Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun: “Former Florida football coach Urban Meyer weighed in on the future of Billy Napier on his Triple Option podcast, wondering whether Napier will be fired during the 2025 season. Meyer’s reasoning, Florida doesn’t have the $21 million to buy out the remainder of Napier’s contract.

All due to respect to Meyer, who belongs in the Florida Gators ring of honor, but Florida can find the money to buy out Napier. Boosters made a cash call to buy out Napier last year and can do it again this year. Plus, per terms of Napier’s buyout, only half ($10-11 million) is owed within 30 days of his termination. The rest will be distributed in three yearly installments from 2026-28.”

*Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN/ABC: “DJ Lagway is a very, very talented guy who had a bunch of injuries and missed spring football and most of camp. This week was his fifth week of practice since January. As good as he is, quarterbacks have to have reps in practice. You have to get your timing down with your skill guys. When you see balls sail like that, it’s still him trying to find that rhythm.”

*Nick Saban, ESPN analyst and former Alabama coach, on The Pat McAfee Show before the UF-Miami game: “I think Florida has the best roster they’ve had in a long time. I think the quarterback has struggled and I think he’s struggled because he hasn’t been able to practice. He hasn’t been able to get enough reps. You know, some guys can play without practice and some guys need reps to get it right. I don’t know this guy, but he hasn’t played well because he hasn’t been able to practice much.”

But, they have a good roster and I think if the quarterback plays better they can be a team that can just about beat anybody. This defense is good and they’ve got a big offensive line and a decent back. I think they can be pretty good.”

*Tyler Forness, AtoZ Sports: “This is where the aforementioned difficult conversation comes into play. For Lagway’s benefit, the Gators should sit him down for the rest of the season, take a redshirt, and have the necessary procedures to have him 100% for the offseason and 2026.

It’s not the outcome that anyone wants. We all want to see Lagway thrive with the Gators, and it felt like it was destiny that it would happen after a phenomenal finish to the 2024 season. The reality is that Lagway, first and foremost, needs to get healthy. With the season already one to forget, he can get healthy and hopefully participate in the majority of the offseason activities.

Lagway will be healthy and also retain his eligibility.”

*Derek Peterson, Saturday Down South: “They say the definition of insanity is doing nothing while expecting different results. Some college football coaches would disagree with such a statement, arguing instead that steadiness in the face of adversity can pay dividends. Florida head coach Billy Napier would seemingly fall into the latter camp.”

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