Skip to main content
LSU

Brian Kelly calls any "Hot Seat" buzz with Billy Napier "craziness"

On3 imageby: Shea Dixon09/08/25sheadixon
LSU HC Brian Kelly backed up Florida HC Billy Napier is both enter Year 4 (Photo: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images)
LSU HC Brian Kelly backed up Florida HC Billy Napier is both enter Year 4 (Photo: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images)

Florida vs. LSU week has arrived, and LSU head coach Brian Kelly kicked Monday off with a strong take on the “Hot Seat” talk surrounding Florida head coach Billy Napier.

The Gators dropped Saturday’s home game to South Florida on a field goal as time expired in The Swamp, and Florida fans quickly became vocal again in questioning whether Napier is the right head coach for the program.

With a 1-1 start to 2025 with a win over Long Island and loss to South Florida, Napier is 20-20 as he begins his fourth season as Florida’s head coach.

Kelly, also in Year 4 of his tenure as an SEC head coach, has the Tigers ranked No. 3 in the AP Top 25, while Florida’s loss to USF dropped the Gators out of the Top 25.

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum was quick to give his opinion on Napier’s future in Gainesville, one that seems to be shared by much of the vocal fanbase.

“He completely blew it,” Finebaum said on McElroy and Cubelic. “(These are) the same problems we’ve been seeing from Napier in terms of game management from beginning, and at this point, there’s no reason for optimism. I’m sorry, we went through that last year. It was a roller coaster, terrible at the first, great at the end. And you just can’t keep playing with fans’ emotions. You have to get control of your program. And he clearly has not. So I think the end is near for Billy Napier.” 

On Monday, preparations began for LSU’s matchup with Napier and Florida on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.

When asked his opinion on the talk of Napier being on the coaching “Hot Seat”, Kelly made his stance on the matter clear.

“Crazy. It’s craziness,” Kelly said of the notion Florida should part ways with Napier.

“He’s a really good football coach. He knows his team. He knows what their strengths and weaknesses are. You can see it on film. He’s building a culture that is fit to his eye in terms of what he wants to do. He’s doing it his way. That’s awesome.

“Look, I came in here … and (when Ed Orgeron) was here, he won a National Championship. But, he did it his way. It was his way. And that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s the way it went. They wanted to make a change. I do it my way. It takes time. It takes time to put in your philosophy and the way you like to do things. I do them a lot different than Ed does, but he still won. They ask for a change, I came, and it takes time to make that change.

“And, it’s the same thing as Billy. Billy has come in after two or three other head coaches that changed the way the other coaches did it. Now he’s starting to stabilize that program. People talk about whatever they want. It’s crazy. It takes you what it takes, and he will get that thing where he wants it.

“I think he’s got it right now … They beat us last year,” Kelly said, wrapping up his thoughts on one of college football’s hottest coaching topics after two weeks of the season. “Was that considered a rant? Close? A borderline rant? I can’t do that anymore. They make memes of that.”

LSU enters the week listed as 9.5-point favorites over Florida on BetMGM.

You may also like