BUDDY MARTIN: Sometimes The Gambler Loses. But Team Spunk Is Bigger Than Napier’s 'Smart Money.’

“We walked into the locker room with a lot of disappointed players, that were emotional, that care, that have passion, that want to do their job for the team,” Napier said. “There’s an old war term called a ‘foxhole guy.’ A guy that you can trust. A guy that is loyal. A guy that you can turn your back from and know that he is going to do what he is supposed to do and you’re doing the same thing on your side …”

Maybe if Billy Napier doesn’t want his money to be “scared,” perhaps then it should at least be more frightened, afraid, fearful, nervous, panicky, agitated, alarmed, worried, intimidated or terrified. Those are all the synonyms I could find for “scared.”

Photo Credit - Chris Spears

While we admire the Bravado, the fact that he chose to gamble on fourth and a long six at his 49-yard line with just under 14 minutes to play in the fourth period proved to be an unwise decision and a buzz-kill. But there are some of us who like bold coaches, as long as they don’t become The Gambler, addicted to gambling. Those kinds of coaches are like dogs that chase cars – it’s a risky deal.

It was a risky deal Saturday in Jacksonville and Billy got burnt.

At that point, the Gators were making a run, had just made it a one-score game, but had allowed the Bulldogs’ runners to make huge chunks of yardage on an ensuing 78-yard drive. Trailing 35-20, Napier hoped to regain the momentum on this call.

On the play-by-play sheet, it looked like this:

4th and 11 on UGA15

RICHARDSON, Anthony pass to the left incomplete intended for PEARSALL, Ricky broken up by STARKS, Malaki at the UGA0; QB hurried by DUMAS-JOHNSON, Jamon; UFL turnover on downs, clock 08:59. [08:59]

Asked about the decision in the post-game interview, Napier said he just viewed the fourth down failure as a “turnover.”

“It’s a turnover. It’s a turnover on downs,” Napier told the media. “Turnover affected the outcome of the game. No different than them turning the ball over allowed us to get back in the game. We don’t convert on fourth down and we turn the ball over to them. We had our opportunities. We can coach better, and we can play better.”

Billy Napier Post Game Presser - Photo Credit - Chris Spears

Never heard that theory before. To paraphrase Marc Antony’s quote in reverse, however, “I didn’t come here to bury Caesar today, but to praise him.”

There are dozens of things we could harp on about Napier’s loss to Georgia. Some of us didn’t care for his rather un-inspired play-calling in the first half, or the fact that during the two-week open date period the Gators appeared to forget how to run the football. When you’re a 4-4 football team that has now lost two straight, it’s not a time to ask for a raise or run for governor.

I get it. There’s going to be some breakage. Impatient, novice fans will be screaming like banshees on social media, calling for heads, trashing recruits for not committing to their school and in general, making asses out of themselves. Let them scream. In reality they ought to be doing the opposite, as intelligent fans would remind them.

You may not like his buzz cut, or the way he gets chummy with his longtime friend Kirby Smart or the fact that his third down defense is scarier than anything you’ll see this year on Halloween. And what I’m about to say won’t please some. But Billy Napier is absolutely the right man for the job, even if he sorely needs to dig deeper in the transfer portal, catch some bigger fish in the recruiting ocean, make some defensive modifications, get better consistency out of his quarterback and win games. He's a WIP – work in progress.

For one thing, Florida is right where it was projected to be by the so-called experts and wise guys in the desert. This was expected to be a 7-5 team. Three more wins to go, but all four games that are very winnable. And I saw the answer to what needed to happen on Saturday night in the third quarter. There is some fight in these Gators and their spunk in the third quarter that Napier can build on. That needs to be bottled for the future. He found some guys he believes can be the difference makers.

“We walked into the locker room with a lot of disappointed players, that were emotional, that care, that have passion, that want to do their job for the team,” Napier said. “There’s an old war term called a ‘foxhole guy.’ A guy that you can trust. A guy that is loyal. A guy that you can turn your back from and know that he is going to do what he is supposed to do and you’re doing the same thing on your side … there’s no comparison military wise, but I think there’s some things that we can learn a lesson from relative to those intangibles.”

And if you’re one of those people who keeps calling for the replacement of Anthony Richardson, you’re short-sighted. What needs to happen is the opposite. I say, for the good of himself and the whole Gator football program, A.R. needs to be thinking about skipping this year’s NFL Draft and returning to play another season.

Yeah, I know he’s projected as a first-rounder, but my guess is that he’ll drop to a lower pick as other quarterbacks like Hendon Hooker, CJ Stroud, Caleb Williams and maybe even Will Levis and K.J. Jefferson give chase to returning Heisman winner Bryce Young, Richardson’s stock won’t rise.

In fact, if Tennessee beats Georgia this week, which I think is going to happen, Hooker will likely become the top Heisman prospect. And where was he last year? Who was Hendon Hooker? He was a lot like Anthony Richardson this season. So why not come back and become him?

What a year it would be for Richardson living large in his hometown, sleeping in his own bed, making some serious cash, ballin’ out with his buddies and learning his trade to improve his 2023 stock?

Money won’t be an issue. Richardson has plenty now. He would stand to make millions more if he came back and led Florida to a run for the SEC East title in 2023. As far as the fear of his financial risks due to injury if he skipped the NFL, much could be allayed by an NIL deal for a major insurance policy – say $25 or $30M. Who would fund that? Ever heard of Gatorade? He’s already their client.

Hey, A.R., shoot for the statue.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves that far yet, because there’s plenty of game left on the table. There’s a maligned, angry Aggies squad with a worse record waiting for the Gators in Central SE Texas. Aggie fans are talking about raising the $85M to buy Jimbo Fisher out. Sometimes these things don’t work out as anticipated. Sometimes, if you wait and exercise prudence, they do. It's a big gamble.