By affirming Napier, Stricklin made a move to salvage recruiting

Billy Napier will return as Florida's head football coach in 2025 (Gator Bait Photo by Chris Spears)

In a move that was almost a necessity, University of Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin announced Thursday morning that Billy Napier is and will continue to be the head football coach. In a letter addressed to the Gator Nation, Stricklin ended any speculation that Napier will be dismissed if the Gators suffer blowout losses in their next three games, all against highly-ranked opponents who are in the hunt for a berth in the College Football Playoff.

The Gators are currently 4-4, 2-3 in Southeastern Conference play. The difficulty of the schedule would seem to indicate it will take a miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead proportions for the Gators to get to six wins and bowl eligibility. By affirming that Napier will return for the 2025 season no matter the outcome in the last four games, Stricklin sent a shockwave of positive energy to the current Florida roster and to recruits either committed or sitting on the fence, trying to decide if they’re willing to gamble on fitting into the long range plans of a brand new coach in the event Napier is fired.

Napier has assembled a young, but very talented roster. If he were to be dismissed it would be akin to an open invitation for every Power Four coach in the country to raid the Florida roster. In the past couple of weeks, some highly regarded commitments have backed away from UF, largely due to uncertainty that Napier would be returning as the head coach. So, a letter of affirmation from Stricklin was an absolute necessity.

Stricklin’s letter:

Gator Nation,

I wanted to let you know that Billy Napier will continue as head football coach of the Florida Gators.

As we've seen these past several weeks, the young men on this team represent what it means to be a Gator. Their resolve, effort and execution are evident in their performance and growth each week - building a foundation that promises greater success next season and beyond.

UF's commitment to excellence and a championship-caliber program is unwavering. In these times of change across college athletics, we are dedicated to a disciplined, stable approach that is focused on long-term, sustained success for Gator athletes, recruits and fans.

I am confident that Billy will meet the challenges and opportunities ahead. We will work alongside him to support any changes needed to elevate Gator football. As college athletics evolves, UF is committed to embracing innovation and strategy, ensuring the Gators thrive in today's competitive landscape.

Gator Nation has remained strong, showing up game after game to stand with our team. This loyalty creates an incredible environment that inspires our players to compete with heart and determination. Now, I call on all of Gator Nation to continue standing behind Billy and his dedicated team while we work together to build a championship program.

Go Gators!

Scott Stricklin

Athletics Director

This was not an unexpected move on the part of the Florida athletics administration. Although alumni, boosters and media have called for Napier’s dismissal, particularly after the Gators lost in rather embarrassing fashion at The Swamp to 4th-ranked Miami and 15th-ranked Texas A&M in the first three games, Stricklin has never wavered in his confidence that Billy Napier is the right coach to put Florida football back on a championship track. Florida’s play in the last five games has been particularly encouraging, lending to the belief that Billy Napier has the Gators moving in the right direction. The Gators are 3-2 in their last five with hard fought losses at the hands of 7th-ranked Tennessee in overtime and 2nd-ranked Georgia.

The Gators have continued to make progress despite a rash of injuries that has decimated the roster. Starting quarterback Graham Mertz went down with a torn ACL late against Tennessee in Knoxville, which quite possibly prevented the Gators from springing the upset. Significant among the many injuries last Saturday against Georgia in Jacksonville was a soft tissue injury to the hamstring of freshman quarterback DJ Lagway. At the time of the injury in the second quarter, the Gators had a 10-3 lead and plenty of momentum.

Lagway could be available albeit in a limited capacity Saturday when the Gators face 5th-ranked Texas in Austin. The Longhorns are favored by 21.5 points, in part because the Gators may have to play the entire game with Aidan Warner, a walk-on transfer from Yale, at quarterback. Still on the schedule, the Gators have home games with 14th-ranked LSU and 16th-ranked Ole Miss plus a season-ending road trip to Florida State.

With that daunting schedule, the handicap of a depleted roster and the possibility of a recruiting class in need of a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, Stricklin’s letter was a necessity. Either he had to announce Napier’s dismissal or affirm that he and the athletic administration trust that Napier is the right coach to lead Florida football into the future.

By announcing that Napier will be his coach moving forward, it not only gives the Gators the best chance to prevent the roster from being poached when the transfer portal opens in December but save the 2025 recruiting class. Lagway and freshman running back Jadan Baugh would be particularly inviting targets for schools wishing to replenish their rosters through the transfer portal. The move also allows the coaching staff to hold onto key recruits such as 5-star receiver Vernell Brown III and 4-star corner Ben Hanks Jr.   

After losing seasons in 2022 and 2023, this was expected to be a breakout season for Napier and the Gators. The poor play in the Miami and Texas A&M games gave the look of a program spiraling out of control, but ever since an open week following a more difficult than expected 45-28 win over Mississippi State, the Gators have been a team that nobody wants to play. The Gators have shown significant improvement defensively where they’ve been able to pressure the quarterback and the secondary has turned into ball hawks who pick off passes. On the other side, the passing game has turned explosive with Lagway throwing the ball and the running game hasn’t missed a beat despite injuries to Montrell Johnson Jr. and Treyaun Webb. In their place Baugh and Ja’Kobi Jackson have found room to run behind an offensive line that seems to show weekly improvement. The Gators are fourth in the SEC in fewest sacks allowed.

In making his decision, Stricklin had to take into account that in Florida’s dominating, 48-20, win over Kentucky, 19 Gator starters are eligible to return next season. An additional 27 Gators played against Kentucky who will be able to return. When you throw in the number of underclassmen who are out with injuries, that’s an exceptional nucleus returning who could make quite a difference next season.

During a brief conversation with Stricklin a few months ago, the athletic director commented to me, “We have to stop this endless cycle of changing coaches. How many coaches have we had since Coach Spurrier? Five? And only one of them (Urban Meyer) lasted more than four years. If we’re going to build a program that can sustain success, we can’t just keep on doing what we’ve been doing.”

Since Steve Spurrier, Ron Zook was fired before his third year completed. Urban Meyer coached six years, producing two SEC and two national championships. Will Muschamp was fired during his fourth season. Jim McElwain didn’t make it to the end of his third season. Dan Mullen was fired with just a couple of games remaining in his fourth season. Zook, Muschamp, McElwain and Mullen all produced winning records although none of them won the SEC or got the Gators in the College Football Playoff.

Napier has produced two losing seasons and he needs two wins in the last four games to at least break even in season three. Retaining Napier probably won’t settle well with a portion of the Gator Nation, but from this vantage-point, it seems the right thing to do. It is time to break the cycle of firing coaches and paying out enormous amounts of money to buy out their contracts. That money could be better spent on a recruiting budget that is half of what Georgia spends or other necessities such as NIL to prevent players from leaving as well as lure players from the portal.

Unlike Georgia, whose players seem to be ever so familiar with the police blotter, Napier runs a high character organization where player responsibility and accountability are stressed. Napier has yet to bring in a top five recruiting class, but as the 2024 freshman class has proven with Lagway, Baugh, LJ McCray, Graham Miles, Aaron Chiles and others, he has an eye for the kind of talent that can play at a championship level if given time to develop.

The foundation is in place for a breakout season in 2025 if Napier can keep the Gators on the same trajectory. He should be given the opportunity of a fourth season as head coach to prove he has the program on the right track.