Loss to USF has us asking has anything really changed for the Gators?
- Franz Beard
- Sep 8, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Sep 8, 2025
“Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein
Taking liberty with Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: Three seasons and two games ago, our athletic director brought forth on the Gator Nation a new coach, forged for success by stints on the staffs of Nick and Dabo, and dedicated to the proposition that Florida could once again compete for and win national championships in football.
Scott Stricklin fired Dan Mullen in 2021. Dan was 5-6 at the time and 10 points away from 8-3. The three previous seasons the Gators went 29-9, won two New Years Six Bowl games and were a play away from beating Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. A year later he was out of a job, having gone 34-15 with seven of those losses by a touchdown or less. Against Florida’s chief rivals – Tennessee, Georgia and Florida State – Mullen was 7-3. The Gators were 21-14 against SEC opponents.
Mullen was stubborn, wouldn’t make changes to his staff even though they were necessary, and he was viewed as a lazy recruiter. His four classes were ranked (by 247Sports) 14, 9, 8 and 12.
Among the reasons Mullen was fired was a lack of discipline on the field. There was the shoe toss that cost the LSU game in 2020. A week later the lack of on the field discipline cost the Gators their first SEC championship since 2008. A player loafed off the field … a late hit … other stupid penalties. Alabama was there for the taking. The College Football Playoff was within reach. A year later Mullen was given walking papers and $12 million of buyout cash.
Billy Napier was hired to succeed Mullen and right all the wrongs of the previous four seasons. Billy says the right things. He lives an exemplary life and is a fine example of what we expect of adult leaders of young men, but he hasn't won. We can say what we will about Dan Mullen but at least he won until the very end. Here we are two games into season four of Napier and the record is 20-20. The Gators are 15-7 at home, 5-13 away, 10-14 in the SEC. Against the three big rivals, the Gators are 2-7. Napier’s Gators have lost seven games by a touchdown or less.
As a recruiter, Napier’s four classes have been ranked (by 247Sports) 18, 13, 13 and 7. The roster that Napier has right now has fewer holes in it than the one he inherited in 2022. There is more speed, more size and more strength. The Gators look the part of a contender, which is why they were considered a darkhorse for the playoff. Well, that is until Saturday night when they lost to South Florida while doing a dandy impersonation of the Gators of 2022, 2023 and the first half of 2024. The Gators couldn’t get off the field on third down. The offense stalled at the most inappropriate times. A quick snap caught the defense looking to the sideline for a signal that may or may not have ever arrived. While the Gators were looking USF threw a touchdown pass.
There we are, the same things happening over and over again. We were certainly expecting different results this year. Insanity.
And then there was the spitting incident. Fans will tolerate a personal foul if it’s an aggressive player trying to make a play on the football or an O-lineman taking whatever steps are necessary to protect the quarterback. There is nothing tolerable about a personal foul for spitting in the face of an opponent.
That loathsome incident has been replayed thousands of times on social media. It has been the source of tens of thousands of instant messages and it sent the Twitterverse into a frenzy. A lot of good will and a nice reputation took an 11-inch stiletto to the heart.
Napier has a chance to win enough football games in the 10 that remain on the schedule that he can survive to coach another year, but the spitting incident is almost guaranteed to live on thanks to the internet and social media. Already it's being viewed as proof that all this talk about cultural changes within the program are nothing more than a façade. It is just one more example of the same things happening over and over again with the exact same results – another winnable game lost because of something preventable.
That is how Einstein defined insanity. In the case of the University of Florida, short of a fifth football coach since 2011 is there a cure for it?
Associated Press top 25: 1. Ohio State 2-0; 2. Penn State 2-0; 3. LSU 2-0; 4. Oregon 2-0; 5. Miami 2-0; 6. Georgia 2-0; 7. Texas 1-1; 8. Notre Dame 0-1; 9. Illinois 2-0; 10. Florida State 2-0; 11. South Carolina 2-0; 12. Clemson 2-0; 13. Oklahoma 2-0; 14. Iowa State 3-0; 15. Tennessee 2-0; 16. Texas A&M 2-0; 17. Ole Miss 2-0; 18. South Florida 2-0; 19. Alabama 1-1; 20. Utah 2-0; 21. Texas Tech 2-0; 22. Indiana 2-0; 23. Michigan 1-1; 24. Auburn 2-0; 25. Missouri 2-0
AFCA Coaches Top 25: 1. Ohio State 2-0; 2. Penn State 2-0; 3. Georgia 2-0; 4. LSU 2-0; 5. Oregon 2-0; 6. Miami 2-0; 7. Texas 1-1; 8. Notre Dame 0-1; 9. Illinois 2-0; 10. South Carolina 2-0; 11. Clemson 1-1; 12. Florida State 2-0; 13. Ole Miss 2-0; 14. Iowa State 3-0; 15. Tennessee 2-0; 16. Oklahoma 2-0; 17. Texas A&M 2-0; 18. Alabama 1-1; 19. Indiana 2-0; 20. Texas Tech 2-0; 21. Utah 2-0; 22. Michigan 1-1; 23. South Florida 2-0; 24. Arizona State 1-1; 25. BYU 2-0
SEC FOOTBALL
(Associated Press Rankings)
No. 19. Alabama (1-1): In their 73-0 win over Louisiana-Monroe three Bama quarterbacks (Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and Keelon Russell) combined to complete 29-33 passes for 371 yards and seven touchdowns. Simpson was 17-17 for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Saturday: Wisconsin (2-0)
Arkansas (2-0): Through two games, quarterback Taylen Green is 41-57 passing for 561 yards and 10 touchdowns. His 10 TDPs are tied for the national lead … The Razorbacks are averaging 54 points a game which is fifth nationally. Saturday: at No. 17 Ole Miss (2-0, 1-0 SEC)
No. 24 Auburn (2-0): Auburn held Ball State to -3 rushing yards and 71 passing. Auburn sacked Ball State quarterbacks six times. The Tigers are tied for the national lead in sacks with 10. Saturday: South Alabama (1-1)
No. 6 Georgia (2-0): Through two games, quarterback Gunner Stockton is 40-58 passing for 417 yards and two touchdowns. He has also run for 86 yards and two more TDs. Saturday: at No. 15 Tennessee (2-0)
Kentucky (1-1, 0-1 SEC): The Wildcats are next to last in the SEC on offense, averaging just 332 yards per game. The Wildcats are dead last in the SEC in passing, averaging 136 yards per game. Saturday: Eastern Michigan (0-2)
No. 3 LSU (2-0): LSU’s defense ranks 12th nationally (207.5 yards per game), but the offense is 14th overall in the SEC (360.5 yards) and dead last in scoring (20 points per game). Saturday: FLORIDA (1-1)
Mississippi State (2-0): In the win over then 12th-ranked Arizona State, quarterback Blake Shapen threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns. Brenen Thompson, who caught two of the TDPs, had six catches for 133 yards. Saturday: Alcorn State (0-2)
No. 25 Missouri (2-0): Penn State transfer Beau Pribula has completed 53-67 passes for 617 yards and five touchdowns in two games. He has also run for 71 yards and two more TDs. The Tigers are fifth in the nation in total offense at 577.5 yards per game. Saturday: Louisiana (1-1)
No. 13. Oklahoma (2-0): In the win over Michigan, the Sooners converted 9-16 on third down and 1-1 on fourth down … Quarterback John Mateer has thrown for four touchdowns and run for three in two games. Saturday: at Temple (2-0)
No. 17 Ole Miss (2-0, 1-0 SEC): Despite slow starts (2 first quarter interceptions in both games so far), the Rebels average 575 yards and 46.5 points per game. The Rebels average 317.5 passing yards and 257.5 rushing yards. Saturday: Arkansas (2-0)
No. 11 South Carolina (2-0): South Carolina’s Mike Shula-coordinated offense stinks (290.5 yards per game), but the special teams are truly special. Through two games, Vicari Swain has returned five punts for 187 yards and three touchdowns. In the win over South Carolina State, Swain had touchdown returns of 65 and 42 yards. Saturday: Vanderbilt (2-0)
No. 15 Tennessee (2-0): The Vols rank second in the nation in total offense (605 yards per game) and fourth in scoring (58.5 points per game) … Tennessee quarterbacks have yet to throw a pick and they haven’t been sacked. Saturday: No. 6 Georgia (2-0)
No. 7 Texas (1-1): Arch Manning is 36-60 passing (60 percent) for 465 yards (7.8 per attempt) with five touchdowns and two interceptions. In the win over San Jose State, Manning threw for 290 yards with four touchdowns but he also threw an interception. Saturday: UTEP (1-1)
No. 16 Texas A&M (2-0): Quarterback Marcel Reed has thrown seven touchdown passes and has yet to throw an interception. Reed also leads the Aggies in rushing with 105 yards and a TD. Saturday: at No. 8 Notre Dame (0-1)
Vanderbilt (2-0):The Commodores are sixth nationally in total defense (191.5 yards per game). In the win over Virginia Tech, Vandy held the Hokies to 248 yards for the game, zero points in the second half.Saturday: at No. 11 South Carolina (2-0)
Billy is Not A SEC caliber play caller, Billy does Not play his best QB who ran with the 1st team ALL summer long ! Billy has worn OUT his welcome @ UF ! Its just A matter of time before he's gone !
One can only wonder WHO will be the Next to Man the Helm ?
Will the Next Gator Coach , Please Stand Up !!!!!!!!!
Like the rest of us, based on how we finished last year, I thought this year was going to be different. Now, I fear these next four games are going to be ultra painful.
I hope my fears will not be realized. Hope, however, is not a strategy.
whatever goodwill he got with the 4 game win streak at the end of last year is gone- we are no different today than we were in year one- recruiting is improved but obviously coaching has not. I still struggle to understand why you go to bunch formation and then run it up the middle for little or no gain(Billy’s favorite play call) I struggle to understand the poor clock management- I struggle to understand how we constantly show up not ready to play- I struggle to understand why we have such poor route trees- I struggle to understand why we cannot seem to get good pressure on the opposing QB- I struggle with the lack of excitement exhibited ny…
Everything with Billy is on repeat. A lot of the off the field coaching his repeat is good. But the on field coaching has to get weighted as at minimum 50% of the job. Gamedays we are on repeat and it almost all bad. Our HBC/OC expects WR Tre Wilson to successfully block a DL at the line of scrimmage on a critical run play. We watch the same poorly timed plays that are predictable by ordinary fans much less any opposition DC worth 10% of his salary. We played the same game against a horrible USF team in 2022 winning by a missed field goal at the end, this time losing Billy’s coin flip game day mediocrity against goo…
In a way our on-field performance under Billy Napier has flatlined. Throughout his 40-game tenure the same boners by players and the “play-caller in chief” that have combined to turn winnable games into losses. This is a difficult prospect, changing coaches again, but is there any trustworthy evidence that Billy Napier is capable of genuinely elevating any SEC team to championship level? I can’t find any. After 40 games Billy has revealed his ceiling. We know what we’ve got and it’s a super expensive boatload of 5 to 6 wins mediocrity. Time to make a dramatic change.