Napier's Monday press conference felt extremely subdued

(Photo by Chris Spears)

Something was missing Monday afternoon. Florida’s head football coach was there in person at The Heavener Center, answering questions as he always does on Monday during football season, but it was different.

Subdued. That’s probably the best way to describe Billy Napier’s demeanor. It was as if he checked his energy at the door when he arrived more than 20 minutes late for a press conference that was scheduled to begin at 11:45. He entered the room quietly, without fanfare, walking to the podium with an expressionless look on his face where he spoke without a hint of enthusiasm. Over the next 28 minutes he answered questions, only rarely allowing a smile to creep onto his clean shaven face, the three-day stubble so evident a week earlier after the Gators bushwhacked then 7^th-ranked Texas gone.

Napier was clearly uncomfortable taking questions about the Gators’ loss to Texas A&M and their Saturday (4:15 p.m., SEC Network) encounter with Mississippi State (4-2, 0-2 SEC) at The Swamp. It was patently clear that Napier would rather have been somewhere else instead of taking carefully worded questions best described as fishing expeditions. Both media and Napier seemed to be waltzing around this question: Have you and athletic director Scott Stricklin discussed how much longer you will be the head football coach at the University of Florida?

It is a fair question, but one that wasn’t asked since there has been nothing, not even the dreaded vote of confidence, from Stricklin. Napier and the Gators are 2-4 this season, on a collision course with a third losing season in the last four made possible by inconceivably bad offensive performances. In the wake of a rash of firings that took place throughout the country on Sunday, the presumption was that it is a matter of when, not if, Napier will be terminated.

Penn State, for example, fired James Franklin just three weeks removed from a white knuckles loss to Oregon and a season removed from a 3-point loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals. To pink slip Franklin, Penn State will have to pony up $48.6 million, which is more than double the $21.3 million Florida will have to pay Napier when he is let go.

Asked if midseason firings and huge buyouts such as the one Penn State will pay Franklin are a sign of a changing college football landscape, Napier answered, “I don't think anything's changed. I mean, I think that happens every year. It's what we sign up for, right? They pay us, they compensate as well. These are challenging jobs in today’s climate, in particular, so look, we’re all men. We’re all competitors. We understand we live in a production world and you’ve got to produce, right? So, there’s no running from that.

“So it was that way when we signed up for it in the very beginning. They used to not pay us as well as they do now, but when you do get compensated and the amount of revenue that's generated in our game, I think the compensation is fair. I have no issue with that. I think if you're at a place that doesn't have high expectations, how much fun is that? The challenge of playing against the best is why you do it as a competitor, right? So you see if you can do it. I think there's a leadership challenge, there's a competitive challenge, there's a strategy challenge. We're at the top of the food chain here. We play against the very best every week. Penn State's no different than that.”

That is coach-speak for something along the lines of “If I don’t win enough games I’ll get fired, but I knew that when I took the job and at least when I get fired I’ll have more than enough money to live well for years and years.”

Napier shouldn’t take any heat for that statement. Nobody held a gun to his head and demanded that he sign a 7-year deal worth $51 million when he was hired back in December of 2022.

So whether he’s discussed his inevitable fate with Stricklin or not, Napier knows where all this is headed. Now, he could pull off one of the great miracle finishes in modern college football history by winning the next six games to finish 8-4. Even a 7-5 finish would constitute something straight out of the Benny Hinn miracle playbook but we understand the odds are stratospheric for that to happen.

Perhaps Napier believes a 5-1 or 6-0 sprint to the finish is possible, but those who inhabit the real world know the employment clock will flatline at 00:00 in the near future. Whether he wins or loses Saturday against Mississippi State Saturday, Napier may be drawing his final breath as Florida’s head coach. He has recruited well. He has reorganized the football program infrastructure into one that is a model of success. Team discipline, locker room decorum, academic success and off the field accountability have never been higher.

In every phase of the game except the one that is most important, Billy Napier has been an unqualified success. He hasn’t won often enough and that is the bottom line.

HEY, WE’RE A BASKETBALL SCHOOL AFTER ALL

Monday, both the Associated Press preseason top 25 poll and the preseason Southeastern Conference basketball accolades were announced. The Gators, who won the NCAA title last year, will start the season No. 3 in the AP poll and preseason favorites to win the SEC title.

Additionally, Alex Condon was selected first team preseason All-SEC while Boogie Fland and Tommy Haugh were selected to the second team.

The Gators open their season November 3 in Las Vegas against No. 13 Arizona. Florida’s schedule includes games against No. 4 UConn, No. 6 Duke, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 14 Arkansas, No. 15 Alabama, No. 18 Tennessee and No. 20 Auburn.

Preseason All-SEC

First team: Alex Condon, FLORIDA; Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State; Otega Oweh, Kentucky; Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn; Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama

Second team: Nate Ament, Tennessee; Boogie Fland, FLORIDA; Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee; Thomas Haugh, FLORIDA; Mark Mitchell, Missouri

Third team: Malik Dia, Ole Miss; Aden Holloway, Alabama; Karter Knox, Arkansas; Jaland Lowe, Kentucky; D.J. Wagner, Arkansas

SEC predicted order of finish: 1. FLORIDA; 2. Kentucky; 3. Tennessee; 4. Alabama; 5. Arkansas; 6. Auburn; 7. Missouri; 8. Ole Miss; 9. Texas; 10. Mississippi State; 11. Vanderbilt; 12. Oklahoma; 13. Tex

Associated Press top 25: 1. Purdue; 2. Houston; 3. FLORIDA; 4. UConn; 5. St. John’s; 6. Duke; 7. Michigan; 8. BYU; 9. Kentucky; 10. Texas Tech; 11. Louisville; 12. UCLA; 13. Arizona; 14. Arkansas; 15. Alabama; 16. Iowa State; 17. Illinois; 18. Tennessee; 19. Kansas; 20. Auburn; 21. Gonzaga; 22. Michigan State; 23. Creighton; 24. Wisconsin; 25. North Carolina

SEC in Kenpom.com preseason rankings: 2. FLORIDA; 4. Kentucky; 9. Tennessee; 19. Vanderbilt; 23. Alabama; 24. Ole Miss; 26. Mississippi State; 28. Missouri; 29. Arkansas; 31. Auburn; 35. Texas A&M; 39. Texas; 44. Georgia; 56. LSU; 58. Oklahoma; 86. South Carolina

Florida 2025-26 Basketball Roster

Big guys: Micah Handlogten (7-1, 260, SR); Tommy Haugh (6-9, 215, JR); Alex Condon (6-11, 230, JR); Rueben Chinyelu (6-10, 265, JR); Viktor Mikic (6-11, 260, SO); Olivier Rioux (7-9, 305, RFR)

Perimeter guys: Xaivian Lee (6-4, 180, SR); AJ Brown (6-4, 210, RJR); Cooper Josefsberg (6-4, 195, JR); Alex Kovatchev (6-5, 190, RSO); Urban Klavzar (6-1, 195, SO); Boogie Fland (6-3, 185, SO); Isaiah Brown (6-4, 210, SO); Alex Lloyd (6-3, 180, FR); CJ Ingram (6-6, 205, FR)