The Billy Napier Vigil: It Feels Much Like A Dead Man Walking Scenario
- Buddy Martin
- Sep 15, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 16, 2024
Right now, as a sit here on the third Sunday of the season in the aftermath of yet another Florida football fiasco, I am dumbfounded, pissed and, for one of the few times in my life, clueless about the sport and team I have covered off and on for 60 years.
It’s almost sundown on another day and somehow Billy Napier has apparently survived, which feels like a Dead Man Walking Vigil.
My good buddies are begging me for encouragement. But I am seeing only empty glasses — not even half full. Twelve hours ago I put myself on writing restriction for fear of what I may say in anger and disgust. Surely time would improve my perspective?
Instead, as I plundered through social media today, it got worse as I read things like—
“Reminder: Florida has a co-offensive coordinator and a co-defensive coordinator making $1 million and $1.1 million, respectively, and neither of them call plays.” (Also an S&C coach who is being paid as an administrator).
And:
“Per terms of conrtact, Florida football coach Billy Napier would be owed 50 percent of a buyout within 30 days of termination if he's fired without cause. Right now, that figure stands at close to $14 million.”
And finally: “Of his past 15 games against power conference opponents, this was his seventh consecutive setback, including four at home.
“Napier is now 10-6 at Florida Field, giving him more losses in the Swamp in two-plus seasons than Steve Spurrier (68-5) and Urban Meyer (35-5) had in their highly successful stints in Gainesville.
“If Florida does fire Napier, his buyout would be roughly $26 million. Sources told ESPN's Chris Low that high-ranking boosters have gathered the money to fund the buyout.
“Florida paid DanMullen $12 million when he was fired.
“Napier's 28-game tenure would be the shortest in 100 years for the program; James Alward Van
Fleet coached 19 games over the 1923-24 seasons, went 12-3-4 and then left to continue his military service and eventually became an Army general.”
I guess what has eaten at me most is that I, along with other well-meaning, responsible, honorable fans and media members, have allowed an interloper to come in to our house, take over while keeping us at arm’s length, spending millions and millions of our dollars, and show no compunction for the suffering Gator Nation, even taunting those "rural basement dwellers" for their perceived ignorance (even if he awkwardly did try to recant it later.)
It feels like we have been engulfed in hopelessness. Is that quitting?
“Most of the really good Gator fans I know are angry and discouraged,”said my True Blue Gator bestie Randy, “but no matter how bad it gets they would never just quit.”
I get dizzy just tracing the spiraling downward footsteps of self-destruction. How does a guy get so bad right before our eyes that he gets labeled as “the worst coach in school history” in a season where many drank his Kool-Aid that he was turning it around? (Including me.)
“We got conned,” said a very key money man.
It reminds me of the old story about the captain of the Titanic, when asked what was going on, replied “we’re just stopping for ice.”
Yet he’s still gainfully employed as captain.
Even Billy admitted, after assessing the so-called changes that were supposed to to lead to a competitive game vs. Miami, “we forgot the football part.”
The truth is that many of us worry that, like the Titanic, the Gators program has suffered irreparable harm, with the worst yet to come. That means losing some key players.
This his been a horrible September, with the worst part being the difficulty of not seeing a path forward. Sorry if this feels like piling on, but some of us have been piled upon ourselves.
As I departed a friend’s birthday party in Gainesville the Sunday night after the humiliating loss to Miami, a forlorn Gator fan with whom I had been talking grabbed me by the arm and pleaded, “Can’t you at least offer me some hope?”
“I would really like to,” I replied ... 'but I can’t.“
A week later we found a smidgen with DJ Lagway. Then poof! It was gone and here we are with an even a worse scenario.
“Just one more thing,” said my Gator pal Randy. “Maybe just a little bit of hope?”
Not today. I would hate myself for feeling like a hypocrite, which I already do a little. But maybe call me tomorrow.
What I don’t hear anyone talking about, assuming we fire Napier and lose multiple (probably key) players to the portal, is here we go again on the three year cycle of “hire ‘em to fire ‘em,” I think it’ll take longer than three or four years to repair the damage being done to the team and the UF brand. Napier was supposed to get four years to rebuild the culture (which I think he’s done by getting better people to come play for UF) and recruit better (arguably, he has recruited better than Mullen). I’d enjoy hearing from other readers who they think the next coach will be…
There’s not much left to say except that Billy Napier was handed a winning ticket to enormous success and blew his greatest opportunity. Dan Mullen likewise though he failed for different reasons and never had anything like the resources given Billy. It seems to me that Billy understands how to build the platform for a superb program but lacks the personal coaching acumen to make it work. He is in over his head. His comment about fans in central Florida basements was an affront but only helped widen the distance between him and the large fan base that has been pulling for his success amid his diminishing performance. It’s time for Florida to seek and bring in a head coach…
Hope springs eternal!!