"They just soft launched the firing of Billy Napier”: CFB world debates Gators coach's future at Florida after Week 3 defeat against Texas A&M
Billy Napier's Florida Gators received serious criticism from fans after a 33-20 Week 3 loss against the Texas A&M Aggies. Napier, desperate for his first winning season with the Gators, is off to a rocky start as his team's record record drops to 1-2.
Moreover, their recent loss has fired up Gators fans who just witnessed Aggies red-shirt freshman backup QB Marcel Reed lead his team to an easy win. Reed filled in for Conner Weigman, reportedly dealing with an upper-body injury, going 11 of 17 for 178 yards and two touchdowns.
Following reporter W. Keith Friedman's tweet about Gators looking to potentially move on from Napier, fans began discussing his firing on social media.
A fan highlighted:
"They just soft launched the firing of Billy Napier during the game with all the fire Napier tweets LOL I think he really is done. Damn coach"
The Gators defense gave up 20 points, while the offense struggled to score even a single point in the first half. Reacting to this, a fan shared:
"Billy Napier should apologize to the Florida Gators players at halftime, he should thank them for their loyalty, and he should say his goodbyes. This man is done and he deserves to be done. Embarrassing excuse of a coach."
Fire BillyNapier at half time. This isn’t Florida football," another fan commented.
QB Graham Mertz started for the Gators, throwing a touchdown pass on the opening drive of the third quarter but also giving away a pick-six. He threw for 195 yards, with one touchdown and one interception, while completing 12 of 15 passes. Moreover, backup QB DJ Lagway also saw some action but couldn't impress, going 6 of 13 for 54 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions. A social media user stated:
"The only way what is happening to Florida could have gotten worse for Billy Napier is if Graham Mertz threw a pick-six. It happened."
Here are some other reactions from fans:
"That’s tough. You feel for him as a man but as a coach this has been an absolute disaster and he needs to go," someone else said.
"Potential downside for Florida is not firing Billy Napier today after the game," another one noted.
"Firing Billy Napier without firing Scott Stricklin will lead to another 5 years of the same old thing"
Billy Napier sucking at his job doesn’t change the fact that Dan Mullen quit on his program. There are two decisions here. We made the right decision firing Dan Mullen and the wrong decision hiring Billy Napier," someone else mentioned.
"Napier will be smiling all the way to the bank with his $26M Buyout, 50% has to be paid within 30 Days of his termination. That will buy a real nice double wide back in Louisiana," a football fan wrote.
The Florida Gators will hit the road for the first time this season to play against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium next Saturday. The Gators need to prove themselves in their upcoming matchups, as they are also scheduled to face five teams that were ranked in the AP Top 25 in Week 3: No. 7 Tennessee, No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Texas, No. 16 LSU, and No. 5 Ole Miss.
Billy Napier's Gators record since 2022
The Florida Gators hired Billy Napier on a seven-year, $51.8 million deal in 2021. He replaced previous head coach Dan Mullen, who had a 34-15 record at Florida. However, Mullen's 2021 season was disappointing. He was fired in November 2021, with the Gators on a 5-6 losing record
He was succeeded by Napier, who hasn’t had much success. He posted a 6-7 record in 2022 and a 5-7 record in 2023. The 2024 campaign also began poorly, with Florida suffering a crushing 41-17 loss to Miami. They rebounded in Week 2 with a 45-7 win over Samford but were then defeated by Texas A&M.