After a disastrous 1-2 start to the 2024 season, it’s no longer a matter of if but when Florida football will make the move away from head coach Billy Napier.
There was some initial buzz that Florida was going to move on from Napier following the Gators 33-20 loss against Texas A&M last Saturday but that hasn’t come to fruition. So when is the most likely time for a change? And will it happen before Florida comes to Knoxville in early October?
Florida heads to Mississippi State this week to face one of the few teams in the SEC that’s been less impressive than the Gators so far this season. The Bulldogs are 1-2 and lost by 24 points at home against Toledo last weekend. Florida has an open date following the Mississippi State games which would be a logical time to make a move if the Gators fall to perhaps the worst team in the SEC.
Following the open date, Florida hosts a solid UCF team in Gainesville before traveling to Knoxville a week later to face Tennessee.
A loss in either of Florida’s two games before facing Tennessee could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. But according to ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel, Florida isn’t in any rush to make a change.
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“There’s an aura of inevitability that Billy Napier will get fired at some point this year,” Thamel said on College Football Live. “From calling around and talking to different people, there does not appear to be the same urgency at Florida that there is maybe in the fanbase right now to fire Napier. Part of that is Napier has the locker room. This isn’t a completely undisciplined team or a team that has tuned him out.
“The other part is if you’re going to make a change in your coach this early in the season then you better have some sort of obvious upgrade or capable coach on the staff. There’s nobody on the Florida staff right now that would be an obvious target to be an interim coach. Look for the season to continue to play out.”
Another interesting dilemma is on who is going to make the hire. Scott Stricklin is Florida’s Athletic Director but there’s a waning confidence in Stricklin after multiple unsuccessful hires not only in football but other sports. If Florida has to hire a new athletic director before hiring a new football coach then it could slow down the timeline of when they officially decide to fire Napier.
Florida’s second open date this season comes in late October following the game at Tennessee and a home game against Kentucky.
Napier is 1-1 against Tennessee during his tenure at Florida. The Gators fell in Knoxville during the 2022 season before earning one of the top wins of Napier’s tenure last season when they defeated Tennessee in Gainesville.
