Florida Football: Paul Finebaum can’t stop stirring the pot on Billy Napier

We here at Hail Florida Hail have chronicled people who make far more money than us and continue to give out-of-pocket takes regarding Florida football. The number of people from the national media banging the drum that Billy Napier will get fired is starting to become white noise.

Enter Paul Finebaum in the chat once again, as he is convinced that Napier is not the guy and has a solution for what Florida should do next.

Florida Football: You talk too much

Finebaum said before the season that he believed Florida football fans would get far too impatient with Napier and run him out of town sooner rather than later. 

Despite the fact that most level-headed Gator fans are willing to give Napier the benefit of time, given the recruiting class he is building, that didn’t stop Finebaum from stringing the pot to think about his replacement.

Appearing on The Auidble, Finebaum said:

"“You’ve got a brand new president there in former Senator Ben Sasse who is a forward-thinking guy who would look at Deion (Sanders) and go, ‘I like this.’ I think he could consider this the ticket,” Finebaum said. “It is considered one of the premier public universities in the country. They just finished No. 1 in a poll and I think Deion fits their makeup very well.“The fact that he played at Florida State makes it even more intriguing and more enticing for Deion. How do you not be attracted by that fertile recruiting ground down there?”"

It is true that this Saturday is an important game for Napier and the Gators, but if one were to map out Florida’s pathway prior to the season, the game against Tennessee was never pegged as a win.

Even if the Gators were to lose, there is still a real pathway to 7-5 or 8-4 in 2023.

Kentucky, South Carolina, and Arkansas all have deep flaws. Those will be the three games that make or break this season.

And as we wrote last week, Deion Sanders doesn’t fit the Florida brand at all. Gator fans aren’t against someone with a personality like Steve Spurrier, but it’s not going to work when Sanders starts elevating himself over the Gator logo.

Plus, let’s pretend Sanders came to Gainesville and had some success. How long before he starts chasing an NFL job like Dan Mullen?

Right now, Florida football needs stability. Chasing after the shiny new object isn’t going to bring that.

As we have written, it doesn’t mean that Billy Napier is immune from criticism if his team looks woefully unprepared or if he keeps dialing up passing routes that have two receivers in the same throwing window.

But we do believe that writing his obituary before even being placed in the guillotine is asinine.