Now that the Billy Napier era is over and the Florida Gators have finally fired the man who became the first coach since the 1940s to leave Gainesville without a winning record, it's time to reflect on why this era was so bad.
There are countless gaffes and blunders under this regime, but these five moments stand out as the worst of the worst from the Billy Napier era.
5. 2022 - Losing to Vanderbilt
If we go back to Napier's first season at the helm, he had a pathway to a respectable year. The loss to Kentucky after beating Utah wasn't great, and the lack of defense against USF, Tennessee, and LSU was head-scratching.
But after back-to-back wins over Texas A&M and South Carolina, the Gators had a real shot at finishing 8-4 for the regular season, which wouldn't have been amazing, but would have been progress from the 6-7 season from the year before.
All Florida had to do was beat Vanderbilt and beat a vulnerable FSU squad to close out the season.
Oops.
Jason Marshall muffed a punt into the end zone that resulted in a touchdown, and Florida went on to lose to a 5-7 Vanderbilt squad that lost the next week to Tennessee, 56-0.
4. 2023- Florida puts two players out wearing No. 3
Year one turned out to be a bit of a bummer for Gator fans, but even coaches like Kirby Smart and Nick Saban didn't have amazing year ones before turning into a juggernaut.
Year two for Billy Napier had the promise of trying to turn things around with a new DC, a new QB, and the hope that an offseason of building would pay off.
Florida got a rematch on the road against Utah to open 2023 in a primetime Thursday night game on ESPN.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand...
Florida faceplanted on national TV.
The most infamous moment, and problem the first genuine sign there was going to be trouble in paradise, was when both Eugene Wilson and Jason Marshall were on the field to return a punt.
The only problem is that both players wore No. 3, and you are not allowed to have two players with the same number on the field at the same time.
The ensuing penalty gave Utah a first down, which they promptly converted into a touchdown.
Kirk Herbstreit put Florida on blast after the loss, saying the Gators only had themselves to blame.
As we wrote after that game:
"But it is one thing if Florida got beat because they got blown off the ball.
It is another thing to get beat because of a laundry list of procedural penalties when your calling card is program discipline."
Oh, what foreshadowing that would be.
3. 2023 - Field goal attempt versus Arkansas
For the first year and a half of the Billy Napier era, we here at Hail Florida Hail tried to be Napier defenders. After beating South Carolina, the Gators moved to 5-2 on the season, then landed five-star EDGE LJ McCray during the bye week to solidify their then top-five-ranked recruiting class.
Then they got blown out by Georgia again, which wasn't great, but there was still a pathway to finish the season strong.
Then the debacle against Arkansas happened, and that is when we started to look for the exit of the Billy Napier experience.
Ignoring the fact that Florida needed a last-second field goal in the first place, the single most unforgivable moment of the Billy Napier era was the procedural penalty the Gators took trying to set up for the game-winning field goal against Arkansas.
A well-coached JV squad can pull the sequence off, but Florida looked lost in the moment as the offense stayed on to spike the ball while the field goal unit was frantically trying to run onto the field.
The only reason there wasn't a 10-second runoff to end regulation is that the clock was stopped for a first down.
But perhaps because the football gods were angered, Trey Smack missed the ensuing kick anyway, and Florida would go on to lose in overtime to 4-8 Arkansas.
2. 2024 - 41-17 against Miami
Fool me once, shame on me.
Fool me twice, shame on you.
Fool me three times...
We cautiously entered the 2024 campaign, believing that Florida had the necessary puzzle pieces to contend for the playoffs. We failed to factor in the puzzle master putting the pieces together.
Winning and losing in college football matters, especially against in-state rivals you don't see that often.
And after an offseason of hype and trying to make everyone believe the ship was ready to be turned around, three hours in The Swamp to open 2024 dismantled eight months of just plain lies Napier had told.
Florida looked as unprepared and uninterested as one could be en route to a loss that is going to have long-term damage for the Gators for years to come.
1. 2025 - Spitting on USF
By the Texas A&M loss in 2024, we were firmly off the bandwagon and were calling for Billy Napier to be fired. There were still some holdouts, however, who believed the ship could still be turned around and saw the four-game winning streak to close out 2024 as a sign Napier could get it done with DJ Lagway as his QB.
But even the most adamant of Napier supporters had to admit he wasn't the man for the job after USF waltzed into The Swamp and knocked off Florida 18-16.
Much like the Miami loss, losing to USF is the type of loss that has very real, long-lasting effects.
The most infamous moment of the game was when Brenden Bett spat on USF during the final drive, granting them a free first down and 15 yards.
For as much as Napier talked about culture building and being process-oriented, it was the type of act that proved Napier was just words and none of what he said was based in reality.
Worse, Napier didn't even suspend Bett for a full game, and Bett played the next week against LSU.