Three years into the Billy Napier Era, Florida Football has yet to finish in the top 50 for points per game in a single season. As has been a major point of consternation for Gator fans, Napier has been the offensive coordinator throughout his tenure in Gainesville.
Entering year four of his reign, Napier is once again calling plays and explained his reasons why over the weekend.
Florida Football: Run It Back
Napier appeared on the podcast Gators Breakdown and was asked why he didn't go out and hire an offensive coordinator this offseason. Napier stuck to a theme we have heard he stick to in the past:
"It helps us from an identity standpoint as a team. I think you're a part of the inner workings from an installation script standpoint and then how game day goes.
Look, I think the big thing that we've been fortunate (with) is that we've got a really good offensive staff. You think about the position coaches that we have. I was really pleased with Russ Callaway and the more responsibility that he took on this year from a leadership standpoint and I'm excited about that part.
Russ did a great job running the unit meetings, he did a good job organizing the staff. And certainly, in that coordinator type role as an exceptional young coach, that was where I think we took a step forward.
I also think Ryan O'Hara being able to coach last year was a big deal. Him being the quarterback coach and then I was thankful for John Donovan. He helped us from a situational football standpoint. He did a great job."
Numbers Don't Lie
The translation of what Napier is saying is that he firmly believes the setup Florida has in place is going to work, and there is no reason to change course.
But three years into Napier being the offensive coordinator, Florida has been an average offense at best.
Over the past three seasons, Florida has scored at least 40 points against a Power Four opponent four times. That's good for 9th in the SEC, with Georgia having scored at least 40 points 13 times against a Power Four opponent.
If we expand it out, Florida has scored at least 30 points against a Power Four opponent 13 times over the past three seasons. That's marginally better but is tied for 7th in the SEC. Georgia, Texas, LSU, Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina all beat Florida in this metric, with Texas A&M and Oklahoma matching Florida.
Napier went on to say:
"Some of those things as a head coach, the things maybe I used to do, I thought those guys did a great job taking some of that off my plate and I think in general that helped us be more productive down the stretch."
So... Napier has delegated head coaching tasks to his assistants so that he can focus on being the offensive coordinator... which is fine if he was just the offensive coordinator, but he is making $7 million as the head coach to not do head coach stuff...
The problem with Napier insisting on staying on as the OC is that his offense hasn't been elite enough to justify him staying in that role. If he was running a top-20 offense annually, fine. But he has yet to crack the top 50 during his time in Gainesville.
And as we have written over time, the issue with his offense isn't the scheme itself, which is tight-end dependent; it's the lack of innovation and feel for the game that gets Napier into trouble.
Yes, it is true that Florida should be more dangerous this year with DJ Lagway starting from the get-go, but as we have said before, when Florida's offense was working last year, it was because Lagway would make an all-world throw, not because Napier dialed up a play to give Lagway a wide open receiver.
This is why Florida has yet to crack the top 50. Napier doesn't know what to do if he doesn't have a five-star quarterback blanketed by elite wide receivers.
Even with that, let's not forget in 2022 that Napier had Anthony Richardson, drafted in the top five, throwing to Justin Shorter and Ricky Pearsall, both eventual NFL Draft picks, with Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne running the ball, and he still couldn't crack the top 50.
Napier is making a massive bet on himself by staying on as the OC. Sometimes, making a bet on yourself is the best way to go.
But until proven otherwise, Napier has yet to prove that he is making a smart bet heading into 2025.