Florida beat Kentucky in a spirited game of football last Saturday 48-20. The Gators entered the 4th quarter with a 14-point lead before putting the clamps down and closing out one of Billy Napier's more convincing wins as head coach of Florida.
In the aftermath of the win, there is a wide array of narratives out there, some of which have hinted Napier may be turning a corner.
Maybe, maybe not, but one of the other narratives about why Napier needs to turn a corner in the first place feels shortsighted and lazy.
Florida Football: Respect Is Earned
We wrote earlier this week about how Napier's class of 2025 has collapsed and is currently ranked 51st.
There is a counter-narrative brewing that part of the reason Florida has had a string of decommits and has been unable to land anyone whose dad isn't a former Gator is that prospects are reading all the mean and negative things fans and media are writing about Napier.
Guys don't want to commit to a program where they think the head coach might get fired before the end of the season, which has a hint of truth to it.
But riddle me why Napier is in a position where he might get fired.
Is it because of the mean and negative things fans have said, or is it because he is 4-8 in his last 12 games as head coach of the Gators?
Is it because we here at Hail Florida Hail called him a snake oil salesman, or is it because he has three total victories at Florida against FBS opponents who finished the season with a winning record?
Is it because fans booed Napier with a 14-point halftime lead, or is it because nine of his 17 losses have come while holding a lead in the second quarter, while seven have come with a lead in the second half, indicating that sitting on a lead is a risky endeavor?
Remember the Miami game when Florida brought in a ton of recruits, and by the end of the game, those recruits were essentially celebrating with the Hurricanes? Was that because of fan support or because Florida lost 41-17?
When Peyton Joseph decommited from Florida and made an Instagram comment that simply said "5-7," is that because fans didn't have enough optimism about the upcoming season or was it because the Gators were 5-7 in 2023?
You know what, don't answer those.
As we wrote this week as well, we are never going to be a site that tells fans they can't be cheerful and happy following a 28-point win over an SEC foe.
We are also a site that still has genuine concerns about the head coach and wins over Mississippi State, UCF, and Kentucky don't absolve those concerns.
This is the University of Florida, a program with three claimed national titles and eight official SEC titles. Never in this program's modern history has beating Kentucky been a sign that all is well in Gainesville.
Beating Tennessee, Georgia, and FSU is the standard, and Napier has a career 1-6 record against those programs.
If the Gators shock the Bulldogs and/or the Texas Longhorns coming out of the bye week, we will give Napier his fair due and examine what he did differently to turn the ship around.
But Napier is the one who has to prove his squad is capable of doing that.
To suggest that Florida fans are in the wrong for being jaded by a coach who is 2-6 in November is like saying the Titanic wouldn't have sunk if the passengers had just had a little more support for their captain.