This week for Florida Football would be a script so unrealistic that even a Hollywood comedy director would have to make some changes. Coming off a close loss to Georgia, Athletic Director Scott Stricklin planted his flag in the ground that Billy Napier was going to remain the head coach of Florida into the 2025 season.
Well, Gator Nation hopes you are happy, Scott, as roughly 72 hours after declaring Napier was his guy, the Gators faceplanted in Austin for the entire country to see.
Florida Football: But They Played Hard
Coming off of the losses to Tennessee and Georgia, one of the narratives that took hold was that Florida was playing hard and Napier hadn't lost the team like some had predicted. Stricklin noted it in his letter on Wednesday and even Nick Saban on College GameDay gave Napier praise for how hard the team was playing.
Mind you, this is the same Nick Saban who ripped Napier earlier in the year, but that's a topic for a different day.
The problem with clinging to the "But they played hard narrative" is that it implies the Gators had nothing else to give. This, in turn, implies that if they give maximum output, the best we can hope for against ranked competition is a close loss.
But the difference between good teams and bad teams is that they find ways to win even when everything doesn't go right. The problem for the Gators under Billy Napier is that when everything doesn't go right, the bottom falls out, and you get results like today.
Never in the modern history of the Florida Gators have so many excuses been given to justify keeping a coach. It is an ever-shifting goalpost that seeks to absolve Napier of any blame for any result and place the blame elsewhere.
Billy Napier is 15-19 as the head coach of the Florida Gators. 63% of his losses are by ten or more points, and just three of his wins are against teams that have finished the season with a winning record.
If you are keeping score at home, Ron Zook lost 14 games, and only 35% were by ten or more points.
One is considered one of the worst coaches in Florida history.
One keeps expecting a pat on the back because he's a nice guy.