It's impossible to deny that the Florida Gators waited too long to fire Billy Napier, as fans repeatedly called for his time in Gainesville to come to an end.
Now, with coach after coach coming off the board for his possible replacement, the program is flying toward the danger zone, and it could easily be because the Gators simply sat on their hands for too long instead of giving Napier the ax.
Florida running out of Billy Napier replacements
Florida waited until the middle of October to finally pull the plug on the Billy Napier experiment, one week after the Penn State Nittany Lions had already fired their former head coach, James Franklin, and about a year and a half after fans really started calling for the Gators to get rid of him.
Franklin has already been hired by the Virginia Tech Hokies, and the Gators quickly turned their attention to current Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin to replace Napier.
For just one brief moment, Florida had the most desirable job opening in the nation. Then, the LSU Tigers fired Brian Kelly, and the Gators were knocked down a peg. Now, it is looking more and more like Kiffin is going to leave Ole Miss for LSU or stay with the Rebels.
Once again, the Gators are having to entirely shift the focus of their hunt for a new head coaching candidate as they fall behind other programs in snatching up the most qualified people.
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Auburn also fired its head coach, Hugh Freeze, and has turned toward Jon Sumrall, who is currently coaching the Tulane Green Wave, once again outpacing the Gators in the hunt for a new head coach.
To put it in layman's terms, Florida waited too long to fire Napier, and now, the Gators are moving too slowly to find his replacement.