New rankings give cold shoulder to Billy Napier’s progress at Florida

We here at Hail Florida Hail made our case last season about why Billy Napier wasn't the man to get the Florida Gators over the hump, but we would be remiss if we didn't acknowledge that his four-game winning streak to end 2024 gave the Gators much needed momentum heading into the offseason.

Recruiting surged for Florida to close out the class of 2025, and there are not many genuine weak points on the roster for the Gators as they prepare for the 2025 campaign.

But despite the roster and despite the four-game winning streak to close out last season, a new USA Today ranking of SEC coaches has minimal faith in Napier's ability to lead Florida to its full potential in 2025.

Florida's Billy Napier is ranked next-to-last in the SEC

Blake Toppmeyer of USA Today came out with a ranking of SEC head coaches from 1-16. Coming out on top was Kirby Smart, followed by Steve Sarkisian.

That's fair enough given those are the two coaches that made it to the SEC title game in 2024.

But down in 15th is Billy Napier, ahead of only Mississippi State's Jeff Lebby. Of Napier, Toppmeyer said:

"Florida opted for another lap with Napier rather than hitting the reset button. The emergence of quarterback DJ Lagway, and Lagway's steadfast support for Napier, helped the coach save his job, and Florida finished the season playing better than it ever had previously in his tenure. Florida was remarkably quiet in the transfer portal, and it still seems as if Napier and the Gators are playing with an old deck of cards. Napier will go as far as Lagway takes him."

We have also mused about the lack of transfer portal activity for the Gators, especially after Florida bragged about how "aggressive" they would be in the transfer portal. But even with our frustrations about the lack of additions for 2025, Florida has a roster that is good enough to win ten games in 2025 if Lagway is who we think he can be.

Do we think Florida will actually win ten games in 2025?

Well...

The real reason Napier is ranked low

The core frustration with Napier is that he has had a better roster than advertised during his time in Gainesville. As much as we want to blame Dan Mullen for leaving the cupboard bare, Florida tied for 5th in 2023 for the most NFL Draft picks and this past draft, they tied for 6th.

Florida has also been in the top 15 in the 247 Talent Composite for all three years Napier has been in town.

So why has this team gone 19-19 during his time in Gainesville?

It's a combination of a highly predictable offense in key situations (see hitch routes, jet sweeps, etc.) combined with general inconsistency week-to-week (see Kentucky and Vanderbilt in 2022, Utah and Kentucky in 2023, and Miami, Texas A&M, and Texas in 2024) combined with coaching malpractice in pivotal moments (see Arkansas in 2023 and Tennessee this past season).

So, while this roster can absolutely win ten games if DJ Lagway is healthy and looks like a Heisman finalist, there is a lingering question mark as to whether or not the ghosts that have plagued the Gators the past three seasons have been vanquished.

Run a tight ship in 2025, and Napier will have plenty of Old Takes Exposed material.

Be plagued by the same ghosts and Napier will need to update his resume.