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Five SEC programs Florida Football is still in better long term shape than

By Benjamin Henderson

Sep 21, 2024; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier stands on the sidelines during the first quarter of a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-Imagn Images
Sep 21, 2024; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier stands on the sidelines during the first quarter of a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-Imagn Images / Matt Bush-Imagn Images
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It's Thursday, and Billy Napier is still the coach for Florida Football. We here at Hail Florida Hail have made it clear we don't think Napier is the right coach for the Gators moving forward. But the beauty of a place like Florida is that it is always one coach away from turning things around and climbing back to the top.

It's with that in mind that these are five schools in the SEC we think Florida is still in better long-term shape than moving forward.

Mississippi State

As we all saw on Saturday, Mississippi State is bad. Like really bad. Like they make past Vanderbilt teams look good bad.

To be fair to the Bulldogs, they had a solid run under Dan Mullen and looked like they had a solid run starting under Mike Leach. Their absolute peak in this latest run was going 10-3 in 2014. The only other time since World War 2 they have won 10 games was 1999.

They gave Zach Arnett one year before firing him and currently have Jeff Lebby, where recruiting for 2025 is four four-stars and 14 three-stars.

Auburn

When the allegation that Florida is too toxic to attract a new head coach of any quality started to get floated, we had a good chuckle because have you taken a glance at Auburn's recent history?

Gene Chizik won a national title and was fired two years later. Gus Malzahn went to the national title game in 2013, went 10-4 in 2017, 9-4 in 2019, and was still fired after 2020.

Since then, Bryan Harsin was given the boot after less than two seasons, and Hugh Freeze currently has a squad that looks just as non competitive as Florida.

Their 2025 class is in a good place, but that feels like a house of cards waiting to collapse given the toxicity starting to already bubble around Freeze.

Vanderbilt

Full credit to Clark Lea for knocking off Virginia Tech and taking Missouri to double OT. But with recruiting currently dead last in the SEC, this is Vanderbilt we are talking about when it comes to the program's long-term prospects.

Two of the last three seasons the squad has gone 2-10. Since World War 2, Vanderbilt has just five seasons where they have won at least eight games. Vanderbilt would have to have four straight undefeated seasons just to get to .500 all-time as a program.

South Carolina

Part of the historical struggle for South Carolina is that whatever in-state talent does exists they have to fight with Clemson just to keep them in-state. Then factor in that Georgia is just a hop, skip, and a jump away and there is a reason why they are in next to last in recruiting in the SEC for 2025.

And the deeper problem is if Shane Beamer isn't the guy to lead South Carolina to the mountaintop, who honestly will South Carolina attract to do it?

Consider that for as bad as Billy Napier has been, he's still 2-0 against South Carolina. Remember in 2022 when Desmond Watson had his iconic photo telling Spencer Rattler to get off him? It turns out that South Carolina's season was one of only ten in which they finished the year ranked in the AP poll.

Ole Miss

Not since John Vaught in the 50's and 60's has Ole Miss enjoyed a run of year-to-year success like they are enjoying now. The Rebels are poised to make the playoffs in 2024 and should reach double digit wins for the thrid time in four seasons.

So surely all this success is being parlayed into a great recruiting class, right?

*whispers*

Florida currently has a higher-rated 2025 class than Ole Miss.

*end whispers*

Surely, with all this success, fans are thrilled and are showing up en masse for the games?

*whispers*

Ole Miss is setting attendance records, but fans are also leaving games early, and local establishments are advertising to come to spend the second half with them.

*end whispers*

Surely, their coach is happy and wants to stay there forever?

*whisp...

You know what, never mind.

The reality for Ole Miss is that whether Lane Kiffin stays or goes, the over-reliance on the transfer portal requires near perfection every year in evaluations, or you run the risk of having the highs and lows that FSU is currently experiencing.

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