Florida Football: Billy Napier is a snake oil salesman who better find oil soon

All offseason, we here at Hail Florida Hail tried to keep the faith with Florida Football but, at times, couldn't hide our skepticism heading into 2024. There were plenty of red flags from the 2023 season that were "addressed," but we kept raising the alarm about whether or not the changes were of substance or merely cosmetic.

One game into year three of Billy Napier's tenure, the Gators are clearly in a place that Billy Napier claimed they weren't going to be in all offseason long.

Florida Football: Long Way Home

For as bad as it has been the last three years in Gainesville, one under Dan Mullen and the past two under Napier, there have been almost zero days like what Florida fans experienced against Miami. Over the past three seasons, the Gators at least felt competitive, and it was just one or two plays that doomed Florida.

Napier shuffled his staff, claiming he had fixed all the errors that had led Florida to an 11-14 record over the past two seasons. We here at Hail Florida Hail try not to be a site rooted in gloom and doom, but we also understand that peace sells, but who's buying?

We asked questions this offseason that included:

• Napier had a chance to hire a dedicated offensive coordinator but instead opted for a second offensive line coach.
• Florida's strength program was questionable after Craig Fitzgerald left after one month.
• The fact that Florida had co-defensive coordinators, but in reality, the Gators were about to have their third DC under Napier.
• Was the offensive line actually fixed or was it a mirage?
• Florida didn't actually have a trio of competent wide receivers.

Dig through the archives, and there are more. We tried, we really tried to paint a picture of how Florida might be able to turn it around in 2024. But after Florida's opening loss to Miami, it is evident:

"Billy Napier is a snake oil salesman who has yet to actually produce oil."

We don't dislike Napier as a human, but this is a business where you are paid far more money than 99% of humans to produce a product better than what we saw in The Swamp on Saturday.

The offensive line looked compromised, the play calling looked unimaginative, the defensive line had zero push, and the secondary had next to no coverage integrity.

Miami, on paper, was supposed to be the fifth easiest team on Florida's schedule. After this dismal effort, you can maybe convince yourself that Florida can scrape together a 6-6 season.

But something we have said all month long is that until you have done it, you haven't done it.

Billy Napier is now 11-15 as the head coach of the Florida Gators. Forget scared money right now, most fans just want their money back until a proof of concept is actually produced.