Florida Football: For Billy Napier, wins are the only way to quiet the outside noise
Heading into last weekend, Florida Football felt like is had some positive momentum after wrapping up a top five transfer portal class for 2024. Fast forward to this week and Billy Napier is being sued by Jaden Rashada.
With every incident and negative headline it is a reminder that winning fixes everything.
Florida Football: Just Win Baby
Mandel's solution is simple, win.
"It’s more fuel for Napier’s critics, but let’s be honest. If Napier were coming off a 10-win season, Florida fans would be playing all the same cards as Michigan fans last season — there’s no proof he said that, everybody else is doing the same thing, go investigate Mike Norvell, blah, blah, blah. But he’s coming off 5-7, after a 6-7 debut season, so I don’t see a lot of rallying around the coach."
- Stewart Mandel
To his point, Jim Harbaugh was suspended three games to start the 2023 season after recruiting violations and three more games at the end of the 2023 regular season following the sign-stealing scandal that was a focal point of Michigan's season.
The end result was a national title for Michigan, an NFL job for Harbaugh, and magically, no negative pieces about the Wolverines this offseason.
Georgia has had a long string of off-the-field incidents over the past couple of seasons under Kirby Smart, but very few people in Athens are calling for his job because he has multiple national titles.
Michigan won 15 games last season. Georgia won 13. Florida has won 11 in the two seasons since Napier arrived.
We're not advocating for Napier to start doing questionable things or to have Florida players start getting arrested en masse, but if Napier doesn't want any minor incident to be utilized as fuel to increase the temperature on a seat that is already starting to get hot, then the solution is to win.
If he goes 8-4, the Rashada lawsuit and other incidents like it become background noise.
If he goes 4-8, they become added incentive to find a new coach.
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