Nick Saban casts doubt on Billy Napier and the state of Florida Football

One of the selling points for Billy Napier when he was tabbed the head coach of Florida Football was his time he spent with Nick Saban at Alabama. Napier worked on the Crimson Tide coaching staff in 2011 and from 2013 to 2016.

Saban is now retired and working on College GameDay, while Napier is firmly on the hot seat after losing to Miami 41-17. When Saban was asked about his former protege, he didn't exactly give a glowing review.

Florida Football: In His Basement

Napier is 11-15 during his time as Florida's head coach and Saban gave his opinion on what went wrong for the Gators last Saturday.

"I think he's got to change the culture. I mean, the culture there is not what it needs to be in terms of the intangible things you play with. The toughness, the discipline to control the line of scrimmage. They're not just doing those types of things. I know he took over a tough situation, but hopefully you can establish that culture in Year 3."

- Nick Saban

Saban's comments align with most over the past week. For as much as Napier has talked about following a process and building a foundation, there has been minimal progress on the field. Dan Mullen didn't leave a great situation, but as we have chronicled on the site, the cupboard wasn't so bare when Napier took over in 2022 to justify why the Gators are four games under .500 under his watch.

Saban's comments are also notable because of Napier's "basement" comments from earlier this week. Napier may not value the opinion of people on social media, but it is hard to ignore a seven time national champion coach making the same observations.

Florida takes on Samford tonight at 7 PM inside The Swamp, with five-star freshman DJ Lagway taking snaps under center.