The official beginning of the end for Billy Napier last year was when Alex Golesh, Byrum Brown, and the rest of USF came into The Swamp and knocked off Florida 18-16. Whatever momentum Napier thought Florida was going to have in 2025 was instantly undone, and he was fired a little over a month later.
Napier may be gone, but Golesh and Brown are both set to see Florida again in 2026, as both made their way to Auburn in the offseason. And while the reviews from Florida’s spring game were mostly positive for both of Florida’s QB, Brown at his spring game looked like a shell of the QB who upset the Gators less than a year ago.
Byrum Brown has a disastrous spring game for Auburn
One never wants to read too much into a spring game performance, but Brown had a day so bad this weekend that Florida fans are looking around, going, “Where was that back in September?”
At Auburn’s spring game, where QBs are supposed to shine as defenses are rarely doing anything exotic, Brown was 7-14 for 85 yards and two interceptions. His second interception in particular was as bad as they come. He potentially gets his hand hit, in part because he didn’t climb the pocket, but the end result is a throw straight into the arms of a defender who was standing still in a static zone.
No trolling this might be the worst INT I’ve ever seen and disqualifying for me to ever think you might be good. He threw a no look INT https://t.co/BAY9CZU3lK
— Im a writer (@JayJDONDA) April 18, 2026
It’s a far cry from the outing he had back in September against Florida, going 23/36 for 263 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 66 yards and kept the chains moving just enough to allow USF to hang around and eventually win it at the end.
Florida is set to face Auburn in week three in an earlier litmus test for Jon Sumrall and crew. Auburn, like Florida, is breaking in a new head coach with a hand-picked transfer QB. It’s one thing if Florida just doesn’t have the roster yet to take on Georgia or Oklahoma, but Auburn is in virtually the same boat as Florida heading into 2026.
Brown, like everyone else, will still have four months to work out the kinks. Florida fans are just hoping they get the spring version of Brown on September 19 and not the USF version.
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