Florida Football My Take (2/13/25)
I will give you my take on the overall situation moving forward. Billy is betting entirely on himself plus the people in the building he believes will get him to where he wants to be - which is running a successful Florida Gator football program.
Has he made the safe play? We all have opinions, ranging from opposite ends of the spectrum, but one thing seems evident. Billy Napier is betting on himself.
This past season seemingly teetering back and forth, but then came the Kentucky game, and UF was off and running and closed better than many expected.
This is pretty simple. Either win big in 2025 and you are around in 2026 or don't, and the entire staff will be replaced. There is no common ground at all for Napier and crew. If you are going down with the ship, you might as well do things the way you want, which appears to be the case with the Gators.
Every off-season personnel decision is made based on numerous factors and outside circumstances. These decisions have actual cause-and-effect outcomes. It will be hard to tell right or wrong if the right choices were made in the immediate future, but over the next six to nine months, we will know. None of what I am telling you is something you don't already know, but I wanted to tell you what I was thinking.
Coaching situations are far more dangerous than recruiting in terms of making the correct predictions. I learned the hard way when a coach told me he would not leave UF and eight hours later left for someone in the conference and in the same division. All anyone can do right now is wait to see what unfolds. I do believe he will leave for another job. Also, those wheels were set in motion over the last two months. Nothing is set in stone, but that is how I look at this situation.
I will give you my take on the overall situation moving forward. Billy is betting entirely on himself plus the people in the building he believes will get him to where he wants to be - which is running a successful Florida Gator football program.
Has he made the safe play? We all have opinions, ranging from opposite ends of the spectrum, but one thing seems evident. Billy Napier is betting on himself.
This past season seemingly teetering back and forth, but then came the Kentucky game, and UF was off and running and closed better than many expected.
This is pretty simple. Either win big in 2025 and you are around in 2026 or don't, and the entire staff will be replaced. There is no common ground at all for Napier and crew. If you are going down with the ship, you might as well do things the way you want, which appears to be the case with the Gators.
Every off-season personnel decision is made based on numerous factors and outside circumstances. These decisions have actual cause-and-effect outcomes. It will be hard to tell right or wrong if the right choices were made in the immediate future, but over the next six to nine months, we will know. None of what I am telling you is something you don't already know, but I wanted to tell you what I was thinking.
Coaching situations are far more dangerous than recruiting in terms of making the correct predictions. I learned the hard way when a coach told me he would not leave UF and eight hours later left for someone in the conference and in the same division. All anyone can do right now is wait to see what unfolds. I do believe he will leave for another job. Also, those wheels were set in motion over the last two months. Nothing is set in stone, but that is how I look at this situation.
