Billy Napier can’t coach (but Florida is stuck with him for 2023)

By Hays Carlyon

GAINESVILLE – Florida coach Billy Napier appears to be an excellent recruiter.

He certainly seems like an excellent individual and leader of young men.

But he can’t coach. At least, not at the highest level of college football.

There have been many hints that Napier is overmatched on the sidelines in his previous 21 games at UF.

The greatest example occurred at the end of regulation in a 39-36 overtime loss to Arkansas on Saturday at The Swamp. The Razorbacks (3-6, 1-5) had lost six consecutive games.

After Arkansas kicked a field goal to tie the game with 44 seconds left, the Gators offense got going.

Florida quarterback Graham Mertz completed a 20-yard pass to tight end Arlis Boardingham to the Arkansas 21 with eight seconds left and the ball in bounds.

UF was out of timeouts.

Florida raced to the line to spike the ball and stop the clock.

The problem?

Half of the field goal team ran onto the field, creating chaos with roughly 20 Florida players running around. Florida was flagged for an illegal substitution, backing the ball to the Arkansas 26.

Florida kicker Trey Smack then missed the 44-yard field goal to win the game. It should’ve been a 39-yard attempt.

That just simply can’t happen.

A Florida team can never look that disorganized at home in such a crucial moment of a game.

Remember, this is a coach that doesn’t think having a special teams coordinator as an assistant coach is a good idea. Napier’s “GameChanger” coordinator Chris Couch serves in a support staff role.

However, it’s Napier’s explanation of the sequence that proves this job is probably too big for him.

“A player felt like he heard that specific word, that scenario,” Napier said. “We have a player that’s in charge of that. And he did it. Ultimately, the players around him followed him. I’ll get to the bottom of it, but ultimately just having talked to that player, I think he thought he heard it, and he did his job. There’s no question that there was some confusion there, and we’re fortunate. We’re fortunate that we got away with that. That’s one that I haven’t been around before.”

Think about that? Napier has a player in charge of that, because he doesn’t have a coach on his sideline that is the special teams coordinator. Instead, a player gets the decision and relays it to teammates.

What could go wrong?

Now, let’s move on to Napier’s other failings.

Why did Florida only have one timeout available on that final drive? Because Napier struggled to get two play calls in on earlier drives and used two timeouts in those situations.

More poor game management.

If this was Napier’s third season, the way Saturday’s loss unfolded would’ve been a dealbreaker. Florida can’t fire Napier after only two seasons for a variety of reasons.

However, you have to wonder about Napier even if he builds Florida’s roster into a behemoth. He can’t coach at a high level on game day. Certainly, better talent will buy him more mulligans during a game but if a guy can’t manage a game ultimately won’t that cap how good the Gators can ever be with Napier?

Florida (5-4, 3-3) now faces a three-game stretch against LSU, Missouri and Florida State. That means UF is staring at a 5-7 season with five consecutive losses to close the year and no bowl game.

That would at least give Napier a head start on hiring a special teams coordinator.

That’s the five-star addition most needed.

(You can email Hays at [email protected] and follow him on X @HaysCarlyon).