Florida football is now little more than an off-Broadway play above a bowling alley

The Gators kick off their football season in nine days and . . . well, the silence is deafening.

I’ve heard little about the ’23 Gators from the media and the hundreds of Gator fans I know. In fact, my two best friends are Gators and their lips have been sealed on the subject. The main reason, of course, is the Gators aren’t expected to be very good. They’re considered a second-tier team in the SEC East and a long shot to even qualify for a bowl game.

More than most fan bases, Gator Nation doesn’t handle failure very well. After nearly three decades of success produced three national championships, two Heisman Trophy winners, a slew of SEC titles, and relevance on a national stage, Florida football is now little more than an off-Broadway play above a bowling alley.

If Billy Napier has another losing record in his second year, you can expect to hear Gatortalk in the next offseason. Yeah, a lot of impatient Gators will be calling for Napier’s job.

A victory at Utah a week from Thursday (8:30 p.m.) will amp up Gator talk, but don’t count on that.