The end seemed near for Florida coach Billy Napier. A 1-2 start in September — including a blowout home loss to rival Miami — had Florida’s power brokers preparing for a change at the top. Napier was 12-16 with the Gators, and the most challenging schedule in the country still lay ahead.
Meanwhile, Napier made plans of his own, ignoring the noise and speculation about his future. He “tinkered and tweaked” the offense and defense during an early-season bye week. Slowly but surely, a young roster led by a fresh-faced quarterback began to mature. Florida won eight games, upset ranked LSU and Ole Miss in back-to-back weeks, and recorded the program’s first winning season since 2020 with four straight victories to end the year.
“We built really good chemistry, morale and connection with that group,” Napier told CBS Sports. “The football wasn’t very good the first month, and they really took ownership of that. Maybe if you didn’t have that type of character, I don’t think we could have done that.”
Now comes the hard part: leading the Gators to the College Football Playoff and back to the top of the SEC. Unfair expectation? Certainly. But this is Florida, where statues of Tim Tebow and Steve Spurrier loom over every triumph and failure, silently judging anything less than perfection. It’s Year 4 for Napier, and a 19-19 record entering the season isn’t up to standard. The seat is still hot — and he knows it.
“With the good comes the bad, right? There’s only 16 of these (SEC) jobs. They compensate us. I’m thankful for the opportunity,” Napier said. “And to be very straightforward here, we came to Florida to do a job, and we were up for the challenge. We’ve assembled the staff. We recruited every one of these guys. We’re gonna finish the race, man. I’m excited about the team we have this year.”
Clichés and mottos may coax improvement from teenagers in the locker room, but soundbites won’t win over fans if the football team is losing. Keep in mind that Napier is the Swamp King of slogans. Every speech he delivers is steeped in ideals. He’s humble, tough and incredibly faithful. His boss, athletic director Scott Stricklin, credited 2024’s strong finish to Napier’s qualities — but he, too, knows success can be fleeting in Gainesville.
“I’m really proud of him for weathering that storm, if you will,” Stricklin said in May on The Paul Finebaum Show. “You and I both know when we kick off the season Aug. 30, it’s going to be another firestorm and we’re all going to have to weather it.”
The changing landscape has weakened athletic department coffers across the country as revenue sharing with players begins and high-dollar NIL deals continue to deter from paying hefty coach contract buyouts. Both factors played a role for administrators and boosters, who gave Napier a larger safety net in the middle of last season. A $26 million buyout served as a deterrent, but his stay of execution will last only as long as the winning does.
The pressure is on. Florida wasn’t ranked in the top 25 at any point last season for the first time in 10 years but enters this preseason as a legitimate top-15 team. Sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway is the centerpiece and he’s capable of carrying the Gators to a playoff berth — as long as he stays healthy.
He was cleared June 3 to return to full participation in team activities after recovering from shoulder and core injuries sustained in the offseason. The No. 1 quarterback in the Class of 2024 came off the bench last season and wowed analysts with a howitzer for an arm, throwing for 456 yards in his Week 2 debut. He averaged 10 yards per attempt — second-best in the country — and ranked third at 16.7 yards per completion during the year.
More importantly, Florida was 6-0 when he played an entire game and 2-5 when he did not.
“DJ is going to do his thing,” Napier said. “He’ll improve Year 1 to Year 2. It’s his team. This time last year, he was just trying to figure out where the chemistry building is. Pair that with the leadership role and tasting it a little bit, being hungry for more — he’s made of the right stuff.”
Four of the Gators’ five starting offensive linemen return, including All-American center Jake Slaughter. The receiving corps is arguably one of the nation’s 10 best, with Eugene Wilson III back and Aiden Mizell set to return after missing most of last season with an ACL injury. The Gators also added UCLA transfer J. Michael Sturdivant.
The defense should also show marked improvement after a sluggish start last season. Coordinator Ron Roberts moved to the press box to call plays after an early bye week, and the unit improved almost immediately. Florida gave up 34 points per game to its first three FBS opponents but allowed only 13 per game during the season-ending four-game win streak. Seven starters return, including sacks leader Tyreak Sapp (seven sacks, 13 tackles for loss).
“I would say it’s the best competitive depth we’ve ever had,” Napier said.
Florida won six of its last nine games, including its first bowl victory in five years. The Gators then signed 247Sports’ No. 7 recruiting class — their first top-10 finish since 2020. All but six players on the current roster were recruited by Napier.
“There’s power in having a veteran team, having some players that have helped create some of the momentum that we have,” Napier said. “The No. 1 difference in our team is the belief level. The work is starting to resonate.
“Man, we got a chance to be pretty good.”