![Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier looks on during fall football practice at Heavener Football Complex at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_4268,h_2400/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/356/01j72k795d5jd25bmz6n.jpg "Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier looks on during fall football practice at Heavener Football Complex at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]")
The Florida Gators have fallen on tough times recently. And those times have continued since head coach Billy Napier took over the program heading into the 2022 season. In just over two seasons so far in the swamp, Napier’s record is 11-15.
Napier opened up his third season with a disappointing loss to the Miami Hurricanes 41-17, which saw the Gators accumulate only 261 yards of offense in the week one contest. On the other side of the ball, the Hurricanes put up 529 yards. This is a microcosm example of how the Gators have looked throughout Napier’s tenure.
With things seeming to be on the decline and the Gators having the toughest schedule in the country in 2024, the sun may not shine any time soon for the Gators, but do not tell Napier that. In a meeting with the team after the loss, Napier drew comparisons between the Gators and the national championship teams he has been on.
What did Billy Napier say to motivate his team?
According to Florida Gators tight end, Hayden Hansen who appeared on LockedOn Gators with host Brandon Olsen, Napier eluded the Gators still having the potential to be a national championship caliber team. “He (Billy Napier) told us that all of the national championship teams he has been on, they’ve lost early on.”
What national championship teams was Billy Napier a coach for at Alabama?
During his time with the Crimson Tide, Napier was an offensive analyst for their National Championship team in 2011. He then returned as a wide receivers coach for the Tide from 2013-2016 and was a part of the 2015 National Championship Team.
In 2011, the Tide lost to the LSU Tigers 9-6. That game was held however in the first week of November. So, for that to be considered “early” as Napier eluded to is false. And that LSU team also squared off against the Tide later on in the year in the BCS National Championship Game against the Tide.
In 2015, the Tide did indeed lose early in week three to the Ole Miss Rebels 43-37.
Worth pointing out in these two contests compared to the Gators’ week one defeat against the Hurricanes is the point differential each lost by. In those two years with the Tide, the combined point differential in their losses was nine. The Gators lost by 24 to the Canes. That is a significant difference.