The Florida Gators and their fans will get a reprieve this week from Billy Napier continuing to disappoint, as the team has its first of two bye weeks. After starting the season 1-3, fans are starting to rally in Gainesville, all calling for Napier’s job.
With Oklahoma State firing their long-time head coach Mike Gundy after 21 seasons, Florida fans are wondering what is taking so long with Napier, who has only been in Gainesville for now four years. Gundy started the season 1-2 with his most recent loss coming against in-state foe Tulsa. Florida has started 1-3 with losses to in-state foes USF and Miami.
There are a lot of parallels going on there, but there is one glaring reason that could account for why the Gators are waiting to send Napier to the unemployment office.
Waiting to fire until after Game 5 locks players in for the season
The NCAA redshirt rules allow players to play in four games before they can decide to redshirt and not play for the rest of the season. That usually happens when a player wants to preserve another year of eligibility, but still play with his team to see how the season is going to fare.
Florida has already played four games this season, so if anyone wants to jump ship and preserve a year of eligibility, now would be the time guys would start announcing their redshirt intentions. Some may still be holding onto the fact, however, that Napier is still leading this program, the coach they came to Gainesville to play for.
If Napier is fired, guys would decide they want to go somewhere else and play for a coach they want to play for. Obviously, with the Gators on bye this week, it seems more than likely the administration won’t sack him just yet.
Other programs, such as Virginia Tech and UCLA, seem to have given guys time to transfer or redshirt if they would like by firing their head coaches after just three games. It seems the Gators could want to lock guys in, though.
However, it seems almost inevitable now that Napier is the next coach on the chopping block, and with No. 10 Texas on the slate in two weeks, if Napier loses that one, even with it being against a ranked team, it feels like there is no coming back from a 1-4 start.
