Billy Napier is on thin ice at Florida amid the Gators’ worst start to a season since 1989. Given that he entered the year with as much to prove as any coach in college football, the 1-3 record was the last thing Napier needed in the quest to save his job.
With other schools already making coaching decisions, why hasn’t Florida pulled the plug on Napier? Is the administration simply delaying the inevitable after a 26-7 rivalry loss to Miami? The answer might be twofold.
Players can participate in four games and still preserve their redshirt year. They also have 30 days to enter the portal if their coach is fired. Combine those elements, and Florida is at an impasse.
“It would seem to make sense to hold on another week or two,” CBS Sports’ John Talty said on “CFB Insiders.” “You could maybe do it on the second bye later on in the season. Because if you fire Billy Napier today, does DJ Lagway say, ‘I’m redshirting. I’m out of here.’ You start losing guys. And then it gets really, really ugly down the stretch. There’s some in-season reasons to hold onto Billy at this point.”
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Chris Hummer
The timing might not even matter in Lagway’s case, though. The prized quarterback is in a walking boot with a sore foot. If he does not suit up before Napier’s potential firing, he would retain his redshirt option regardless of how deep into the season his coach is canned.
But if Lagway does not miss time as expected, or if Florida seeks to keep as many players on board for the rest of the year and beyond as possible, how long will it hold onto Napier? The farewell would have to come after the fifth game and ideally on a bye week. That’s why CBS Sports’ Chris Hummer says to keep an eye on the week of Oct. 19 after the matchup against Mississippi State.
“If you talk to people around college football, even people around Florida, they talk about the second bye week which is only in three more games for Florida,” said Hummer. “There’s not a lot of opportunity for Billy Napier to save his job in that stretch, especially when you have to play Texas and Texas A&M in back-to-back weeks. So I think that redshirt rule and that 30-day window really looms over the situation for Florida, and that’s why you might not see movement as soon as maybe Florida fans want to see it.”