With 38 seconds left on the clock during the Gators’ bout against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, fans weren’t booing the opposing team, but their own coach.
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium erupted in “fire Billy” chants multiple times Oct. 18, calling for head coach Billy Napier’s termination.
Less than 24 hours later, their call was answered. Florida parted ways with Napier, temporarily replacing him with wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales.
Bad losses under Napier’s tenure led fans to question his leadership. Each season under Napier saw its own shocking defeats, from Vanderbilt in 2022 to Arkansas in 2023. Last year, Napier seemed all but finished after a 4-5 start. Though a four-game winning streak to end 2024 kept his job alive, fans were disappointed again as he began the 2025 season 3-4.
“Underwhelming,” “disappointing,” “chaotic” and “nightmare” were all words fans used to sum up Napier’s tenure at Florida. Although some complimented his recruiting skills and team culture building, many said the positives ended there.
“He’s done a really good job of keeping the locker room, keeping the players out of trouble,” said 35-year-old Florida alumnus Jared Gaylord. “I don’t have any problem with his personality or his character. I think he’s a good person. My issue is just the results on the field.”
Napier struggled to win big games. Florida went 5-17 against ranked opponents and never beat one on the road. UF’s top recruiting classes didn’t lead to on-field success, and fans quickly became rowdy.
“He’s kind of like a Ron Zook hire,” Gaylord said, referring to the former Florida coach who also struggled to win games. “He can build the car, but he can’t drive it.”
Napier’s controversial stint was marked by questionable play calls. Two prime examples came in Napier’s final game, when UF called a quarterback run on third-and-7 and Lagway was later sacked on a third-and-1 passing play.
The coach should let an offensive coordinator make those decisions, rather than doing it himself, said Justin Hall, a 20-year-old UF accounting major.
“I was happy, I thought it was a good hire,” he said. “Then, I felt like he wasn’t contributing as much as I expected him to contribute, and then I got disappointed.”
Hall also criticized Napier’s handling of the quarterback situation in his third season as coach. Napier should have started Lagway immediately upon the quarterback’s arrival in Gainesville, rather than continuing to play his teammate, Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz, Hall said.
“If DJ had started earlier, he would have more time to develop and get actual experience,” Hall said. “That would have put us in a better spot.”
Another common theme throughout Napier’s tenure was losing games he shouldn’t have. After a 3-4 start that included a loss to an unranked South Florida team and a too-close-for-comfort win over Mississippi State, many said Napier didn’t have the passion or tenacity to turn around the program’s slump.
“I wish we saw a little bit more heart from him. Every single time I hear him talk after a game, win or lose, it’s so dead,” said 21-year-old UF biology senior Frankie Ricardo. “Regardless of what our record is, we’re gonna show up every single game day, and I feel like I really can’t say the same for him.”
Napier’s struggles in retaining positive fan sentiment continued through 2025, as his post-game attitude became a point of contention. After UF’s loss to USF, his comments raised eyebrows and fueled fans’ frustrations over a perceived lack of urgency.
Napier’s disconnect reached a boiling point in his final game. At the Mississippi State game, 17-year-old Orlando resident and Gators fan Shane Mankoff and two of his friends wore brown paper bags over their heads that proudly displayed “FIRE BILLY.”
“It was just a four-year nightmare,” Mankoff said. “He’s got to go.”
Napier didn’t lose all his supporters, though. Some, like 22-year-old UF graduate student Andre Chelle, remained unconvinced Florida’s struggles fell solely on Napier. Florida fans were “a little bit harsh on him,” he said, and Napier has supported his players well.
“I think from a coaching standpoint, he’s doing a good job,” Chelle said. “A lot of the things they are blaming him for are not his fault entirely. … You can’t push people too much where it is affecting them emotionally and can affect them off the field.”
The 46-year-old coach consistently landed big-name prospects like five-star edge rusher LJ McCray, receivers Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson, and Lagway.
But for fans who grew up watching Florida during its national relevance, Napier’s tenure felt like a step backward — an embarrassment that built up over four years of underwhelming results and broken expectations.
Now, fans can revamp their expectations and look ahead to a fresh start in 2026. When Florida hires a new head coach, fans agree on one thing: Leadership, accountability and the ability to hire a solid supporting staff are non-negotiable.
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @CuranAhern.
Curan is a third-year journalism-sports & media major who currently serves as the football beat reporter for The Alligator, now in his third semester with the paper. When not at his computer screen writing, Curan enjoys spending time outdoors, hanging with friends, family and pets, and watching the Patriots lose (no, he doesn't miss Brady).
