"Billy Napier's Florida career is going to come to an end": CFB Insider predicts miserable fate for Gators HC as SEC rival knocks on door

The Florida Gators (3-2) have had an up-and-down season, falling short of expectations. As a result, coach Billy Napier finds himself a candidate to be one of the first coaches fired this season. The Gators will travel to Tennessee to face the No. 8 ranked Volunteers (4-1) on Saturday, October 12 at 7 p.m. ET.

On the "Smothered & Covered" podcast, insider Barrett Sallee spoke about the Florida Gators and their issues this season, focusing particularly on Napier's status within the organization. He believes Napier could be fired as early as next week if the Gators do not pull off an upset against the Tennessee Volunteers. He said:

“Billy Napier's Florida career is going to come to an end. A rocky end. Reason its called the rocky end is because billy napier’s Florida career is going to come to an end at the hands if the hated Tennessee Volunteers, come out on top Saturday night” [1:30 onwards]

"I always thought they’ll wait till the bye week but to me he’s been on thin ice, we dont know when its going to happen, but a loss to Tennessee especially in a depressing way, should absolutely do it”

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Billy Napier has been on the hot seat for a long time

Billy Napier has been on the hot seat throughout the season, with fans calling for his job even before the season began. Now in his third year coaching the Gators, he has yet to lead the team to a winning season, despite promises to rebuild the program when he was hired in November 2021.

In his first season with the Gators in 2022, Napier led the team to a 6-7 record and a fourth-place finish in the SEC. The next year, he followed it up with the same outcome in the SEC but with a slightly worse record at 5-7.

This season, the Gators have a winning record through five games, but their performances against ranked opponents have not been impressive. They opened their season by getting blown out 41-17 by No. 6 ranked Miami. While the final score of 33-20 against No. 15 ranked Texas A&M does not look awful, the team was losing 20-0 at halftime.

Florida has only secured wins over unranked and lesser opponents this year. If Napier cannot get his team ready to face Tennessee, Barrett Sallee believes this could be the end of his run in Florida.