Could Florida fire coach Billy Napier in the first month of the season?

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — No one should be surprised if Florida fires coach Billy Napier during the first month of the season.

There are many recent precedents.

Five coaches have been fired in the first five weeks of the 2022 season: Scott Frost at Nebraska, Herm Edwards at Arizona State, Geoff Collins at Georgia Tech, Paul Chryst at Wisconsin and Karl Dorrell at Colorado. (Clay Helton was fired at USC after two games in 2021.)

Although each situation was different, there was a common thread: coaches had reached the point of no return. Sponsors threatened to stop contributing financially. Fans vowed to stop attending matches. Administrators had no choice but to turn the page.

Napier appears to be close, if not already there. Saturday night’s home game against lower-division Samford (0-1) could be a clear sign of how frustrated the Florida faithful have become watching the former Louisiana-Lafayette coach fail.

Napier has an 11-15 record in two-plus seasons with the Gators, including a six-game losing streak and 11 losses in its last 14 games against power conference opponents. Their season-opening 41-17 rout of then-No. 19 Miami at the Swamp last week showed little has changed in three seasons.

The Gators were flagged for roughing the passer twice in the first half, and both penalties resulted in touchdowns. Napier had to call a timeout after a media timeout in the second quarter. And he racked up runs (one of them was technically a pass behind the line of scrimmage) on two third-and-five plays.

Florida didn’t have a single pass play that led to a 20-yard gain, was 1-for-9 on third down and finished with 261 total yards, 71 of them coming on Montrell Johnson’s touchdown run late in the first half. Florida’s rebuilt defense was shredded for 529 yards, the sixth time an opponent has topped 500 yards during Napier’s tenure.

“We can flip the script and move forward,” Napier said Wednesday night. “It’s critical that whether you have success or failure, it doesn’t affect your attitude or approach. We’re fighting human nature on both ends of the spectrum. Sometimes you win and you’re on top and you start to think you’re better than you are and sometimes you have failures and you get knocked down.

“Part of the challenge of leadership is helping our young people sort out what becomes a noisy situation.”

The situation in Gainesville is deafening right now, even though Florida would owe Napier more than $25 million if it fires him during or after this season.

Questions about Napier’s job security won’t go away anytime soon, especially amid the toughest schedule in school history, and not even a win against seemingly overmatched Samford would do much to calm a restless fan base.

“It is what it is. If you’re playing for the New York Giants and they beat you by a couple of scores and you look sloppy, you’re going to get criticized,” Napier said. “Look, we still have a lot of football left to play and there will be a time, if we can right the ship, when we’re fighting the other side of the spectrum.”

Jack Crowe has the dubious distinction of being the only coach in recent memory to be fired after Week 1. Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles fired Crowe the day after a 10-3 home loss to The Citadel in 1992. Crowe was just beginning his third season and the Razorbacks had just moved to the Southeastern Conference.

It seemed crazy at the time, but lately rapid triggers have become more common.

Frost was fired after three games in his fifth season. Edwards was fired after three games in his fifth year. Collins was fired after four games in his fourth year. Chryst left after five games in his eighth year. Dorrell was fired after an 0-5 start in his third season. Rutgers let Chris Ash play after four games in his fourth season in 2019.

Most of them did not survive September and, like Napier, started the season in a difficult situation.

It would be strange for Florida to do the same. After all, the last four coaches fired in Gainesville (Ron Zook, Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen) all lasted at least until the end of October.

But college football has changed dramatically since Mullen was fired in 2021. Boosters are more openly involved than ever, and the larger programs’ boards have monthly payrolls to meet. And the potential financial consequences could be as important to a program’s health as wins and losses.

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