As the only SEC school in the nation's most talent-rich state, the Florida job has potential unlike any other in college football. For evidence, see how the Gators went from zero national titles to three in a 13-season period from 1996 to 2008.
But, because of that potential, when things are going bad at Florida, they tend to go really bad, really fast. Will Muschamp took the Gators to the Sugar Bowl in Year 2, and was gone after Year 4. Jim McElwain won the SEC East in his first two seasons, and didn't last through his third. Dan Mullen's teams finished their first three seasons ranked No. 7, No. 6, and No. 13, and he was out before Year 4 completed.
And that brings us to Billy Napier, who it seems has yet to truly wrap his arms around the Florida job in his two seasons in Gainesville. He's 11-14 overall and 6-10 in SEC play.
In a story in the Florida Times Union, Gene Frenette spoke to a number of stakeholders around the program, including the program patriarch. And Steve Spurrier, well, he's Steve Spurrier no matter who he's talking about.
“There’s a feeling around the Gators of ‘what the heck are we doing?’ There’s a lot of questions that I don’t have the answers to about organization,” said Spurrier. “Just because you hire the most people doesn’t mean you’re going to win. All these extra people, I question how much that really helps."
Spurrier, of course, is referring to this.
Introducing your 2022 Gators Football Team#GoGators | #jOURney pic.twitter.com/nRPIRHmUrW
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) August 23, 2022
The support staff grew from 45 under Mullen to 62 under Napier, and the Gators spent nearly $1 million more than Georgia on staffing.
Within that staff, Napier appointed a GameChanger coordinator. He has an offensive coordinator, an associate head coach for offense, and a hand-picked successor as offensive play-caller who is not his coordinator or his assistant head coach for offense. Florida has a head coach, an assistant head coach, and an executive head coach.
But despite investing heavily in staffing, Napier has had trouble either finding or keeping the right people. Only three of his 10 on-field assistants are have made it to Year 3 with him. This offseason, Florida has either lost or parted ways its strength coach, its director of recruiting, and its in-house NIL director.
“Billy [Napier] is a good guy who works his tail off. I like Billy, good family man. But we do wish the organization was a little bit more tidy.”