It’s time for Gator Nation to back Billy Napier instead of bashing him.

Sometimes college football fans, just like coaches, should be expected to make adjustments.

Instead of Florida Gators fans flooding social media platforms and crippling recruiting efforts with demands that Billy Napier be fired, how cool would it be if they called an audible and demanded that he be retained?

 

In this era of noxious negativity in which social media has become a place where the legions of the miserable gather to rant and rave, wouldn’t it be great if true-blue UF fans starting tweeting things that might actually make recruits want to sign with their team?

Things like:

 

“Our Gators are steadily improving. #BelieveInBilly.”

 

“We have a lot of great young talent that gets better and better each and every game. #BuildWithBilly. #BillysBlueprint.”

 

“We can’t keep changing coaches every three or four years. Continuity matters. #KeepBillyBallin #PatiencePaysGators”

 

“Our players don’t get arrested and they represent the school well. #NapierNation. #BillyBuildingTheRightWay.”

 

As you can tell, I think Billy Napier is making a strong case to keep his job.

 

In fact, I believe two more wins should be all he needs to earn at least one more season as the head coach of the Gators.

Just get to bowl eligibility against the toughest schedule in the country and that should be more than enough for Napier to keep his job.

 

Notice I said “should be” enough.

 

However, there are many Gator fans, Gator boosters and Gator media members who made up their minds about Napier after two lopsided early-season home losses to Miami and Texas A&M and declared that the decision already had been made that he would be fired. There were even some reports that the boosters already had raised the exorbitant $30 million buyout for Napier and his staff. And the message boards were on fire with the rumblings that plans were being made to hire Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss.

Yes, the same Lane Kiffin who currently has one fewer SEC win than Billy Napier.

Of course, in today’s ego-driven and arrogance-fueled world, nobody would dare admit that they might have been wrong

 

As the great Benjamin Franklin once said, “Great haste makes great waste.” Remarkably, Franklin made that observation 250 years ago. Imagine if he were living in today’s click-and-go on-demand society where patience is as outdated as a quill pen and ol’ Ben would be expected to discover electricity with a quick Google search.

 

From Game 1, it seems like most everybody was unwilling to see how the season played out before making a final determination on Napier. That’s why I commend UF athletic director Scott Stricklin for weathering the criticism and not making any rash early-season decisions. Or has he  and he just hasn’t made it public for fear of a mass exodus of players into the transfer portal and even more damage to the shrinking recruiting class?

Before the season started, the narrative seemed to be that if Napier could win six or seven games against the toughest schedule in the country, then he should keep his job. My question: Shouldn’t the same narrative hold true today?

 

I’ve said from the beginning that Napier deserved a fourth season no matter what happened this year  barring some sort of 3-9 or 4-8 disaster (see FSU). Well, the Gators are now 4-3, have won three of their last four games and, quite frankly, outplayed No. 8 Tennessee on the road two weeks ago before losing in overtime. Granted, Napier’s decision not to go for the two-point conversion at the end or regulation was wimpy, but that’s not a legitimate reason to shell out $30 million to fire him.

At 4-3, the Gators need two victories to get bowl-eligible with a remaining schedule that includes No. 2 Georgia in Jacksonville, at No. 5 Texas, No. 8 LSU at home, No. 18 Ole Miss at home and at FSU. Florida should be able to beat FSU, and I believe one or two more victories is certainly possible.

 

Is UF going to beat Georgia? Probably not, but the Bulldogs did struggle against Kentucky and Mississippi State  two teams the Gators beat easily.

 

Is UF going to beat Texas on the road? Probably not, but do we really know how good the Longhorns are? Who have they beaten? Their victory over a fading 3-loss Michigan team doesn’t look nearly as impressive as it did in September.

 

Can UF beat LSU at home? Why not? Even though LSU has won six in a row, they did lose to Southern Cal (1-4 in the Big Ten) early in the season.

Can UF beat Ole Miss at home? Why not? The Rebels have yet to beat a ranked team and lost to Kentucky  a team the Gators clobbered

 

Don’t get me wrong, if the Gators get routed by Georgia and Texas and lose to Ole Miss and LSU, then Napier probably should be gone, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Even Napier’s biggest critics have to admit that the Gators have gotten increasingly better as the season has progressed. The offensive and defensive lines have improved immensely. The defense was pathetically porous early in the season but is yielding an average of 200 yards per game less over its last three games.

 

In Florida’s last game, a 48-20 blowout victory over Kentucky, the Gators finished with 197 yards on the ground against Kentucky’s 10th-ranked rushing defense.

“They were physically very much pushing us around and moving us up front,” said Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, who prides himself on coaching physical football.

 

Not only are the Gators getting better, but they’re getting better with young talented players. For instance, on Saturday against Kentucky, DJ Lagway and Jadan Baugh became the first true freshmen to start at quarterback and running back, respectively, in school history. Baugh ran for 106 yards and five touchdowns  tying a school record held by Tim Tebow, Meanwhile, Lagway completed justy 7 of 14 passes but for a whopping 259 yards, including five completions of more than 40 yards.

 

Lagway, the No. 1 recruit in the country a year ago, obviously has the ‘it’ factor and is reason enough to keep Napier for another season. Imagine what he could be next year with a full offseason to prepare as the starter. However, if Napier leaves, there’s a good chance Lagway could enter the transfer portal and be starting at Georgia or some other rival school next season.

Let’s see how the season plays out, but in the meantime, maybe it’s time for Gator fans to start changing their playbook on social media and flooding their timelines with optimism instead of outrage

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if Napier won a couple of more games and Gator Nation began backing their coach instead of bashing him?

 

#StickWithBilly.