Steve Spurrier Is Questioning Billy Napier And His Florida Football Program In March, Which Isn't A Good Sign

There isn't a hotter seat in the SEC than the one Billy Napier is sitting on as we head into the 2024 season, with Florida failing to make a bowl game in 2023. Whispers of discontent around the Gators football program have put a giant spotlight on the football program, with fans and former alumni wondering if Napier can turn this ship around in Gainesville. 

An offseason filled with problems in recruiting certainly didn't help the situation heading into spring practice, while also losing one of their top playmakers in Trevor Etienne. As we sit here right now in March, there are Florida fans wondering if they will be looking for a new head coach following this upcoming season. 

No longer are the Gators a program fighting for the top spot in the SEC, far from it. This is a football program that needs to figure out how they're going to get to at least eight wins this upcoming season, while also dealing with turnover from a staff perspective. 

Currently sitting at 11-14 during his time in Gainesville, fans weren't expecting that it would take this long to start turning heads in the SEC. Given that Billy Napier has not found much success calling his own offense, many thought that he would give up those duties and hire an offensive coordinator, but that doesn't seem to be the case, even though he mentioned he will delegate some of the tasks on that side of the ball. 

When it comes to legendary offenses at Florida, there is one man who set the bar of expectations for the Gators, and that's the ‘Ole Ball Coach’ himself, Steve Spurrier. Still holding a paid position as an ambassador for the program, but there's certainly more to a program righting the ship than who's taking the first-string snaps at quarterback. 

Steve Spurrier questions the decision making of Florida head coach Billy Napier. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)

In a world where Power-5 college football staffs have leeway to hire enough people needed to run an organization, Billy Napier might need an overflow building for the support staff hired to help him run the program. Learning from Nick Saban, the Gators head coach decided he wanted to bring in as many people as the school would allow to help run the day-to-day operations. 

This has come with some pushback, along with questions from former coaches like Steve Spurrier. The legendary coach wonders if all those extra staff members are helping the organization, or cluttering the building with too many voices. 

"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," Steve Spurrier told Jacksonville.com. "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. 

"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."

When Steve Spurrier says ‘We’, he means the donors and even folks inside the building that are holding back when discussing the program with Billy Napier. Given that Spurrier is paid to promote the football program and school, his words do not fall on deaf ears. Think of this as a warning shot to Billy Napier, given how much power Spurrier still holds in Gainesville. 

Georgia Transfer RB Trevor Etienne Throws Shade At Florida, Didn't Want To Be On Losing Team

Can Billy Napier Buy Another Year With DJ Lagway? 

This is the question that has folks scratching their heads, wondering what the right answer is. We all know the Gators are hoping the 5-Star quarterback can inject life into the football program and take them back to the days of competing for SEC titles. 

But it's not that easy, and Billy Napier knows it. Sure, it helps to have Graham Mertz return for another season, becoming a mentor for the eighteen-year-old, who fans are hoping mimics former Heisman winner Tim Tebow. But we have a long ways to go before this could possibly come to fruition, given the landscape of the Florida football program. 

Lagway cannot play defense, though I'm sure he actually could if you put him on that side of the ball, but that's not the point. It's more so the problems on the defensive side that have gotten the Gators into serious trouble over the past two seasons. So fixing that should be one of the main priorities of this spring, even with an exodus of young talent from this past recruiting class. 

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 09: Florida Gators commit DJ Lagway looks on before the start of a game between the Florida Gators and the McNeese State Cowboys at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 09, 2023 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

If I was Napier, I'd also be thanking the folks involved in the lawsuit against the NCAA pertaining to NIL, because the hounds were circling and looking for a way to nail the Gators on NIL violations dating back to the Jaden Rashada saga. 

The point is, there are a number of things going on right now inside and outside the Florida football facility that could be a roadblock moving forward. Napier will not have much sympathy from fans and donors if they start the season off poorly, before playing the back-half of a monumental 2024 schedule. 

We don't know what type of quarterback DJ Lagway will become in Gainesville. We think he will be good, but there are still questions left to be answered. Even if Napier decides to hitch his wagon to the five-star quarterback earlier in the season, it might not be enough to keep his job if seven wins are all they can muster. 

No, we've come to that fork in the road, where things are about to be settled, and one of those is the job status of Billy Napier following the 2024 season. 

If Steve Spurrier is already talking about disorganization within the program I'd hate to see what happens if the Gators are sitting below .500 heading into the middle of October.