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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators‘ trip to Mississippi State pits a struggling team with presumably a lame-duck head coach against a program with its third head coach in three years.
SEC wins are likely to be scarce for each school.
A loss could be Billy Napier’s final game 20 years after Ron Zook’s tenure as Florida’s coach ended in Starkville.
Following Saturday’s deflating 33-20 home loss to Texas A&M, Napier has weathered a cacophony of criticism with composure and pushed his players to rise above.
“There is no excuses, no place for blame,” he said Monday. “I think responsibility, accountability is the only option here. The most important thing, and I told the players after the game Saturday, is that they stick together.”
A Florida win will provide a sigh of relief but won’t serve as a panacea for a team struggling mightily on both sides of the ball.
Napier’s future and how the Gators got here are among the questions entering Week 4.
Why keep Napier around?
Many expected UF to pull the plug on Napier during a Black Sunday. A legion of fans was disappointed — some even outraged — when it did not come to pass.
Cooler heads prevailed, choosing between allowing Napier to coach another week or tossing the Gators into further chaos. On Monday, the 45-year-old echoed the fan base’s disappointment and planned to keep striving.
“It’s the same for me,” he said. “I don’t think there is anything that’s more motivating to me than proving it and making people proud. This place has great history and tradition. You want to get it back there.”
Barring a miraculous turn of events, Napier will not get a chance. For now, an interim head coach — perhaps someone new to the program such as special assistant Dan Enos — would not bring similar passion or perspective as the head of the program…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/analysis-why-stick-billy-napier-093000096.html
Author : Orlando Sentinel
Publish date : 2024-09-18 09:30:00
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