Florida basketball coach Todd Golden’s biggest hater might be another coach at the school. Billy Napier now has Golden to thank for sky-high expectations that just soared into another galaxy. Golden didn’t have a five-star player on the Gators’ basketball roster and they went on to win the program’s first championship since 2007.
Napier, well he was primarily retained because the bulk of the Gators roster are freshman and sophomores with over 50 percent of those players tied to the NIL money distributed to the football program.
The hype around the Florida football program right now couldn’t be higher. Now that the basketball team won the national title, all eyes will be on Napier, DJ Lagway and a Gators football team that has no choice but to win.
The SEC was as tough as it gets basketball wise and football is their bread and butter. The conference will undoubtedly be loaded again. That won’t be an excuse for Napier's squad this upcoming season. If Napier doesn’t want to be public enemy No. 1 in Gainesville, it's championship or bust for him.
Billy Napier may have the support of the administration, but he only has one way to win over the Gator fan base
The other big reason Napier was canned in the middle of the 2024 season, allowed to finish out a season from hell and ultimately garner massive pressure for 2025 is because Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin is in his corner.
Stricklin went out of his way to stand by Napier after Gator nation had literally booed him out of the stadium after Florida’s loss to Texas A&M. As long as that relationship stays intact, Napier’s seat will probably never be too hot to fire him.
That said, Stricklin aligning with Napier just makes him a viable target to get ejected from his post as well if things don’t go as planned. And for Napier, that means winning the fan base back.
He won’t be able to do that with a couple wins or even a bowl appearance. He has to at worst, reach the SEC championship game. An SEC championship game appearance should all but seal the Gators a spot in the College Football Playoff, the first since the playoff was founded in 2014.
Only then could he begin to get back in the good graces of Gators fans. Even then, though, Golden proved getting to the biggest stage isn’t enough. Napier might just have to win it all like Golden did on Monday night.
That’s now the expectation. Because the basketball team which was simply supposed to compete in the SEC surpassed their expectations. Imagine what fans expect from Napier with all the resources, support and the roster construction he has. Anything less than a conference championship and CFP appearance would cause a mutiny.