The biggest potential downside to Florida firing Billy Napier no one is talking about

The writing has been on the wall for Billy Napier at Florida for weeks now; he entered the season on the hot seat, and things have only gotten worse since that season-opening blowout at home to rival Miami. Napier's Gators nearly pulled off a shocking upset of Tennessee in Knoxville last Saturday only to watch it slip away, in large part to the same mistakes and late-game mismanagement that's plagued him for his entire tenure in Gainesville. Now, with a bear of a closing schedule that features a road trip to Texas, home games against LSU and Ole Miss plus the Cocktail Party in Jacksonville against Georgia, it'll take a minor miracle to save Napier's job.

Which is tough to argue with. Napier has recruited well enough during his time at Florida, but the on-field product has been consistently ugly, and the record is what the record is. If the Gators do indeed decide to let their head coach go at the end of the season, they'll be eminently justified. Of course, it might also come back to haunt them, in a way that only the SEC coaching carousel can.

Billy Napier could haunt Florida if Gators choose to fire him

Not that you'd know it from watching Florida play, but Napier is a branch on the Nick Saban coaching tree. He got his first break as an offensive assistant on Dabo Swinney's staff for five years at Clemson, then spent the 2011 season as an analyst at Alabama before serving as the wide receivers coach under Saban from 2013 through 2016. That stint put him into contact with all manner of notable names, from Kirby Smart to Lane Kiffin to Steve Sarkisian — all of whom just so happen to be current head coaches at Florida's rivals in the SEC.

All of which is to say that, should Florida can Napier, it's not hard to imagine him winding up working under any of his old friends at Georgia or Ole Miss or Texas. Everyone has a rolodex and a very long memory, and once you reach a certain level in big-time college football, it's impossible to fall too far. Plus, no one has ever disputed Napier's knack for talent acquisition; it's developing and deploying that talent that's been the problem in Gainesville, as well as how to manage a staff and in-game situations. If you're Smart or Kiffin or Sarkisian, why not add Napier, slap a polo on him and let him spend his time away from the limelight and touring high schools around the South?

Florida will be right to let Napier go, but don't be surprised if, a year or two or three down the line, Gators fans find themselves cursing his name again after he poaches that four-star QB they really wanted.