Cristobal has it easier, but not better than Napier in their parallel football worlds

When Florida introduced Billy Napier as its football coach, he talked about the advantages of the job and how he was ready to use them.

“This is the right place at the right time,” Napier said. “With the right people and the right leadership… I can promise you we will all reap the benefits from this.”

Eight days later, there was an introductory echo in Coral Gables.

“We are the U,” Mario Cristobal said. “We are Miami… The time is now.”

The time was December 2021. Now it’s August 2024, and fans of both schools are still waiting to reap the promised benefits.

Napier and Cristobal’s jobs have been harder than they imagined, and consequences loom. The loser of Saturday’s game will reportedly be frogmarched to the nearest unemployment office to start filling out forms.

I don’t think things will be that dire, but the apocalyptic feel has me wondering who has it worse?

Whose coaching sneakers would you rather be in, Napier’s or Cristobal’s?

Other than the fact Napier wears Nike and Cristobal goes with Adidas, the coaches and programs have become mirror images. Funhouse mirrors, unfortunately.

Both learned at the foot of Nick Saban, having served on his staff from 2013-2016.

“Certainly have a tremendous amount of respect for him,” Cristobal said of Napier. “Great family man, as well.”

“I love his family,” Napier said of Cristobal. “Just a great human being.”

Both were hired to resuscitate wheezing football giants and were given carte blanche to do it. They’ve combined to go 23-27, so it’s fair to question what their schools are getting for all those millions of dollars.

One thing they’ve gotten is an unwanted piece of furniture: the old hot seat.

Of the roughly 3.4 million Hot Seat lists published this year, Billy and Mario have topped 3.399 million of them. So which one has the better shot at long-term survival?

The answer starts with money.

Cristobal has a 10-year, $80 million contract. His buyout would be about $60 million . Unless Miami recruits a few Texas A&M boosters, it’s not going to write that kind of check.

Florida would owe Napier about $25 million if it fired him today, which it has no plans to.

Cristobal is also a Miami native and a four-year letterman from the U’s glory days. Family ties buy you time and sympathy.

Then there’s the small matter of competition. For that, we turn to what Bobby Bowden said about FSU deciding to join the ACC.

“It would have been hard wading through that SEC,” he said. “Too many good teams in there, boy.”

That was 33 years ago, and not much has changed. Miami’s final five games are against FSU, Duke, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Syracuse.

Florida’s final five are Georgia, Texas, LSU, Ole Miss and FSU. Please have a cigarette and a blindfold ready.

The Gators would do no worse than 8-4 with Miami’s schedule. As it is, FanDuel puts their over-under at 4.5 wins.

Napier knew what he was getting into that November day three years ago. For all the competition in the SEC, membership does have its privileges.

It starts with the $150 million revenue gap between it and the ACC, a figure that’s only going to expand.

Miami’s a top-notch place to get a diploma, for what that’s worth in today’s NIL/transfer portal world. But a relatively small private institution can’t match the influence and power that emanates from the state’s flagship university.

And where would you rather coach? At an NFL stadium 20 miles north of Coral Gables where you’re thrilled to draw 60,000 fans?

Or at a 90,000-seat stadium on campus where 60,000 fans showing up would be considered an embarrassment?

So who’s coaching sneakers would you rather be in?

The short-term answer is whoever wins Saturday.

Long-term, Cristobal has the easier job.

Napier has the better job.

He just has to prove he's up to it. This weekend would be a good place to start.

David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on X @DavidEWhitley

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Cristobal has it easier, but not better than Napier in their parallel football worlds