Florida's head coach on another sports media hot seat ahead of 2024

It is starting to sound like a broken record, but with the start of the 2024 college football campaign on the threshold, the sports media simply cannot stop talking about the Florida Gators’ upcoming schedule and Billy Napier‘s head coach hot seat.

Senior writer Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports was among the latest to opine on the third-year skipper’s job security, with Napier headlining his “hot” tier. With UF on the hook for $25-27 million of his salary, so tough decisions might be on the horizon for the once-storied program.

“Gone are the days where a coach automatically gets a fourth season. Napier, known as a patient program builder, feels like he’s got the Gators pointed in the right direction,” Dellenger begins. “But it might not matter. He’s entering the third season of a seven-year contract paying him about $7 million in salary.”

A major point is based on the cost-benefit analysis of whether to cut bait with the current HC and his staff or to ride out the storm. But what Florida is looking at is the collegiate gridiron equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane.

“While his buyout is high, Florida’s fan base is restless enough that Napier needs a strong showing to calm the natives (eight wins? Nine perhaps?). The schedule is a miserable slate of top-25 teams, with a final onslaught of Georgia in Jacksonville, at Texas, vs. LSU, vs. Ole Miss and at Florida State. Whew.”

Napier’s outlook in Gainesville

“Napier’s situation in Gainesville was made more interesting with the resignation last month of the school’s president, Ben Sasse,” Dellenger continues.

“How does that impact Napier’s future and that of athletic director Scott Stricklin, the man who hired Napier? Kent Fuchs returns to campus as the interim president. He originally hired Stricklin in 2016.”

Others who have Napier on hot seat

Dellenger is far from alone when it comes to the high-temperature prognostications for the Gators head coach. USA TODAY Sports writer Scooby Axson published his 10 college football coaches with the hottest hot seat entering this season and had Napier as his headliner.

The Athletic’s college football columnist Stewart Mandel recently published his predictions for the upcoming campaign, foreseeing a 6-6 finish during the regular season but a hot seat under Napier nonetheless.

Meanwhile, 247Sports also has him on their hot seat, but expect him to survive and coach for at least another season in Gainesville.

Florida’s season opener for 2024

The Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes square off on Aug. 31 in Gainesville, Florida, to open their schedule for the 2024 season. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ABC Sports.

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