Some college football fan bases are already nervous about where their team’s season is heading.
Tensions started boiling over after the first game for one school.
And Florida Gators football coach Billy Napier is reeling after this fight with fans backfired.
Florida coach Bill Napier lashes out after getting whipped at home
The University of Florida Gators football team has struggled to regain its past glory after the team’s former head coach Urban Meyer resigned after the 2010 season.
Florida has gone through Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain, and Dan Mullen as head coaches trying to recreate the success the school found under Steve Spurrier and Meyer.
The Gators’ current head coach Bill Napier arrived with lofty expectations in 2021 after he finished 22-2 during his final two seasons leading the University of Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns.
But the jump from the Sun Belt Conference to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) has not gone as planned.
Napier entered this year on the hot seat after he struggled in his first two seasons leading the Gators.
He was 11-15 over his first two years at Florida with one of the most daunting schedules in recent memory facing him in his third season.
The Gators open their season at home with their instate rivals the University of Miami Hurricanes.
Florida needed a victory in the opening week with a daunting SEC schedule and nonconference matchups with Florida State and the University of Central Florida ahead of them.
Miami came into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and dominated the Gators in a 41-17 victory.
Urban Meyer called the route “painful to watch.”
Florida fans were furious after their team was dominated at home.
Sports talk radio shows, social media, and message boards were filled with fans ready to fire the coach after the game.
Billy Napier lashed out at the Florida fanbase during his postgame press conference.
“We got to go to work on the football part, you know,” Napier said. “And I think we got to get more — we got to become a more consistent team, and we have to execute better. And if we can focus on those things, and not necessarily what some guy in his basement is saying in, you know, rural, Central Florida on social media. Then we got a chance to get better.”
🎥: Florida HC Billy Napier throws an insult at Gator fans during his press conference.
“If we can focus on those things and not what some guy in his basement in rural Central Florida is saying on social media, then we’ve got a chance to get better, right?” pic.twitter.com/V2GSV5y45s
— Geo Milian (@GeoMilian) September 2, 2024
Florida’s instate rival has some fun at Billy Napier’s expense
Napier attacking his own fanbase after a loss is a sign that things are not going well in Gainesville.
The University of Central Florida’s name, image, and likeness (NIL) collective, The Kingdom, decided to have fun at Napier’s expense.
A t-shirt was released with the phrase “Rural Central Florida” on it was released.
We like the rural part of Central Florida🤷 https://t.co/dqD3hNi9sH https://t.co/MXUuDA1vbU pic.twitter.com/xcgnxpXA5x
— The Kingdom NIL (@KingdomNIL) September 3, 2024
The Gators face off against the school on the first Saturday in October.
Things will not get any easier for Napier as summer turns into fall.
Florida still must play Georgia, Texas, LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Kentucky in SEC play before closing out the season with rival Florida State.
Bill Napier could be in for a long season and some more heated postgame press conferences.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
