Bianchi: Jon Sumrall’s Gators have gone from playoff dreams to Billy Napier nightmares

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Somewhere in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Billy Napier must be laughing so hard that he just pulled a hamstring.

Not because Florida Gators fans want him back. Trust me, they don’t. Gator Nation would sooner bring back dial-up Internet than bring back Napier, whose disastrous tenure in Gainesville was about as enjoyable as a four-hour timeshare presentation,

But you can almost picture Napier sitting in his office at James Madison, looking at his team’s perfect 6-0 record, watching highlights of Florida getting embarrassed by South Carolina on Saturday and allowing himself a little  chuckle.

Not quite as easy as it looked, is it, Jon?

After all, Napier is undefeated at James Madison, with a more realistic path to the College Football Playoff than new UF coach Jon Sumrall’s Gators, who have gone from college football playoff dreams to recurring nightmares of South Carolina and Missouri running through their defense like a Black Friday mob through the doors at Walmart.

Three weekends ago, Florida football was back from the dead. Two beatdowns later, it’s back in the ditch.

Wasn’t it just 2 ½ weeks ago that Jon Sumrall was being hailed as the second coming of Steve Spurrier? Wasn’t it just two weeks ago that the Gators were 4-0, ranked No. 8 in America and celebrating a 52-28 demolition of Ole Miss as if the national championship trophy had already been shipped to Gainesville?

Gator Nation was euphoric. The Swamp was rocking. The offense was rolling. The sleeping giant had awakened.

And Sumrall? He was a miracle worker. A football messiah. A coaching magician who had somehow accomplished in four games what his predecessors couldn’t accomplish in four years.

Turns out, he hadn’t fixed Florida football. He’d just made us forget for a few weeks how difficult fixing Florida football really is.

Missouri provided the first reminder, pounding the Gators 45-17. South Carolina delivered the second Saturday, marching into the Swamp as a 10½-point underdog and administering a 38-19 homecoming humiliation.

If you’re scoring at home, that’s two losses to two underdogs by a combined score of 83-36.

From 4-0 to 4-2. From No. 8 in the nation to nowhere near the national championship conversation. From the next Steve Spurrier to the next guy trying to figure out how to survive the SEC.

And somewhere, Napier must be thinking: See? That place can humble anybody.

Of course, Napier helped create the mess Sumrall inherited, so let’s not confuse his newfound success at James Madison with vindication for his Florida failures. Napier can chuckle if he wants, but let’s remember he’s the guy who helped dig the hole Sumrall is now trying to climb out of.

Still, there is an obvious irony in watching the coach who couldn’t win at Florida suddenly go undefeated somewhere else while the coach who seemingly couldn’t lose at Florida suddenly can’t win.

Look, this isn’t to suggest Sumrall has suddenly forgotten how to coach. He didn’t become a genius after four victories, and he hasn’t become an idiot after two defeats. But perhaps we should have waited a little longer before fitting him for a statue outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

And, yes, I’m including myself in that group.

After Florida annihilated Ole Miss, I wrote a column welcoming the mighty Gators back to college football’s elite. I practically threw rose petals at Sumrall’s feet. I praised his offensive coordinator, Buster Faulkner, and suggested the Gators were finally playing football the way Florida football was meant to be played.

I even wrote that Sumrall had pumped more electricity into the program in four games than the previous four head coaches could generate with jumper cables and a lightning bolt.

Apparently, somebody forgot to pay the electric bill. The lights have gone out.

The offense that scored 52 points against Ole Miss has managed just 36 in the last two games combined. Two weeks ago, running back Jadan Baugh was striking Heisman poses. Now he should be posing for a missing-person poster on the side of a milk carton.

Meanwhile, Florida’s defense couldn’t stop a Roomba with a dead battery. South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers threw four touchdown passes Saturday against a Florida defense that seemed to be hearkening back to the days of COVID and practicing social distancing.

The Gamecocks arrived in Gainesville on an eight-game SEC losing streak, then marched into Florida’s house, wiped their muddy boots on the Persian rug, put out their cigars in the mashed potatoes, drank all the expensive bourbon, stole the silverware and did donuts on the front lawn before speeding away with the Gators’ dignity in the trunk.

Suddenly, the same Swamp that was rocking with championship dreams against Ole Miss was half-empty and even booing against South Carolina.

Here’s the thing, though: Sumrall actually tried to warn us.

Even after the Ole Miss masterpiece, he cautioned that the Gators weren’t a finished product. That there were weaknesses to correct. That one spectacular September victory didn’t mean Florida had suddenly conquered the SEC.

We didn’t want to hear it. We were too busy anointing him the savior. And now we’re learning what Sumrall knew all along: A football program that has spent years cycling through coaches doesn’t get rebuilt in four Saturdays.

There are still holes in the roster, deficiencies on the offensive line and defensive problems that don’t disappear just because the head coach gives a fiery speech. And still a brutal SEC schedule that couldn’t care less about your feel-good comeback story.

Next up? Texas and Georgia.

Gulp.

If Missouri and South Carolina were reality checks, the next two games could be foreclosure notices.

But here’s where perspective matters. Sumrall didn’t inherit a championship program. He inherited a 4-8 team, a frustrated fan base and a football culture desperate for something — anything — to believe in.

Those first four victories weren’t meaningless. The Ole Miss beatdown wasn’t an illusion. The excitement wasn’t manufactured. It was real; it just wasn’t proof that the rebuilding job was finished.

Maybe Sumrall will eventually become the coach who restores Florida to national prominence. Maybe the Ole Miss victory was a glimpse of the future rather than a misleading flashy fluke of September brilliance.

But right now, the Gators are learning a painful lesson: There’s a difference between waking a sleeping giant and teaching it how to fight.

Two weeks ago, I wrote that Florida had stopped sending postcards from its journey back to greatness and finally arrived. Turns out, the Gators hadn’t arrived. They’d just stopped at a rest area.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Harrisonburg, undefeated Billy Napier is probably wearing a devilish grin.

The football gods don’t just have a sense of humor.

They have a sadistic streak longer than a CVS receipt.

Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on social media @BianchiWrites and listen to my radio show “Game On” every weekday from 3 to 6 p.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen.

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