Former Florida GM Makes Odd Statement on Billy Napier's Tenure With Gators
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Former Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier has a unique opportunity in the upcoming season.
After being fired from Florida after a 3-4 start last season, he's replacing Bob Chesney, who led James Madison to the College Football Playoff in 2025. JMU has been bless by having Curt Cignetti build up the program before he left for Indiana, with Chesney taking the Dukes to a new level before accepting the head coaching job at UCLA.
There's no question about how Napier will be regarded for his time at Florida. It was a complete failure, with the Gators going 22-23 overall and 12-16 in SEC play. It was a disappointment from a head coach who went 40-12 at Louisiana before taking the job at UF in 2022.
Former Florida general manager Jason LaFrance, now the associate athletic director for JMU, made an odd comment to Chris Hummer of CBS Sports, arguing that the talent on UF's roster was good enough to compete against any team in the country last season.
He suggested Napier was given enough time to turn things around with the Gators.
"The roster we had in Year 4, which is the most frustrating part, I would have stacked it against anyone in the country," LaFrance said. "In today's climate, you don't have four years to put together a really good team."
Sure, Napier faced adversity when he first came to Gainesville in 2022. But the 2025 squad had seven players selected in the 2026 NFL Draft.
There was enough talent for the Gators to make a run at the CFP. Instead, Florida suffered an upset at home at the hands of USF before losing to LSU, Miami and Texas A&M by Oct. 11. The 29-21 win over then-No. 9 Texas wasn't enough to save Napier.
Napier has admitted that he made serious mistakes at Florida, both will how he delegated duties with recruiting and NIL and how he stubbornly decided to hold on to play calling duties on offense.
While Napier failed at Florida, that doesn't mean his college football coaching career is over. He won't have to rebuild JMU like he attempted to do at Florida, and he could benefit from learning from his mistakes to keep the Dukes in CFP contention.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos