Who was the last Florida coach to never beat Georgia? Billy Napier made history with 0-3 record
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On Oct. 19, Florida fired coach Billy Napier seven games into his fourth season at the school.
Napier’s tenure with the Gators was plagued by a number of different factors. His teams regularly languished offensively, even with someone as talented as DJ Lagway at quarterback. They struggled with discipline, racking up penalties and glaring mistakes that helped decide games.
In all, it added up to a 22-23 record that made him the first full-time Florida coach to finish with a losing record at the school since the late 1940s.
Among Napier’s most glaring shortcomings? A winless record against arguably his school’s biggest conference rival.
The Gators lost each of their three matchups against Georgia under Napier, with each game decided by at least 14 points. When Florida and Georgia meet on Saturday, Nov. 1 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Gators interim coach Billy Gonzales will have the opportunity to do something his former boss never did — and do so in just his first game at the helm.
Just how rare is that, for a Florida coach to never beat the Bulldogs?
Here’s a closer look at the infamous bit of history Napier made:
Who’s the last Florida coach to never beat Georgia?
Napier’s time in Gainesville coincided with one of the most dominant runs in Georgia football history, with the Bulldogs going 45-5 since the start of the 2022 season.
Still, his teams’ shortcomings against Kirby Smart’s program made him the first Florida coach since Charley Pell to finish his Gators tenure without a win against Georgia.
Pell coached at the school from 1979-84, meaning Napier broke a 40-year run of Florida full-time coaches who beat the Bulldogs at least once.
Interestingly enough, Pell was dismissed three games into the 1984 season, with the move coming shortly after the NCAA brought 107 charges against his program. Two months later, a Gators team playing under interim coach Galen Hall beat No. 8 Georgia 27-0 as part of an eight-game win streak that earned Hall the full-time position and an SEC championship (which was later vacated by the conference).
Florida coach records vs Georgia
Here’s a look at how the past 10 full-time Florida coaches have fared against Georgia:
- Billy Napier: 0-3
- Dan Mullen: 1-3
- Jim McElwain: 2-1
- Will Muschamp: 1-3
- Urban Meyer: 5-1
- Ron Zook: 2-1
- Steve Spurrier: 11-1
- Galen Hall: 2-3
- Charley Pell: 0-5
- Doug Dickey: 3-6
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Who was the last Florida football coach to never beat Georgia?
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