Florida is off to a rough start in 2023, and the dismal performance at Utah in the Gators’ season-opening loss has put them in USA Today’s “Misery Index.”

Dan Wolken wrote that the loss was alarming in many ways, but especially on 3rd down where Florida was 1-for-13, and never close.

“In college football, you generally know what you have in a coach by Year 2,” Wolken wrote. “There are exceptions, but the second year is when the culture should start to take hold and the improvement should be noticeable.”

The buyout number, $31.9 million, is now a topic of conversation because the season opener was so “unimpressive,” Wolken wrote. However, he wrote, “At some point, though, is it the coach or is it the school? Will Muschamp didn’t work. Jim McElwain didn’t work. Dan Mullen didn’t work. And now there are questions whether Napier is going to work.”

All of those hires, who followed Urban Meyer, suggest to Wolken that, “It’s not an easy place to win.”

Florida returns to action this week against McNeese, but fans and media have already brought up the home game against Tennessee on Sept. 16, as another heat check game that could start all of these Napier conversations over again.