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Billy Napier hot seat chatter motivated Florida players, Shemar James says

Andrew Olson

By Andrew Olson

Published:

Billy Napier faced hot seat chatter before Year 3 of his Florida tenure even began. When the Gators stumbled to a 1-2 start with blowout losses at home to Miami and Texas A&M, many figured Napier’s dismissal has become a when-not-if matter.

Some fans figured Florida was waiting for the first week bye week to make a coaching change, but Napier ended up surviving both bye weeks. With a 4-4 record coming out of the Georgia game, Napier was announced as returning for 2025.

Florida AD Scott Stricklin cited the Gators’ effort in his statement announcing Napier’s return for 2025. Many national media members also pointed to Florida continuing to play hard despite the season struggles as a reason for keeping the coach.

UF linebacker Shemar James recently told Chris Doering of SEC Radio that the chatter surrounding Napier motivated Gator players to play for their coach and help him keep his job.

“We love Coach Napier,” James told SiriusXM. “We love the job that he’s doing here and we ultimately believe in him. I’d be lying if I said we (weren’t) seeing the tweets and the blogs and all the rumors. I’d say that just wanting Coach Napier to be here, just playing hard for a coach that you can stand behind, that’s kind of why we play so hard, just wanting to keep Coach Napier.”

James, one of Napier’s first commitments after being hired in 2021, played a big part in helping deliver one of the signature wins of the coach’s sub-.500 tenure (16-19). The junior linebacker led the Gator defense in tackles (11), sacks (2) and pass breakups (2) in the 27-16 win over LSU to get Florida to 5-5 on the season.

James and the Gators face another tough task with No. 9 Ole Miss visiting The Swamp on Saturday. Kickoff is set for noon, with the game airing on ABC.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.

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