Paul Finebaum eviscerates Billy Napier, says he’s ‘back on the hot seat’ after USF loss
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Paul Finebaum said it out loud on The Matt Barrie Show on Sunday in the aftermath of Florida‘s stunning home loss to South Florida on Saturday night.
The ESPN college football analyst firmly believes that Gators head coach Billy Napier is back on the heat seat in Gainesville. Napier had seemingly gotten beyond this point, building up some momentum to end last season with an 8-5 record. After 2 losing seasons in each of his first 2 years at Florida, Napier looked to have Florida on the upswing entering the 2025 season.
After a rout of Long Island University in Week 1, Florida came into its Week 2 in-state showdown with USF ranked 13th in the AP Poll, so Napier seemingly had the Gators ready to enter the Top 10 as SEC play beckoned. Now, nothing is certain, the Gators are suddenly unranked after the 18-16 loss to the Bulls, and Finebaum has the dreaded “hot seat” phrase ready to attach to Napier.
“His goodwill has gone down the drain, he is clearly back on the hot seat, and his worst enemy right now is clearly the schedule,” Finebaum said. “The next four games are at LSU, at Miami, Texas at home and at Texas A&M. Where in the world do you find a win in that group?”
One thing is for certain. Napier is going to have to find some wins among these next 4 games, or else the hot seat that Napier is on right now will feel more like sitting on the sun. Napier is at a crossroads, once again, and Finebaum wasn’t holding back on the day after Napier’s latest catastrophe as Gators head coach.
Kickoff at LSU next week is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
