Florida legends calls out Billy Napier’s staff after loss

On the surface and considering the College Football Playoff’s new 12-team format, it’s just one loss for the Florida Gators. A one-loss team should certainly be able to make the CFP.

The problem for head coach Billy Napier and his staff was that the loss was a tough one. It was a drubbing at the hands of in-state rival Miami, which entered the game ranked No. 19 and came away with a 41-17 win.

Napier’s Gators are also staring at a remaining schedule that features games against Texas A&M, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State.

The point is, wins are going to be hard to come by if the Gators don’t quickly turn things around, and one Florida legend, Steve Spurrier, thinks it’s on the coaching staff to light the fire.

“We need one of our coaches get mad,” Spurrier said on the “Another Dooley Noted Podcast” (h/t On3’s Kaiden Smith). “I don’t know if any of them are capable, but I’d love to see one of them on the sideline throw his sheet down, or his headset, or do something. Somebody, somebody get mad.”

Napier would be wise to take Spurrier’s advice and show some fire, because he may not have much tread left on the tires in Gainesville. He went 11-14 over his first two seasons and Florida’s lack of progress under his tenure was effectively highlighted in the beatdown by ranked Miami. The Hurricanes head coach, Mario Cristobal, took over in Miami at the same time Napier started at Florida.

Cristobal’s record at Miami is 13-13. Napier is 11-15.

Meanwhile, the former coach calling him out, Spurrier, is an absolute legend at Florida. He went 122-27-1 in 12 seasons as head coach of the Gators. Years before that stint, Spurrier was a star on the field for the Gators. As a quarterback, he was the 1966 Heisman Trophy winner.