After a humiliating 41-17 defeat to the Miami Hurricanes over the weekend, calls for Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier to be replaced have intensified. While the university will likely offer Napier some leniency following an 0-1 start, a wave of social media users are urging the school to make a head-coaching change sooner rather than later.
Amid the criticism of Napier, an old video of former Florida head coach Urban Meyer resurfaced on X Monday afternoon, featuring remarks that suggested Napier might be coaching for his job this season. The video quickly went viral, accumulating hundreds of thousands of views and tens of thousands of shares across various X accounts within hours.
Meyer stated, “No one is obligated to stay on the coaching staff at Florida, if you catch my drift. There are plenty of places that accept mediocrity, but Florida is not one of them. I would always remind myself of this and share it with our team, saying, ‘If this is too much for you, I’ll sign your transfer papers right now, and you can go, including our coaching staff.
As long as you’re here, you are expected to be the best in the country at what you do. If that doesn’t align with your job description, you need to leave, and I’ll help you. That doesn’t make you a bad person, but you need to go because this is what’s expected. If you’re not the very best in the country at what you do, then that would be my message to the Florida Gators.”
This video should be played in front of every coach at the University of Florida! Urban understands what Napier and our current administration never will. RT to let em’ know. pic.twitter.com/OZqBBN8LTm
— OcalaGator (@UF_grad1) September 1, 2024
While Meyer enjoyed a highly successful six-year tenure as the Gators’ head coach, boasting a 36-12 record with two national championships and two SEC titles, those hoping he might advocate for the job will likely be disappointed.
After being dismissed as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021 after just 13 games, Meyer revealed that he experienced depression during his last coaching role and has expressed a preference for his comfortable position as a college football analyst over returning to the sidelines. As for Napier, he is undoubtedly under pressure and cannot afford to accumulate many more losses.
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