Former Gators Blast Napier After Disastrous Loss

Amongst an enraged Gators' Twitter, former Florida players joined in bashing the coaches, namely head coach Billy Napier, sharing their unfiltered opinions after an embarrassing home loss for their former program.

Jacob Copeland, a former top-100 recruit who recorded over 600 yards in his last season at Florida, transferred away from the program after the hiring of Napier at the university. While not unusual for a player to leave during a coaching change, he seemed to imply that the circumstances weren’t so simple.

“People were mad I left,” the former Florida wideout wrote. “I didn’t want to leave. After my talk with him, I knew what it was.”

The opinions on Napier continued to flow in from former players, from disappointment to tell-alls about their times under the Gators coach. Though the loss led many to question his ability to win Florida games, the tweets spread questions about his actions off the field, as well.

“Treated a lot of his players like it too,” former UF tight end Jonathan Odom, who spent two seasons under Napier, responded to Copeland’s original tweet. “Basically in 2023, while playing on half a leg, I got a concussion on this play. After I didn’t clear protocol after 2 weeks they called me in and accused me of faking it. That’s just the start of it.”

Odom continued, claiming Napier told his dad, a member of the Gators hall of fame, that the comments were ‘just a motivation tactic.’ The legacy ended up transferring at the end of that season, seemingly leaving the school where his dad found so much success with bad blood.

Now playing catch up to keep the season alive and, realistically, his job, all backs have seemingly turned on Napier outside of the locker room. Despite an attempt to keep the outside noise outside, the Gators leader knows the chatter is deserved.

“We deserve it. If you play football like that, you're going to be criticized. It comes with the territory, right?” Napier said after the game. “Only thing you can do is go get it fixed, and that's what we'll start working on tomorrow.”

Florida will look to climb back into a season that already appears lost, with Napier hoping to regain the trust of his former players and a fan base passionate about results. Such a climb will need to happen quickly, with a matchup in Death Valley against No. 3 LSU up next for a Gators team unlikely to be ranked after a disastrous Week 2.