Two analysts offer differing views on Billy Napier hot seat talk

ESPN commentator Paul Finebaum and ABC/ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy don't agree as to whether Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier will be in Gainesville, Fla., after the 2025 season.

Finebaum, speaking Wednesday on "The Rich Eisen Show," said in part, "If you’re doing the math on where Billy Napier will be next year, it probably won’t be at Florida."

McElroy, however, said via his "Always College Football Podcast" that it's way too early in the current campaign to start talking about Napier being let go. "We need to cool it with the hot seat hot takes in Week 2," he said.

Last Saturday, South Florida stunned No. 13 Florida on the road, 18-16. That helped fuel hot seat talk regarding Napier, who is now 20-20 overall with the Gators in his fourth season as the team's head coach.

On November 9 of 2024, No. 5 Texas blasted Florida, 49-17, dropping the Gators to 4-5. However, Napier and his team rattled off four straight victories to end the 2024 season at 8-5 overall.

That winning streak included home triumphs over No. 22 LSU and No. 9 Ole Miss. Did it save Napier's job? Perhaps. But either way, optimism was plentiful heading into 2025, as Florida resided at No. 15 in the preseason Associated Press top-25 poll.

Losing on its own turf to an in-state rival wasn't a good look for Napier, but to be fair, South Florida is 2-0, ranked No. 18 in the AP top-25 poll and has wins over then-No. 25 Boise State at home and then-No. 13 Florida on the road.

Finebaum contends that while it's early in 2025, South Florida was likely one of Florida's weaker opponents this season. As such, he doesn't envision the Gators winning a lot of games, and that's why he thinks Napier will be gone.

McElroy agrees that Florida has a brutal upcoming schedule. He says Napier deserves "some intense scrutiny," but the analyst also isn't ready to prognosticate that Napier's time in Gainesville will be over after this season.

Both commentators make fair points. The Gators' next four contests are daunting. Florida is at No. 3 LSU, followed by No. 5 Miami on the road, No. 7 Texas at home and then at No. 16 Texas A&M.

The Gators will face four other foes currently ranked later on in the 2025 season: No. 6 Georgia, No. 17 Ole Miss, No. 15 Tennessee and No. 10 Florida State.

That's brutal. Then again, not all those teams might be ranked when Florida battles them. The Gators could make a huge statement by upsetting No. 3 LSU this Saturday night in Week 3. If Florida isn't able to knock off a few highly ranked opponents, the Billy Napier hot seat talk will only intensify.