Appetizer: Gators gotta have it
Florida's roller coaster of a season might have bottomed out. The Gators have lost three straight, allowing at least 39 points in all three contests, and sit at 5-5 with the possibility of a third straight sub-.500 record staring them straight in the face. That simply can't happen to second-year coach Billy Napier. This is a program that used to be a national title contender every year. Now it's an irrelevant has-been that routinely gets run over even by mediocre opponents.
It's firing season in the SEC;
Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher and
Mississippi State Zach Arnett have already received their pink slips. Napier was asked about the kind of pressure that led to those two dismissals on Monday.
"It comes with the territory,"
he said. "We all have a job to do, and ultimately I think you view it as a challenge, you view it as an opportunity. Look, these are well-thought-out decisions. You don't just flip a coin to decide to be the head coach of the Florida Gators. For me, you go into it with a strategy and a plan. You adapt. You evolve. You adjust. And we're in the middle of our process, right? It's been happening a long time that way."
He's right. It does come with the territory. However, the Gators are 11.5-point underdogs at Missouri on Saturday night and will likely be massive underdogs again next week against rival Florida State. If Napier can't give the administration something to be excited about in one of the next two matchups, he could find himself next in line behind Fisher and Arnett either this winter or early next fall.
Smothered and Covered takes a look around the SEC's biggest storylines and games in Week 12
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