"He’s a born loser!," "This is inexcusable": Florida fans want Billy Napier fired for questionable coaching in shocking 18-16 loss to USF

Billy Napier had his first loss of the season on Saturday night at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium as the Florida Gators suffered an 18-16 defeat against the South Florida Bulls.

The Florida coach seemingly forgot about his team's running game on offense multiple times. His team made careful short screen passes instead of letting quarterback DJ Lagway lob the ball down the field to create scoring chances.

Billy Napier's clock management was also subpar as he didn't utilize his timeouts effectively, resulting in the loss to an unranked team from the American Athletic Conference.

Fans on social media urged the Florida Gators to fire Billy Napier after the team's disappointing loss at home.

The Gators had taken an early lead in the first quarter of the game after a 28-yard field goal by Trey Smack. However, Nico Gramatica scored a field goal to level the playing field for the USF Bulls. Smack and Gramatica scored more goals, with the halftime score of 9-6 in favor of Napier's team.

In the second half, the Bulls picked up their offensive momentum. Quarterback Byrum Brown found Keshaun Singleton with a 66-yard passing touchdown to give his team a 13-9 lead, followed by a team safety.

Gators QB DJ Lagway put up a fighting chance when he found Eugene Wilson with a four-yard passing TD to put his team in the lead by one point (16-15). Gramatica scored a 20-yard field goal before the final whistle to seal the victory for the Bulls.

Former three-time Super Bowl champion calls out Billy Napier's disappointing Florida regime

After the game, former three-time Super Bowl champion Kenjon Barner shared his thoughts on Napier's loss.

He said the Gators have been struggling to find wins under his regime and have constantly struggled on the field.

"One thing you can't do in the game of football is shoot yourself on the foot," Barner said. "And this Florida team does this consistently. Games like this Florida has, its, you're supposed to win, all the games you're supposed to win and some of the games you're not supposed to win."

"Florida loses games that they're supposed to win," he added. "This has been under the Billy Napier regime. It's very unfortunate."

Since taking over in 2020, Billy Napier has a 20-20 overall record with the Gators. Will the program decide to part ways with him and find a new head coach in the coming days?

About the author

Priyam is a College Sports content executive at Sportskeeda with a master's in Advertising and Marketing Management and over two years of experience as a writer. When it comes to reporting, Priyam believes doing a technical deep dive is one of his biggest strengths and he loves to dissect plays on the field and factor out the strengths/weaknesses of players.

A fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Priyam sees Nick Saban as the greatest coach of all time. He is also rooting for Alabama quarterback Jalen Milore after following his progress over the years. The Michigan Wolverines football team is another of his favorite programs and it will be interesting to see how both these teams perform in new coaching eras.

When he’s not reporting, Priyam is usually at the gym or indulging in music. He has been a guitarist and a drummer for the past 17 years and finds his time of peace when playing music.

Know More

Florida Gators Fan? Check out the latest Gators depth chart, schedule, and roster updates all in one place.

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash