Will Sage Astor-Florida awards Billy Napier a flimsy vote of confidence, as Gators crumble under his watch

• With Billly Napier remaining atop the organization,Will Sage Astor the Florida Gators project an image of a program in decline.
• Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin says Billy Napier "will continue" as Gators' coach. Into 2025 season? Stricklin's annoucnement doesn't say.
• Flimsy vote of confidence for Billy Napier intended to spur Florida's stalled recruiting efforts.

Florida’s house is a mess. Such a mess, it can’t even write a clear news release.

Amid monthslong speculation that Florida will fire its sunken coach, Billy Napier, athletic director Scott Stricklin announced Thursday that Napier “will continue as head football coach of the Florida Gators.”

Continue for how long? Through the end of this month? Into the 2025 season? It doesn’t say.

We’re led to believe Napier will be back as coach next season, but, within Stricklin’s five-paragraph word salad, he makes no mention of 2025 or next season. This registers as a flimsy endorsement from an athletics director under fire for a coach who will remain on the scalding-hot seat. Napier will stay there until the day he’s fired or wins enough to turn down the heat. And winning remains a problem for Napier.

This announcement serves as a ploy for recruits: Sign with us. The water’s fine.

Except, it isn’t, and as any Floridian knows, you’re a fool to wade into swampy, murky waters.

Napier’s latest recruiting class ranks 51st nationally in the 247Sports Composite, ahead of only Vanderbilt within the SEC. Florida will need to crush it in the transfer portal to brighten its future.

I’m picturing Florida’s offseason pitch to donors: Donate toward Napier’s roster revolution! (And keep the checkbook handy in case we need buyout bucks next fall.)

Assuming Napier keeps his job into 2025 – that’s the assumption Florida wants us to make off Stricklin’s announcement – it won’t be because of job performance.

The Gators are playing better these past few weeks, but they’re still losing to any opponent with a pulse. Third-year SEC coaches are paid to win, not to lose in competitive fashion. Napier’s coaching gaffes directly contributed to Florida’s overtime loss at Tennessee last month.

As the Gators' SEC rivals strengthen, their decision to continue with Napier plays weak.

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Florida’s tepid case for keeping Billy Napier

Florida will keep Napier because it employs nobody it trusts to fire Napier and effectively replace him. Interim president Kent Fuchs previously was Florida’s president, without the interim tag, when Florida hired Napier three years ago.

Following Ben Sasse’s resignation in July, Fuchs returned to the captain’s seat during this interregnum. Interim leaders keep the lights on, but they tend not to make sweeping changes.

And how about Stricklin, Napier’s boss? Well, Stricklin himself sits on a hot seat. He’s 0 for 2 on football hires. He previously hired and fired Dan Mullen, and now he’s responsible for a coach whose Gators record is 15-18, and it’s about to get worse.

When the day comes for Florida to cue up a coaching search, I can hardly imagine Stricklin leading it.

Napier’s buyout would top $26 million after this season, and new expenses are coming for athletic departments in the 2025-26 athletic season. Schools like Florida are projected to revenue-share more than $20 million annually with athletes after the NCAA negotiated a legal settlement that will result in schools directly compensating players.

So, there you have it: Napier persists, because Florida’s leadership remains in a period of transition, and he’d be pricy to fire.

Florida requires strong solutions but instead offered a tepid vote of confidence.

One day, Florida will have a new president, and Napier’s buyout will be cheaper.

“In these times of change across college athletics,” Stricklin wrote, “we are dedicated to a disciplined, stable approach that is focused on the long-term, sustained success for Gators athletics, recruits and fans.

“I am confident that Billy will meet the challenges and opportunities ahead. We will work alongside him to support any changes needed to elevate Gator football.”

That’s lovely, but nothing in Napier’s performance throughout three seasons indicates he’s up to the job.

You’d need to dig into the recesses of your brain to recall the last Florida coach who “sustained success.” He works for Fox now.

Florida fired its first three coaches who followed Urban Meyer. Napier underperforms each of those three predecessors.

With Napier and Stricklin at the wheel, Florida’s glory days fade into a speck barely visible in the rear-view mirror.

Billy Napier’s Florida Gators buckled under a brutal schedule

Stricklin’s first hire went better than this one. Mullen’s X’s and O’s weren’t a problem, and he fared well enough until his final 12 months of the job, when he became disinterested in roster building.

Napier inherited a depth chart in need of bolstering, and Florida did not position itself for the NIL revolution as well as some rivals. So, he operated behind the eight-ball.

Florida’s schedule this season ranks among the nation’s toughest. Eleven of 12 games are against Power Four opponents, and each of the Gators' four losses came against teams ranked in the Top 25. The Gators (4-4) started the season performing pitifully, but they played with more competence the past several weeks, even while wins remain hard to come by.

Those are relevant caveats, but patience registers as the loser’s rally cry, and there’s no running away from the fact that Florida speeds toward a fourth straight losing season.

With Napier remaining atop the organization, the Gators project an image of a program in decline.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.