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Billy Napier fires back at fan criticism following Florida’s blowout loss to Miami

Sean Labar

By Sean Labar

Published:

Billy Napier and the Florida Gators needed a Week 1 victory — or at the very least a closely contested loss — as bad as any team in all of college football to open the 2024 season.

Instead, the Gators were pummeled at home, at the Swamp, by their in-state rivals from Miami, 41-17, in a game where Florida was never close to threatening to beat the Hurricanes.

Naturally, Florida die-hard fans took to social media throughout the game — and every hour since the loss — voicing their displeasure with Napier as head coach, with many calling for him to be fired immediately.

On Monday, Napier met with the media. As he was explaining what his team needs to do to get better, he went out of his way to take a shot at fans that have criticized him and the Gators on social media.

“We got to go to work on the football part, we have to become a more consistent team and we have to execute better,” Napier said. “If we can focus on those things and not necessarily on what some guy in his basement in rural Central Florida is saying on social media, then we got a chance to get better.”

It’s important to note that Napier followed up with a comment taking accountability for the team’s poor performance, noting that he and the coaching staff as well as the entire team deserves criticism at times.

“Sometimes we deserve criticism. I have no excuses,” Napier admitted.

The Gators have one of the toughest schedules of any team in the country this season, so if Napier is going to keep his job and right the ship, they better find a way to turn things around quickly.

Sean Labar

Sean Labar is an SEC football contributor for Saturday Down South.

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