JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It was eventually going to break bad. Only a matter of time and circumstance.
Just like all things associated with former coach Billy Napier’s tenure at Florida. The inevitable unraveling was right on cue.
So it should come as no surprise Georgia flexed, and Florida wilted and all that has defined nearly four years of incomprehensible incompetence in Gainesville — on and off the field — unfolded this time with an interim coach running a lost program.
Same scene, different Saturday.
Georgia beat Florida again in this storied rivalry, but the story isn’t Georgia’s come-from-behind 24-20 victory and march to the College Football Playoff. It’s the death spiral of the Florida program.
“Hats off to our players for not giving in,” said Florida interim coach Billy Gonzales.
And he may as well have been DJ Durkin, or Randy Shannon or Greg Knox — former interim coaches at Florida over the previous 15 years who said the exact same thing while picking up the pieces from the guy fired before them.
Only this time, this mistake, is the biggest of all.
Once the elite of the sport, Florida has tumbled all the way to irrelevancy on the tail end of a brutal run of three and half seasons with Napier. The undoing — on and off the field — is as shocking as it is surreal.
There’s a reason ESPN’s College Game Day show planted stakes in Salt Lake City for that riveting Utah-Cincinnati game instead of the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
I mean, Utah and Cincinnati, for the love of Yormark.
The harsh truth is Florida doesn’t move the needle anymore, and has taken one of the sport’s greatest rivalries down with it. Empty seats, dysfunctional teams and for the first time since the 1980s, an interim coach in the marquee game on the schedule.
But the latest Florida stumble and ensuing reboot — the search for a fifth coach since 2011 — is more damaging than any other for a program that not long ago won three national titles in 13 seasons. Because in an ever-changing college football world, those who hesitate lose.
This, everyone, is why what should be done eventually must be done immediately.
Why Napier should’ve been fired during the first half of last year’s disastrous start, and not last week. That could’ve been Lane Kiffin coaching a talented Florida team in the biggest game of the season.
Or Eli Drinkwitz. Or Jeff Brohm. Or, what the heck, at this point, Jon Gruden.
Instead of another interim coach in another difficult spot of trying to hold together a team, all because those in charge make poor decisions. And then double down.
Understand this: Florida will have a much more difficult time hiring Kiffin ― the one coach deep-pocket boosters and a rabid fan base badly want ― to rebuild the program, than it would’ve had last season.
A year ago, Kiffin failed to make the CFP after a late loss at Florida, a game that went a long way in Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin hiring Napier a second time. Because that’s what last year’s decision to keep Napier was.
Instead of firing Napier, whose teams had an indelible track record of operational dysfunction despite being given every possible advantage, Stricklin essentially hired him again for a one-shot season. When Stricklin should’ve taken advantage of Kiffin’s position in 2024.
Kiffin was primed to move after a disappointing finish with a stacked roster, and would’ve been more likely to leave. Now Stricklin must deal with a surging Ole Miss team, and the uncertainty Kiffin will leave what he has built in Oxford for the mess in Gainesville.
What’s worse, that uncertainty in the transfer portal world of free player movement could gut a talented roster. A roster that, despite the 22-24 record since 2022, can compete with most in the country.
There was scant difference in talent between Georgia and Florida this time around, the first time Florida could claim that in more than a decade. Florida has better skill players on offense, and — I can’t believe I’m writing this — a better defensive line.
Give the Florida roster to Georgia coach Kirby Smart and his staff, and there’s a greater chance the Dawgs win their third national title since 2021.
How many of those Florida players will wait to see if Stricklin can land Kiffin, or any other elite coach, before jumping into the transfer portal for more money and/or a chance to get away from a sinking ship?
Florida was playing on guts and guile Saturday, a group of talented players who have been coached poorly for the past three seasons but were finally unshackled for two weeks since the firing. They played loose and fast, and had Georgia on its heels for 50-plus minutes.
They had the ball inside the Georgia 25 with six minutes to play and leading 20-17, and couldn’t close it out. Two poor play calls on 3rd- and 4th-and-short led to a turnover on downs.
Then Georgia did what good teams — smartly-coached good teams — do, responding with a go-ahead touchdown drive and suffocating any hope of one of the biggest upsets in series history. And leaving Florida players stunned and in disbelief while walking off the turf at Everbank Field.
“Whatever the situation, nothing stops,” said Florida defensive end Tyreak Sapp. “No matter if this helicopter crashes, we’re going to be there for each other.”
Because what else is there? It’s the same thing players said after the three previous failed hires (Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain, Dan Mullen), the same thing the previous three interim coaches said, too.
Stay strong. Overcome challenges. Believe in the program.
Want the lasting takeaway from a fifth straight Florida loss in the series? The Gators not only wasted a season with a loaded roster, it wasted an opportunity to have this team coached by Kiffin.
That may be the greatest unraveling of all.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
