Florida AD: Napier didn't meet championship goal

Florida diversion manager Scott Stricklin said Monday helium has 1 extremity erstwhile it comes to hiring the adjacent shot coach: Find idiosyncratic who tin triumph championships.

During a property league successful Gainesville, Fla., Stricklin said his determination to occurrence Billy Napier connected Sunday pursuing a 3-4 commencement to the play was yet due to the fact that "we didn't triumph to the level we needed to."

Napier went 22-23 successful 4 seasons with the Gators, including 12-16 successful SEC play. While Stricklin credited Napier for leaving Florida successful a overmuch amended spot than helium recovered it -- including modernizing the shot programme operation -- helium besides said the 2 had agelong conversations astir whether Napier should springiness up play calling headed into this season.

Napier decided to proceed calling plays, and yet the Gators struggled connected offense, down an injured DJ Lagway and a deficiency of consistency crossed the board. Florida ranks No. 90 successful the state successful full offense, averaging 363 yards per game.

"I shared with him I thought his spot whitethorn beryllium successful starring the programme and overseeing the bigger picture, but my doctrine is you prosecute caput coaches, you springiness them the authorization to marque decisions connected however they privation to tally their program," Stricklin said. "And past you clasp them accountable and that's astir apt a large portion of the crushed wherefore we're present today."

Napier had been nether occurrence implicit the past 2 seasons arsenic Florida struggled to triumph consistently. Stricklin decided past twelvemonth to instrumentality with Napier, and the Gators finished the twelvemonth with 4 consecutive wins. But that momentum did not transportation into this season, and the concern grew untenable arsenic the losses mounted.

Florida owes Napier astir $21 million, a outgo Stricklin said was not "insignificant."

"We person tremendous resources, but it's not unlimited truthful we'll person to negociate that," Stricklin said. "The resources are not going to beryllium a crushed wherefore we don't marque the close determination going guardant here."

Stricklin said helium volition determine the adjacent caput coach, with feedback from a hunt form, the committee of trustees and assemblage president. This is the 3rd clip Stricklin volition prosecute a shot manager astatine Florida -- helium initially hired Dan Mullen successful 2018. Stricklin fired Mullen successful 2021 and hired Napier.

When asked what Florida is looking for successful its adjacent caput coach, Stricklin said, "We privation radical who tin triumph championships astatine the University of Florida. That's going to beryllium our goal. We privation idiosyncratic who tin travel successful present and beryllium a beardown person and triumph championships."

Stricklin noted the occurrence Florida has had astatine winning championships successful shot and men's hoops and said, "I don't deliberation we've ever been arsenic invested arsenic we are close now. There's ne'er been a clip that arsenic galore fiscal resources and arsenic overmuch committedness has gone into making Gator shot arsenic bully arsenic it tin be. There's truthful galore things that are successful spot for this programme to beryllium palmy astatine the highest level. We're present to triumph championships, and I deliberation we person a truly unsocial accidental for idiosyncratic to locomotion into."

Florida named receivers manager Billy Gonzales the interim manager for the last 5 games of the season. After an unfastened date, Florida volition play rival Georgia successful Jacksonville connected Nov. 1. Gonzales said quarterbacks manager Ryan O'Hara volition telephone plays.

Lagway, whom Napier signed successful December 2023 to assistance displacement the fortunes of the program, was asked Monday whether helium was committed to Florida for the semipermanent present that the manager who brought him to the Gators is nary longer there.

"I'm a Florida Gator," Lagway said. "My biggest absorption close present is these 5 games and proceed to amended my trade and proceed to make arsenic a player."