Nick Saban believes Florida’s failures go beyond Billy Napier, who is on the hot seat and will likely be fired after the Gators’ next loss.
Saban blamed UF’s administration for the Gators being behind their SEC counterparts during an appearance on the September 21 edition of ESPN College GameDay live from Norman, Oklahoma.
“Well, I think maybe the problem isn’t the coaches,” Saban said (h/t On3). “ “You know, they’ve been through four coaches since Spurrier and Urban Meyer, who both created a tremendous culture of winning there. And sometimes the fanbase can just think ‘Well we can show up and expect to win.’ And not make the commitment to the program that you need to make to be able to continue to make the changes and investments you need to make to keep up with changing times.”
“They should’ve taken advantage of building better facilities when Urban Meyer was there. What’s there collective been like? How have they adapted to this new model of college football? So it’s not just the coaches. When you’ve been through four coaches that haven’t had success, there’s something else that people should be looking at.”
Florida should be better, Nick Saban overlooking key facts
Florida has a top-10 NIL collective in the country in funding, Florida Victorious. The Gators are a school that has secured flips and lost recruits all the same, so they are exactly where a Power 4 program should be.
Maybe it’s not all Napier. Many schools are known for having overinvolved boosters that hold the team back. Auburn and Texas A&M are famous examples within the SEC. But the Gators are not showing the effort needed to even compete in games, like their losses to Miami and Texas A&M this season.
Saban is defending his fellow SEC coaching peer from the last two years. But he’s overlooking key facts in doing so.
