Billy Napier apologizes for his controversial "rural Central Florida" comments: "A terrible choice of words"

Florida Gators coach Billy Napier is perhaps the most under-pressure college football coach in the country. He saw his Gators side fall to a 41-17 loss to the Miami Hurricanes during week one action.

Napier made some comments about "fans seated in basements in rural Central Florida" that caused controversy among Florida fans and caused him to become an object of derision among college football fans.

During his news conference on Wednesday evening, Napier backtracked on the comments and apologized.

"Terrible choice of words," Billy Napier said. "Obviously didn't explain myself the way I should have there. I think the question about how we help our players and our staff manage adversity and noise on the outside, particularly social media. I want to make it very clear, that was not my intention there. It was no reference to our fans. I was talking about life in general. Our young people life in an era where social media is a part of our lives.

"I was in no way referencing fans. I would never do that or be critical of our fans. It had nothing to do with that."

Billy Napier blasted for comments by ESPN analyst

Billy Napier is getting all the pile on that comes with losing at home in a blowout in the season's opener. It is his third year, and the excuses have run out with the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, aka the Swamp, emptying during the third quarter against the Miami Hurricanes and both fans and analysts turning on the Gators coach.

During his "Greeny" radio show, ESPN analyst Mike Greenberg blasted Billy Napier for his "Rural Central Florida" comments.

“You take shots at your own fans? Let’s cover the obvious first; he doesn’t even know the territory that he represents,” Greenberg said. “You cannot have a basement in Florida. That’s the first part of this, OK? The old, ‘Sitting in his mother’s basement,’ which is the most tired of cliches, generalizations, etc., in sports or beyond, doesn’t apply in Florida.

"There’s too much water; it’s a swamp. Your stadium is literally called ‘The Swamp,’ and you cannot put basements underneath them. So, this does not apply either literally or figuratively."

The Florida Gators have the hardest schedule in college football in 2024 and the outlook for Billy Napier going forward does not look rosy.