Billy Napier explains why the 2025 Florida's Orange and Blue Game wasn't broadcast on television

Billy Napier oversaw the fourth Orange and Blue Game of his tenure at Florida on Saturday. The coach had a lot of threat to his job at the early part of 2024, with results not going the Gators’ way. However, he turned the situation around, leading the team to an 8-5 finish.

Florida had the traditional spring game at the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday. That was unlike many college football programs across the landscape, which altered the format or outrightly canceled the spring game this year. However, the Gators' spring game wasn't televised.

In his postgame press conference, Billy Napier explained why Florida opted against having its spring game broadcast live on television this year. The coach opposed the idea of canceling the game in February and noted why the television cameras weren't present on Saturday.

“Once we didn't necessarily get the call to be one of the prime spots, I think we felt like, hey, what are the advantages and disadvantages? So gives us the freedom to just call everything. We also felt like we'd get better attendance. People want to see the show.

“In general, couldn't have asked for a better day. Then the basketball team wins the National Championship and I think that just was the icing on the cake there from a decision-making standpoint.”

Napier added:

“So, it was a great day, and we're very thankful for the fans that came out and for the basketball team to be recognized at halftime, we couldn't have asked for much better. So in general, we don't have to worry about what's on tape, and obviously people aren't evaluating our twos and threes in the depth chart.”

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Billy Napier confident about roster retention after spring game

The major reason many college football programs decide to cancel, alter the format or refuse to broadcast the spring game was tampering. The timing of the spring transfer portal creates roster problems for coaches, but Billy Napier is confident of retaining his players.

“We've reached agreements with 98% of the team,” Napier said after the spring game. “I think we're just one or two players away from being done. So as far as the player retention part.”

He also pointed out that the Gators might explore the spring transfer portal if the right players become available.

“Now, we'll evaluate what becomes available every day going forward. Maybe there's a situation that can make our team better around, we'll definitely be aggressive if we feel that way.”

Following their resurgence in the second half of last season, there's a lot of expectations on the Gators heading into 2025. Billy Napier will hope that his team can continue from when it stopped last season and return to the pinnacle of college football.