Paul Finebaum envisions a tough year for Billy Napier's Florida Gators

Billy Napier did not have the best start to his third season with the Florida Gators as they began their campaign, winning only four of their first nine games. Florida's troubles worsened when its starting QB Graham Mertz was out because of an injury. This led to the Gators bringing in freshman DJ Lagway to be the signal caller.

However, the Florida Gators managed to regain some of the lost momentum under Lagway. They won their last four games of the season and finished with an 8-5 record and a Gasparilla Bowl victory over Tulane. Despite this turnover, CFB analyst Paul Finebaum is still concerned about Billy Napier's future with the Florida Gators.

On his eponymous show on ESPN, Finebaum was questioned about his thoughts on Napier and his team continuing on this winning momentum heading into the 2025 season.

"I think it's a tricky question," Finebaum said. "Miami plays a crucial role in determining if they do because Florida needs to get off to a pretty quick start. Their schedule, brutal. Just like it was last year, while they came on at the end, they don't want to get in that same situation while piling up a bunch of losses early."

Billy Napier and the Gators have a tough schedule ahead of them. They begin the season at home with a showdown against LIU. However, their third game is against the LSU Tigers at Baton Rouge. Apart from them, the Gators are also scheduled to face Miami, Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee as well.

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Paul Finebaum does not have high expectations from Billy Napier and the Gators

On the Feb. 10 episode of his show, Paul Finebaum said that he does not expect great things from the Florida Gators in 2025. He had doubts about them being a playoff contender and also highlighted how their standards have dropped over the years.

"I don't know how in the world they are going to make the playoff," Finebaum said. "As far as what Florida will do, it's pretty obvious that Scott Stricklin has been Billy Napier's No.1 caretaker. You got away with it this year, but I don't know what the expectations are."

"I know in the past, it used to be a national championship or bust for the Gators. Now it seems like the expectations have dumbed down where losing four or five games are OK."

The Florida Gators have not won a national championship since 2008. However, Napier and his team proved that they still have the talent to beat tough teams during the second half of the 2024 season. It will be interesting to see if they can find that same motivation next year to be an underdog competitor for the playoffs.