When Billy Napier tried throwing a dime with Pat McAfee's $1M challenge on the line

Pat McAfee does fun things with coaches during the ESPN College GameDay show, which airs every week throughout the college football season, capturing the best-appearing contest in that respective week.

A similar thing happened in November 2024 when the College GameDay crew was covering the contest between the Florida Gators and the Ole Miss Rebels at the Swamp.

During the live pre-game broadcast, McAfee was having a chat with Gators head coach Billy Napier. The College GameDay host asked Napier an unexpected challenge: hit the crossbar from the 25-yard line, and McAfee would donate $1 million to hurricane relief efforts.

"You're the first person that we've had on this program who has done this conversation with a ball in your hands," McAfee said (2:50 onwards). "Classic football guy — I respect the hell out of that. Are you going to throw that thing around?

"And if you are, if you were to throw that off the crossbar — let's say from the 25-yard line — I'll donate a million dollars to hurricane relief. Let's see what you got."

Napier went on to remove his jacket and got a football in his hand. His chances looked great since he was former quarterback at Furman University. He launched the football toward the goalpost. The ball soared through the air, narrowly missing the crossbar.

Reacting to the gasping reactions from the fans for Napier to do a second try, McAfee said:

"Oh, good shot — good try. Hey Coach, that's enough, okay? That's enough. They're trying to get a second try!"

Lane Kiffin trolls Billy Napier after Gators HC missed the shot

After Billy Napier fell just short of successfully completing the challenge, Lane Kiffin, who was also at the stadium, texted Gameday host Kirk Herbstreit:

"I woulda hit the crossbar."

Before making a name for himself through his coaching stints, Billy Napier was a high school quarterback in Murray County, Georgia. He played college football at Furman University, a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program. He led the Paladins to a Southern Conference championship and a run to the 2001 NCAA Division I-AA national title game.

Meanwhile, Kiffin, who thought he would have done better than Napier, was a backup quarterback at Fresno State under head coach Jeff Tedford. He never became a starter and rather learned X's and O's of the game. After he graduated, he joined Colorado State as a graduate assistant.