Billy Napier didn’t have the best relationship with Florida fans during his time in Gainesville. At various points before his eventual firing, the home crowd booed the head coach. After his exit, he didn’t even issue a formal “thank you” or farewell message to the Gators’ fanbase, which many viewed as a deliberate snub. Now at James Madison, Napier isn’t hesitating to throw in some subtle digs at the Gators.
“Third time being a head coach. I think typically, when you get one of these jobs, it’s broken. There [are] a lots of things to fix. You got long lists of problems that you got to solve,” said Napier during an appearance on Richmond ESPN Radio. “And I think here we’re kind of starting on second base a little bit. We’re benefiting from the last 20 years; there have been 18 Championships won here in football, and there’s been a lot of great coaches rolled through here. So we inherited a winning culture.”
“I’m very impressed with the administration at JMU. There’s complete alignment top to bottom. There’s a total commitment to winning. They’re very forward-thinking. They’re out in front of the issues, and they’re anticipating and they’re moving with intent. You know, I think they’ve been very calculated.”…