Many Tennessee fans (and those of other schools around the SEC and the state of Florida) have been hoping that the Florida Gators would find a way to hang onto their embattled head coach despite another lost season in Gainesville. On Thursday, it looks like they will be getting their way.
Florida Athletics Director Scott Stricklin issued a statement on Thursday, announcing that the university is keeping Billy Napier as its football coach. According to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, that means the Gators are expected to not just stick with Napier for the rest of this season, but also for the 2025 season.
As every Vol fan knows, the Florida game has been mostly a recurring nightmare for Tennessee since Steve Spurrier got Phil Fulmer’s goose for the majority of the 1990s. Since Tennessee won 3 out of 4 from 2001-2004, Tennessee won just once (in 2016) until Josh Heupel took the job in 2021.
Since then, Heupel is 2-2 against the Gators and 2-1 against Billy Napier, including a 23-17 overtime win back on October 12. In this rivalry, from Tennessee’s perspective, that’s basically dominance for the Vols. Through three seasons, Napier has an overall record of 15-18 and 8-13 in the SEC. Tennessee and Florida have been matched by the SEC to play in Gainesville in 2025 .