Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Here's CBS Sports' letter grade for Billy Napier's debut season

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It was a tough year for Florida football in 2022 after transitioning from the Dan Mullen to the Billy Napier era. Unfortunately, the changing of the guard resulted in the same outcome as the Gators finished 6-7 for the second straight year after another late-season collapse doomed the program to another losing season.

It is a bit unfair to grade Napier and Co. solely on last fall’s results — especially given that a great deal of the player personnel were holdovers from Mullen. However, wins and losses are the easiest metric to judge a team by and those numbers simply were not friendly for Florida.

CBS Sports writer Shehan Jeyarajah undertook the task of grading all 29 of the first-year head coaches, including Napier who received a final grade of C-minus. Here is what Jeyarajah had to offer on the Orange and Blue.

Napier’s Gators shocked Utah in Week 1… and things went downhill from there. Florida showed flashes — like a four-score win against South Carolina and competitive matchups with Florida State and LSU — but ultimately finished with a losing record.

While C-minus is just below a passing grade, it is better than the D-plus assigned by some publications such as USA TODAY Sports. Still, there is a ton of headroom for improvement, and both the fans and media will be looking for a great deal of progress when the Gators kick off next season against the Utah Utes.

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By: Adam Dubbin
Title: Here's CBS Sports' letter grade for Billy Napier's debut season
Sourced From: gatorswire.usatoday.com/2023/01/14/florida-football-billy-napier-cbs-sports-final-grade/
Published Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2023 15:29:02 +0000

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