After blowout loss to Texas A&M, Billy Napier’s time at Florida is running out
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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream” played in the background Saturday night at a long since emptied and rain-soaked Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
But as embattled Florida coach Billy Napier walked toward the locker room following yet another listless double-digit loss at home, this one a 33-20 beating by a Texas A&M team playing a backup freshman quarterback, even Petty couldn’t drown out the boos. Napier briefly shook hands with interim university president Kent Fuchs, who was waiting under the goalpost, and then Napier disappeared underneath the stands as frustrated fans yelled down what an increasing number of Florida fans, some with high financial stakes in the program, are now saying out loud.
“Fire him!” one woman screamed amid the boos.
In his news conference after the game, Napier took responsibility for how poorly his team (1-2) has played this season and said there are no excuses.
“I don’t blame them …” Napier said of the fans booing. “I mean, ultimately when you play a certain way in this arena, you’re going to be criticized. This is one of those places where there’s history and tradition and expectations. There’s been a lot of really good football teams that played in that stadium in the past. When you play ugly ball and maybe it doesn’t look quite like we all want it to, then, hey, it comes with the territory.
“So I probably would’ve done the same thing, truth be known.”
The other sad truth for Napier is that his already tenuous Florida coaching career is now hanging by a thread. You could see it on his face and the faces of his players and even the face of athletic director Scott Stricklin as he sat quietly in the back of the room during Napier’s news conference.
Napier has worked tirelessly to return Florida to national relevance. He’s created a healthy culture within the locker room, treated people the right way and gone about his business in such a way that it’s impossible not to like the guy.
What he hasn’t done is win enough games or show tangible proof that the program is headed in a championship direction, which is the standard at Florida. Napier is now 6-11 against SEC opponents. The Gators have lost seven straight games to Power 4 opponents, with four of those losses coming at home. A losing season would be his third in a row and the program’s fourth straight. (Napier’s buyout would be roughly $26 million and sources told ESPN that high-ranking boosters have gathered the money to fund it.)
The home woes are particularly frustrating for Florida fans, many of whom didn’t come back following a 47-minute lightning delay at the end of the first quarter. Texas A&M jumped to a 20-0 lead at the half, and by the start of the fourth quarter, the Swamp was less than half full. Napier has now lost six home games in a little more than two seasons. Steve Spurrier, who coined the “Swamp” nickname, was 68-5 at home in his career. Urban Meyer was 35-5.
“I think there’s been a ton of progress made,” Napier said. “I think my frustrations are with how we played two out of the last three weeks. That’s what my frustration is. I think we’ve done a lot of good in terms of behind the walls and just the organization as a whole. I truly believe that, and I think most people that have familiarity withour program would say that.
“So we’re not getting the result on the field right now that we want, but ultimately that’s how you’re judged to some degree in this arena. So it comes with the territory.”
Whether or not the decision-makers at Florida agree is up for serious debate. Stricklin said on the Paul Finebaum Show prior to the opener against Miami, a 41-17 beatdown, that he believes Napier will be Florida’s coach for a “long, long time.”
Stricklin added that Florida had been patient as a university.
“I think that patience will be rewarded,” he said.
Patience in college football can be fickle, especially when a team looks so ill-equipped to compete against the best teams. Keep in mind that Texas A&M had a quarterback making his first career start for a first-year coach in Mike Elko. The Aggies also entered the game having lost nine straight true road games to SEC foes, their last win coming nearly three years ago.
And yet, Texas A&M rushed for 310 yards — something Napier called “disgusting and ultimately my responsibility” — and held Florida to 52 yards on the ground. At one point in the first half, the Aggies had 203 yards in total offense to the Gators’ minus-7. Florida missed tackles on defense and repeatedly struggled to stop Texas A&M on key third downs.
Napier was roundly booed as he exited the field at halftime, and boos also rang out when a video of him doing a public service announcement was shown on the big screen a few minutes earlier.
He’s not naïve and neither are his players. They know how restless the fans are now and most of the attention on the outside will be devoted to how much longer can Napier make it. None of his three predecessors (Dan Mullen, Jim McElwain and Will Muschamp) lasted four full seasons before being fired.
Quarterback Graham Mertz said Napier broke the team down in the locker room and told the players these last two losses were all on him.
“We’re all like, ‘Nah, coach, it’s up to us. We’re not doing our jobs,'” Mertz recounted. “I think it just speaks to the amount of accountability that has grown with us over the year. Everybody knows that we can all do our jobs better. … We’re all in this thing together.”
Mertz, who started and rotated at quarterback with freshman DJ Lagway, added: “There’s no coach I’d rather play for.”
Napier understands the negativity that has engulfed the program outside the locker room and that his precarious future will dominate the airwaves and message boards.
“The No. 1 thing that’s critical for this group is that they stick together, right?” Napier said. “Because ultimately that’s what they’ll have 25 years from now. They’re going to have those relationships with their teammates. It’s critical regardless of how negative it may be and will be outside. … We may not be able to control what people say about us on the outside, but we can control what we do on the inside, the words we speak, the actions that we take, our attitude, our effort, our approach. And that will be the challenge, right? Can we do that and can we improve?”
It’s no secret that Florida’s schedule only gets more daunting. It travels to Mississippi State next week, then gets a bye and faces UCF at home on Oct. 5. Five of the Gators last seven games are against nationally ranked teams, including Tennessee, Georgia, Texas and Ole Miss, all of whom entered Week 3 in the AP top 10.
Will Napier make it to that final stretch? Again, patience in college football is about as abundant as icy cold water in a swamp. And patience in this particular Swamp is all but gone.
Regardless of how it shakes out, Napier said his focus won’t change.
“The biggest challenge in leadership, I think, is trying to put your ego on the shelf a little bit and try to make decisions that reflect that,” Napier said. “Look, for me, all my decisions are about stewarding the people that have been entrusted to — the players, your staff members. That’s probably what I struggle with the most. When we don’t play well, what can I do to help those young people in that locker room? Because I’ve seen them work their tails off since January, and you want the reward for the player.
“That’s what motivates you.”
CHICAGO — Pete Crow-Armstrong hit an RBI single off a shaky Yu Darvish, and the Chicago Cubs shut down Fernando Tatis Jr. and the San Diego Padres for a clinching 3-1 victory in Game 3 of their NL Wild Card Series on Thursday.
Backed by a raucous crowd of 40,895 at Wrigley Field, Chicago used its stellar defense to advance in the postseason for the first time since 2017. Michael Busch hit a solo homer, and Jameson Taillon pitched four shutout innings before manager Craig Counsell used five relievers to close it out.
“This group’s battle-tested,” Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “This group can grind it out. This group never backs down from and shies away from anything. This is such an amazing thing to be a part of.”
After Brad Keller faltered in the ninth — allowing Jackson Merrill‘s leadoff homer and hitting two batters with pitches — Andrew Kittredge earned the save by retiring Jake Cronenworth on a bouncer to third and Freddy Fermin on a fly ball to center field.
Next up for Chicago is a matchup with the NL Central champion Brewers in a compelling division series, beginning with Game 1 on Saturday in Milwaukee.
Counsell managed the Brewers for nine years before he was hired by the Cubs in November 2023, and he has been lustily booed in Milwaukee ever since he departed.
“It’s going to be a great atmosphere,” Counsell said. “It’s Cubs-Brewers. That’s going to be as good as it gets. It’s always a great atmosphere when the two teams play each other.”
It was another painful ending for San Diego after it made the postseason for the fourth time in six years but fell short of a pennant again. The Padres forced a decisive Game 3 with a 3-0 victory on Wednesday, but their biggest stars flopped in the series finale.
“There’s a lot of hurt guys in that clubhouse, but we left it all out on the field, and there’s no regrets on anybody’s part,” manager Mike Shildt said. “Just disappointed.”
Tatis went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, including a fly ball to right that stranded runners on second and third in the fifth. Machado, who hit a two-run homer in Game 2, bounced to shortstop Swanson for the final out of the eighth, leaving a runner at third.
“It’s not fun at all. We definitely missed an opportunity,” Tatis said.
Darvish also struggled against his former team. The Japanese right-hander was pulled after the first four Cubs batters reached in the second inning, capped by the first of Crow-Armstrong’s three hits.
Jeremiah Estrada came in and issued a bases-loaded walk to Swanson, handing the Cubs a 2-0 lead. Estrada limited the damage by striking out Matt Shaw before Busch bounced into an inning-ending double play.
Taillon allowed two hits and struck out four. Caleb Thielbar got two outs before Daniel Palencia wiggled out of a fifth-inning jam while earning his second win of the series. Drew Pomeranz managed the seventh before Keller worked the eighth.
The Cubs supported their bullpen with another solid day in the field. Swanson made a slick play on Luis Arraez‘s leadoff grounder in the sixth, and then turned an inning-ending double play following a walk to Machado.
Crow-Armstrong, who went 0-for-6 with five strikeouts in the first two games, robbed Machado of a hit with a sliding catch in center in the first.
“It’s just the next step for us,” Busch said. “You set out a goal before each and every year to do stuff like this, and you celebrate it, and it’s been fun to celebrate and continue to celebrate it tonight, but there’s a lot of work ahead.”
NEW YORK — Rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler struck out 12 in eight dominant innings and the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 4-0 on Thursday night to win their AL Wild Card Series in a deciding third game.
Taking his place in Yankees-Red Sox rivalry lore, the 24-year-old Schlittler overpowered Boston with 100 mph heat in his 15th major league start and pitched New York into a best-of-five division series against American League East champion Toronto beginning Saturday.
“A star is born tonight. He’s a special kid, man,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He is not afraid. He expects this.”
Amed Rosario and Anthony Volpe each had an RBI single in a four-run fourth as New York became the first team to lose the opener of a best-of-three wild-card series and come back to advance since Major League Baseball expanded the first round in 2022.
“It felt like the most pressure-packed game I’ve ever experienced — World Series, clinching games, whatever,” Boone said.
Schlittler, who debuted in the majors July 9, grew up a Red Sox fan in Walpole, Massachusetts — but has said several times he wanted to play for the Yankees. He had faced Boston only once before, as a freshman at Northeastern in a 2020 spring training exhibition.
Ex-Yankees great Andy Pettitte gave Schlittler one piece of advice Wednesday: Get a good night’s sleep.
“I woke up and I was locked in, so I knew exactly what I needed to do to go out there, especially against my hometown team,” Schlittler said.
He outpitched Connelly Early, a 23-year-old left-hander who debuted Sept. 9 and became Boston’s youngest postseason starting pitcher since 21-year-old Babe Ruth in 1916.
Schlittler struck out two more than any other Yankees pitcher had in his postseason debut, allowing just five singles and walking none. He threw 11 pitches 100 mph or faster — including six in the first inning, one more than all Yankees pitchers had combined for previously since pitch tracking started in 2008.
Schlittler threw 75 of 107 pitches for strikes, starting 22 of 29 batters with strikes and topping out at 100.8 mph. David Bednar worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth as the Red Sox failed to advance a runner past second base.
Bucky Dent threw out the ceremonial first pitch on the 47th anniversary of his go-ahead, three-run homer for New York at Fenway Park in an AL East tiebreaker game, and the Yankees went on to vanquish their longtime rivals the way they often used to.
New York, which arrived packed for a late-night flight to Toronto, won its second straight after losing eight of nine postseason meetings with Boston dating to 2004 and edged ahead 14-13 in postseason games between the teams. The Red Sox cost themselves in the fourth with a defense that committed a big league-high 116 errors during the regular season.
New York’s rally began when Cody Bellinger hit a soft fly into the triangle between center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, right fielder Wilyer Abreu and second baseman Romy González. The ball fell just in front of Rafaela, 234 feet from home plate, as Bellinger hustled into second with a double.
Giancarlo Stanton walked on a full count and with one out Rosario grounded a single into left, just past diving shortstop Trevor Story, to drive in Bellinger with the first run.
Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s single loaded the bases, and Volpe hit a grounder just past González, who had been shifted toward second, and into right for an RBI single and a 2-0 lead.
After a catcher’s interference call on Omar Narváez was overturned on a video review, Austin Wells hit a potential double-play grounder that first baseman Nathaniel Lowe tried to backhand on an in-between hop. The ball glanced off his glove and into shallow right field as two runs scored.
“We didn’t play defense,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “They didn’t hit the ball hard, but they found holes and it happened fast.”
Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon made the defensive play of the game when he caught Jarren Duran‘s eighth-inning foul pop and somersaulted into Boston’s dugout, then emerged smiling and apparently unhurt.
Count Xander Bogaerts among those looking forward to Major League Baseball’s new challenge system for balls and strikes next season.
The San Diego Padres shortstop just wishes it were in place a little earlier.
Bogaerts struck out looking on a pitch that appeared out of the strike zone during the ninth inning of the team’s 3-1 loss to the Cubs in Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series on Thursday in Chicago.
The call came at a critical time.
The Cubs carried a 3-0 lead into the ninth inning, but Jackson Merrill led off with a home run off Brad Keller to cut San Diego’s deficit to 3-1 and bring Bogaerts to the plate. On a 3-2 count, Keller’s 97 mph fastball appeared to miss the zone low, causing Bogaerts to crouch down in disbelief at the call and Padres manager Mike Shildt to race out of the dugout.
Keller then hit Ryan O’Hearn and Bryce Johnson with pitches. Had Bogaerts walked, the Padres could have had the bases loaded with no outs. Instead, Andrew Kittredge came on with two runners on and one out and retired the next two batters, allowing the Cubs to advance to play the Milwaukee Brewers in the next round.
Bogaerts didn’t mince words after the game when asked about the apparent missed call by plate umpire D.J. Reyburn.
“Talk about it now: What do you want me to do?” Bogaerts said, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. “It’s a ball. Messed up the whole game, you know? I mean, can’t go back in time, and talking about it now won’t change anything. So it was bad, and thank God for ABS next year because this is terrible.”
The automated ball-strike system will be implemented in the majors next season after years of testing in the minors as well as during spring training and at this year’s All-Star Game. The MLB competition committee voted last month to give teams two challenges per game using ABS if they believe a call by the plate umpire is wrong.
Thursday’s ending soured a 90-win season for San Diego, which made the playoffs for the fourth time in six seasons. It has not made it past the NL Championship Series during this recent run.
“We had a lot of fun,” Bogaerts said. “We competed with each other. We had guys that got injuries, a lot of guys stepped up. We traded for some really great people at the deadline. … It was fun until today.”
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