Billy Napier is 20-20 in four seasons coaching Florida.
Napier survived hot seat last season before squandering goodwill with Gators’ loss to South Florida.
Hugh Freeze, then Brent Venables, put up heat shield with big wins.
It’s Billy Napier vs. The Field in the race within the SEC to claim the season’s first buyout check.
Florida’s embattled fourth-year coach coughed up the goodwill he built at the end of last season when the Gators lost, 18-16, at home to South Florida in Week 2. Fans exited The Swamp chanting for Napier’s firing.
On this edition of “SEC Football Unfiltered,” a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams reset the hot seat sweepstakes.
Before the season started, Toppmeyer listed Napier at No. 4 on his SEC hot seat list. He came in at No. 3 on Adams’ list.
Just two games into the season, Napier has surged into the No. 1 spot on the SEC’s hot seat chart.
Who will be fired first in the SEC: Billy Napier, or someone from the field?
Adams: It’s risky business picking Napier to win something, but I’d take Napier to win this competition to be the first SEC coach fired. Florida faces a brutal schedule, with four consecutive ranked opponents on deck. Three of those games will be played on the road. Napier won’t be the last SEC coach fired this season, but he’ll be the first.
Toppmeyer: I, too, would take Napier against the field. While Oklahoma’s Brent Venables, Auburn’s Hugh Freeze and Arkansas’ Sam Pittman put up at least a temporary heat shield with their 2-0 starts, Napier’s Gators fell into a pit of familiar blunders in their loss to the Bulls. Florida’s next two games are on the road against No. 4 LSU and No. 6 Miami, leaving open the possibility that Napier’s already coached his last game at The Swamp.
Later in the episode
∎ Adams agrees with Toppmeyer’s take: Arch Manning doesn’t stink, and he doesn’t appear destined for greatness this season. It might just be that he’s an average to a notch above average quarterback.
∎ Toppmeyer is starting to buy stock in Oklahoma’s playoff possibilities, but Adams holds off investing in the Sooners.
Week 3 picks against the spread!
Toppmeyer’s five-pack of picks (picks in bold):
∎ Oklahoma (-24.5) at Temple
∎ Louisiana-Lafayette at Missouri (-27.5)
∎ Texas A&M at Notre Dame (-6.5)
∎ Vanderbilt at South Carolina (-5.5)
∎ Oregon (-27.5) at Northwestern
Season record: 5-5 (2-3 last week)
Adams’ five-pack of picks (picks in bold):
∎ Arkansas at Mississippi (-9.5)
∎ Wisconsin at Alabama (-20.5)
∎ Florida at LSU (-9.5)
∎ Vanderbilt at South Carolina (-5.5)
∎ Buffalo (-21.5) at Kent State
Season record: 3-7 (1-4 last week)
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Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. John Adams is the senior sports columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel. Subscribe to the SEC Football Unfiltered podcast, and check out the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.