Will Billy Napier’s vote of confidence stick? History says it is uncertain

So Billy Napier’s boss has publicly given him a pledge of support.

Which, depending on your level of cynicism, doesn’t so much represent an endorsement as it does the end of the line.

Five days after his injury-plagued team’s gritty effort in a 34-20 loss to then-No. 2 Georgia, Napier — 15-19 in his tenure as Gators coach — earned a vote of confidence from athletic director Scott Stricklin. The statement came in the wake of Florida’s mini-resurgence and was presumably made to reassure Gators recruits who may have been unsure of Napier’s job status.

Two days later, Florida was beaten by Texas, 49-17. Here’s another swing of the sledgehammer of reality: If the Gators fall apart down the final stretch of the season (against LSU, Ole Miss and FSU), Stricklin’s endorsement won’t be worth the keyboard it was made on.

Don’t you believe us? Just take a look at the history of our home state, where public support has often been followed by a pink slip. There’s a reason confidence votes are now routinely prefaced by the word “feared.”

Randy Shannon, Miami

Vote of confidence: Summer 2010

Dismissal date: November 27, 2010

Despite a mediocre mark (21-17) by Miami standards his first three years, Shannon was awarded a four-year extension – a documented vote of confidence – in the summer of 2010. The Hurricanes entered the year with a top 15 ranking ahead of . won three of their first four games before a late-season collapse.

Shannon was fired just hours after a 23-20 overtime loss to USF that dropped UM to 7-5.

Skip Holtz, USF

Vote of confidence: October 2012

Dismissal date: December 2, 2012

Bulls athletic director Doug Woolard’s statement about Holtz after a 2-4 start in 2012 wasn’t so much a ringing endorsement as a rationalization: He had to explain why he had given USF’s pressed coach an extension the previous summer.

“We will provide every possible support to our football program, including employment contracts that reflect our commitment to success,” Woolard said in his prepared statement.

“Many factors come into play when considering contract terms, including conditions in the national coaching marketplace. In Skip’s case, several (Division I) schools sought his coaching services at the end of both the 2010 and 2011 seasons. As a result, we felt it was important to maintain stability and continuity of leadership in our football program and extended Skip’s contract.”

Less than two months later, Woolard made another statement: He fired Holtz after the Bulls finished 3-9.

Will Muschamp, Florida

Vote of confidence: December 2013

Dismissal date: November 17, 2014

Equal parts cerebral and volatile, Muschamp led UF to an 11-2 record and Sugar Bowl berth in his second season (2012), only to suffer the program’s first losing season in 34 years (4-8) the following fall.

Still, then-athletic director Jeremy Foley reiterated “total confidence” in Muschamp after a 30-point loss to FSU.

“We haven’t made an apology all year and we’re not going to make them now,” Foley said. “We know what this program is about. I have full confidence in Coach Muschamp and I’ve made that clear. We’ve got to fix some things. When you have seasons like this, that’s what you do: You evaluate, you analyze and fix things. You don’t panic. You don’t put on orange and blue glasses.”

Eleven months later, one day after a 23-20 home overtime loss to South Carolina dropped UF to 5-4, Foley moved on from Muschamp.

Al Golden, Miami

Vote of confidence: September 2014

Dismissal date: 25 October 2015

Just one game into his fourth season, Golden received what many considered a death blow of sorts when athletic director Blake James publicly endorsed the embattled Hurricanes coach, calling him “the perfect person for the job.”

“We’re going to be a better team at the end of this year than we were at the start of this year,” James told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel shortly after Miami’s 31-13 loss at Louisville. “We will be a better team at the end of this year than we were last year and we will continue to get better every year.”

It didn’t happen. Golden, who inherited a program hampered by NCAA sanctions in December 2010, went 6-7 in 2014 (after a 9-4 finish the previous year) and was fired after a 58-0 loss to Clemson midway through 2015.

Manny Diaz, Miami

Vote of confidence: December 2019

Dismissal date: 6 December 2021

Count Diaz among the few coaches who managed to hang around for a while after the dreaded vote of confidence. His endorsement from athletic director Blake James came shortly after Miami went 6-7 in Diaz’s first season.

“Manny Diaz is the right leader for our program, but it’s clear that changes are needed and expected,” James said in a prepared statement. “Manny is in the process of doing a full evaluation of the program, including the coaches and staff.”

Progress followed, albeit more modest than quantum. Diaz was fired after the ‘Canes finished 7-5 in 2021, giving him a 21-15 mark with two bowl losses in three seasons.

Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M

Vote of confidence: August 2023

Dismissal date: 12 November 2023

We’re throwing Fisher on this list because he previously won a national title at FSU. Just a few months before Texas A&M ate the largest contract buyout in college football history ($77.5 million), athletic director Ross Bjork boldly backed Fisher, who was coming off a 5-7 season and had never won more than nine games in any of the ​his fights. first five years.

“Build to last. That’s my mantra,” Björk told ESPN. “There’s no panic here. You can’t be a blow-by-the-wind program in how you make decisions and expect to win championships in the SEC. Of course last year was disappointing for all of us, but I look at where we’re getting there and so is Jimbo.”

Three months later, Fisher was canned after going 6-4 in the first 10 games of 2023.

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