Florida Alligators head coach Billy Napier has been given 2025 to take the next step. He will receive the necessary resources to take this next big step.

According to Neil Blackmon of Saturday Down Southreports from sources indicate that some of the money that would, in theory, have been used to buy out Billy Napier is now invested in NIL.

Those sources said Florida intends to spend between $10 million and $13 million this offseason on zero investment in players. That’s about half of what it would cost to buy Napier ($26.5 million).

The source told Down South on Saturday that Florida’s improvements at the line of scrimmage and defense and quarterback DJ Lagway have impressed. They believe that less investment in players, especially in the gate, could lead to a good team in 2025.

You can see the difference in the final scores and game statistics. Florida was demolished early in the season by Miami and Texas A&M. They then gave up 480 total yards to Mississippi State. But then things started to change.

They decisively beat UCF and Kentuck at home, and took ranked Tennessee and Georgia the rest of the way. All of these games saw solid nights from the Gators defense.

However, no improvements have yet translated into victories.

Napier is 15-18 overall in Week 11. It has never finished with more than six wins in a season, and the Gators were blown away in their only bowl appearance. The Gators currently sit at 4-4 with a 2-3 record in conference play.

Part of the reason is that they’ve had some growing pains, to say the least, when it comes to NIL.

They had some controversy over NIL issues with quarterback Jaden Rashada. Rashada sued Billy Napier and Florida boosters on the grounds of having been defrauded. He was promised a $13.8 million deal and those who promised him the deal backed out once he chose Florida and turned down other offers from other schools.

Florida Victorious, the new NIL group, did a much better job. This could be Florida’s opportunity to put all of that behind it and start recruiting top talent to compete.