Nick Saban offered an interesting explanation for why the Florida Gators have struggled in recent years.
He was asked on ESPN's “College GameDay” on Saturday about how to turn around a struggling team and offered an impassioned defense of coach Billy Napier and his predecessor.
“I don't think the issue is the coaches,” Saban said. “They've had four coaches. [Steve] Spurrier and Urban Meyer both created great winning cultures there, and sometimes fan bases think they just need to “go out there and win” and neglect to make the necessary changes and investments in their programs to keep up with changing times.
“Things change. We should have taken the opportunity to build a better facility when Urban Meyer was there. [NIL] “What is the team as a whole like? How have they adapted to this new model of college football? So it's not just about the coach. If four coaching changes haven't been successful, then there are other things people should be looking at.”
Napier is in his third season with the Gators, having finished under .500 in each of his first two seasons and started this season 1-2.
They were blown out in the season opener by Miami, 41-17, and then beat lowly Samford last week before losing to Texas A&M, 33-20.
Overall, Napier led Mississippi State with a 12-16 record entering Saturday's matchup with Mississippi State.
He had four successful seasons at Louisiana before moving on to the Florida job.
Saban pointed to Florida's NIL infrastructure as the Gators' biggest hindrance.
“You have to have a vision of, 'How do we create value for our players?'” Saban said, “And if you want to have a successful program, you've got to create value for your players.”
“If he's not going to become a better person, if he's not going to have a better chance to succeed in life, if he's not going to have a chance to go to the NFL, then why is he coming to your school?”
