Billy Napier sent a blunt message to Florida players after the “embarrassing” loss to Miami

The Florida Gators' 2024 season got off to a terrible start on Saturday. In a heated rivalry game against the No. 19 Miami Hurricanes, Florida fell 41-17 at The Swamp. The game was never particularly close, as the home team was outplayed by Mario Cristobal's team at every stage of the game.

It's also another disappointing loss for Florida in the Billy Napier era, and frustration among fans is clearly growing. The head coach, for his part, acknowledged the loss to the hated Hurricanes as “embarrassing” and had a blunt message for his players when speaking to the media afterward: “Shut up, come and work.”

“It's embarrassing, to be quite honest,” Napier said, via ESPN. “That's how I feel. That's how our kids feel. There are no excuses. We're going to shut up, come and work. We've got to do better. I believe our players will come and respond.”

“I was convinced we would play better,” he continued. “But I'm not here to make excuses. We have to fix this. We get another chance next week and we have to play better and train better.”

It was an “everything goes wrong” day for the Gators. They gave up over 500 yards on offense and barely gained over 100 yards on passing. Starting quarterback Graham Mertz threw for 91 yards before being pressured in overtime while attempting to defend an interception return and missing the fourth quarter with a concussion. There was nothing to like on Napier's side, and it's a disgraceful start to the season.

Napier is entering his third season as Florida's coach. He went 11-14 in his first two seasons, finishing fourth in the SEC both times. Now Napier faces the task of getting his team out of an early hole in 2024.