During Steve Spurrier’s 12 seasons as Florida’s football coach from 1990 to 2001, he went 11-1 against the Georgia trio of Ray Goff, Jim Donnan and Mark Richt.
Now it’s the Gators experiencing a revolving door against Georgia’s Kirby Smart.
When the fifth-ranked Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) face Florida (3-4, 2-2) in Jacksonville on Nov. 1, Smart will be going up against his fourth Gators coach. Smart has prevailed in seven of the nine series games against Jim McElwain, Dan Mullen and Billy Napier, and now he will face interim coach Billy Gonzales after Florida’s firing of Napier this past Sunday.
Napier was 22-23 overall as Florida’s coach deep into his fourth season in Gainesville, having lost his three encounters to Georgia by scores of 42-20 in 2022, 43-20 in 2023 and 34-20 last November.
“I have a lot of respect for Billy,” Smart said Tuesday during Georgia’s lone news conference this week, when the Bulldogs have an open date. “I’ve known Billy a long time. We were on staff together at Alabama. I like Billy a lot, and I think Billy is very intelligent and very well-organized. He’s a guy who thinks things out really well, and they’ve recruited very well.