Despite loss to Texas, Florida's Billy Napier thankful for chance to return - ESPN

AUSTIN, Texas — On Thursday, embattled Florida coach Billy Napier got a vote of confidence from athletic director Scott Stricklin, who announced that Napier «will continue as head football coach of the Florida Gators,» citing the progress the team has made this season.

On Saturday, a banged-up Florida team got a reminder of just how far it needs to go, losing to No. 5 Texas 49-17 in a game the Gators trailed 42-0. Florida fell to 4-5 and 2-4 in the SEC.

«Overall, [it] got out of hand in the first half,» Napier said. «You look up and the game is over. We have to evaluate the effort. We have to evaluate point-of-attack issues we had, and just flat-out have to play better.»

He spoke for the first time since Stricklin's letter to fans, where he said he wanted to take a «disciplined, stable approach,» asking fans to «continue standing behind Billy and his dedicated team while we work together to build a championship program.»

Napier said after Saturday's loss he was appreciative of the chance to continue trying to straighten out the program's woes.

«Well first of all, I'm thankful for our players.… We would not have made some of the progress that we've made over the last four, five, six weeks without a great group of players, the character there at the core of that group, their leadership. I do think that when you look at the roster as a whole, we have a ton of young talent, and I think they'll continue to develop and they're learning. They're going through this experience, and I think that'll prove beneficial in the future.»

Stricklin's statement cited close losses to No. 7 Tennessee and No. 3 Georgia as reasons for optimism for the future of Napier's young team. But this was not a close loss. The Gators' halftime deficit