Although Billy Napier has become the fourth consecutive Florida coach to last less than four full seasons, his Sunday firing is different from the exits of predecessors Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen.

That’s because the Gators that Napier is leaving are different. His successor will inherit a program that has lost any excuse that can be used to try to rationalize 15 years of mediocrity.

“UF has never been more invested in the success of this football program — elite facilities, robust NIL opportunities and comprehensive support for our student athletes and staff — than we are today,” athletic director Scott Stricklin said Sunday while announcing Napier’s dismissal.

That’s not bluster. It’s a public acknowledgement that the old saying around Florida — if Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier didn’t need something, why does the next guy? — has dwindled, if not disappeared.

For years, Florida lagged behind in the facilities arms race; it was one of the last SEC teams to construct an indoor practice facility or operations center. But the Gators opened their indoor facility in 2015. It’s next to the stand-alone football complex administrators started planning under McElwain in 2016, began building under Mullen and finally moved into during Napier’s first preseason.

To the extent that elite facilities still matter in the NIL era, the $85 million Heavener Football Training Center is more than sufficient. That’s why then-strength coach Mark Hocke said the program lost “any and every excuse” when it opened in 2022.

The name, image and likeness market was evolving rapidly during Napier’s early years. The eight-figure dispute that cost the Gators blue-chip quarterback signee Jaden Rashada during his first full recruiting cycle was a high-profile debacle.

Since then, Florida changed NIL collectives and overhauled its in-house process as the rules changed. Napier couldn’t have signed one of the nation’s top high school quarterbacks, DJ Lagway, and a top-five transfer class in 2024 without competence in this space. Every athletic department is still figuring out direct player payments that became legal this summer, but the industry consensus is that the Gators’ paychecks are competitive nationally.

While previous Florida staffs didn’t build out massive support systems like Alabama or Georgia, that’s no longer the case, either. Stricklin signed off on Napier’s plan to hire an army of analysts that is one of the largest, if not the largest, in the country. Between assistants, personnel evaluators and other employees, Florida’s media guide names 88 football staffers, plus Napier. That’s about 30 more than the Gators listed in Mullen’s final year (2021).

If all those components sound like givens at a program like Florida — a three-time national champion with top-tier resources and a large, rabid fan base starving for a fourth — they haven’t been. Napier’s predecessor, Mullen, was blasted for mediocre recruiting, but mediocre facilities didn’t help his pitch.

I wish I had the facilities they have now.

— Dan Mullen (@CoachDanMullen) December 20, 2023

After beating Iowa in the January 2017 Outback Bowl, McElwain publicly questioned the school’s dedication.

“We’ll look for the commitment that we get from the administration moving forward, see where that’s at,” McElwain said then.

It’s hard to wonder about the administration now, especially as it pursues a renovation to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium that will cost at least nine figures. The excuses that may have limited previous staffs don’t explain Napier’s 22-23 tenure and the worst winning percentage by a full-time Florida coach in 65 years.

Florida’s questionable play calling and ill-timed penalties were not the fault of facilities. They fell on Napier.

Any problems with roster management or talent acquisition are hard to blame on NIL anymore. They also fall on Napier.

The polo-shirt battalion of support staffers made it easy to scoff when Florida repeatedly failed to get 11 players on the field, including in Saturday’s home win over Mississippi State. But those are coaching issues, not program-wide problems. They, again, fall on Napier.

The cumulative, recurring troubles made his dismissal inevitable Sunday. But they also make the situation for his successor — Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is expected to be the front-runner — enviable.

Between Napier and Florida’s administrators, the Gators have eliminated any and every excuse why they can’t compete for SEC and national championships again. It’s up to the next hire to prove them right.