Fans walking down Fraternity Row to the Florida football game last Saturday might have noticed a fitting juxtaposition of the state of the Gators.

A few frat houses had signs like “#PayTheBuyout” calling for the head coach’s scalp. But for 3 minutes and 15 seconds, a song blared from some speakers.

“I Will Survive.”

Gloria Gaynor, meet Billy Napier.

He survived the encounter with Samford, which everyone expected. Now comes the real drama.

Florida's football season has become a tight-rope act

If the Gators beat Texas A&M this Saturday, Napier will survive to face Mississippi State. If he wins that one, he’ll survive to face UCF. If he wins that one, he’ll survive to … you get the idea.

For Napier, the season has become a 10-game tightrope act. One slip, and he might very well be gone.

All the precarity can be traced to the Miami game. Linebacker Shemar James was asked Monday if the taste has lingered.

“It’s gone,” he said. “That was Week 1, and we’re going into Week 3.”

It may be gone for the players we see perform. For the players behind the scenes, the taste lingers.

The 41-17 bomb Miami dropped on Florida Field destroyed the confidence most of them had in Napier. Pink slip rumors abound.

We can discount the wilder ones. I’m pretty sure Lane Kiffin was not at the Archer Road Chipotle perusing local Zillow listings. But under all that smoke, there is legitimate fire.

Florida football's uncertain road ahead

Big-money boosters have seen enough. Donations are drying up, other than pledges to fund Napier’s $26 million buyout. A short-term succession plan is in place in case Napier is fired before season’s end.

The long-term coaching situation is muddled given UF president Kent Fuchs’ interim status. Major shakeups should be left to the next president, but he or she won’t be in place before the new year. By then, the hiring window for a new coach will be closed.

Then there’s the status of athletic director Scott Stricklin, who might not be allowed to hire his third football coach. The UF Board of Trustees may be more involved than usual in the transition process.

That assumes, of course, there will be a transition process.

Napier can save his job if he restores the faith of UF’s bigwigs, small-wigs and all wigs in between. Beating Samford 45-7 or 145-7 could not move that needle. The first chance will be against the Aggies.

I might not bet Kiffin’s house on it, but a loss would probably be curtains for Napier. It surely will be if the game is lost due to sloppiness, penalties of having 27 players on the field for a field goal attempt.

Florida football's not-as-perilous schedule

The same goes the next week at Mississippi State. After an open week, UCF comes to Gainesville.

You know how fans feel about that rivalry. If Little Brother U. beats the Gators at Florida Field, it’s sayonara Billy. None of this will come as news to him.

“Yeah, they're all must-win at a place like this,” Napier said. “Look, we welcome it. I welcome it. I think it's part of the challenge. You come to a place like this to compete in this league. You dream of it.”

I don’t know if he dreamed of this when Stricklin offered him the job. But some things aren’t quite as perilous as originally thought.

The schedule doesn’t appear quite so suicidal. Kentucky might be suffering from Mark Stoops fatigue. FSU fans are selling their DJ Uiagalelei jerseys for 39 cents on eBay.

DJ Lagway to Florida football's rescue?

Speaking of DJs, perhaps you noticed the Three Wise Men visiting the manger at Florida Field Saturday night. A potential savior was born.

So was a quarterback controversy. Hey, that beats talking about the coach having to pull a Gloria Gaynor.

And maybe Miami is really good.

So there are flickers of hope, but UF’s power brokers need to see more than that. They are ready to #PayTheBuyout.

For Napier, that means the music could stop any day.

David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @DavidEWhitley

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Napier has a zero-tolerance path to surviving as Florida's coach