Florida football head coach Billy Napier might be ok amid his hot seat rumors, but they're circulating back once again. For the program, they have their eyes on an SEC rival head coach, according to ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum.
“They want Lane Kiffin you can agree or disagree America, but that’s who they are fixated on and that has not changed in 10 weeks,” Finebaum said on the Matt Barrie Show. “There is no way Lane Kiffin is leaving Ole Miss while his team is in the playoffs.”
Since the beginning of the season, Florida football has targeted Kiffin as their next head coach. As Finebaum said though, there's no reason for Kiffin to leave Ole Miss. They have a 7-2 record and are the No. 16 ranked team in the country. The offense and defense are both elite. For example, the offense is the fourth-best (42.1 points per game) and the defense (13.2 points per game) is the sixth-best in the nation.
On the flip side, Florida football hasn't fared well. Even though they have the toughest schedule in the country, the fanbase and program have higher expectations. Not to mention, star players on both sides of the ball are out with season-ending injuries. Regardless, Napier hasn't performed well since arriving in Gainesville.
Could Billy Napier be out as Florida football head coach?
He went 6-7 in 2022 and 5-7 in 2023, making the Las Vegas Bowl in 2022. They ended up losing that game, and have been stuck in limbo for the past two seasons. While injuries don't help, Napier was dominant before heading to the swamp. He led Louisiana-Lafayette to three straight 10-win seasons and two top-25 rankings in the AP poll. Fast forward to 2024 and he hasn't had a season with more than six wins.
Despite Finebaum saying they're targeting Kiffin, he is unsure what the program will do.
“I don’t know what Florida’s going to do because the narrative on Florida is already baked in,” Finebaum said. “They have an interim president, who happened to be the full-time president, who hired all these people. So I don’t think that’s fair. It’s just really the will of the people. The last time I heard from the Florida Athletic Director was exactly 10 weeks ago when he told me he was all in on Billy Napier. But he hasn’t said another word since.”
Florida football has a rough end to their season. They face three straight top-25 teams in Texas, LSU, and Ole Miss. If Napier can come away with at least one win, that might solidify his case to stay. By that time though, Florida could have their mind made up about the next head coach.
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