Florida football fired their head coach Billy Napier on Sunday. Napier had a disappointing tenure with the Gators, with a 3-4 record this year. Napier has millions of reasons to be happy though, after losing his job.
“Napier’s buyout is more than $21 million. Half of that number is due to Napier within 30 days. He is not subject to off-set or mitigation, which means he’s due all of it even if he lands another job,” ESPN's Pete Thamel reported on X, formerly Twitter.
Napier will likely get pursued by some programs outside of power 4 conferences. The recently fired coach had three consecutive seasons at Louisiana with at least 10 wins, from 2019-2021.
The former Florida coach went 22-23 overall in Gainesville. Florida is expected to cast a wide net in their coaching search, with several current top college coaches being considered. According to an ESPN list, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin and Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman are expected to be considered.
Who will lead Florida football from here?
The Gators will need a home run hire to get back to the top of the SEC. There are multiple teams who have moved past the Gators in the SEC hierarchy. One of them is Vanderbilt, who is currently ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press College Football poll.
University of Florida officials say it was a hard decision to part ways with Napier.
“Making this decision during the open date provides our team valuable time to regroup, refocus, and prepare for the challenges ahead. The timing also allows us to conduct a thoughtful, thorough, and well-informed search for our next head coach. We remain fully committed to utilizing every resource available to identify the right leader to guide Gators Football into the future,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a statement.
“I will conduct the search with a high degree of confidentiality to protect the privacy of those involved. The search will focus on the hiring of an elite football coach who will embody the standard we have at the University of Florida, and we will continue to provide all of the necessary resources for that coach, his staff and the players to be successful.”
The Gators are led by interim coach Billy Gonzales, who was the wide receivers coach under Napier.
