Over the last couple of years, Billy Napier has seen his reputation as a college football coach sink as his tenure at Florida fizzled out, leading to him being fired during a brutal 2025 season. Now, Napier is looking to rebuild his reputation at James Madison after the Dukes hired him as his next head coach.
Napier was billed as an offensive mastermind when he got to Florida, but he consistently failed to get enough out of that side of the ball while calling the plays for the Gators. Now, he is changing up his approach before heading to James Madison, according to JMU Sports News.
“I got a lot to prove. This is probably the most motivated I've been since I've been a head coach,” Napier said, before later clarifying that an offensive coordinator will call the plays and he will be giving up the reins of his offense.
Napier went just 22-23 in nearly four seasons at Florida and was fired with the Gators sitting at 3-4 in 2025. However, he has shown that he can win at the Group of Five level before. He got the Florida job following a four-year stint at Louisiana where he went 40-12 with two Sun Belt Championships.
Of course, James Madison has bigger things to focus on before officially welcoming Napier in as the next head coach. The Dukes finished with a 12-1 record this season and won the Sun Belt Championship against Troy, earning a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history. They will play in the first round on the road against No. 5 Oregon on Dec. 20.
Napier will replace old head coach Bob Chesney, who accepted the job at UCLA and is taking offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy with him when the College Football Playoff comes to a close. Chesney and his staff will lead the Dukes into Eugene for the CFP before heading to Los Angeles.
If Napier can rediscover his winning ways from his days at Louisiana with his new, more hands-off approach to the offensive side of the ball, maybe he can work his way back into the Power Five. However, he knows that he has a lot of work to do to get there.
