Florida Gators Billy Napier under fire: Latest news, notes and intel

Florida coach Billy Napier has become embattled after a 1-2 start to the season, with the program trending toward a third losing season under his direction.

As the talk heats up about Napier’s job status, On3 provides the latest developments for you to keep track of right here. You can also find the latest information at GatorsOnline, a site curated by our tremendous staff of news-breaking journalists.

Nick Saban says the problem isn’t the coaches

Sept. 21, 2024
A handful of people have made the argument that Florida’s issues are bigger than just coaches, implicating the administration for being a bit behind the times. Nick Saban took a similar line on ESPN’s College GameDay.

“Well, I think maybe the problem isn’t the coaches,” Saban said. “You know, they’ve been through four coaches since Spurrier and Urban Meyer, who both created a tremendous culture of winning there. And sometimes the fanbase can just think ‘Well we can show up and expect to win.’ And not make the commitment to the program that you need to make to be able to continue to make the changes and investments you need to make to keep up with changing times.

“Things change. … They should’ve taken advantage of building better facilities when Urban Meyer was there. What’s their collective been like? How have they adapted to this new model of college football? So it’s not just the coaches. When you’ve been through four coaches that haven’t had success, there’s something else that people should be looking at.”

Pete Thamel doubles down on difficult timing

Sept. 21, 2024
A few analysts have noted the timing for Florida to make a change at head coach isn’t great, from having an interim university president to needing to find an adequate interim coach. ESPN’s Pete Thamel doubled down on the latter on Saturday on ESPN’s College GameDay.

“With that seven game FBS losing streak and two home blowout losses to start the season, the overwhelming expectation remains, Billy Napier won’t return next year,” Thamel said on College GameDay. “The question remains, the timing of that potential exit. If you’re going to fire a coach this early in the season, Rece, you have to have a clear path to get better. And Florida does not appear to have that.

“There’s no obvious interim on the staff that could spark this program. There’s also (this): Napier’s the primary play caller, so you really have to change out two coaches, which is difficult on the fly.”

Will that stop Florida from making a move until later in the season?

Rece Davis, Pete Thamel: Billy Napier firing ‘inevitable’

Sept. 20, 2024
During the ‘College GameDay Podcast,’ Rece Davis and Pete Thamel were in agreement that the end of Napier’s tenure is more of a when. With that said, they also agreed that Florida will win this weekend in Starkville to push the focus on it off for at least one more week.

“I think it was 2022, we had five power conference coaches fired by October 2nd,” Thamel said. “So look, the Napier thing is inevitable. The whens and the hows? (The Mississippi State game) could extend it and give them some hope and life and give them a chance to get that program with some traction.”

“Pete, I agree,” Davis said. “I’ve been on record, while it appears that this is not going to work and that the change is inevitable, I remain steadfast. And I think Billy Napier is a solid football coach. It just hasn’t worked, happens sometimes. But I think it will work in Starkville this week”

Scott Stricklin will lead Florida coaching search

Sept. 20, 2024
Questions have been asked about who will make the choices in this process of firing and hiring a new coach with a lack of faith in AD Scott Stricklin. Still, per reporting by Brandon Marcello and Richard Johnson of CBS Sports, he would be continuing on as athletic director and making the decisions regarding the head coaching job at Florida.

“Behind the scenes, the gears are already in motion for a potential change, and there is more alignment among administrators than message board rumors tend to say. Stricklin, who is facing criticism of his own after decisions to hire Dan Mullen and then Napier, has been informed the decision whether to fire Napier is his to make,” CBS Sports added. “In that scenario, Stricklin will also be tasked with searching for a new coach, sources familiar with the discussions at Florida told CBS Sports this week. 

“… Rumors of wholesale changes in the athletics department appear premature, sources tell CBS Sports, with communication between the president’s office and Stricklin remaining open and positive. Napier, however, is the lone party on an island, fighting for survival.”

Dan Mullen told Florida to hire Lane Kiffin

Sept. 19, 2024
Lane Kiffin is a name that has been coming up early on in conversations about a potential coaching search for Florida. However, it also apparently came up the last time that their position came open. That’s because Dan Mullen said on Thursday that he suggested to the Gators that they hire Kiffin as his successor in The Swamp.

“You know what’s pretty funny? When I got let go at Florida a couple years ago, they asked me, and I said, ‘Hey, I’d go hire Lane Kiffin right now,’” Mullen said. “I said, ‘If you’re gonna get rid of me, I’d go hire Lane Kiffin from Ole Miss right now’…I think he would have been a great fit right off the bat, but that was several years ago.

“Now he’s gotten Ole Miss to being in playoff contention, so I don’t know if that’s something that would interest him or not,” Mullen said. “You never know in the coaching profession why maybe someone’s making a decision. They’re going to have their personal or whatever reason to do it. But, I think a couple years ago, he probably would’ve taken the job if they offered it to him.”

Leading candidate for interim coach emerges

Sept. 17, 2024, 08:00 PM ET
In the event Florida does make a move to fire Billy Napier before the season ends, the Gators will need someone to take over the team. And it could be for an extended stretch, given how much of the season remains.

The most likely choice? Analyst Dan Enos, a former SEC offensive coordinator.

On3’s Zach Abolverdi reports that “it seems like Enos is already a forgone conclusion” to serve as interim coach, based on what he has heard from sources. In the past few years Odom has worked at Arkansas, Maryland, Cincinnati, Miami, Alabama and Michigan in a variety of roles, from offensive coordinator, to quarterbacks coach, to running backs coach, to analyst.

UF administration at different urgency level

Sept. 17, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
ESPN’s Pete Thamel suggested that Florida’s administration isn’t quite as advanced down the road toward firing Billy Napier as the fans are.

“I had a big story on ESPN.com today looking at what’s next for Florida, and there’s an aura of inevitability that Billy Napier will get fired at some point this season,” Thamel said on College Football Live. “From calling around and talking to different people, there does not appear to be the same urgency at Florida that there is maybe in the fan base right now to fire Napier. Part of that is Napier has the locker room. This isn’t a completely undisciplined team or a team that’s tuned him out.

“And the other part is if you’re going to make a change in your coach this early in the season, you’d better have some sort of obvious upgrade or a capable coach on the staff. There’s nobody on the Florida staff right now that would be an obvious target to be an interim coach. So look for the season to continue to play out. They obviously go to Mississippi State this weekend, and then there’s a bye after that.”

Steve Spurrier presses pause

Sept. 17, 2024
While most have already essentially fired Billy Napier in their minds, former Florida coach Steve Spurrier is taking a more patient approach. As the program’s ambassador, he carries some sway, too.

“Give him a chance,” Steve Spurrier said on Another Dooley Noted Podcast. “Everybody is under contract. Let them earn their pay. And keep ’em all here and let’s go. See if they can turn it around. … I think we just need to show a little patience and see what can happen from this year. I mean, all the coaches are going to be there even if the head coach isn’t so I don’t see how it’s going to make a huge difference if they remove the head coach. You might as well let the staff stay in place for awhile and see what happens.

“It’s a crucial game this week, crucial game maybe for the direction of the season. I still think you give Napier — they gave him what, a seven-year contract? Might as well give him three. If you can. But there’s going to have to be some decisions on how we finish record wise.”

Who serves as UF’s interim coach?

Sept. 17, 2024
A not-insignificant question should Florida can Billy Napier is who picks up as interim coach for the rest of the season. Because Napier is the offensive playcaller, it’s a little more challenging.

ESPN’s Rece Davis had a somewhat off-the-wall suggestion for Florida: former LSU coach Ed Orgeron. Orgeron reportedly lives in the Destin area and has previous experience leading a team, though he’s got relatively little familiarity with Florida itself.

Food for thought, maybe.

Lane Kiffin the leading candidate?

Sept. 17, 2024
ESPN’s Ryan McGee suggests that not only is the Ole Miss head coach the leading candidate, he’s the entire list at Florida right now.

“I was in a couple of different situations and rooms and locations with people who have legitimate power in these things. Lane Kiffin is the list,” McGee said. “Anyone else, they feel like they’re settling. And I’m not just talking about the fan base. I’m talking about the checkbooks.”

McGee went on to further explain that Kiffin’s personality is exactly what fits the Florida mold.

New playoff complicates timing

Sept. 17, 2024
ESPN’s Pete Thamel broke down why hiring a coach in 2024 will be different than it’s ever been, given the timing of the College Football Playoff and all the moving pieces around that part of the calendar. He explains:

“Say you want to put a coach in place on November 15th, right?” Thamel said. “If you’re going to fire a coach early, you want to get going. Obviously, you’ve got the portal and the signing day are now in early December – in that last week of November, first week of early December period. You’ve got to get everything together,” Thamel explained. “There’s a really good chance that – I think a lot of casual fans probably don’t know the College Football Playoff title game is January 20th. So, even say you want Georgia DC Glenn Schumann, right and that’s the guy you want and you can go hire him on November 15th? He may not actually come to campus to be your coach for seven weeks. That’s wild.”

“There’s going to be an interesting dance here,” Thamel continued. “You almost now, if you’re a Florida fan and you want Lane Kiffin to be your coach? You’ve got to wake up every day and root for the Rebels to lose, right? That’s really the most realistic scenario.”

Deeper house-cleaning required at UF?

Sept. 17, 2024
On3 national expert Jesse Simonton chimes in on the Florida situation, saying a Billy Napier firing might be complicated by the goings-on above him. Florida has an interim president, while many of the high-level administrative staffers have been around for multiple coaching failures now.

Simonton suggests perhaps a deeper cleaning of the program’s University Athletic Association (UAA) might be in order.

“The Gators will have a new football coach in 2025. But Lane Kiffin, Eli Drinkwitz or Jedd Fisch won’t suddenly fix what Napier could not. A total reckoning within the UAA is long overdue.”

Answering timing questions

Sept. 16, 2024
On3’s Andy Staples made a lengthy post on the GatorsOnline message boards addressing the potential timing around any move. It takes into account some key factors that top decision-makers will be weighing.

The On3 national expert breaks down how the calendar could affect when Florida makes moves, with things like the transfer portal window and the postseason calendar coming into play.

Be sure to check out Staples’ post addressing timing concerns here.

Napier addresses the heat

Sept. 16, 2024
Billy Napier addresses local reporters at his weekly press conference and addresses whether he should get a fourth season in charge of the program, given how things are going.

He stands behind his program.

“These are all hypothetical scenarios,” Napier said. “I think for me, I’m gonna try to model what I would expect from our players and some of those things I just talked about, I think that’s the whole key is that as a whole staff and throughout the organization, we have to model what we would expect from the players and want from the players. And that, for me, is total focus on the next opportunity to improve.

“We’re gonna put the game to bed today from Saturday. And then, it’s about doing my absolute best to prepare the team to play next Saturday.”

Florida Coaching Hot Board

Sept. 16, 2024
USA Today releases a list of coaching replacements for Billy Napier. The list is as follows:

Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss
Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri
Jedd Fisch, Washington
Alex Golesh, South Florida
Lance Leipold, Kansas
Andy Kotelnicki, Penn State
Jamey Chadwell, Liberty

Billy Napier’s Buyout

Sept. 16, 2024
On3’s Pete Nakos provides the contract buyout details for Billy Napier. The Florida coach would get roughly $27.7 million if he’s fired at the end of the month. If Florida waited until the end of the season, they would be looking at a $25.7 million buyout.

Here is a breakdown of the remaining years on Napier’s contract:

+2024 Contract Year – $7,300,000 (Feb. 1, 2024 — Jan. 31, 2025)
+2025 Contract Year – $7,400,000 (Feb. 1, 2025 — Jan. 31, 2026)
+2026 Contract Year – $7,500,000 (Feb. 1, 2026 — Jan. 31, 2027)
+2027 Contract Year – $7,600,000 (Feb. 1, 2027 — Jan. 31, 2028)
+2028 Contract Year – $7,700,000 (Feb. 1, 2028 — Jan. 31, 2029)

The Florida head coach would be paid $13.8 million within 30 days of the termination. He would receive $3.2 million every July 15th over the next four years.

The boosters have mobilized

Sept. 14, 2024
Like Andy Staples, Matt Hayes of USA TODAY pens a column indicating that Billy Napier is done at Florida. Moreover, he includes some very pertinent details about a potential buyout:

“A group of Florida boosters have pulled together money to cover the expense of firing coach Billy Napier, two people with direct knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.”

That is massive news, with the buyout for Napier ranging from $26 million to $27 million depending on the timing. Florida appears serious about making a move.

“It has to be over” for Billy Napier at Florida

Sept. 14, 2024
Following a 33-20 loss to Texas A&M, Billy Napier has dropped to 1-2 on the season, on track for a third straight losing season under his direction. And for On3 national expert Andy Staples: “It has to be over.”

Staples hit hard on the idea that donations are going to dry up real soon for Florida. And while athletics director Scott Stricklin wanted to be patient with Napier, Staples said he risks turning “The Swamp into a morgue” if he is.

“Whether the official end comes later Saturday, Sunday or some day in the next two months, it doesn’t matter. The Florida football program has to be under new leadership next season if the people in charge of it want anyone to donate a penny or to buy a ticket,” Staples concludes.