Florida made what seemed like the inevitable move on Sunday, firing fourth-year head football coach Billy Napier, athletics director Scott Stricklin announced.
The Gators beat Mississippi State 23-21 on Saturday, but went just 22-23 overall and 12-16 in the SEC during his Napier’s tenure. Florida has an open date this week before facing Georgia in the annual rivalry game in Jacksonville, Fla., on Nov. 1.
“As Coach Napier has often said, this is a results-driven business, and while his influence was positive, it ultimately did not translate into the level of success we expect on the field,” Stricklin said. “… The standards and expectations for Gators football are to win championships—not simply to compete. We exist to win, and will not settle for less.
“UF has never been more invested in the success of this football program – elite facilities, robust NIL opportunities and comprehensive support for our student athletes and staff – than we are today.”
The 46-year-old Napier seemed resigned to his fate in his post-game news conference on Saturday night.
“Man, I’m going to tell you something: I’m going to enjoy this one tonight,” Napier said, via 247 Sports. “That’s what I’m going to do, OK? I’ll wake up tomorrow and we’ll worry about what’s next. We’re banged up. We need an open date. I know our group will be excited about the next one, right.
“Yeah, I’m going to go take a deep breath, get something good to eat, prop my feet up at the house, hug on them kids, (wife) Miss Ali, then tomorrow I’m going to wake up and we’ll think about the next one.”
Napier came to Florida in 2022 after a highly successful four-year tenure at Louisiana, where he led the Ragin’ Cajuns to a 40-12 record and a pair of Sun Belt Conference championships. Prior to that, he contributed to a national championship and three SEC titles as Alabama’s wide receivers coach from 2013-16 and was also offensive coordinator at Clemson and Arizona State.
But Napier never could get the Gators over the hump, with his best finish 8-5 with a Gasparilla Bowl win in 2024. Florida’s offense in particular stagnated with Napier calling plays, with its 22.3-point scoring average this season ahead of only South Carolina in the 16-team SEC.
Napier is due a buyout of a little more than $20.4 million after being fired with three-plus years left on his contract, according to USA Today’s college football coaches salary database. His salary of $7.47 million ranks 24th nationally, but just 11th in the SEC.
Wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales will serve as interim coach for the remainder of the season. Gonzales is in his third tenure at Florida, having also worked under previous Gators head coaches Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen.
Napier was the second SEC head coach fired this year, after Arkansas dismissed Sam Pittman on Sept. 28. Among other FBS programs with openings are UAB, Penn State, Oklahoma State, UCLA and Virginia Tech.
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