Anytime a school fires a coach, it then has to hire a new one. That’s where the Florida Gators find themselves after letting go of Billy Napier on Sunday. Outside of Penn State, though, Florida sits at the top of the most high-profile job available this coaching cycle.

And as one national analyst points out, the targets for Florida are all names with at least some proof of concept to them.

Pete Thamel lays out Florida’s five main targets

ESPN insider Pete Thamel appeared on the College Gameday Podcast and laid out the five main targets for Florida as of now. One trend fans will notice with this list is that they are all current Power Four head coaches, unlike three of Florida’s past four coaches, who were either coordinators or Group of Five coaches.

Lane Kiffin

It is no secret that Florida boosters really want to go after Lane Kiffin. For those who still have the version of Tennessee or USC Kiffin in their mind, it is fair to say that Kiffin is a different coach than he was when he started.

The thing for Kiffin is whether or not he would actually want to leave Ole Miss. He seems happy there, but we also know that his best realistic chance to win a title and cement his own legacy would be in Gainesville.

Eli Drinkwitz

The current Missouri coach keeps having his name pop up as a candidate to make the move to Gainesville.

He’s only 42 and has built Missouri into a ranked contender these past three seasons, but there is the nagging sense that the Tigers are also built on smoke and mirrors. Missouri has benefitted from some super soft schedules and has struggled mightily when matched up against the elites.

Jeff Brohm

Another name that seems to keep popping up is Louisville coach Jeff Brohm. He went to the Big Ten title game in 2022 with Purdue before moving to his alma mater in 2023.

He has had decent success at Louisville and is currently sitting at 5-1 on the season, and he win last week over then No. 2 Miami has shot his name back up coaching boards.

There is the sticking point of whether or not he would leave his alma mater and whether or not he has the “it” factor to make it in the SEC.

Rhett Lashlee

Another ACC coach who had instant success, Rhett Lashlee, went 11-3 with SMU in 2023 while they were still in The American and then bulldozed his way to an appearance in the ACC title game in 2024 as well as a berth in the playoffs with SMU.

SMU is 5-2 this season, with games against Miami and Louisville still left, so making the playoffs seems low in 2025.

Jedd Fisch

The current Washington coach is a Florida alumnus, which is why Jedd Fisch keeps having his name pop up as an option for the Gators.

Fisch is offensive-minded and had success at Arizona before jumping to Washington, but like most coaches on the list, he seems to lack the “it” quality that would make him a slam-dunk hire.