Former Florida Gators coach Billy Napier appears to have found a new job, as a report indicates James Madison University is finalizing a deal to make him their football program’s new head coach. The news arrives weeks after Florida fired Napier during his fourth season as Gators head coach.
He was 3-4 to start this season with Florida, after going 8-5 last season. In his first two seasons with the Gators, he went a combined 11-14. Following his firing, speculation intensified about other prominent football coaches who might take the Florida job, including James Franklin and Lane Kiffin.
Franklin has since signed a deal to become the Virginia Tech Hokies head coach, while Kiffin just announced he was going to become the new LSU head coach amid a season in which his Ole Miss Rebels team was on the way to the College Football Playoff.
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Reports of JMU finalizing a deal for Napier to become the new head coach first arrived via On3’s Pete Nakos and Chris Low. Once Napier’s deal is official, he rejoins the Sun Belt Conference. He coached the conference’s Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns from 2018 to 2021 and went 40-12 with three-straight first-place finishes.
Louisiana and Florida were Napier’s only head-coaching jobs thus far. Previously, he worked as a quarterback coach for South Carolina State in 2005, later serving in that role, along with offensive coordinator, for Clemson, Colorado State, and Arizona State.
The 46-year-old was also part of the coaching staff during two teams’ national championship runs. In 2011, Napier was an analyst with Alabama when Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide won the championship. In 2015, he was a wide receiver coach with the school for another Saban championship.
With Napier’s hiring, he will replace Bob Chesney as the new JMU coach. According to ESPN, Chesney is expected to sign a five-year deal to become the new coach of the UCLA Bruins football program.
On3 suggests that with JMU ranked No. 25 in the recent College Football Playoff rankings, there is still a slight possibility they could make the 12-team bracket. However, that would require key conference championship games to play out in JMU’s favor.
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