For the Florida Gators, the Billy Napier coaching era is over, but there’s still a very expensive matter to be settled. Unlike some fired coaches like James Franklin, Napier’s coaching buyout figure seems relatively reasonable, at just over $21 million. But Florida will be rapidly on the hook for an eight-figure payout. Per Napier’s contract, the Gators reportedly have to pay him half of the amount due– just over $10.5 million– within 30 days.
It’s also worth noting that Napier’s buyout figure is not subject to any sort of legal offset or mitigation, meaning that even if (or more accurate, when) Napier coaches again, Florida will still have to pay him his full buyout total.
Napier struggled through a 22-23 mark in his career at Florida. Even with a 23-21 win over Mississippi State in his final game at UF, Napier and Florida were potentially facing a third losing season and potentially a second season without a bowl in Napier’s four years at UF.
The highlight of Napier’s UF career was likely a late 2024 run that took him temporarily off the hotseat. Florida opened that season 4-5 and with Napier facing significant noise of his potential firing, UF rallied to win its final four games. That included victories over No. 22 LSU and No. 9 Ole Miss and propelled the Gators to the Gasparilla Bowl.
But for Florida, a program used to national success under Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer, wins in the Gasparilla Bowl aren’t exactly the gold standard. Florida won 10 games in 2018 and 11 more in 2019 under Dan Mullen, but after Mullen slid to a 6-7 season, he was cut loose in favor of Napier.
Napier piled up a 40-12 record in four seasons at Louisiana. But Florida was not the Sun Belt and a 12-16 conference mark at UF likely sealed Napier’s fate. He departs Florida with the lowest winning percentage of any UF coach since Raymond Wolf, who coached at UF from 1946 to 1949. That said, he’ll leave it with a payment of over $10 million coming his way within the next 30 days.