The clock was already ticking on Florida coach Billy Napier\u2019s time in Gainesville. But when Penn State fired James Franklin last Sunday, that clock started ticking a whole lot faster.<\/p>\n
Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft described Franklin\u2019s firing as \u201cnot a three-game thing,\u201d but about the \u201ctrajectory of the program.\u201d It\u2019s a phrase that could easily describe the mood at Florida, where Napier\u2019s Gators remain caught between progress and stagnation.<\/p>\n
Kraft was blunt about his reasoning.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at where the program was and where it is and where we want to be, I just felt there was no other course. I felt it was time,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, remember, we\u2019re in a different era of football. And there\u2019s a lot of things that come with this new era and transfers and everything \u2026 I did feel like for our student-athletes and the staff and the program and our fans, there wasn\u2019t a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those final words, \u201cthere wasn\u2019t a choice,\u201d hit especially close to Gainesville this week. Napier\u2019s tenure at UF has been rocky, marked by flashes of progress overshadowed by inconsistent play and mounting frustration among fans. And while Florida\u2019s administration has been deliberate about giving Napier time to build, Penn State\u2019s sudden move might just change that calculus.<\/p>\n
Both Napier and Franklin share the same agent, Jimmy Sexton, one of college football\u2019s most powerful dealmakers, and both have massive, guaranteed contracts. Franklin\u2019s 10-year extension in 2021 was fully guaranteed, resulting in a $49 million buyout, the second-largest in college football history. Napier\u2019s deal is 85% guaranteed, meaning Florida would owe about $21 million if it makes a change this week.<\/p>\n
Napier acknowledged the volatility of his position Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s what we sign up for,\u201d he said at his weekly news conference. \u201cThey pay us well. These are challenging jobs in today\u2019s climate in particular. We live in a production world, and you\u2019ve got to produce. There\u2019s no running from that.\u201d<\/p>\n
That \u201cproduction world\u201d is the same one Kraft alluded to when explaining Franklin\u2019s dismissal. The message to coaches is clear: In an era defined by NIL money, the transfer portal and restless fan bases, patience is evaporating.<\/p>\n
For Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin, that reality presents a dilemma. Wait too long, and another major program could scoop up one of the few proven coaches on the market. Move too soon, and Florida risks paying 10s of millions without a guaranteed upgrade.<\/p>\n
But according to USA Today<\/a>, Stricklin already met with a \u201chandful of influential boosters\u201d on Tuesday, and a decision could come as soon as this weekend if the Gators suffer another loss.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the coaching carousel is spinning faster by the day. Penn State joins Arkansas, UCLA, Oklahoma State, Stanford and Virginia Tech among prominent programs that are searching for new leadership.<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s Adam Rittenberg even floated the idea of Franklin to Florida<\/a> back in September, noting that he owns a home in the state and might be seeking a \u201crestart\u201d after 12 seasons in Happy Valley. Whether or not that happens, Franklin\u2019s availability changes the landscape and raises the stakes for Florida.<\/p>\n If Penn State, fresh off a college football playoff semifinal appearance, and staring at a $49 million buyout, can decide it \u201chad no choice,\u201d what excuse does Florida have left?<\/p>\n Category: College Football<\/a>, Gators Football<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The clock was already ticking on Florida coach Billy Napier\u2019s time in Gainesville. But when Penn State fired…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3009,6750,28,7577,2530,30,29,7578,7579,4978,7580,7581,7582,7583,7584],"class_list":["post-7116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-billy-napier","tag-college-football-coaching-carousel","tag-florida","tag-florida-football-coach","tag-florida-gators","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-gainesville-football","tag-gators-boosters","tag-james-franklin","tag-napier-buyout","tag-penn-state-firing","tag-penn-state-football","tag-scott-stricklin","tag-sec-coaching-changes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}