Billy Napier’s imminent firing prompts another big question: Who holds power to hire Florida’s next coach?
Florida appears to have hit the point of no return under coach Billy Napier. Though many supporters believe it is inevitable the third-year coach’s tenure will end this fall, the mechanism pushing the buttons behind the scenes has been shrouded by an opaque power structure at the university.
Administrators at the university level and within the athletics department have remained mum as rumors circle Napier after two blowout losses. The reality is Napier can be fired at any moment, sources tell CBS Sports. Questions abound, too, about the future of athletics director Scott Stricklin, who serves an interim university president with a board of trustees comprised of powerful political players in the state.
The facts are clear: Florida is struggling to remain competitive under Napier, whose 12-16 record makes him the first Gators coach since the 1940s with a losing record after two-plus seasons. Florida has lost seven straight games to FBS opponents. The losses, including blowouts at home this season to rival Miami and Texas A&M, have embarrassed fans and led to booing from the stands. The questions facing Florida’s athletic department seem simple yet are difficult to answer.
How much control does Florida’s board of trustees have over a coaching search?
Who are Stricklin’s friends and foes, and is his job actually safe?
Who will Florida target when it fires Napier?
Behind the scenes, the gears are already in motion for a potential change, and there is more alignment among administrators than message board rumors tend to say. Stricklin, who is facing criticism of his own after decisions to hire Dan Mullen and then Napier, has been informed the decision whether to fire Napier is his to make. In that scenario, Stricklin will also be tasked with searching for a new coach, sources familiar with the discussions at Florida told CBS Sports this week.
No coaching search is as simple as a single leader seeking out candidates, and though Florida has kept its board of trustees, president and athletics department in philosophical alignment, there are rogues working in the shadows.
The inflection point could arrive Saturday when Florida (1-2) travels to Mississippi State (1-2) for a pivotal game. A loss could seal Napier’s fate. Does a win against the Bulldogs prolong the inevitable or serve as a swan song for Napier to ride into the sunset with a win as Florida travels east to Gainesville, where it can install an interim coach and regroup during a bye week?
Rumors of wholesale changes in the athletics department appear premature, sources tell CBS Sports, with communication between the president’s office and Stricklin remaining open and positive. Napier, however, is the lone party on an island, fighting for survival.
Florida’s administrators have been quiet. A university spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. When reached for comment on the future of the football program, Stricklin offered to CBS Sports:
“This is a remarkable athletics program. Over half of the Gators’ athletics teams finished in the top five a year ago, we continue to win championships as a department and the Gators continue to finish among the top five programs annually in the director’s cup. The University of Florida allows athletics to attract the best and brightest athletes and supports them in a way to achieve at the highest level. We have high expectations for all of our programs.”
Napier’s buyout is 85% of his remaining salary and would not offset if he gets another job. The exact number owed depends on specifically when Florida fires him, but the number owed to him on paper within 30 days will be roughly $13 million, with another roughly $3.25 million due on July 15, 2025. Three more annual payments will satisfy the total $25.67 million buyout by July 2028.
If UF eyes coaches in Playoff, when could Gators make hire?
Insider notebook: New CFP may delay coaching carousel, opposing coach says Manning ‘even better’ than Ewers
Napier was hired in November 2021 to replace Dan Mullen, who was fired one year after reaching the SEC Championship Game. Mullen was 34-15 in four seasons, including a five-win record in his final season.
Napier was generally viewed as a great hire by analysts and athletic directors in the industry. The protege of Nick Saban led Louisiana to three consecutive 10-win seasons, two Sun Belt championships and back-to-back top-20 finishes in the national polls. Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Baylor, Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas had previously expressed interest in Napier as a candidate to varying degrees, industry sources told CBS Sports.
“Anybody who said Napier was a bad hire wasn’t doing their homework,” a Power Four athletics director said.
Leave a Reply