The University of Florida fired head football coach Billy Napier on Sunday, a day after an error-filled win against Mississippi State that included more head-scratching calls and offensive lulls like those that marked much of his four-year run with the Gators.
Athletic director Scott Stricklin made the move following a 23-21 victory that looked like it was going to be gut-wrenching loss until defensive tackle Michai Boireau picked off a pass with 21 seconds remaining and the Bulldogs near field-goal range.
The game-sealing takeaway energized the Swamp, but the home crowd quickly turned on Napier and booed him as he sprinted off the field. Stricklin had seen enough and pulled the plug on a run that most of the Florida faithful thought lasted longer than it should have.
"While his influence was positive, it ultimately did not translate into the level of success we expect on the field," Stricklin said in a lengthy statement.
Napier went 22-23 in four seasons at Florida, including 12-16 in Southeastern Conference play. He was 5-17 against ranked opponents, including 0-14 away from home, and declined to give up his play-calling role despite calls to do so.
Equally damning: his 3-12 mark against rivals Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami and Tennessee includes the fewest wins by a Florida coach in such games since the late 1930s.
Gonzales takes over for final five games
Receivers coach Billy Gonzales is the interim head coach for Florida's remaining five games, beginning against rival Georgia (6-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) on Nov. 1 in Jacksonville.
The Gators (3-4, 2-2) have an off week to regroup from the chaos that often comes with a coaching change.
Jettisoning Napier will temporarily quell a frustrated fanbase, but the group won't truly be satisfied until the Gators hire someone with a proven track record at college football's highest level.
Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin is expected to top the list, although Stricklin passed on him when he hired Napier from Louisiana-Lafayette in November 2021. Louisville's Jeff Brohm, Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz and Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman also could be targets.
Florida owes Napier roughly $21 million, with half of that buyout due within 30 days. The rest will be spread over three annual installments beginning next summer, meaning the Gators will be paying three head coaches for the second time in seven years once they hire Napier's replacement; they did the same with Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen in 2018.
Napier sealed his fate against the Bulldogs. He dialed up a QB rollout on a third-and-1 in the waning minutes that led to a punt and gave Mississippi State a chance down the stretch. He also called a QB keeper on a third-and-7 earlier in the game, botched the final possession before halftime and was flagged for having 12 men on the field during a 2-point try.
It was a fitting end for a coach who often looked in over his head in the powerhouse SEC. Between repeated penalties, game organization issues, clock management miscues and running an offensive scheme that was as predictable as it was pedestrian, Napier stuck around longer than many thought he deserved.
Dropped out of AP poll after USF loss
Included in the clock criticism was Florida's 18-16 last-second loss to South Florida on Sept. 6. Although the Gators committed pass interference and a personal foul, when a Gator spit on a USF player, most pointed at UF's play-calling and misuse of timeouts that led to the Bulls' game-winning field goal.
At the time, Florida was ranked 13th in the AP poll. Afterward, the Gators dropped out of the rankings for good. USF is ranked 18th in the latest poll.
Stricklin gave Napier a public vote of confidence shortly before the Gators won their final four games of 2024. They hoped to carry that momentum into Napier's fourth season, but quarterback DJ Lagway missed close to eight months recovering from injuries — and it showed.
Lagway looked mostly lost in the pocket as Florida struggled to move the ball. Suddenly, the two-time Sun Belt Conference coach of the year, a guy who gained fame at his previous stop by saying "scared money don't make money," seemed afraid to get the ball down the field like Lagway did with such ease as a freshman.
Most outsiders saw this ending coming. Although Napier accomplished plenty while helping the program navigate name, image and likeness compensation and revenue sharing, he churned through assistants while failing to find much consistency on either side of the ball.
There's an argument to be made that the Gators actually regressed from Game 1 (an interception in the final minute to beat then-No. 7 Utah in the Swamp) to Game 45 (an interception in the final minute to beat Mississippi State in the Swamp) under Napier despite a seemingly more potent roster.
Whoever replaces Napier will inherit a sleeping giant, a three-time football national champion that recently caught up in the facilities race and has enough booster support to be a factor in the SEC.
"We exist to win and will not settle for less," Stricklin said. "UF has never been more invested in the success of this football program ... than we are today."
