Florida Gators Billy Napier under fire: Latest news, notes and intel
Tuesday, Sept. 17
*** Administration at different urgency level — ESPN’s Pete Thamel suggested that Florida’s administration isn’t quite as advanced down the road toward firing Billy Napier as the fans are.
“I had a big story on ESPN.com today looking at what’s next for Florida, and there’s an aura of inevitability that Billy Napier will get fired at some point this season,” Thamel said on College Football Live. “From calling around and talking to different people, there does not appear to be the same urgency at Florida that there is maybe in the fan base right now to fire Napier. Part of that is Napier has the locker room. This isn’t a completely undisciplined team or a team that’s tuned him out.
“And the other part is if you’re going to make a change in your coach this early in the season, you’d better have some sort of obvious upgrade or a capable coach on the staff. There’s nobody on the Florida staff right now that would be an obvious target to be an interim coach. So look for the season to continue to play out. They obviously go to Mississippi State this weekend, and then there’s a bye after that.”
*** Steve Spurrier presses pause — While most have already essentially fired Billy Napier in their minds, former Florida coach Steve Spurrier is taking a more patient approach. As the program’s ambassador, he carries some sway, too.
“Give him a chance,” Steve Spurrier said on Another Dooley Noted Podcast. “Everybody is under contract. Let them earn their pay. And keep ’em all here and let’s go. See if they can turn it around. … I think we just need to show a little patience and see what can happen from this year. I mean, all the coaches are going to be there even if the head coach isn’t so I don’t see how it’s going to make a huge difference if they remove the head coach. You might as well let the staff stay in place for awhile and see what happens.
“It’s a crucial game this week, crucial game maybe for the direction of the season. I still think you give Napier — they gave him what, a seven-year contract? Might as well give him three. If you can. But there’s going to have to be some decisions on how we finish record wise.”
*** Who serves as interim coach? — A not-insignificant question should Florida can Billy Napier is who picks up as interim coach for the rest of the season. Because Napier is the offensive playcaller, it’s a little more challenging.
ESPN’s Rece Davis had a somewhat off-the-wall suggestion for Florida: former LSU coach Ed Orgeron. Orgeron reportedly lives in the Destin area and has previous experience leading a team, though he’s got relatively little familiarity with Florida itself.
*** Lane Kiffin the leading candidate? — ESPN’s Ryan McGee suggests that not only is the Ole Miss head coach the leading candidate, he’s the entire list at Florida right now.
“I was in a couple of different situations and rooms and locations with people who have legitimate power in these things. Lane Kiffin is the list,” McGee said. “Anyone else, they feel like they’re settling. And I’m not just talking about the fan base. I’m talking about the checkbooks.”
McGee went on to further explain that Kiffin’s personality is exactly what fits the Florida mold.
*** New playoff complicates timing — ESPN’s Pete Thamel broke down why hiring a coach in 2024 will be different than it’s ever been, given the timing of the College Football Playoff and all the moving pieces around that part of the calendar. He explains:
“Say you want to put a coach in place on November 15th, right?” Thamel said. “If you’re going to fire a coach early, you want to get going. Obviously, you’ve got the portal and the signing day are now in early December – in that last week of November, first week of early December period. You’ve got to get everything together,” Thamel explained. “There’s a really good chance that – I think a lot of casual fans probably don’t know the College Football Playoff title game is January 20th. So, even say you want Georgia DC Glenn Schumann, right and that’s the guy you want and you can go hire him on November 15th? He may not actually come to campus to be your coach for seven weeks. That’s wild.”
“There’s going to be an interesting dance here,” Thamel continued. “You almost now, if you’re a Florida fan and you want Lane Kiffin to be your coach? You’ve got to wake up every day and root for the Rebels to lose, right? That’s really the most realistic scenario.”
*** Deeper house-cleaning required? — On3 national expert Jesse Simonton chimes in on the Florida situation, saying a Billy Napier firing might be complicated by the goings-on above him. Florida has an interim president, while many of the high-level administrative staffers have been around for multiple coaching failures now.
Simonton suggests perhaps a deeper cleaning of the program’s University Athletic Association (UAA) might be in order.
“The Gators will have a new football coach in 2025. But Lane Kiffin, Eli Drinkwitz or Jedd Fisch won’t suddenly fix what Napier could not. A total reckoning within the UAA is long overdue.”
Monday, Sept. 16
*** Napier addresses the heat — Billy Napier addresses local reporters at his weekly press conference and addresses whether he should get a fourth season in charge of the program, given how things are going.
“These are all hypothetical scenarios,” Napier said. “I think for me, I’m gonna try to model what I would expect from our players and some of those things I just talked about, I think that’s the whole key is that as a whole staff and throughout the organization, we have to model what we would expect from the players and want from the players. And that, for me, is total focus on the next opportunity to improve.
“We’re gonna put the game to bed today from Saturday. And then, it’s about doing my absolute best to prepare the team to play next Saturday.”
*** Florida Coaching Hot Board — USA Today releases a list of coaching replacements for Billy Napier. The list is as follows:
Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss
Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri
Jedd Fisch, Washington
Alex Golesh, South Florida
Lance Leipold, Kansas
Andy Kotelnicki, Penn State
Jamey Chadwell, Liberty
*** Billy Napier’s Buyout — On3’s Pete Nakos provides the contract buyout details for Billy Napier. The Florida coach would get roughly $27.7 million if he’s fired at the end of the month. If Florida waited until the end of the season, they would be looking at a $25.7 million buyout.
Here is a breakdown of the remaining years on Napier’s contract:
+2024 Contract Year – $7,300,000 (Feb. 1, 2024 — Jan. 31, 2025)
+2025 Contract Year – $7,400,000 (Feb. 1, 2025 — Jan. 31, 2026)
+2026 Contract Year – $7,500,000 (Feb. 1, 2026 — Jan. 31, 2027)
+2027 Contract Year – $7,600,000 (Feb. 1, 2027 — Jan. 31, 2028)
+2028 Contract Year – $7,700,000 (Feb. 1, 2028 — Jan. 31, 2029)
The Florida head coach would be paid $13.8 million within 30 days of the termination. He would receive $3.2 million every July 15th over the next four years.
Saturday, Sept. 14
*** The boosters have mobilized — Like Andy Staples, Matt Hayes of USA TODAY pens a column indicating that Billy Napier is done at Florida. Moreover, he includes some very pertinent details about a potential buyout:
“A group of Florida boosters have pulled together money to cover the expense of firing coach Billy Napier, two people with direct knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.”
That is massive news, with the buyout for Napier ranging from $26 million to $27 million depending on the timing. Florida appears serious about making a move.
*** “It has to be over” — Following a 33-20 loss to Texas A&M, Billy Napier has dropped to 1-2 on the season, on track for a third straight losing season under his direction. And for On3 national expert Andy Staples: “It has to be over.”
Staples hit hard on the idea that donations are going to dry up real soon for Florida. And while athletics director Scott Stricklin wanted to be patient with Napier, Staples said he risks turning “The Swamp into a morgue” if he is.
“Whether the official end comes later Saturday, Sunday or some day in the next two months, it doesn’t matter. The Florida football program has to be under new leadership next season if the people in charge of it want anyone to donate a penny or to buy a ticket,” Staples concludes.
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