Florida has fired coach Billy Napier after a 3-4 start to the 2025 season, sources tell CBS Sports, ending a 22-23 tenure that never truly got out of neutral despite high hopes entering his fourth year with the program. The 46-year-old Napier has been on a near perpetual hot seat over the last couple years with only last season’s win streak offering a brief reprieve.
The Gators have five games remaining on the schedule, including rivalry showdowns with Georgia, Tennessee and Florida State. Napier finishes with a winning percentage of .489 — the worst by a Florida coach since 1949.
Wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales will be Florida’s interim coach.
“Today I met with Coach Napier and informed him that a change in leadership of our football program would best serve the interests of the University of Florida,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a statement.
“On behalf of Gator Nation, I want to sincerely thank Billy and his family for their tireless commitment to the Florida Gators. Billy built a tremendous culture of accountability and growth among the young men he led each day. His organized and detailed approach had a meaningful impact across all levels of our program.
As Coach Napier has often said, this is a results-driven business, and while his influence was positive, it ultimately did not translate into the level of success we expect on the field.”
Napier’s buyout is $19.38 million, 50% of which must be paid out within the next 30 days. He had made $7.4 million annually as part of the original contract he signed with the program in November 2021.
The Gators decided to move on from Napier a day after Florida won 23-21 over Mississippi State, a game during which Napier was serenaded by “Fire Billy!” chants. Florida intercepted Bulldogs quarterback Blake Shapen in its own territory — Mississippi State was already in field goal range and could have kicked a 46-yarder to win — with less than 30 seconds remaining to seal the win. All indications are Napier’s fate and the timing of the firing were determined ahead of the game result.
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Napier entered the 2024 season with a seat that was lukewarm, at best, but it immediately heated up when the Gators were blown out at home in Week 1 by Miami and played poor offensively two weeks later at home against Texas A&M. Florida began to show promise throughout the rest of the season, however, when ballyhooed freshman QB DJ Lagway was pressed into starting duty in wake of an injury to Graham Mertz. Florida was competitive against Tennessee and Georgia before ending College Football Playoff hopes for LSU and Ole Miss in consecutive upsets.
Florida won its final four games of the season, finishing with an 8-5 record, and optimism was high heading into 2025 where UF started the season ranked in the top 15 with eyes on being a darkhorse CFP contender. However, it became apparent early in the season that would not be the case following a Week 2 loss to South Florida as an 18-point favorite at home. Lagway’s development stalled in part due to injuries that forced him to spend spring practice unable to throw and a wide receiver room that lacked chemistry due to its own injury-plagued fall camp.
More questions piled up about the offense as Napier refused to relinquish his role as playcaller. His game management continued to be called into question, as was Florida’s lacking discipline, highlighted during the USF loss in which Brendon Bett was suspended for spitting on a Bulls player three days after the sports world watched the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Carter do the same in the NFL’s season opener. These problems permeated throughout Napier’s four seasons despite the coach’s insistence that they were correctable
Notable records for Billy Napier as Florida coach
| Opponent | Record |
|---|---|
| vs. SEC | 12-16 (.429) |
| vs. FBS | 18-23 (.439) |
| vs. Power Four | 15-22 (.405) |
| vs. Florida State | 1-2 (.333) |
| vs. Miami (FL) | 0-2 (.000) |
Fresh off a five-year extension, athletic director Scott Stricklin will now oversee the hire of his third football coach while in charge, a somewhat surprising feat for an SEC athletic director. It will be Florida’s fourth coach in 11 years and fifth since Urban Meyer stepped down following the 2010 season. The Gators are still attempting to reclaim the glory of the Meyer and Steve Spurrier eras in Gainesville that produced national championships and Heisman Trophy winners.
“Making this decision during the open date provides our team valuable time to regroup, refocus, and prepare for the challenges ahead,” Stricklin added. “The timing also allows us to conduct a thoughtful, thorough, and well-informed search for our next head coach. We remain fully committed to utilizing every resource available to identify the right leader to guide Gators Football into the future.
I will conduct the search with a high degree of confidentiality to protect the privacy of those involved. The search will focus on the hiring of an elite football coach who will embody the standard we have at the University of Florida, and we will continue to provide all of the necessary resources for that coach, his staff and the players to be successful.”
Who will Florida hire next?
The object of most Gators’ fans desire is Lane Kiffin, the Ole Miss head coach.
Under Kiffin’s leadership, Ole Miss is currently enjoying one of the more successful runs in program history. The Rebels have won 10+ games in three of the last four seasons, and Kiffin continues to show an ability to adapt to the changing environment of college football. Gauging actual interest — on either side — will come with time, but Kiffin’s got the chops, the track record and SEC experience to be a perfectly sensible hire for the Gators.
Florida coaching candidates: Lane Kiffin, James Franklin among options on hot board to replace Billy Napier
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Other candidates Florida is likely to consider include James Franklin and Jedd Fisch.
The Florida Gators are searching for their next football coach following the dismissal of Billy Napier. Swamp247 is the place to be for all of the latest news and intel on the coaching search. The market leader in Florida coverage, Swamp247 also provides recruiting and transfer portal coverage along with analysis, opinions and more. Join the conversation in Alligator Alley where the most diehard and dedicated fans discuss the latest news and rumors. Be the first to know the latest news with a VIP membership to Swamp247.
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