Florida Fires Billy Napier

The University Of Florida has made the decision to fire head coach Billy Napier. We’ve confirmed that the university has fired Napier, which results in a $21 million buyout. The move comes less than 24 hours after the Gators escaped with a 23-21 win over Mississippi State in during homecoming weekend, that coming after UF suffered a 34-17 loss at Texas A&M. Florida has struggled to be consistent on the offensive side of the ball, leading to pedestrian performances and scoring droughts. Napier finishes 22-23 in his career at Florida. The Gators will now be searching for their 3rd head coach under Athletic Director Scott Stricklin.

Billy Napier was hired in December of 2021 with very high expectations as he was the hottest name on the coaching market after having a lot of success at the University Of Louisiana. He started out with a huge home win in his Florida debut over the #7 Utah Utes. From there, the 2022 season was up and down with questionable play calling, inconsistent play on both sides of the ball and special teams blunders that shouldn’t happen in college football. His downfall and not-so-surprising departure ends a tumultuous four seasons that included multiple public relation missteps and mounting losses, including a stunning home loss to South Florida. Stricklin said he made the decision to fire him this morning.

Where did it all go wrong so quickly for Napier? It started with his ability to call plays. He first became an offensive coordinator at Clemson under Dabo Swinney, but was fired when the offense continued to regress. He then went on to become the Wide Receivers coach at Alabama under Nick Saban. After being passed over twice to be an primary play caller, he went on to become the offensive coordinator at Arizona State. After a successful stent there, he became the head coach at Louisiana, where he also was the primary play caller. His offenses were always good, but not great. He got the Florida job and never hired an offensive coordinator, which became a hot button issue after his first season. He considered hiring one after last season, but ultimately decided to continue to call plays. That decision ultimately led to him being fired in the middle of this season.

Gators WR Coach Billy Gonzales will be the interim coach for the rest of the season while Florida starts its search for its 5th head coach since Urban Meyer. There’s a few popular names out there that the fans would want, but ultimately, it’s up to the board of trustees to make the decision. After a meeting was confirmed to have taken place on Tuesday night, my sources confirmed to me that the firing of Billy Napier was imminent. The University Of Florida is a historic football program that deserves a coach that will bring them back to national prominence. Florida (3-4, 2- 2 SEC) hosts rival Georgia (6-1, 3-1 SEC) on November 1st.

Stay tuned to FloFactory.com for more on the Florida Gators.