Napier was fired after Florida beat Mississippi State on Saturday.
Florida is looking for a new coach for the fourth time in the past dozen years.
The Gators fired coach Billy Napier per On3 after a 23-21 home win over Mississippi State on Saturday. In the days before Florida's game against the Bulldogs, rumors swirled about Napier's job security. The Gators are off in Week 9 before meeting Georgia in their annual rivalry game in Week 10.
Florida needed an interception from defensive lineman Michai Boireau with 21 seconds to go to seal the win over MSU. The Bulldogs had driven to the Florida 29-yard line and were in position for a potential game-winning field goal before the pick.
The win moved Florida to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the SEC. The Gators started the season in the AP Top 25, but fell out of the poll after an 18-16 home loss to South Florida in Week 2 in one of the season’s first big upsets.
That started a three-game losing streak that included losses to LSU and Miami, two teams that started Week 8 in the top 10 before they each lost.
The Gators snapped that losing streak with a 29-21 win over then-No. 9 Texas. But the vibes from that win didn’t last long. In Week 7, Florida lost 34-17 at No. 4 Texas A&M.
That loss clearly was the final straw for Napier despite the win on Saturday. MSU ran 88 plays on the Gators and QB DJ Lagway threw two more interceptions. Napier's buyout is reportedly $19 million with no offset.
Lagway has thrown nine interceptions and nine touchdowns in 2025. Five of those picks came against LSU, but Florida’s offense has been inconsistent all season. Napier has been the team’s primary play-caller.
Napier was hired from Louisiana after Florida fired Dan Mullen with one game remaining in the 2021 regular season. Florida finished 6-7 in Mullen’s final season and have been better than that just once since Napier was hired.
The Gators went 6-6 and lost the Las Vegas Bowl in Napier’s first season before going 5-7 in 2023. That set up 2024 as a pivotal season, but an 8-5 campaign that ended on a four-game win streak with victories over LSU and Ole Miss bought Napier another season.
Now, Florida enters a coaching market that’s already pretty crowded as seven other schools have already initiated searches by firing their coaches. Along with Penn State, who fired James Franklin after a Week 7 loss to Northwestern, Florida still has the potential to be one of the best jobs in the country given the talent in the state. But there are still reasonable questions about the environment for success.
After Urban Meyer stepped down in 2010 and went 13-1 in three of his six seasons, Florida has won 10 or more games just four times and hasn’t been a real national title contender. The Gators are now six years removed from their last 10-win season and two of the program’s last three bowl appearances have been trips to the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa.
Can Florida's next coach get back to the heights the program achieved under Meyer and Steve Spurrier? The ingredients should be there, though no coach has figured out the recipe over the last 15 years.
Category: General Sports