Billy Napier could just have a career in Florida beyond this year. Saturday Down South’s Neil Blackmon reports that while UF’s boosters have had a plan in place to replace Napier for a month now, there’s a potential path forward for him in Gainesville.
“For Billy Napier, Florida’s beleaguered head coach, the win kept the lions at bay for another week,” Blackmon wrote. “Napier’s buyout was assembled by Florida’s boosters in September, per multiple media reports. After Saturday night’s blowout win, there’s enough hope swirling around the Florida program to provide a path forward under Napier, albeit a narrow one.”
Napier has been on the hot seat all season, but things haven’t gotten as bad as many were expecting them to. UCF being a much easier game than expected helps, while handling the teams the Gators should on their brutal SEC schedule, Mississippi State and Kentucky, keeps things from being a true disaster. Almost upsetting Tennessee on the road was almost a win for Napier from a narrative perspective.
Still, Florida isn’t married to Napier if the expectation is higher than just being a middling team in the conference. There may be a big-name coach who can elevate the program higher than Napier can; since this coach has already done the job at another school.
Lane Kiffin could be Florida’s head coaching plan
Lane Kiffin to UF is the hot head coaching rumor that hasn’t gone away but has quieted in recent weeks. Ole Miss was on their bye in Week 8 and Florida got the job done at home. There was no reason for it to flare.
But when the Rebels visit Gainesville on November 23, that rumor will be molten. Especially if Ole Miss is coming off a loss to Georgia. And most definitely if they’re coming off a losing streak.
Kiffin has taken the Rebels as far as they can arguably go, even with a rocking NIL collective that outpaces schools with bigger budgets. At Florida, he’d be coaching a proven winner who was playing for the SEC Championship under Dan Mullen just a few years ago.
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