Even after Florida‘s late-season surge in 2024, Billy Napier needed a strong encore, while navigating another brutal schedule, to secure his long-term future as Gators coach.
After another slow start this season that featured losses to South Florida, LSU and Miami, Napier couldn’t dig himself out of the canyon this time. He was fired on Sunday with a final record of 22-23 in Gainesville.
For the fifth time since Urban Meyer retired in December 2010, Florida is seeking a new head football coach. The job has its clear upsides — proximity to recruits, fan and financial support as well as the ability to compete for national championships — but the coaching churn in Gainesville is undeniable. Meyer won big there but only for a relatively short period. Florida had three straight AP top-6 finishes under Charley Pell and Galen Hall in the mid-1980s. Otherwise, Steve Spurrier is the only coach to build a sustainable winner with the Gators.
Florida gave Napier the necessary support to elevate the program, and made clear gains in recruiting. Coaches who have faced the Gators the past two seasons repeatedly praised the talent on the roster. But things never came together for long stretches under Napier, as Florida didn’t make the 12-team College Football Playoff last season and weren’t going to this season.
Athletic director Scott Stricklin received a contract extension this summer and will be selecting his third football coach. How much power he truly has in the hire is a question looming over this search. Florida has yet to make the CFP, and really needs to get this one right. There will be no shortage of interest for one of the top jobs on the market.
Candidates | Transfers | Recruits
Five candidates for the job
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin: He’s the closest thing to Spurrier — without all the championships, of course — in today’s college football: A brash, supremely confident coach whose gifts for playcalling and quarterback development are undeniable. Kiffin, 50, has started to win more notable games in the SEC, taking down Georgia, South Carolina and others last season. He’s 27-6 since the start of the 2023 season. While his biggest accomplishments have come as an assistant coach (he won national titles as a coordinator at USC and Alabama), he led Florida Atlantic to Conference USA titles in 2017 and 2019, and knows the state and the league well. Kiffin has indicated he might stay at Ole Miss for the long haul — or at least the slightly longer haul — but Florida would be silly not to seriously gauge his interest level.
Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz: Kiffin almost has to be Florida’s top target within the SEC, but Drinkwitz also merits close consideration. Like Spurrier, he’s an offensive-minded coach who delivers the goods when behind a microphone, and will bring a confident style of play to Gainesville. After a slow start in Columbia, Drinkwitz, 42, guided Missouri to a Cotton Bowl title and a No. 8 finish in 2023, and also has a 27-6 record since the start of the 2023 season. The Arkansas native could have Missouri positioned for its third straight winning season in SEC play. Drinkwitz likes Missouri, which has shown him a stronger commitment over time, but if he wants to win a national championship, he could seek a move to a program like Florida.
SMU coach Rhett Lashlee: After guiding the Mustangs to the CFP in their first season as an ACC member, Lashlee is one of the top coaching candidates out there. His next stop likely would bring him to the SEC, where he twice coached with Auburn alongside Gus Malzahn and served as Tigers’ offensive coordinator from 2013 to 2016. Lashlee, 42, also would bring experience from within the state of Florida, as he served as Miami’s offensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021. He has won 11 games in each of the past two seasons at SMU.
Washington coach Jedd Fisch: Few coaches have hopscotched around the college and NFL map quite like Fisch, who at 49 has worked for seven NFL teams and six college squads since the 2002 season. He views Washington as more of a long-term play after reviving Arizona’s program with a 10-win season in 2023, but if there was a destination job that existed for Fisch, it would be Florida, his alma mater. He spent time as a student assistant and a graduate assistant with Spurrier, and has worked in the state as an offensive coordinator for Miami and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Washington certainly doesn’t want to lose another talented coach so soon, but if Fisch has a big season, Florida could come calling. Fisch is 11-8 at Washington.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman: Every coaching search, especially one for a coveted job like Florida, needs a shoot-your-shot candidate or two. Freeman seems very happy at Notre Dame, which has rewarded him financially and likely will continue to do so this offseason, especially if he returns to the CFP. Notre Dame certainly doesn’t want to lose a second consecutive coach to an SEC team, but Freeman, just 39, is one of the hottest coaches on the market and would energize Florida with his on-field track record and his recruiting approach. The Dayton, Ohio, native has spent his entire playing and coaching career in two states — Ohio and Indiana — and would have to adjust to life in the SEC. But he has recruited nationally and shown he can win consistently, especially during last year’s playoff run. Florida would be foolish not to at least gauge his interest. — Adam Rittenberg
Five important players to retain
QB DJ Lagway: Can the next head coach keep Lagway in Gainesville? The sophomore QB has been extremely loyal to Napier and invested in building up this program with him. The retention of Lagway will likely be a major priority for whomever takes this job. Lagway has struggled this season, ranking last among SEC starters in QBR (56.7) and 15th in yards per attempt (6.82), and has dealt with injuries throughout his two seasons at Florida. He’ll still likely have an opportunity to be one of the highest-paid QBs in the country next year, regardless of how his sophomore season plays out.
If the Texas native wants to play closer to home, he’ll have options. Texas A&M tried hard to flip Lagway’s recruitment at the last minute after Mike Elko took over in December 2023. His father, Derek Lagway, played at Baylor in the late 1990s. Lagway will be entering his junior season and draft eligible next year, so putting himself in the best position for his development and the NFL — whether that’s with a new regime at Florida or elsewhere — will undoubtedly influence this decision.
RB Jadan Baugh: As a freshman, Baugh emerged as the Gators’ leading rusher with 916 rushing yards and eight TDs on 5.4 yards per carry. Entering Week 8, Baugh ranked third among all FBS backs in forced missed tackles (47), according to ESPN Research, and more than 750 of his 1,284 career rushing yards have come after first contact. On Saturday, he rushed for a career-best 150 yards to help power the Gators’ win over Mississippi State. Baugh will have two more seasons of eligibility and is expected to receive significant SEC and national interest.
LB Myles Graham: Graham has moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore and leads Florida with 40 tackles, 3.5 TFLs and three pass breakups. The son of former Gators and NFL running back Earnest Graham came in as the No. 4-ranked outside linebacker in the 2024 ESPN 300 and proved he was ready to play with a productive year in a reserve role, earning SEC All-Freshman recognition. It’ll probably be tough to pull him away from Gainesville given his family ties, but he’s a talented playmaker.
WR Vernell Brown III: The true freshman wideout, ESPN’s No. 41 overall recruit for 2025, earned a starting role right away and has a team-high 32 catches for 463 yards through seven games. He’s the son and grandson of former Gators, so there’s a lot of loyalty there, but Brown will command major interest. You could put several more Gators wide receivers on this list, too, between Dallas Wilson, Eugene Wilson III and Aidan Mizell. All four will be seriously coveted if they explore transfers.
DT Caleb Banks: Banks turning down the NFL for one more season with the Gators was a huge deal for Napier and his staff. He’s one of ESPN’s top three defensive tackle prospects for the 2026 draft and almost certainly going pro after this season, but Banks could return for one extra season if he needs a medical redshirt this year. The 6-foot-5, 330-pound senior missed the first two games because of a foot injury, re-injured it against LSU and is now expected to be out indefinitely. — Max Olson
Three key recruits
DE JaReylan McCoy, No. 9 in the ESPN 300: McCoy committed to the Gators over LSU and Texas in June, and the five-star edge rusher remains the top-ranked member of Florida’s 2026 class. McCoy and his family have spoken often about his comfort with the Gators, emphasizing that his pledge is tied as much, if not more, to the program as it is to Napier and his staff. Florida’s in-season decision to move on from Napier will surely test that resolve. McCoy spent a month committed to LSU earlier this year, and the Tigers have continued their efforts with him this fall, as have Ole Miss and Texas, among others.
QB Will Griffin, No. 69 in the ESPN 300: A Gainesville native whose family went to UF, Griffin has been committed to the Gators since June 2024, and his recruitment has been effectively shut down for more than a year. As things stand, there’s nothing to suggest Griffin will be on the move soon. But Napier’s departure at least cracks the door for any QB-needy program to check in on ESPN’s No. 6 pocket passer. If/when other elite commits begin spilling out of Florida’s class, figuring out how to keep Griffin in the fold will be imperative for the Gators.
RB Davian Groce, No. 36 overall: An August commit, Groce would represent the Gators’ highest-ranked running back signee since Kelvin Taylor in the 2013 cycle. Florida emerged late in Groce’s recruiting process to beat finalists Baylor, Houston and Oklahoma to ESPN’s No. 4 running back prospect. Those schools will likely circle back with Groce, whose Gators pledge looms especially large if fellow Florida running back Carsyn Baker — an early fall flip target of Auburn, Florida State and South Carolina — reopens his recruitment and heads elsewhere. — Eli Lederman
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