On Sunday, Florida fired head coach Billy Napier after a 3-4 start to the campaign.
Gators wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season while athletic director Scott Strickland conducts a nationwide search to find Napier’s replacement.
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UF should be one of the biggest job openings in college football in this hiring cycle. The Gators have claimed four national titles in program history, but have not won a title since Urban Meyer was the head coach in 2008.
Florida has a strong NIL and passionate fan base, but has not made an appearance in the College Football Playoff. Since Meyer left the program after 2010, Florida’s best seasons came in 2012 under Will Muschamp and 2019 under Dan Mullen, when the Gators finished 11-2.
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The Gators have been linked to several big names to replace Napier, including Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and former Penn State head coach James Franklin.
Chris Vannini of The Athletic wrote a piece for The Athletic about how attractive the Florida coaching job is to prospective head coaches. While the Gators have money and recent history on their side, Vannini warned that the leadership at the school is unstable, giving UF a “D” grade for stability.
“The school doesn’t have a full-time university president because the school’s board of trustees unanimously recommended hiring Michigan president Santa Ono before the state’s board of governors rejected him over his handling of various political issues,” Vannini wrote. “Previous president Ben Sasse spent just two years in the role. He stepped down and cited family health issues, but his tenure was full of its own controversies.
“Athletic director Scott Stricklin has been in his role since 2016. While he signed a three-year extension this summer, that deal includes a provision that would move him into a semi-retirement special assistant role for five years beginning in 2030. All together, that’s a lot of administrative change in the near past and near future.”
Stability is important to new coaches who have to build a fresh culture. A head coach doesn’t want to worry about new people in the administration (or a new athletic director) wanting to make a coaching change (or change at AD) to hire their own head coach.
It’ll be interesting to see if a potential head coach has that concern about Florida. However, the next hire should receive a hefty buyout to help offset any worry about new leadership wanting to make a quick change if the transition isn’t as smooth as fans or boosters hope.
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