Despite the fact that Billy Napier is slated to get over $20 million for his buyout and litteraly never has to work another day in his life, the fired Florida Gators coach appears to be a popular name being floated around the Group of Five.
One of those two options in particular would be an almost cruel twist of irony.
JMU and Tulane both exploring the possibility of Billy Napier
Multiple reports have indicated that James Madison University is looking at Napier after their coach left for UCLA this past week. Meanwhile, Tulane beat reporter Guerry Smith has hinted that the Green Wave also has Napier on their radar after they lost their coach to Florida.
It's clear Napier isn't content to take the Dan Mullen route and sit in a TV studio for three years before getting back on the sidelines. Napier wants to get right back onto a college sideline for the 2026 season.
It's also interesting that his spectacular failure at Florida hasn't damaged his reputation to the point where even Group of Five schools would stay away. Because both JMU and Tulane are successful programs that have expectations with them, both programs would have at least some options.
The buyer beware that we would tell both JMU and Tulane administrators is that the methodology Napier used to build upLouisiana and win two Sun Belt titles isn't a methodology one can use in the modern era now that the transfer portal and NIL are the way of the land.
And beyond roster construction and Napier's reluctance to use the transfer portal, his in-game management ultimately caught the ire of Gator Nation. As we wrote on multiple occasions, it wouldn't matter at times if Napier had a roster of nothing but five-star guys; his inability to make adjustments to do anything but Plan A was among the chief reasons he ultimately left Gainesville as the least successful coach since World War II.
Both JMU and Tulane will play in their respective conference title games this weekend.