They say those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and it appears that Billy Napier has learned next to nothing from his failures at Florida as he prepares for his new journey at James Madison. Now that the Dukes have been eliminated from the playoffs, it is officially Napier’s show.
And as he assembles his staff at James Madison, there are several familiar names joining him who got him jettisoned from Gainesville in the first place.
Rob Sale to join Billy Napier at James Madison
Napier’s first move of significance at James Madison was naming Robert Bala as the defensive coordinator for the Dukes for 2026. Bala has been jumping around as a linebackers coach over the past few seasons and was with Florida in 2025. The only previous DC experience listed for Bala was his time at Southern Utah at the FCS level.
They went 1-10 in 2021 and lost the finale 62-0 and gave up at least 30 points in eight of their 11 games.
So there is that.
William Peagler was the tight ends coach for Napier in 2022 and was an “offensive analyst” in 2025. He will be the running backs coach for James Madison in 2026. Peagler has been coaching since 2010 and has a grand total of two years of experience as the official running backs coach.
Got it.
He has brought over Jacob LaFrance to be the Associate Athletic Director for Football Personnel. LaFrance was the GM at Florida who tweeted out “Sun Belt Billy and the boys...” after beating Texas, only to wind up back in the Sun Belt.
But it is his choice to hire Rob Sale to be his offensive line coach at James Madison that is perhaps most symbolic of Napier’s failure in Gainesville.
It’s not that Sale was a “bad” coach, especially compared to others on the staff, but he seemed hell-bent on developing diamonds in the rough rather than landing the big fish in recruiting or the transfer portal. Sale will get to claim Jake Slaughter and Austin Barber as success stories, but the offensive line as a whole was a mess more times than it was a strength.
Throw in Napier’s insistence on using two coaching slots on offensive line coaches, and many Gator fans felt there had to be a better use of resources. Also, add in that Florida’s new offensive line coach, Phil Trautwein, has a resume that towers over Sale’s, and there is a reason Florida fans weren’t sad to see Sale leave.
But Napier seems convinced that what failed him in Gainesville won’t fail him at James Madison.
May the odds forever be in his favor.