There's a major report coming from USA Today's Matt Hayes that suggests Billy Napier's time as Florida Gators head is coming to an end.
Hayes reports that Florida AD Scott Stricklin met with several major boosters and the plan to announce Napier's dismissal could come as early as the weekend. This would presumably happen Sunday after the Mississippi State game, regardless of whether the Gators win or lose Saturday.
Sources: Florida AD Scott Stricklin met with influential boosters Tuesday. The result: Gators coach Billy Napier could be fired as soon as this weekend. https://t.co/3kYrlr8ERC
— Matt Hayes (@MattHayesCFB) October 15, 2025
Hayes, who is a graduate of Florida and generally has solid sources when it comes to Gator athletics, adds the following:
"This, unlike other speculation about Napier's job status, is an important and direct connection to last year's near firing of Napier. It was then that the same Florida boosters were ready to pay Napier's large buyout, but were held off by Stricklin and convinced to use that money in NIL space to help Napier's buildout."Matt Hayes, USA Today
According to USA Today, Napier's buyout is around $21 million. Certainly a steep price, but way way way less than Mike Norvell's. And Napier's actually won a conference game in the past year.
Did Penn State's move force immediate action?
The dominoes tend to fall after a big move is made and none is bigger than Penn State firing James Franklin. For Florida, it means that there is another major job on the market and the top candidates for these coaching vacancies will have more options. That means the quicker a job search can be started, the better.
There is likely to be some crossover because Florida and Penn State will draw a lot of interest from the same circle. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti's name has already been floated around for Penn State's job and will almost assuredly be mentioned for the Gators job. The same goes for Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.
Florida can't afford to wait any longer
Because there's no guarantee the Gators will lose again this season. They probably will — the schedule is very challenging, but what if Florida wins this week and upsets Georgia on November 1? They can't fire Napier after knocking off another top 10 team.
The more this drags out, the possibility of Stricklin having his hands tied increases. This is what happened last year and Stricklin can't risk the possibility that the Gators get hot again. By executing a move this week, after an expected win, it proves that the damage has already been done and the decision makers in the program had already determined it was time to move on.
Simply put, it's time to rip the Band-Aid off.