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Florida's Billy Napier is among the most overpaid football coaches in America

Napier is 14-17 as head coach of the Gators

By Benjamin Henderson

Florida head coach Billy Napier during a game between Florida and Tennessee in Neyland Stadium, in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024.
Florida head coach Billy Napier during a game between Florida and Tennessee in Neyland Stadium, in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. / Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Since giving the game away against Tennessee, it has been a mostly quiet week for Florida Football as it gets ready to take on Kentucky. Billy Napier is 14-17 as the head coach of the Gators and most fans at this point have just taken a feeling of apathy heading into tomorrow night's 7:45 kickoff.

So, since things were far too quiet, leave it to USA Today to stir back up a reminder that Napier is not only 14-17, but he is being paid $7.4 million this year to do it.

Florida Football: Show Me The Money

Paul Myerberg ran a piece titled "Five Most Overpaid College Football Coaches."

Since you are currently on a Florida Gators fan site, guess what coach was at the top of his list?

As Myerberg points out, 20 coaches in America are making more than Napier. But 19 of those have won at least nine games in a single season while at a Power Four school. Napier has yet to get past six, and it doesn't look good for him this season either.

It gets more comical when you drill down and look at the contracts that were given to all the new Power Five hires heading into the 2022 season.

Of the 14 Power Five coaches who were hired prior to the 2022 season, Napier was given the fourth largest contract behind Lincoln Riley, Brian Kelly, and Mario Cristobal.

As a reminder, Napier was given seven years for $51 million total. Here are some notable coaches hired that same cycle and given a lesser contract in 2022:

  • Dan Lanning - $4.7 million per year
  • Marcus Freeman - Six years, $42 million total
  • Mike Elko - $2.1 million per year while at Duke
  • Kalen DeBoer - $3.2 million per year while at Washington
  • Sonny Dykes - Six years, $30 million total

DeBoer and Dykes have made it to a national title game, Lanning is currently ranked 2nd in the country, Elko has already parlayed his job into an SEC job, and Freeman is clawing his way back into the playoff hun and is ranked 12th this week.

And then there is Napier, who has raked in over $1 million per victory during his time at Florida.

With just 14 wins to celebrate so far, the numbers don't like, and they spell disaster for Napier.

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