Six Florida Football coaches who were fired midseason

It's Wednesday, the sun rose, and Billy Napier is still Florida football's head coach. Depending on who one wants to believe, the Gators are either going to fire Napier after their game against Mississippi State, allowing for a reset heading into their bye week, or the administration is going to drag its feet all the way until the end of the season to let things play out.

If Napier does get the axe before the season is over, he would become the seventh coach in program history to be fired before the season was over.

The following is a look at the previous six coaches who were told to pack their bags in the middle of the season.

Dan Mullen - 2021 (34-15)

It really did fall apart in a heartbeat for Dan Mullen. Coming off the 2020 season, fans were annoyed because of the Marco Wilson shoe throw and the defensive collapse against Alabama, but there was optimism of where the program was heading.

A loss to Kentucky started the snowball effect, and a blowout to South Carolina created a full-on avalanche.

At the core of fan frustrations was his insistence to play Emory Jones over Anthony Richardson, his refusual to fire Todd Grantham, and his constant flirtation with the NFL.

Combined with the fact he had all but given up trying to recruit and he was told to seek greener pastures after a loss to Missouri.

Greg Knox finished out the season as interim coach.

Jim McElwain - 2017 (22-12)

Like Mullen, the situation with Jim McElwain fell apart in a heartbeat, at least publically. He had back-to-back appearances in the SEC title game and was the 2015 SEC Coach of the Year.

However, even in 2016, Florida was blown out by Arkansas, FSU, and Alabama to raise question marks about whether McElwain was anything more than a gatekeeper.

As the 2017 season marched on, back-to-back close losses to LSU and Texas A&M derailed any momentum heading into Georgia. It was at this time McElwain started making claim that he was receiving death threats.

Upon investigation, McElwain offered no further details to the administration, and following a blowout loss to Georgia, the powers that be opted to fire McElwain.

Randy Shannon finished out the year as the Gators finished 4-7.

Will Muschamp - 2014 (28-21)

Unlike the previous two coaches, Will Muschamp entered the 2014 campaign with a seat that was warm after a 4-8 2013 campaign. A blowout loss to Alabama in 2014 set the tone, but it was a blowout loss to Missouri that sent everyone into a fever pitch.

Muschamp pulled off a minor miracle to beat Georgia, but it was an overtime loss to South Carolina that was the death knell for Muschamp.

Even though it was announced Muschamp would be fired after the season, he still finished out the year before making way to D. J. Durkin for the bowl game.

Ron Zook - 2004 (23-14)

They say you never want to be the guy who follows a legend and for the first time in Gator history they had to hire a coach to follow an outright legend.

Ron Zook never got it going in Gainesville, but in retrospect, his regime never sank to the lows we have seen the Gators sink to in the past decade.

Back-to-back 8-5 seasons already had Zook on the hot seat going into the 2004 season, and close losses to Tennessee and LSU set the stage for another disappointing year.

Zook's last straw was losing to Mississippi State, and what was going to be done eventually was done immediately.

He finished out the year and beat FSU in the season finale. Charlie Strong took over as the interim coach for the Peach Bowl.

Galen Hall - 1989 (40-18-1)

Leader of two conference title Florida isn't allowed to claim, Galen Hall took over for Charley Pell in 1984 and wound up winning SEC Coach of the Year. Sanctions hung over the program, but Hall still led Florida to a 9–1–1 season in 1985.

From there, Florida was never able to do better than 7-5 for the rest of Hall's Era, in part due to sanctions left over from the Pell Era.

Even though Hall got out to a 4-1 start in 1989, Florida administration opted to fire him after allegations of infractions surfaced that resulted in a bowl ban in 1990.

Gary Darnell finished out the year as Florida stumbled to a 3-4 finish.

Charley Pell - 1984 (33–26–3)

The man, the myth, the legend. Charley Pell would have thrived in the NIL ERA but was just 40 years before his time. After going 0-10-1 in 1979, Pell built Florida into a top-ten team in 1983 after going 9-2-1.

But it turned out that Pell had 107 NCAA infractions hanging over his head and Florida administration opted to let go of Pell just three games into the 1984 season.

As mentioned above, Galen Hall finished out the year and won the SEC title in 1984 only for SEC presidents to strip the title away the following year.