It is Monday, and Billy Napier has yet to be fired as the head coach of the Florida Gators. If we are honest with ourselves, Florida is going to continue to drag its feet for some hope of a miracle turnaround.
As it stands right now, the buyout of Napier's contract is $21.7 million, and if Florida waits until the end of the season, it would save a little bit of money, but it wouldn't be much in the grand scheme of things.
The issue isn't that Florida took a swing at Napier, and it hasn't worked out. The issue is that compared to all the other Power 4 coaches who were hired ahead of the 2022 season, Florida and the UAA have spectacularly struck out while paying way more than others to do it.
At someone is getting paid
Billy Napier's deal was for seven years for $51.8 million when he came over from Louisiana. Gator fans were sold a narrative of an up-and-coming Group of Five coach who could build Florida from the ground up.
Obviously, none of that has happened as the entire thing has burned to the ground, but just take a glance at all the other coaches who were hired by a Power Four school during Napier's cycle:
- Sonny Dykes, TCU
- Lincoln Riley, USC
- Kalen DeBoer, Washington
- Mike Elko, Duke
- Brian Kelly, LSU
- Joey McGuire, Texas Tech
- Dan Lanning, Oregon
- Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
- Jake Dickert, Washington State
- Brent Venables, Oklahoma
- Brent Pry, Virginia Tech
- Mario Cristobal, Miami
- Tony Elliott, Virginia
Outside of Brent Pry at Virginia Tech already getting fired, Napier is currently sitting as one of the single worst Power Four hires from the cycle.
Sonny Dykes, Kalen DeBoer, and Marcus Freeman went to a national title game. Mike Elko and Jake Dickert have been swooped up by other schools. Dan Lanning won the Big Ten last year. Brian Kelly and Mario Cristobal are combined 5-1 against Napier. Brent Venables, Lincoln Riley, and Joey McGuire are all ranked in 2025.
About the only other hire that still has question marks from this cycle is Tony Elliott, but even Virginia looks fiesty in 2025.
And the issue isn't just that Napier goes down as a bottom-three hire at best in this cycle, it's the contract that Florida doled out to do it.
Going back to all of the Power Four coaches hired ahead of 2022, these are the original contracts all of those coaches got:
Coach | Contract |
|---|---|
Sonny Dykes, TCU | 6 years, $30 million |
Lincoln Riley, USC | 10 years, $110 million |
Kalen DeBoer, Washington | 5 years, $16.5 million |
Mike Elko, Duke | Length not known, $2.1 million per year |
Brian Kelly, LSU | 10 years, $95 million |
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech | 6 years, $26 million |
Dan Lanning, Oregon | 6 years, $29.1 million |
Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame | 6 years, $42 million |
Jake Dickert, Washington State | 5 years, $13 million |
Brent Venables, Oklahoma | 6 years, $43.5 million |
Brent Pry, Virginia Tech | 6 years, $24 million |
Mario Cristobal, Miami | 10 years, $80 million |
Tony Elliott, Virginia | 6 years, $24.6 million |
Billy Napier, Florida | 7 years, $51.8 million |
Outside of Miami, LSU, and USC, Florida was the only school that, during the 2022 coaching cycle, gave a 7th year on its contract.
Combined with the buyout clause being at 85% of the remaining contract, Florida is stuck, even though it knows the situation is never going to get better.
Like, imagine any other line of work where you could sign off on a deal that loses your company over $20 million? Almost anyone else in America would get fired, but if you are Scott Stricklin and the UAA, you actually get an extension.
Smile and nod.
Just smile and nod.