It’s official: Florida hired Billy Napier as its new football coach.
Napier has spent four seasons at Louisiana, where he has gone 39-12, including an 11-1 record in the regular season this year.
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“We are humbled and honored to accept this incredible opportunity to be the head football coach at the University of Florida,” Napier said. “Our team, staff and entire organization will work daily to establish a program with integrity and class that we all can be proud of. More importantly, we will build a culture that is centered around making an impact on our players; as people, as students, and on the field.
“We embrace the expectations and are excited about the challenge ahead. We will assemble a special group of people and immediately get to work building a great program. A special thank you to President Dr. [Kent] Fuchs and Athletic Director Scott Stricklin. We look forward to getting to Gainesville and starting this journey!”
While Napier will need to start recruiting as the early signing period looms, he won’t be heading to the Sunshine State just yet. He will coach Louisiana against Appalachia State in the Sun Belt Conference championship game this Saturday before arriving in Gainesville the following day to meet with the team and appear at an introductory news conference.
The good news: Napier has a reputation as a superb recruiter. He’s also been known as one of the hottest up-and-coming college coaches.
READ MORE: Florida hires Billy Napier as new football coach
Napier, 42, played quarterback at Furman and has spent most of his career in the South. He has assistant coaching experience at Alabama under Nick Saban, first as an analyst and later as the receivers coach. Napier also served as an assistant under Dabo Swinney at Clemson and under Jim McElwain, another former Florida coach, at Colorado State.
Jimbo Fisher hired Napier to coach tight ends in 2013 at Florida State, but Napier wasn’t there for long after opting to go back to Alabama and coach with Saban. The Crimson Tide won national championships in 2011 and 2015 with Napier on staff. He was also the offensive coordinator at Arizona State for a season before taking the job at Louisiana.
Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin moved quickly after firing Dan Mullen last week, with Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger reporting that Stricklin met with Napier at his Lafayette home on Tuesday “and the interview went so well that Stricklin basically ended his search.”
“I’ve followed and studied Billy Napier’s career with interest, and he became the primary target immediately after this position came open,” Stricklin said. “We felt confident he would be an excellent leader for the Gators, which is why he was the only candidate I met with about the job.
“Billy’s ability to bring highly-talented people together — players, coaches, and staff — along with his vision for having a strong, relationship-based culture is what made him such an attractive choice. Add in how detailed his plan is for player development, staffing and recruiting, along with a sustained desire to improve, and it’s easy to see why he’s been successful.
“I’m so pleased that Billy, Ali, Annie, Sammy Nelson and Charlie are coming to Gainesville. It’s an exciting day for the Gators.”
This is the question: Will hiring another rising coaching star yield the same kind of success Florida had when it hired Urban Meyer? As News4JAX sports anchor and reporter Cole Pepper writes, that’s the hope.
COMMENTARY: Florida takes another shot with rising coaching star in Billy Napier
In this episode of Gators Breakdown, host David Waters and Will Miles react to the hire. David says this wasn’t just about hiring a football coach at Florida — this is about changing Florida football and being dedicated to that direction from the top down.
And in the latest episode, you can hear more from David as he and Gators Breakdown listeners discuss the 28th head coach in Florida football history.
🐊 Gators finish regular season with win over Seminoles
The Gators may have finished the season with a 6-6 record, but regardless, it always feels good to beat your rival AND prevent your rival from becoming bowl eligible.
Many had suggested that the game against Florida State would be an automatic loss after Stricklin fired Mullen before the end of the season, but the Gators were able to defeat the Seminoles, who were on a two-game win streak, 24-21 on Senior Day in the Swamp.
GAME RECAP: Florida tops rival FSU 24-21 for 3rd straight victory in series
Florida has now won three straight against Florida State.
While the Gators have to determine if they will play in a bowl with a new coaching staff headed to Gainesville soon, the Seminoles (5-6) will miss the postseason for the third time in four years.
In another episode of Gators Breakdown, David reviews the Gators’ victory in their regular-season finale.
As for Anthony Richardson, who came off the bench to replace Emory Jones in last week’s game, he has not made any announcement on what’s next for him. When asked whether he is committed to staying at Florida, he responded: “I’m a Gator.”
🤯 Coaching carousel craziness continues
It’s big news when a program like Florida announces a new football coach.
It’s even bigger news when a blue blood like USC hires away a coach from another blue like Oklahoma.
Lincoln Riley’s move from Norman to Southern California sent shockwaves across the college football landscape and this year’s coaching carousel, which already featured multiple notable openings.
READ MORE: USC hires coach Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma
One of those openings includes LSU, which could be nearing the end of its coaching search after parting ways with Ed Orgeron.
Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel reported this: “LSU is expecting to hire Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly as the school’s next head coach. An announcement could come as early as tomorrow.”
If Kelly does indeed leave South Bend, it would create another vacancy at a blue blood.
Stay tuned.
🏟️ It’s conference championship weekend
Here’s the slate of conference championship games scheduled for Week 14 (all games are on Saturday unless noted otherwise):
Conference USA: Western Kentucky at UTSA in San Antonio, Texas — 7 p.m. Friday
Pac-12: Oregon vs. Utah in Las Vegas, Nevada — 8 p.m. Friday
Big 12: Baylor vs. Oklahoma State in Arlington, Texas — Noon
Mid-American Conference: Kent State vs. Northern Illinois in Detriot, Michigan — Noon
Mountain West Conference: Utah State vs. San Diego State in Carson, California — 3 p.m.
Sun Belt Conference: Appalachian State at Louisiana — 3:30 p.m.
Southeastern Conference: Georgia vs. Alabama in Atlanta, Georgia — 4 p.m.
American Athletic Conference: Houston at Cincinnati — 4 p.m.
Southwestern Athletic Conference: Prairie View A&M at Jackson State — 4 p.m.
Atlantic Coast Conference: Pittsburgh vs. Wake Forest in Charlotte, North Carolina — 8 p.m.
Big Ten: Michigan vs. Iowa in Indianapolis, Indiana — 8 p.m.
🏀 Florida men’s basketball team remains undefeated
The Florida men’s basketball team has racked up two more wins since our last newsletter to stay undefeated.
The latest victory came on Sunday when the Gators defeated Troy 84-45 at home to reach 6-0.
Prior to that, Tyree Appleby hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Florida a 71-68 victory over Ohio State in the Fort Myers Tip-Off championship game last week.
Up next: Florida plays Oklahoma on the road on Wednesday night.
✉️ Send us your Gators thoughts & questions
David and I want to hear from you. Do you have any thoughts or questions about the new hire or the Gators football program in general? Agree or disagree with something we’ve said? Let us know here, and we’ll share our responses to your questions.
🎙️ Listen to more Gators Breakdown
You can catch up on previous episodes of Gators Breakdown at news4jax.com/gatorsbreakdown or click one of the following to tune in: Megaphone | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Google Podcasts | Stitcher