The Billy Napier era in Gainesville is winding down. As of now, the university has no official plans to part ways with the 4th year coach, but the writing is on the wall, the Medes and Persians are at the gates, and Babylon is ablaze.
The Napier era started out with a great deal of optimism. He seemed to have a modern view of program building, and his recruiting philosophy was a breath of fresh air compared to the “we’ll worry about that after the season” philosophy espoused by his predecessor. This optimism continued to rise as the 2022 season began with the Gators knocking off the Utah Utes in one of the biggest out-of-conference games in Ben Hill Griffin history that didn’t involve FSU or Miami. Those days are long gone. Years of mediocrity and in many cases an outright bad product have completely drained every ounce of goodwill the Florida fanbase had.
Not that the Florida fanbase has a deep reservoir of goodwill from which head coaches can draw. The leash is short and a below-average football program will not be tolerated; especially when the Florida basketball program is getting ready to defend its national title.
With that being said, here are some potential names to look out for if and when this job becomes available. Note: I do not trust Scott Stricklin to actually go for the top names on this list. I’m well aware he will just try to hit a single with this hire. I am including these names on the off chance a major booster pulls rank.
- The first calls you make should be to the top coaches in the sport. Try to lure Lanning back down south. Sign a blank check and make him say no.
- Lane Kiffin. Yes I’m doing this. Deal with it. All aboard the Lane Train
- Marcus Freeman
- Will Stein
- Kenny Dillingham
- Eli Drinkwitz
- Alex Golesh
- Nick Saban (wild card)
- Urban Meyer. My childhood will not allow me to keep him off this list.
If Florida cannot get any of those coaches, it’s time to evaluate hiring personnel and remove them from that position.
College Football Digest 