A narrow victory and a large buyout weren’t enough to save lots of Billy Napier.
The fourth-year Florida head coach was fired Sunday on the heels of a 23-21 home victory over Mississippi State, during which, and after, he was booed by a house crowd that witnessed a conference victory.
The university shall be on the hook for greater than $21 million, in accordance with ESPN, with half due in the following 30 days and the remainder to be paid in three installments starting next summer.
Florida, which continues to be paying former coach Dan Mullen, shall be handing out checks to 3 different head coaches.
This system decided it had seen enough after a victory — one which looked like a loss until an interception with 21 seconds left and ensuing field goal saved some face — that improved the Gators to 3-4 this season.
Despite the win, Napier heard loud boos as he jogged off the sector in what became the ultimate contest of a 22-23 tenure.
“I’m going to enjoy this one tonight,” an emotional Napier told reporters after the sport. “Tomorrow we’ll get up and worry about what’s next.”
The Gainesville crowd already had turned on Napier, who was nearly fired after three games last yr, one in all which was a blowout at Miami’s hands and one other a loss to Texas A&M. But athletic director Scott Stricklin backed Napier, and ending the season with 4 straight victories offered promise.
But no momentum was carried over in a disastrous 2025 season that included three consecutive losses to South Florida, LSU and Miami.
Sunday’s move comes per week after Penn State fired longtime coach James Franklin following three straight losses. He had $49 million remaining on his contract.
A narrow victory and a large buyout weren’t enough to save lots of Billy Napier.
The fourth-year Florida head coach was fired Sunday on the heels of a 23-21 home victory over Mississippi State, during which, and after, he was booed by a house crowd that witnessed a conference victory.
The university shall be on the hook for greater than $21 million, in accordance with ESPN, with half due in the following 30 days and the remainder to be paid in three installments starting next summer.
Florida, which continues to be paying former coach Dan Mullen, shall be handing out checks to 3 different head coaches.
This system decided it had seen enough after a victory — one which looked like a loss until an interception with 21 seconds left and ensuing field goal saved some face — that improved the Gators to 3-4 this season.
Despite the win, Napier heard loud boos as he jogged off the sector in what became the ultimate contest of a 22-23 tenure.
“I’m going to enjoy this one tonight,” an emotional Napier told reporters after the sport. “Tomorrow we’ll get up and worry about what’s next.”
The Gainesville crowd already had turned on Napier, who was nearly fired after three games last yr, one in all which was a blowout at Miami’s hands and one other a loss to Texas A&M. But athletic director Scott Stricklin backed Napier, and ending the season with 4 straight victories offered promise.
But no momentum was carried over in a disastrous 2025 season that included three consecutive losses to South Florida, LSU and Miami.
Sunday’s move comes per week after Penn State fired longtime coach James Franklin following three straight losses. He had $49 million remaining on his contract.
