After firing Billy Napier, the Florida Gators football program is in need of a new head coach. These are 10 candidates likely to make an appearance on UF's list of candidates.
Billy Napier’s mediocre run as the head coach of the Florida Gators has come to an end, which means the Gators are looking for a new coach for the second time in four years. UF Athletic Director Scott Stricklin will be leading the search after both of his previous hires – Napier and Dan Mullen – failed to put the program in the national championship conversation.
UF will likely target a sitting head coach with a track record in a Power Four conference. An up-and-coming coach from a Group of Five school can’t be ruled out, but after Napier’s failure coming from the University of Louisiana, UF probably will be searching for someone who has proven their ability at the highest level. Hiring a sitting coordinator is even less likely, unless it were a former head coach, such as Texas hiring Steve Sarkisian off of Nick Saban's Alabama staff a few years ago.
The new era of college athletics also changes the outlook. On one hand, UF’s payout from TV and SEC money has never been higher. On the other hand, athlete payouts and NIL deals have added tens of millions of dollars in annual costs.
Hiring a coach with a smaller buyout, and who will demand a lower salary, could open up funds for recruiting. However, it seems more likely that UF will be willing to break the bank if it can get a coach it believes will bring the Gators back to national relevance.
Stricklin’s last major hire at the school, basketball coach Todd Golden, is coming off a National Championship. The goal will be for the UF football program to match that success.
Dozens of candidates are likely to be considered, but here’s our preliminary list of 10 coaches who could take over the office Napier has left.
Lane Kiffin – Ole Miss head coach
The controversial but successful Ole Miss coach is getting the most attention among the UF fanbase, and it’s with good reason. He has elevated a historically average program to College Football Playoff contention by means of explosive offenses, high-level recruiting, savvy NIL distribution, and headline-grabbing interviews and social media posts.
Between his personality and offensive acumen, it’s easy to imagine UF looking at Kiffin as a modern-day Steve Spurrier. However, that personality could also rub the UF brass the wrong way. He’s one of the country’s highest-paid head coaches, so it would take a lot to pry him out of Oxford.
Lincoln Riley – USC head coach
Riley might be an unexpected name, but he makes sense on several levels. His history with quarterbacks is as impressive as anyone in the country, and he’s proven he can build a program. Riley was dominant enough at Oklahoma to earn the USC gig, but he’s been an odd fit in Los Angeles. Moving to a football-crazed town like Gainesville and a program with major resources could give Riley the platform he needs for a championship.
The knocks on Riley are his often porous defenses, that he has less experience recruiting Florida, and that his buyout could prove problematic.
Eli Drinkwitz – Missouri head coach
Drinkwitz is everything that people love about Kiffin on the field, but without any of the off-field antics. The offensive guru has won everywhere he’s been. He has resurrected the Missouri program, making them part of the national conversation the last two years. He has also led the transformation of Mizzou’s roster through recruiting and big NIL deals.
Drinkwitz isn’t a sexy hire, but the guy has won at every stop of his career, and he’s done so without controversy. He’s a proven program builder, and UF would be a step up from his current job in Columbia.
Marcus Freeman – Notre Dame head coach
Reports have surfaced that A) UF would be interested in Freeman, and B) that UF would be unlikely to get him. Freeman is a young, energetic, successful head coach that players love. Whether it’s likely to happen or not, it’s a call UF almost certainly will make. Snagging a head coach of his reputation, who has recent playoff appearances under his belt, would be a coup for Stricklin and UF.
James Franklin – former Penn State head coach
Franklin feels like a weird fit, but maybe that’s just because of how long he spent in Happy Valley. He had Penn State in the semifinals back in January, and the Nittany Lions were Top 5 in the country before a losing skid saw Franklin lose his job.
He clearly wants to coach again as soon as possible, and he has plenty of SEC experience after his years at Vanderbilt. The knock at PSU was that he couldn’t ever win the big game, which is problematic in the SEC, where almost every week is a big game. He's probably not the first choice, but he's the biggest name available right now.
Jon Sumrall – Tulane head coach
Sumrall dominated at Troy, earning himself the job at Tulane, where he has also impressed. In his previous three seasons as a head coach, he has nine, 11, and 12 wins. Tulane is currently 6-1 and in contention for the Group of 5 playoff spot.
Sumrall probably doesn’t have the resume needed for the Florida gig, but if Stricklin looks outside the Power 4, Sumrall is certainly near the top of the list. He is also one of the few viable candidates with a defensive background, rather than coming through the ranks as an offensive play caller.
Alex Golesh – South Florida head coach
He’s another G5 candidate with long odds, but Golesh is worth mentioning for a number of reasons. He has turned USF from a basement-dweller to a playoff contender in just 2 ½ years. He brought in the AAC’s best recruiting class each of the last two years. And he beat the guy he’d be replacing just a few weeks ago – in The Swamp.
Golesh has demonstrated his offensive prowess and his ability to build a program. He’s probably still a year or two away from a big job, but it seems inevitable that he will be leading a major Power 4 team before too long. UF could decide to get in early and bring him up the road from Tampa.
Charlie Weis, Jr. – Ole Miss offensive coordinator
Weis is the only assistant coach on this list, which also makes him one of the least likely candidates of the group. Considering how many people want to get Kiffin from Ole Miss, it would be a hard sell for Stricklin if he strikes out on Kiffin and hires his offensive coordinator instead.
That said, Weis is considered a rising star, and his offenses have been explosive and innovative. Jumping from Ole Miss OC to UF head coach would be a leap, but if other candidates don’t pan out, Weis could move up the list.
Rhett Lashlee – SMU head coach
Lashlee is the wildcard in any coaching list this year. The offensive mastermind has had quick success at SMU, taking the Mustangs to the College Football Playoff last year. He’s only 42, he has impressed at every stop as an offensive coordinator, and now he’s proven himself as the leading man of a Power 4 program.
But can anyone afford to pry him away from SMU? The Mustangs have invested massively in the program, and the athletic department has all the flexibility it needs to match any offer Lashlee gets from someone else. He would be a pricey hire for UF, but he checks just about every box on Stricklin’s list.
Jeff Brohm – Louisville head coach
Brohm is on his third head coaching gig, and for the third time, he has built a struggling program into a conference contender. He did it at Western Kentucky, at Purdue, and now at Louisville. The former NFL quarterback has earned a shot at leading a blue blood program. However, he may not want it. He’s coaching at his alma mater, and at 54 years old, he may be happy to stay at home with relatively little pressure compared to what he would feel at UF.
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