The University of Florida’s search for a new football coach is well underway following the dismissal of Billy Napier last Sunday.
The hire will be Florida’s fifth full time football coach since 2010 and Scott Stricklin’s third as Florida athletic director, defying the historical trend suggesting most Power 4 athletic directors get only 2 bites at the football coaching apple and bucking the prediction of many, including this author, who suggested that Stricklin’s fate at Florida may be tied to Napier’s success as Florida’s football coach.
Instead, Stricklin, one of the most gifted fundraisers in collegiate athletics, signed an extension this past spring. The Stricklin extension provides stability to the Florida athletics program, even at a time when the university as a whole grapples with leadership challenges. Earlier this year, the University of Florida hired an interim president, Donald Landry, after the eminently qualified Dr. Santa Ono, the former President of the University of Michigan, was rejected for political reasons. Compounding UF’s leadership vacuum, the university’s 2 top graduate programs, the law and medical schools, each have interim leadership. Stricklin offers rare stability, and after his basketball hire, Todd Golden, won the school’s third basketball national championship this April, UF had public-facing reasons to retain Stricklin beyond the steady fundraising and stable leadership the Florida athletic director has offered behind closed doors during an era of change at Florida.
Stricklin’s new job security has allowed him to move more nimbly, with a long overdue athletic department administration overhaul underway and a necessary Swamp stadium renovation on the horizon. Stricklin’s stable athletic program also offers a transparent rebuke to the understandable but misguided criticism that Florida is not a desirable job because the university is in tumult.
While there are certainly long-term leadership decisions to be made at Florida, the athletic department is on firm footing, with an arsenal of resources at its disposal.
Still, the best way to fundraise and promote long-term stability is to win games.
Florida hasn’t won a SEC or national championship since 2008 and has never appeared in the College Football Playoff in any format. Only 3 Florida teams have won 11 or more games since 2008, and only 1 team (2019) has managed that feat since 2012, when the last of Urban Meyer’s recruits helped Will Muschamp to an 11-2 season and Sugar Bowl appearance. Things have gone from middling and mediocre to worse this decade, with Florida’s 30-27 record since 2020 their worst half-decade mark for the program since the late 1970s.
Put plainly, the Gators have spent the better part of a decade and a half lost in the swampy wilderness, occasionally peaking their heads out of the tall grass to compete for SEC Championships under Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen, but never consistently managing to return to the national relevance the program became accustomed to from the 1980s through the Meyer era (2005-2010).
Stricklin rightly pointed out that unlike past administrations, where coaches failed, at least in part, due to a lack of administrative commitment to football and a willed refusal to engage in the resource wars that helped Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson build southern behemoths over the past 2 decades, there has “never been a time” when “as many financial resources and as much commitment has gone into making Gator football” elite. From a strong NIL infrastructure to world class facilities, Florida offered Napier everything he needed to compete. He failed, but the program is better positioned to compete now than it was when he arrived, and whoever Florida hires will walk into a situation where, at least from a foundational standpoint, winning big and winning quickly is possible.
Florida does have to navigate costs.
Florida’s 2025 roster wasn’t cheap, and Napier’s buyout approaches $21 million dollars. Speaking to the media this week, Stricklin acknowledged that the financial burden “is not insignificant.” Stricklin cautioned, however, against any narrative suggesting Florida won’t spend what is necessary to compete.
“We all want to be competitive, whether it is NIL, whether it’s coaching salaries,” Stricklin said. “We’re all responding to what the market dictates. We could sit here and talk high and mighty about we’re going to draw the line, and it would probably impact the pool of candidates you have depending on how strict you draw the line. We’re going to try to be as smart as we can with our resources and make the best possible decision. But we’re also going to be very competitive.”
Nonetheless, paying Napier’s huge buyout may limit what Florida is willing to pay to buyout another coach it might otherwise pursue aggressively. A good example of this is Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, an obvious candidate for any job but one whose buyout is reportedly in the 8-figure range.
That outlines the foundation and terrain facing Stricklin and the Florida search committee in the weeks to come.
This week, Saturday Down South spoke with multiple industry and program sources for a glimpse at Florida’s coaching search. What follows is our reporting on names discussed as potential replacements for Napier as well as potential drawbacks and obstacles to each candidate. The list of candidates is based only on information gathered by Saturday Down South, and not necessarily exclusive. Multiple sources confirmed that Florida has vetted or will vet each of the candidates discussed below. Multiple sources also confirmed that it is unlikely Florida will make any hire quickly. While no timetable for the hire is set, it seems possible, if not likely, that Florida will not announce a new football coach until early December. The coaches discussed are listed in alphabetical order.
Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri
Record at Mizzou: 44-25
Record vs. Ranked Opponents at Mizzou: 7-15
Pros: Drinkwitz is an outstanding roster construction coach built for the NIL era. He’s recruited better than any Missouri coach since the Tigers joined the SEC, inking 2 classes ranked in the top 20 in the country. He has recruited talented hotbed St. Louis beautifully, keeping 5-star Luther Burden at home in 2022, and he’s excelled in the transfer portal, landing big time talents like Ahmad Hardy, the SEC’s leading rusher, defensive tackle Chris McLellan and Zion Young, 2 of the SEC’s most disruptive defensive linemen, and quarterback Beau Pribula who all leaders on this season’s team, to name a few.
Drinkwitz also appears immune to the ego-driven choices that cost Napier dearly at Florida.
Drinkwitz is a remarkable 27-6 since 2023, when he gave up play calling and turned his offense over to Kirby Moore, who was on staff already but has thrived as Missouri’s play caller. Drinkwitz is 5-4 against ranked foes since 2023. Bizarrely, some Florida fans have claimed Drinkwitz is a product of Moore’s success. This is a weird argument given a huge criticism of Napier was he wouldn’t hire competent coordinators. It also falls flat given that Drinkwitz has also proven adept at hiring outstanding defensive coordinators, from Blake Baker (who left for LSU to become the highest paid DC in America in 2024) to current DC Corey Battoon, who currently guides a defense ranked 5th nationally in total defense and 6th in success rate.
Drinkwitz is also a proven quarterbacks coach who has gotten the most out of his talent at the position dating back to his first job at Appalachian State.
If Florida hands a gifted CEO the reins and that leader gets the most out of DJ Lagway, who any hire will push to retain, look out.
Cons: The record against ranked opponents leaves something to be desired and Florida fans, at least the loud ones on X and other social media platforms, don’t seem to like Drinkwitz’s personality. Is there something to the “nerdy Spurrier” wisecracks and Luke Skywalker costumes that rubs folks the wrong way? Perhaps. But Twitter isn’t real life, and to borrow from Todd Golden, who found his team name-dropped in a Drake song this offseason, “People love you when you win.”
More concerning should be the fact that Drinkwitz certainly plays games at the margins, especially offensively. The Tigers average over 2 yards per play less in SEC play than nonconference play offensively in 2025, and as a result, Missouri plays a ton of close football games. Drinkwitz is 11-2 in games decided by 1 touchdown or less since 2023, the best mark in the SEC in close games. What happens when and if the games at the margins start to flip to the other team?
Brent Key, Georgia Tech
Record at Georgia Tech: 25-16
Record vs. Ranked Opponents at Georgia Tech: 7-6.
Pros: Where do we begin? Key has taken a program that won 4 games in the 2 seasons prior to him becoming head coach and turned it into a College Football Playoff contender in less than 4 full seasons. He’s done it with a team that has just 12 “blue-chip” (4 or 5 star) players and ranks 39th in the 247Sports talent composite. For perspective, Florida has a record of 3-4 in 2025 with 52 blue chips. The Gators rank 12th in the talent composite. In other words, Key gets everything out of what he has.
Before he was a head coach, Key earned a reputation as an elite offensive line coach and one of the nation’s top recruiters. His offensive lines have been nominated for the Joe Moore Award (best offensive line) 4 times, including this season. He was named the nation’s No. 1 recruiter by 247Sports in 2020 and ranked No. 2 on 2 other occasions. He’s been a finalist for the Broyles Award, honoring the nation’s top assistant coach, on a preposterous 5 occasions, including 3 times at UCF, where he helped the Knights go unbeaten, helping build the roster that eventually (after Key had left for Alabama) made Scott Frost rich and Danny White a national champion (wink, wink). Key won a legitimate national title at Alabama as a top lieutenant for Nick Saban.
Key has recruited the state of Florida, grew up in SEC country, and has seen the operation of a SEC behemoth from the inside. One of the most respected coaches in the sport, Florida could give him resources he’ll simply never have at Georgia Tech. And oh, by the way, Key understands the Georgia rivalry, which he has played in and coached in at Georgia Tech, and he won’t be bothered competing against Kirby Smart.
Cons: Key’s offense isn’t flashy and the name won’t inspire the more casual element of the fan base. More vital? Key is building something special at his alma mater. He won’t ever have Florida style resources in Atlanta, but playing in the ACC, he is set up to consistently compete to make College Football Playoffs and eventually have a statue built of his likeness outside Bobby Dodd Stadium. Why enter the fishbowl furnace of the Florida job when you can win plenty at home in Atlanta? Plus, while his ceiling might be higher at Florida, if you are in the Playoff constantly at Georgia Tech, perhaps he can breakthrough? He’s already competed with Kirby better than Napier ever did at Florida, despite a talent deficit. Given Key’s allegiances to Georgia Tech, Florida would also likely have to overpay substantially here. For all these reasons, this hire seems unlikely, but it makes too much sense not to explore.
Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss
Record at Ole Miss: 50-19
Record at Ole Miss vs. Ranked Opponents: 9-10
Pros: Lane is the People’s Champion. Florida fans have been clamoring for Kiffin for months and he’s candidate 1 in the eyes of 2 prominent boosters who spoke with SDS as well. Part of the Lane love is the cult of personality, to be sure. Kiffin is playful on social media, has a high-flying offense, isn’t afraid to take a jab at a conference foe, and wins with swagger. Florida fans, desperate for the joyous bravado of the Spurrier era, see an intellectual heir in Kiffin.
Kiffin’s football track record is strong, too. He’s an offensive mastermind who revolutionized Nick Saban’s offense at Alabama, allowing the Crimson Tide to compete and win national championships while playing a more modern offense than what Saban originally brought to Tuscaloosa. He’s also won at levels unprecedented at Ole Miss in the modern, post-integration SEC. A savvy roster builder who has excelled in the transfer portal, Kiffin is also a quarterback whisperer. That means that if he is hired and he can keep DJ Lagway on campus, Florida could win quickly in 2025.
What’s more, Kiffin has embraced his role as a CEO, hiring Pete Golding, one of the best football minds in the sport, to coach his defense, a change that elevated his program in Oxford from competitive to Playoff contenders.
Cons: Kiffin has established roots in Oxford. His family is happy, he’s built a consistent winner, and Keith Carter is one of the best in the business at getting his hires what they need to succeed.
From a football standpoint, Kiffin has won plenty but nothing of substance beyond New Year’s Six bowl games and 2 conference titles at Florida Atlantic. He’s not nearly as good a recruiter as Key and he’s at best equal to Drinkwitz on that front, and he’s rarely seemed motivated to improve in that area, despite the fact that recruiting, even in the world of the portal and NIL, remains the lifeblood of the sport. Florida has hired offensive geniuses who succeeded in Mississippi before. The world of NIL and an expanded College Football Playoff make the comparison with Mullen imperfect, but if Kiffin is Mullen 2.0, will Florida fans be satisfied?
Rhett Lashlee, SMU
Record at SMU: 34-14
Record at SMU vs. Ranked Opponents: 3-5
Pros: Lashlee has marshaled excellent resources (SMU has a ton of money!) and utilized it to take a program to the College Football Playoff in Year 1 in a Power 4 conference. The Mustangs were blown out by Penn State, 38-10, but they played in a Playoff game, something the University of Florida has never done. Lashlee doesn’t call his own plays, but his scheme has succeeded at multiple stops, earning him a Broyles Award nod while the offensive coordinator at Auburn under Gus Malzahn. While his 2025 offense is middling (55th in total offense, 51st in success rate), his team ranked 27th in total offense and 25th in success rate in their Playoff season and finished in the top 20 nationally in 2022 and 2023.
Cons: This hire won’t move the fan base or the national needle. Lashlee is 0-3 in bowl and Playoff games, has just 3 wins over ranked foes as a head coach, and he’s never signed a recruiting class ranked in the top 30. Sources told Saturday Down South that Florida was impressed with Lashlee last season, but there’s a sense, at least among those sources, that the Gators interest here has waned.
Lashlee also may feel that competing at SMU, where he only has to reckon with ACC competition and has rich NIL resources and a terrific recruiting base, is a better place for him to build his coaching résumé before he takes on a job at a pressure cooker program like Florida.
Neil Blackmon covers SEC football and basketball for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
