Finally, the Billy Napier era is over. Another Florida coach came and went without a Year 5, which marks the 4th consecutive instance of such a thing in Gainesville.
You could argue that “finally” is the wrong word to use there, but given the roller coaster ride that’s gone on for more than 13 months, it does feel like a stomach-churning experience has finally reached its conclusion.
We know why it ended. An 0-14 mark away from home vs. AP Top 25 teams didn’t help, neither did Napier’s 0 wins away from The Swamp against Power Conference bowl teams. Yes, we can already close the book on that stat because Napier didn’t win a game away from The Swamp in the 2025 season. It’s hard to say that would’ve been in play for a unit that suffered multi-score losses in all 3 of those opportunities, albeit against AP Top 10 teams.
Now, we’ve got another search on our hands. Florida AD Scott Stricklin will get to hire a football coach for the 3rd time, which he can credit to Todd Golden and the Gators’ NCAA Tournament title.
If Stricklin is making a short list (one with realistic expectations), here are the first 5 calls he should make:
Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss
Do I think he’ll take the job? Not based on what I’ve heard, and the recent reports that he’s working on a new contract could prevent that from becoming realistic. Does he still need to be called? You bet. There was a sense last year that Florida’s decision-makers believed they’d be able to poach Lane Kiffin, but we never saw that pursuit because Napier was never fired. Would that heat up again this time around? Who knows? What’s undeniable is that Kiffin is still one of the elite offensive minds in this sport, which we’ve seen with his remarkable audible to Division II transfer Trinidad Chambliss, who has become one of the stories of college football. In 6 years at Ole Miss, Kiffin is on his 3rd standout quarterback, which would be welcomed with open arms at Florida.
You’re still talking about poaching one of the top, highest-paid coaches in the sport, which would take complete alignment from the wallets in Gainesville. On top of that, the expanded Playoff complicates the type of pursuit for a team like Ole Miss, which could have that breakthrough season and play deep into December. There’s a chance that Playoff-bound coaches are completely off the market. We saw Brian Kelly take the LSU job before conference championship weekend when his Notre Dame team was still alive for the Playoff. Would Florida be patient enough to wait on a potential Kiffin move if he wanted all of his focus to be on winning a national title? We don’t know. All we know is that there’s no splashier hire than Kiffin that could actually be in play.
Brent Key, Georgia Tech
Our Neil Blackmon reported that Key was the name at the top of Scott Stricklin’s list. He’s a proven head coach who has steadily turned Georgia Tech into one of the tougher programs in the nation with Haynes King, who feels like the perfect representation of Key at quarterback. In some ways, Key would be what Florida thought it was getting in Napier, though without the play-calling. That’s fine. Whether Buster Faulkner would be a packaged deal or not, there’s a ton to like with Key. He spent a decade in the state of Florida on George O’Leary’s UCF’s staff, and he was Nick Saban‘s offensive line coach at Alabama from 2016-18. He knows how to win in the trenches in the SEC, and unlike Napier, Key has a pair of wins away from home vs. AP Top 25 teams. On top of that, Key coached in 3 competitive games with Kirby Smart‘s squad and wouldn’t shy away from that matchup.
The question for Key would be whether he’d be willing to leave his alma mater. He’s making roughly half as much as the aforementioned Kiffin, so the compensation difference could be more appealing, especially if Key feels that the ACC is heading toward a breakup at the end of the decade. You could do a whole lot worse than the man who helped turn Georgia Tech around.
Eli Drinkwitz, Mizzou
I’m not sure the casual college football fan realizes that Mizzou is 26-6 with just 2 home losses since the start of 2023 (maybe both to the eventual Heisman Trophy winners). Eli Drinkwitz did the thing that Napier didn’t do. That is, he recognized that he needed an offensive play caller. Not surprisingly, that 3-year run coincided with Kirby Moore’s arrival. Think about that, and how things could’ve been different for Napier. Florida has had a head coach calling plays the last 8 seasons. It needs someone like Drinkwitz or Kiffin, both of whom oversee the offense but delegate those duties.
You can get someone with a proven offensive scheme in the SEC who has also been exceptional recruiting and evaluating the transfer portal at Mizzou. So far, the Tigers might have the best portal haul of anyone in the SEC. If Florida is going to be competitive in a post-Napier era, you either need Drinkwitz to masterfully recruit his current roster, or he’s going to have to make some big swings in the portal. Also don’t discount that he’s the guy who made 2 phenomenal defensive coordinator hires the last 4 years. It might take a $10-11 million annual investment to poach Drinkwitz from his $9 million annual salary at Mizzou, but he would make a lot of sense.
Jedd Fisch, Washington
You want a Florida man for the job? Fisch is that guy. The former Steve Spurrier era grad assistant has been everywhere since then, both in college and the NFL. His Florida ties might make a few of those wallets open up a bit more, but this is about someone who inherited steep, uphill battles at Arizona and Washington, who basically started over with its roster after Kalen DeBoer left the runner-up squad for Alabama. Fisch managed to improve by 4-5 wins in Year 2 and Year 3 at Arizona, and he’s in for a nice multi-win improvement in Year 2 at Washington. Can he win big games? Since the start of 2023, here are the only coaches with more AP Top 25 victories than Fisch (6):
- Kalen DeBoer, 13
- Steve Sarkisian, 11
- Kirby Smart, 11
- Marcus Freeman, 11
- Ryan Day, 10
- Dan Lanning, 8
- Jedd Fisch, 6
That’s remarkable company, especially considering the rosters that Fisch did his damage with. Perhaps Fisch could even bring Ryan Walters on as his defensive coordinator after he had a ton of success as Mizzou’s DC before leaving for the Big Ten. Let’s also remember that while all eyes will shift to DJ Lagway’s future in Gainesville, Demond Williams Jr. isn’t draft-eligible until 2027. Perhaps if Lagway chooses another route, Fisch could bring his decorated quarterback to Gainesville and stay with his play caller in his pre-draft season. Keep that in mind for someone who might like the appeal of returning to his alma mater.
Alex Golesh, USF
I realize that Florida might try to avoid going the Group of 5 route to replace Napier after his shortcomings at the Power Conference level, but it’d be a mistake to dismiss Golesh (or Jon Sumrall) for that reason alone. After all, the guy already showed you that he could win in The Swamp. What’s the expression? If you can’t beat them, join them? In college football, the saying should be “if a coach from directional school in your state beats you in your building, seriously consider him as a candidate.” That goes double when the directional school matches the physicality in a game like that.
There’s more to like with Golesh than just that 1 game. USF was 4-29 in the 3 years before his arrival, and he could have that program in the Playoff this season. He brings the play-calling acumen from the Josh Heupel scheme, which is already proven in the SEC. Golesh was the play caller for the 2022 Tennessee squad that had the nation’s best offense. He’s had multiple jobs in the state of Florida, and obviously his ties in the all-important Tampa area would be crucial. He’s done a masterful job at not having his roster get picked apart while developing talent and following a true progression. But perhaps above all else, there’s just a certain edge about Golesh that’s infectious. Golesh is a first-generation American from Moscow who fell in love with college football while watching Florida-Tennessee and Michigan-Ohio State games in his cable-less home in Brooklyn. There’s no doubt that he’d work to the bone to succeed at a job like Florida.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
