A high-profile coaching job in the SEC — and one of the most coveted in college football — just opened. Florida fired Billy Napier on Sunday, a move that could spark a major domino effect as the coaching carousel kicks into gear.
According to FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt, the Gators’ next hire could come from one of three categories: a top SEC head coach, the leader of this season’s best non-Power 5 program, or one of the sport’s most successful coaches of the last decade.
“[Ole Miss head coach] Lane Kiffin, for sure. [Missouri head coach] Eli Drinkiwitz, call him. [USF head coach] Alex Golseh, absolutely call him. [Vanderbilt head coach] Clark Lea and [former Penn State head coach] James Franklin,” Klatt said on his podcast, “The Joel Klatt Show.” “I think all those guys are gonna be in the mix. I’m going to be surprised if one of those guys I mentioned isn’t the head coach at Florida next year.”
While Klatt listed five candidates, he’s willing to bank on one of two specific names landing the Florida job, which he thinks will cause a major ripple effect throughout the sport.
Florida fires Billy Napier, who will be their next head coach? 🤔
“My hunch is Lane and my darkhorse is James Franklin,” Klatt said. “I think one of those two guys is going to be the coach of Florida next year. We’re going to see where all these dominoes fall because these openings this year are bigger than what we saw a year ago. So, because of that, we’re going to see some massive contracts handed out. We already saw one.”
Kiffin has emerged as one of the top coaches in the sport since the turn of the decade. After becoming Ole Miss’ head coach in 2020, Kiffin has led the Rebels to three 10-plus win seasons in the last four years. They’ve also finished ranked 13th or higher in the AP Poll in each of those three seasons.
Ole Miss hasn’t made the College Football Playoff under Kiffin, but that could change this year. The Rebels were one of the last two remaining unbeaten teams in the SEC before losing at Georgia, 43-35, on Saturday. If Ole Miss is able to make the 12-team field, it’d mark a strong turnaround for a program that had six wins or fewer in each of the three seasons prior to Kiffin becoming its head coach. The program had also dealt with the sanctions from the recruiting violations during the Hugh Freeze era before Kiffin became head coach.
Of course, Florida’s possible pursuit of Kiffin depends on whether he views a move to Gainesville as an upgrade. Florida has been able to poach a head coach from another SEC program in the past, landing Dan Mullen from Mississippi State in 2017. But Mullen had previously worked for Florida, and Kiffin hasn’t.
Ole Miss has also made Kiffin one of the highest-paid coaches in college football, with his $9 million salary ranking 10th among all coaches, per USA Today. Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter recently told On3 that the school would like to get an extension done with Kiffin “before the silly season starts.”
Lane Kiffin has helped Ole Miss get out to a 6-1 start this year. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
However, Klatt thinks that Ole Miss might not be the only program that could prevent Florida from landing Kiffin this offseason.
“Brian Kelly is up against it. They’re going to have to play great football down the stretch for him to keep his job at LSU, Klatt said. “If that happens, that’s going to be the biggest domino.
“I believe that Lane is going to either be one of the first two options at Florida, or, if it opens, LSU. So, Lane Kiffin is either gonna get a massive deal to stay at Ole Miss or he’s going be at one of those two places.”
LSU made a big splash to steal Kelly from Notre Dame in 2021, with his $10.75 million salary ranking as the eighth-highest in college football, according to USA Today. That number is over $3 million more than what Napier was getting at Florida on an annual basis ($7.47 million). It’s also more than what Franklin made annually at Penn State ($8.5 million), so that’s why Klatt has LSU as the top job across the college football landscape this offseason.
Brian Kelly’s situation at LSU could throw a wrench into Florida’s head coach search. (Photo by Carly Mackler/Getty Images)
Prior to getting fired by Penn State, Franklin led the program to three straight 10-win seasons over the last three years. That included a 13-win year in 2024, which ended with Penn State reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals. Franklin had seven 10-win seasons in his final 10 years at Penn State, and helped Vanderbilt get two straight nine-win seasons before departing the program in 2014.
Outside of Kiffin and Franklin, Drinkwitz has the best track record of the other coaches Klatt mentioned as possible candidates. Drinkwitz has helped Missouri reach the 10-win mark in each of the last two seasons, finishing the 2023 season ranked eighth. Missouri also looks like a possible CFP team this season, getting out to a 6-1 start.
Lea, meanwhile, has Vanderbilt in a position to reach the CFP. The Commodores are 6-1 in Lea’s fifth season at the helm as they’re only two years removed from a two-win season in 2023. Lea helped Vanderbilt go 7-6 last year en route to winning SEC Coach of the Year honors.
Clark Lea has arguably become a top head coach in college football, leading Vanderbilt to a 6-1 start this season. (Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)
Finally, Golesh has USF in a spot where it could be the non-power conference representative in the CFP. He led the Bulls to an upset win at Florida in Week 2 in one of the biggest surprises of the college football season. USF is 6-1 in Golesh’s third year as head coach.
Regardless of who Florida winds up hiring, Klatt believes that the decision to move from Napier was well overdue. However, there might be a silver lining with waiting as long as the Gators did to make the decision.
“They probably should’ve done this last year. He won those games at the end and survives,” Klatt said. “Then, he came into this year with this daunting schedule. To be honest, it’s probably not the worst thing in the world to have your new hire face the schedule that they’re facing this year. But this is the way it falls for Napier.”
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