Time and resources benefit Gators as search for next football coach is underway
Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin is entering his third search for a football coach in 10 years on the job. The difference this time will be the duration.
Having fired Billy Napier on Sunday after a 3-4 start to the season, tying off the worst record of any UF coach in a handful of decades, Stricklin gives himself more time to interview and identify Florida’s next coach.
“Time is an asset,” Stricklin said Monday. “The more time you have, the easier it is.”
He’d know. When he fired Dan Mullen in 2021, there was one week remaining in the regular season, compressing the period to find a replacement. So he sprinted. Seven days later, Billy Napier, after three consecutive double-digit win seasons at Louisiana, arrived in The Swamp.
But Florida has six weeks remaining this time around, marking the earliest the school has fired a coach since 1989. While UF’s team will undergo extensive change in the coming days, starting with quarterback coach Ryan O’Hara moving to the box to call plays, Stricklin can focus his efforts on appropriately vetting candidates.
He’ll even have the help of a firm, TurnkeyZRG, which has a growing presence in collegiate coaching search. That hopefully will ensure Florida’s next coach won’t ultimately depart due to assault or harassment claims, as two already have during Stricklin’s tenure. If nothing else, it gives Stricklin someone else to point at.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, as frat banners across UF’s campus read, is at the forefront of speculation. But Stricklin said he’ll consider a “wide variety of candidates,” especially given this could be a frantic coaching cycle. Nine jobs are already open, and others like Auburn and Florida State loom as potential openings. Florida pairs with Penn State as the top positions on the markets, which may have prompted Stricklin making a move with Napier earlier to not lose ground.
“UF has never been more invested in the success of this football program – elite facilities, robust NIL opportunities and comprehensive support for our student athletes and staff – than we are today,” Stricklin said Sunday while announcing Napier’s dismissal. “With our resources, passionate fan base and unwavering commitment, we are determined to return Gators football to championship form.”
That isn’t a gaslight. In Stricklin’s first two searches, Florida’s resources would’ve trailed anything in Happy Valley. But that’s no longer the case. As far as facilities matter, UF opened its new Heavener Football Center in 2022, which is more than good enough to compete nationally. The lack of NIL organization that placed Florida in a $13.85 million dispute with high school quarterback Jaden Rashada is resolved. UF has landed a range of top recruits since, including DJ Lagway, the central figure Napier’s tenure hinged upon.
Stricklin didn’t share a timetable for Florida’s search, though it’ll likely be complete by December. The high school early signing period starts Dec. 3, and the Gators will need to assemble a roster as quickly as possible. To UF’s advantage, players can no longer transfer until five days after a new coach is hired or when the transfer portal opens on Jan. 2. Many players originally cited their relationship with Napier as why they committed to UF. While the worry is that many would subsequently leave this offseason, some reasserted their dedication.
“I’m a Florida Gator, man,” Lagway said Monday. “My biggest focus right now is these five games and to continue to better my craft and continue to develop as a player.”
Penn State had a mitigation clause in its contract with James Franklin which stipulates that he must look for a new job. If he finds one before the contract would’ve run out (2031), the salary he receives will offset the $49 million he is owed. Florida does not, and it will honor Napier’s buyout — about 21 million, the fourth largest ever — tying up a hefty sum that would otherwise be valuable in the day of NIL and revenue sharing.
As an aside, the expectation that Florida will be better for firing Napier when it did has some faults. Prior to this season, 55 coaches have been fired in the last decade. Eighteen resulted in the school finding itself in the AP Poll sometime in the following season. But nine of the 18 came after a coach was fired in November or December. Miami fired Manny Diaz on Dec. 6, 2021, and went 5-7 the next season. It also rid itself of Al Golden on Oct. 25, 2015, and finished the following year 9-4 and No. 20 in the final AP Poll.
There isn’t an exact science here.
But Stricklin and Florida think they’re better for making a decision now, especially to keep a hold while this year’s coaching carousel begins to spin. While unlikely, the choice could even be in house, and this serves as a tryout for those still left in Gainesville.
“A goal of mine would be obviously be able to stay here (beyond this season),” Gonzales said. “My first goal is to make sure we put a fantastic group of players on that football field that are going to compete and play for the University of Florida.”