GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida fired head football coach Billy Napier on Sunday following a 22-23 record midway through his fourth season.
That 22-23 record is the worst by a Gators head coach since the 1940’s.
Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin held a press conference on Monday afternoon along with interim head coach Billy Gonzales.
Here in Gainesville. Florida AD Scott Stricklin speaking following the firing of head football coach Billy Napier. @WFTV pic.twitter.com/dxEQuOYJLl
— Alex Walker (@AlexWalkerTV) October 20, 2025
Three Gator players also spoke, including quarterback DJ Lagway.
“I had a meeting with Coach Napier, and as you would expect, he handled it as graciously as anybody could,” said Stricklin. “None of us will find a finer individual. His integrity, his character, the way he’s led this place, the investment that he’s made into this football program, will always be appreciated. I think we will benefit from it for a long, long time.”
Stricklin was also asked about what went wrong with Napier’s tenure.
“These things are an inexact science when you’re dealing with choosing people,” said Stricklin. “I’m not exactly sure why. I have some thoughts, but obviously he did a lot of really good things. Just at the end of the day we didn’t win to the level we needed to.”
Stricklin’s search for their next head coach begins immediately. He was asked Monday about what he wants in the next Gators head man.
“We want somebody who can come in here, be a strong leader and win championships and like I said, there’s probably people from a lot of different backgrounds that could have the potential to do that,” said Stricklin.
The only three active FBS head coaches to win national championships include Ryan Day at Ohio State, Dabo Swinney at Clemson and Kirby Smart at Georgia. Could those three candidates land at Florida?
“It is tricky,” said Stricklin. “There are three current coaches in college football who have won national championships. So unless one of those three decided that they want to come and we think they’re the right fit, we’re going to have to be making a projection somewhere along the line.”
Florida enters their bye week before a matchup with No. 5 Georgia on November 1. Kickoff from Jacksonville is set for 3:30 on WFTV.
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