Things haven’t gone as planned for Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier since he took over in 2022.
With the Gators set to take on six teams currently ranked in the top 15 in their last eight games, Napier’s days certainly seem numbered (in fact, many are surprised he has not been let go already).
Florida Insider Believes Gators Should Go After ‘Best Coach in College Football’ to Replace Billy Napier
Napier did a fantastic job when he took over at Louisiana in 2018, going 7-7 in his first season and then following it up with records of 11-3, 10-1, and 12-1.
Napier had back-to-back losing seasons to start his career at Florida, going 6-7 in 2022 and 5-7 in 2023.
Things started to look up in 2024 – Florida won its final four games, including wins over two ranked teams, the LSU Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels, and a victory over the rival Florida State Seminoles, to finish 8-5.
With ultra-talented quarterback DJ Lagway returning for his sophomore season, hopes were high in Gainesville.
Instead, Lagway and the Gator offense have had a nightmare start to their season, with losses to the USF Bulls, LSU Tigers, and Miami Hurricanes, leaving them at 1-3 to begin the year.
Now that it seems like Napier’s tenure at Florida will be ending any day now, Florida fans and writers alike have turned their attention to who could become their next head coach and one of the names many are putting on their list – Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti.
ESPN’s “College GameDay” host Rece Davis has suggested Cignetti would be an excellent candidate for the Gators. Davis said he’d “go try to pry Cignetti out of Bloomington, Indiana.”
Adam Torres from Fox Sports clearly agrees.
“I think u can argue Curt Cignetti is the best coach in college football,” Torres explained. “Not the most accomplished, not whatever, but when you look at the resources he has at Indiana, I’m not just talking about NIL, I’m talking about the history, whatever, what he took over, I think you can argue best coach in college football.”
After stints with Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) and Elon, Cignetti went 52-9 in three seasons at James Madison, guiding them in their transition into the Sun Belt Conference, and is now 14-2 as Indiana’s coach, including a playoff appearance last season. Fresh off a 63-10 thrashing of then ninth-ranked Illinois, Cignetti’s stock has never been higher.
With what he has accomplished at Indiana, especially in such a short period of time, Torres speculated that he would be even better coaching a traditional power.
“Because if he can do this at Indiana, imagine what he could do at Florida,” Torres said. “Imagine what he could do at Ohio State, Penn State, whatever.”
Torres, however, did not have that kind of love for the head coach of the reigning National Champions and current top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.
“Conversely let’s call a spade a spade. If Ryan Day was given what he took over Indiana, would he have Indiana where Curt Cignetti does? That answer is no.”
Napier’s buyout is an estimated $21 million, and bringing in another coach would cost a pretty penny (For example, it is estimated that it would take about $34 million in total to fire Napier and hire Cignetti ), which may make Florida a little hesitant to make a move. Of course, with Gator boosters growing impatient with what appears to be a fourth straight failure of a head coaching hire, it is expected they will pony up to make the move.
Whether or not they make a run at Cignetti – or if he would even want the gig – are questions we may soon have answers to.
