Greg McElroy names major college football head coach who is about to be fired

With college football abuzz over the James Franklin firing, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy named another coach destined for the same fate. Speaking on McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning, the host advised that he expects Florida Gator coach Billy Napier to also get the axe soon.

I love Billy Napier, I think we all do. I think he's a good coach. I just think he's had too much time. I think the results have not been where they need to be.... It's only a matter of time based on what I've heard.Greg McElroy

Guest Paul Finebaum chimed in that "It should go down now. Billy Napier really shouldn't be the coach of Florida any longer."

Florida brough in Napier after the 2021 season. He had gone 40-12 at Louisiana, posting 10-1 and 12-1 seasons in his last two years there. The Gators have been on a downward spiral since Urban Meyer's 13-1 season in 2009, a year after he won the national title at UF.

Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain each posted a double-digit win season, but each also struggled to win consistently. Dan Mullen won double-digit games in his first two seasons, but slid to 6-7 in 2021, giving way to Napier.

Napier is now 21-23 and has posted just a single winning season, a eight-win 2024 campaign that ended in a Gasparilla Bowl victory. After a 4-5 start to 2024 and a 49-17 loss to Texas, it looked likely a season ago that Napier would be fired. But he and Florida rebounded with four straight victories to end the season, with the first two coming against ranked Ole Miss and LSU squads.

Florida had higher expectations in 2025, but a week 2 loss to South Florida sent the Gators reeling. Napier seemed to right the ship briefly with an upset win against Texas in Week 6, but followed that win with a 34-17 loss to Texas A&M to fall to 2-4. Florida still has to play Georgia, Ole Miss, and Tennessee, all but guaranteeing yet another losing season.

As previously reported, Napier's buyout at the end of the season would be just under $20 million. McElroy seems to think the question is not whether Florida will buy him out, but only when.