Former Florida HC Billy Napier quickly lands new job

Billy Napier. Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Former Florida head coach Billy Napier quickly lands new HC job

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Dec 5, 2025 8:17 AM ET

Former Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier is quickly landing on his feet.

Is he taking a downgrade in the overall prestige of his next coaching job? Of course. After being fired by Florida midseason, though, it's not all that surprising. Still, any job is better than no job, especially if Napier wanted to keep coaching — and it's clear that he did.

According to ESPN's Pete Thamel and other reports, Napier is going to be the next head coach at James Madison.

A former coach in the Sun Belt at Louisiana, Napier's experience and success in the conference played a big role in the Dukes targeting him to replace Bob Chesney, who is now the head coach at UCLA.

Sources: Billy Napier is finalizing a five-year deal to become the next head coach at James Madison. A formal announcement is expected on Saturday. Napier is the former coach at Louisiana and Florida.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 4, 2025

Napier was 22-23 in four seasons at Florida, and he was ultimately fired for his inability to win big games. By all accounts, he's a great person, and his players loved him. As a result, he was also a half-decent recruiter for the Gators.

At the end of the day, though, Napier went 12-16 against SEC schools, 4-16 against ranked SEC opponents and 0-14 on the road against ranked teams.

That's just not going to get the job done, especially in Gainesville.

JMU has reason to believe he'll be a good fit back in the Sun Belt, though. Napier went 40-12 in four seasons with Louisiana, and that included three consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins.

He also won the Sun Belt once, so he's absolutely a great hire for the Dukes.

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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