The Gator Nation finally received the sweet release it had been clamoring for on Sunday with the dismissal of Billy Napier as Florida football’s coach after three-plus seasons on the Swamp’s sidelines.
In the interim, wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales has taken the reins of the program, but a bigger question looms over Gainesville: Who will take over the head coaching duties for the Orange and Blue for the long term?
That is a topic the sports media is fumbling over itself trying to answer on Monday morning, including USA TODAY Sports writer Blake Toppmeyer, who put together a list of eight top candidates for Florida’s vacancy. Among them are a few familiar names such as Ole Miss skipper Lane Kiffin and Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz.
Take a look below at who he suggested, including a pie-in-the-sky call for his final offering.
Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri
“Drinkwitz has the swagger to embrace the pressures in Gainesville and the track record in the SEC to warrant a deep look as the Gators’ next coach,” Toppmeyer begins.
“After a bit of a slow start from 2020-22, Missouri has gone 26-5 in the past two-plus seasons with a New Year’s Six bowl appearance. This year’s team should at least be in the mix for the College Football Playoff late into November and could even take advantage of an unsettled SEC to reach the conference championship game.
“Drinkwitz would represent a very safe, high-floor hire for the Gators, though he wouldn’t move the needle in the same way as his coaching peer at Mississippi.”
Lane Kiffin, Mississippi
“Kiffin would be a home-run hire for Florida with the added benefit of hurting the Rebels, who have been one of a few teams to fill the SEC power vacuum left by the Gators’ recent decline,” he states.
“But the landscape of college football has changed so dramatically in the past half-decade that it’s no longer a sure thing a coach would leave Oxford for Gainesville; that’s doubly true given how Kiffin not only seems very comfortable at Mississippi but has put in tremendous sweat equity to turn the program into a top playoff contender.
“Would Kiffin throw that away to start over again with the Gators?”
James Franklin
“There’s definitely a question of whether Franklin wants to jump immediately back into coaching after being dismissed midway through his 12th year at Penn State. Even if he’s leaning toward a year or more off the sidelines, the opportunity presented by Florida could be impossible to turn down,” Toppmeyer offers.
“While things ran aground with the Nittany Lions this season, his 128-60 record at Vanderbilt and in Happy Valley should make him a legitimate candidate. Wouldn’t the Gators have been ecstatic about bringing Franklin aboard had the school fired Napier last season? (Or even just three games ago?)”
Dan Lanning, Oregon
“This would be a kick-the-tires phone call with no downside for Florida. Lanning would very likely turn down the opportunity, given he’s already established himself at a Big Ten school with tremendous financial advantages and an intensely strong support system,” he says.
“But the 39-year-old former Georgia assistant might also be intrigued by the challenge and the chance to return to the SEC. The Gators have to ask, basically, and they’d better be ready to make him the highest-paid coach in college football.”
Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State
“Dillingham checks many of the boxes you’d want in a future coaching superstar,” Toppmeyer notes.
“He’s just 35 but has three years of experience as a Power Four head coach. He’s already won in a big way by taking Arizona State from three wins in 2023 to the Big 12 championship and a playoff berth last season. He previously was the offensive coordinator at Auburn and Florida State and was Lanning’s first coordinator at Oregon. He’s helped develop sophomore Sam Leavitt into one of the top quarterbacks in the country.
“But Dillingham’s lack of experience makes him a bit of a roll of the dice for a program that can’t afford any miss. There’s also the question of whether the Florida opening would entice him leave Arizona State, which is his alma mater.”
Jon Sumrall, Tulane
“Sumrall is the top Group of Five candidate after winning 23 games in two seasons at Troy and going 15-6 over the past year-plus at Tulane,” he explains.
“Before being hired by the Trojans in 2022, Sumrall spent four years as an assistant in the SEC at Mississippi and Kentucky. He’s guaranteed to land back in the SEC at some point, potentially as soon as this winter. But is he more interested in returning to Kentucky, where he was a player and grad assistant?
Rhett Lashlee, SMU
“Lashlee seems likely to land at Arkansas as the replacement for Sam Pittman after taking the Mustangs to the College Football Playoff last year in his third season at the school. That’s a difficult challenge, though, and despite deep links to the state, Lashlee could see the Gators’ opening as a much cleaner situation with a clearer path to the playoff,” Toppmeyer offers.
“But the two hiring pools aren’t the same: Lashlee, who played at Arkansas, is near the top of the Razorbacks’ list but would be farther down Florida’s board, meaning a few more proven Power Four coaches would have to decline for him to become a more concrete option.”
Urban Meyer
“The Gators could always try to lure Meyer back onto the sidelines and ignore the scrutiny that would come with hiring a coach with some major baggage. His two national championships and sterling record on the field in Gainesville might mitigate some of the downside.
“It’s not like this wouldn’t work: Meyer has won everywhere and on every level he’s been as a coach dating to Bowling Green, and would quickly clean up the sloppiness and self-inflicted errors that largely defined Napier’s failed tenure,” he concludes.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: 8 candidates Florida football should explore to replace ex-head coach Billy Napier
Reporting by Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
