By Derek Lee
ESPN
Make a splash JMU, make a splash. They are very clearly done messing around, the Dukes have no interest in playing small time football. James Madison University is in the process of finalizing a deal with former Florida head coach, Billy Napier. Pete Thamel first reported on the talks midday on Thursday and a formal announcement is expected to come on Saturday.
Napier, 46, was fired earlier this season after going 22-23 halfway into his fourth year as the Gators head coach. Prior to Gainesville, Napier was the head coach at University of Louisiana Lafayette where he went 40-12 and was twice named the Sun Belt coach of the year. It has been reported that James Madison loved Napier’s previous success in the Sun Belt and thinks that he can continue that success as the head coach of the Dukes.
James Madison is on the bubble to be the Group of Five member in the 2025-26 College Football Playoff. Current Dukes head coach, Bob Chesney has accepted the UCLA job and will be leaving following this season. Napier’s familiarity with the Sun Belt Conference and experience both at Louisiana and Florida are sure to aid him in continuing to grow the JMU program.
Florida on the other hand really needs to adjust their expectations. The days of powerhouse Florida are gone. Florida is not winning a national championship any time soon. Their boosters and donors demand double digit win seasons, their players expect millions and their fans expect titles. Florida has not seriously contended for a national championship 15 years. Yes, the 2018 and 2019 seasons were more on par for what Florida expects, however they were never ranked higher than 9th in the College Football Playoff rankings in either of those years. Napier was fired coming off of an 8-5 season in which Florida had shown true progress and growth. The SEC in 2025 is by far the best conference in football and Florida is a very young and inexperienced team in 2025. Expecting to win a national title or even a conference title was egregious.
Florida rid itself of Napier, but I believe that going forward, Napier will win the breakup. Florida will look on in 10 years and wonder what could have been if they had stuck it out with the Georgia native. The Florida program and Napier are going in opposite directions, and more than likely, Napier is going to end up in the College Football Playoff well before the Gators.