Billy Napier adds another vital piece to Florida staff

Billy Napier’s inaugural staff at Florida is forming into shape. On Monday afternoon, Louisiana strength and conditioning coach Mark Hocke announced on Twitter he is following Napier to Gainesville.

He spent three years at Lafayette, running the strength and conditioning program while also serving as an associate head coach. He has made previous stops at Alabama, Georgia, Florida State and Texas A&M.

“UL, thank you for welcoming our family four years ago,” he wrote. “We will forever be grateful for the memories we created together. To the players and everyone in the building I love you. Please know you have a brother for life in me. The best is yet to come, see you at the top.”

Napier is already brining two former Louisiana-Lafayette assistants — Patrick Toney and Jabbar Juluke — to his coaching staff. Toney was the defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach, while Juluke was the assistant head coach and running backs coach.

Toney is expected to fill a defensive coordinator or co-defensive coordinator on Napier’s first staff, while Juluke will fill an offensive assistant role with the Gators.

Contract details revealed for Billy Napier

Newly hired Florida head coach Billy Napier has signed signed a seven-year deal worth nearly $52 million, per Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger. The former Louisiana head coach will make an average salary of $7.4 million. The deal starts at $7.1million and increases by $100,000 each year. The new contract triples his pay from Louisiana.

Prior to arriving in Lafayette, Napier spent one season as the offensive coordinator at Arizona State in 2017. He helped direct the Sun Devils to a 7-6 record and appearance in the Sun Bowl against NC State.

Since taking over Louisiana in 2018, he has compiled a 40-12 record. He won the Sun Belt Coach of the Year award in just his second season at the helm.

At 11-1 (8-0 in league play), the Ragin’ Cajuns rank 42nd in the country and fifth in the Sun Belt in total defense, a major area of emphasis for Florida in its coaching search.

After the Gators took Alabama to the wire in last year’s SEC title game, the Dan Mullen era took a sharp turn for the worse. Florida began the year at 3-1, with its lone loss coming by two points against the Crimson Tide. After being ranked inside the top 10, the Gators have gone 2-5, with the only victories coming against Vanderbilt and Samford.