Vegas releases odds for Florida head coaching search

On3 imageby:Nikki Chavanelle•11/22/21•

NikkiChavanelle

The analysts and talking heads have spoken but Las Vegas has its own ideas about who might take over for Dan Mullen at Florida. Oddsmakers released the list of favorites to grab the head coaching job in Gainesville on Monday.

These odds are courtesy of SportsLine:

  • Bob Stoops +400
  • Lane Kiffin +500
  • Billy Napier +600
  • Bill O’Brien +700
  • Matt Campbell +800
  • James Franklin +900
  • Mario Cristobal +1000
  • Mark Stoops +1200
  • Dave Clawson +1300
  • Luke Fickell +1500
  • Todd Monken +1800
  • Dan Quinn +2000

The Vegas odds provide a mixture of former head coaches, like Bill O’Brien and Bob Stoops and head coaches, like Lane Kiffin and Mario Cristobal, but is short on coordinator/position coach candidates.

Candidates to replace Dan Mullen

Bob Stoops, the current odds favorite, is the retired former longtime head coach at Oklahoma. While he won a national championship with the Sooners in 2000, Stoops was also on Steve Spurrier’s 1996 national champion squad at Florida as its defensive coordinator. It’s why he’s regularly a fan-favorite candidate whenever the Gators had an opening.

Lane Kiffin and James Franklin are seemingly linked to every major opening year-in and year-out. Kiffin is already in the SEC, and he has led Ole Miss to a 9-2 record this season. There are questions about whether or not Florida would want to have a personality like Kiffin’s at this point, though. Meanwhile, Franklin rebuilt Vanderbilt and has been successful at Penn State for the most part.

Billy Napier would be an interesting choice for Florida. The 42-year-old Louisiana coach has a 38-12 record and three consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins each year. He has also served as an assistant under Nick Saban, giving him experience in the SEC, as well as with Dabo Swinney at Clemson. Napier is an intriguing candidate for Florida’s next coach, but the Sun Belt to the SEC would be a major jump.

Dave Clawson has really turned Wake Forest into a power in the ACC this season. Wake Forest has one of the most dominant offensive attacks across college football, which is something that would likely intrigue Florida.

Over the last four years at Cincinnati, Luke Fickell has led the Bearcats to a 42-6 record. Cincinnati is the best Group of 5 team this season and vying for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Dan Lanning is the man behind Georgia’s historic defense this season. Georgia is allowing just 7.5 points per game, 21.2 points below the national scoring average. That would be a record-breaking performance if it holds. Lanning, however, doesn’t have head coaching experience.

The Gators are going up against LSU, USC, Washington, Washington State, TCU and others to get the best candidate to replace Dan Mullen.

On3’s Jonathan Wagner contributed to this report.