ESPN names 8 coaches to watch if Florida moves on from Billy Napier

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Adam Rittenberg named eight coaches to watch if Florida moves on from Billy Napier at some point. The college football analyst called Florida “the most coveted job on the market” should it open midseason or during the offseason.

Napier is currently in the middle of Year 4, is 1-1 this year and 20-20 overall. The Gators are coming off a loss to USF, which is now ranked this week.

Safe to say, things haven’t been looking up for the boys in Gainesville so far this year. So, if Florida moves on from Napier, here are the names to watch, per ESPN.

Dan Lanning, Oregon

Lanning is 37-6 in three-plus seasons at Oregon and has all the resources that he could possibly want. Phil Knight, Nike, the Big Ten (by the way he already won a conference title). So why would he leave for Florida?

ESPN simply called this a swing for the fences type move. It’d be a long shot considering Lanning’s success and stature with the Ducks right now.

Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss

Isn’t Kiffin the true white whale for Florida? There were rumors that this could happen last year but Florida kept Napier on the sideline for 2025.

Kiffin is 46-18 at Ole Miss and 107-52 overall as a college head coach. Has he peaked with the Rebels? Maybe. One thing’s for sure, Florida would give him more resources, as cited beforehand. But this is a move that you might have to see to believe.

Jedd Fisch, Washington

Fisch turned around an Arizona program and won 10 games in 2023 before going to Washington. The Huskies went 6-7 last year, making it to the Sun Bowl. So far, they’re 2-0 this year.

Fisch actually attended Florida and was a grad assistant under Steve Spurrier, so there is a connection here. This is more of an outside the box type of hire as ESPN describes, but it shouldn’t be ruled out!

Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri

Drinkwitz went 12-1 at Appalachian State, won the Sun Belt and immediately went to Missouri. After getting three seasons of program building under his belt, Drinkwitz has won 11 and 10 games over the last two seasons, bringing his record to 40-24 with the Tigers.

The “dorkiest coach” in America, Drinkwitz is consistently winning in the SEC. There’s no doubt there’s a jump in resource tiers if he goes to Florida, so the Gators could make the call and make an offer to the 42-year-old.

Alex Golesh, USF

Everything’s coming up USF right now, except if they lose their coach to Florida this year. Golesh took over, arguably, the worst program in America and is 16-12 in two-plus seasons and has the No. 18 ranked team in 2025. 

So far, he’s proven he’s a winner. Just imagine if Golesh makes the College Football Playoff this year. He’ll be the hottest name of the cycle and it’ll be hard to turn down a Power Four job. Unless the Bulls can make the jump to the Big 12 this time or some other Power Four conference! Plus, he’s in-state for Florida!

Lance Leipold, Kansas

It seems like Leipold is regularly mentioned in coaching rumors like this. At this stage, everyone knows about his Division III success at Wisconsin-Whitewater, winning six national titles. At Buffalo, Leipold rebuilt a program and went 37-33 before going to Kansas, another program down on its luck.

After going 2-10 in his first year (2021), Leipold is 22-19 since, including a 9-4 season in 2023, finishing No. 23 in the country. Giving Leipold pretty much anything he needs at Florida, that’d be an interesting sight to see wouldn’t it? However, he’s 61 and has previously said he’d like to finish his career at Kansas.

Glenn Schumann, Georgia DC

At just 35 years old, the Alabama alum has been coaching at Georgia since 2016 as the inside linebackers coach, co-DC and full-time DC. Learning under Kirby Smart and operating that type of defense gives you some leg up over other up and coming candidates.

Schumann is bound to get a head coaching gig, maybe at Florida, so the Gators might want to strike while the iron is hot. Just two years ago, Schumann interviewed for the Philadelphia Eagles open DC job after Jonathan Gannon left for the Arizona Cardinals, but he decided to stay at Georgia.

James Franklin, Penn State

Here’s one out of left field! Sort of right? Franklin, similar to someone like Lanning, would trade in the Big Ten for the SEC, but leave a school that virtually gives him carte blanche.

Franklin is 103-42 at Penn State (2014-present) and went 24-15 at Vanderbilt, in the SEC no less, from 2011-13. This is likely Franklin’s best team and he could win a national title. So if he wins it this year, why in the world would he leave for Florida? If he can’t win it this year, does it necessarily get easier at Florida? These are fair questions, but Florida could swing for the fences, again.