Former Florida coach Billy Napier emerging as person of interest for James Madison job

Former Florida coach Billy Napier has emerged as a candidate for multiple jobs this offseason. The latest? He is reportedly “a person of interest” for the James Madison head coaching job, according to a report from On3’s Pete Nakos.

According to Nakos, Napier’s name is one of two names tied to James Madison generating the most buzz (premium info in link) in the search. It will be interesting to see how the search progresses.

Napier and James Madison are not the only job searches Nakos has intel on. Penn State and UConn head coaching openings, as well as assistant coach scoop for LSU, Florida and more are also in Nakos’ reporting for On3 subscribers.

The James Madison job came open when Bob Chesney was tapped by UCLA to be its next head coach. Along with the James Madison job, Napier has been named a candidate of interest at Tulane, as well.

So far, Napier is reportedly one of five candidates who has interviewed with Tulane. According to Tulane beat writer Guerry Smith, Napier, Chesney, Blake Baker, Charles Huff and Will Hall are among those who have interviewed with the Green Wave.

Napier was fired by Florida midway through this season, his fourth with the program. Napier arrived in Gainesville in 2022 after an impressive four-year run at Louisiana.

He had a 40-12 record with the Ragin’ Cajuns, including three straight 10-win seasons and back-to-back Sun Belt titles. The program also won three straight Sun Belt West titles and shared first place in the division in 2018.

It was an up-and-down run for Napier at Florida, though. The Gators went 6-7 in his first season in 2022 and 5-7 in 2023. That meant the pressure was ramping up in 2024, especially after UF started the year with a loss to Miami at The Swamp. But the Gators eventually went 8-5 against a challenging schedule, including ranked victories over LSU and Ole Miss down the final stretch.

As a result, Napier returned for 2025. But things again hit a snag in the early part of the year when USF took down Florida in Gainesville on a buzzer-beating field goal in Week 2. That started a three-game losing streak before a huge Top-10 win over Texas at The Swamp. But the Gators came back down to earth the following week in a 34-17 loss at Texas A&M.

The pressure ramped up once again following that game as Florida once again looked ahead to a challenging schedule. When asked about the hot seat chatter, Napier said it comes with the profession and his focus was on the task at hand, which was a Week 8 game against Mississippi State. Florida went on to win that game, 23-21, but it would be Napier’s last.

“I do think that that’s a reality in our profession,” Napier said Oct. 15 on the SEC coaches’ teleconference. “I think that as a competitor, as a leader, I think that it comes with the territory. Right? So, I think you have to have the ability to focus on the things that are important today.

“I think that’s the whole key here. You’ve got to stack good days, and you’ve got to do a great job setting a good example for your players and staff. So, for me, ultimately we’ve got to get consumed with what’s important now.”

During Napier’s time at Florida, the Gators landed back-to-back Top 10 recruiting classes in 2024 in 2025. That came after the 2023 class came in at No. 13 despite multiple high-profile flips. Quarterback DJ Lagway proved to be the biggest signing under Napier’s watch, coming in as the No. 3 overall player from the 2024 cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this report.