Florida Gators Urged to Consider Urban Meyer as Billy Napier Replacement
September 14, 2025
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The Florida Gators entered the 2025 college football season hopeful of turning things around and being a College Football Playoff contender. Billy Napier also entered the season on the hot seat with a lot to prove.
Napier, who took over as the Gators’ head coach back in the 2022 season, has failed to live up to expectations. After losing on Saturday to the LSU Tigers, his seat has grown even hotter.
Now sitting at 1-2, Florida’s chances of making the College Football Playoff are almost nonexistent. Losing to LSU isn’t something to be embarrassed by, but the Gators lost to South Florida two weeks ago. That isn’t a recipe for keeping a job in Gainesville.
Read more: Colorado’s Deion Sanders Issues Brutal Remarks After Embarrassing Loss
Since taking over the head coaching job at Florida, Napier has mustered up a 20-21 record. That has led an incredibly high level of frustration within the fan base.
Urban Meyer is seen prior to the game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Georgia Bulldogs in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 31, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. Urban Meyer is seen prior to the game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Georgia Bulldogs in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 31, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Should Florida consider moving on from Napier, the question would be, who do they replace him with?
Quite a few names have come up as potential options. The Gators are an attractive destination for coaches and they are still a premier college football program. Florida would have no shortage of interested candidates.
That being said, one intriguing name has been suggested as the next lead man for the Gators.
Bill Bender of The Sporting News has suggested that Florida consider a reunion with Urban Meyer. Bringing him back would make a lot of Gators fans happy. He led the program to a lot of success during his previous tenure with the program.
“A reunion would be complicated, but there is no question Meyer was an elite college football coach with Florida and Ohio State before a rough NFL stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars that incredibly lasted less than one season,” Bender wrote. “Meyer is an analyst on the Big Noon Kickoff – and a good one at that. This is a long-shot at best and we don’t see it happening. But the fact Meyer and Leipold are the same age is a reminder that at least a conversation might be worth a try.”
During Meyer’s stint as the head coach at Florida, he compiled a 65-15 record and won two national championships. As a whole in his college coaching career, Meyer has gone 187-32.
Read more: Texas Fans Send Brutal Message to Arch Manning After Rough Performance
Moving on from a head coach is never an easy decision. If the opportunity comes up for the Gators to replace Napier with Meyer, they should jump at it.
It still seems unlikely that Meyer will get back into coaching. However, if he’s open to doing so, Florida should absolutely make a call and gauge his interest.
For more on the Florida Gators and all things college football, head to Newsweek Sports.
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