The Florida Gators are once again in the market for a new Head Coach after firing Billy Napier on Sunday. Napier was in his fourth season at Florida as he was hired ahead of the 2022 season to replace Dan Mullen. For Napier, his 22-23 record at Florida and his 12-16 record in SEC play was a step back from Dan Mullen who went 34-15 and 21-14 respectively.
While Mullen had the better record, the issue for both was the same, they couldn't find a way to bring Florida back to glory. This hasn't just been an issue for Napier and Dan Mullen as before them Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain both failed to meet what Urban Meyer was able to do in his brief time in Gainesville.
As coaches keep failing at Florida, the Gators desperately need to nail their next hire and while they hope this time will need to be different, changes may need to be made.
Dan Mullen calls out Florida's lack of resources
On Wednesday, Dan Wolken of Yahoo Sports released an interview with former Florida Head Coach and current UNLV coach Dan Mullen where the two spoke about Mullen's current job, but also his time at Florida. One thing that stands out is how Mullen called out Florida for their lack of resources given when it came to hiring assistants.
"I think we’re six months apart, we’ve won at very high levels, won where it’s hard to win, won where you should win, then all of a sudden it doesn’t look right and, yeah, quick trigger and you’re gone. But I also look at — and maybe I don’t know the specifics of his situation — whatever that’s going to cost them, are they going to give the next guy a lot more than they gave him, as far as resources?"Dan Mullen
What's interesting is how Dan Mullen didn't just say Florida needs to give the next hire more than what he was given, but he says Florida needs to give the next guy a lot more than what Billy Napier was given. That sentiment becomes even more interesting when Dan Mullen claimed that Florida doubled the salary pool for Billy Napier.
"Me, right? I mean, like, everything was, ‘No.’ And then everything I asked for, they said, ‘Here you go’ to the next person. So what’s the plan to make it better? Not that than what? They doubled the salary pool [for Napier] to hire coaches and staff members. I was always told no. Everything was no."Dan Mullen
The level of hire that Florida makes will tell you a ton about how invested Florida will be in building a winning program. If Florida goes out and hires a big name like a Lane Kiffin, that's such a big investment that you can't afford to spare any expenses. However, if Florida takes a swing at the Group of 5 level you'll likely see that they're not 100% all in.
The coaching search the Florida Gators are going to go through is going to be fascinating to watch as the year progresses. Florida views itself as one of the best jobs in the Country and anything that's not an All-In move will be seen as a failure by the fanbase.
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