Here’s where Billy Napier sits in CBS Sports’ head coach rankings
Florida football turned the page on the Dan Mullen era toward the end of last season after a disastrous campaign that left the Gators with their worst SEC record since 1986. The next chapter in the Swamp stars former Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns head coach Billy Napier, who has already taken the Gator Nation by storm with his CEO-like approach to rebuilding his program.
However, the nascent skipper still has a lot to prove in his first year on a Power Five sideline — especially in the brutal Southeastern Conference — despite an impressive track record at his previous stop.
Tom Fornelli at CBS Sports recently his rankings for Power 5 coaches stretching from No. 65 to No. 25, which included Florida head coach Billy Napier who landed at No. 32 overall. Here is what Fornelli had to say about Florida’s 24th head coach (not including interims).
Napier is the highest-ranked new hire without previous Power Five experience (that’s a mouthful), and it’s not surprising. He comes to Gainesville having won two straight Sun Belt titles, and he claimed at least a share of the Sun Belt West title in all four seasons at Louisiana. That success, combined with prior stops at Alabama and Clemson, respectively, under Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney, are just some of the reasons to have optimism for how things will go with the Gators. 2021 rank: n/a
While landing outside of the top 30 is not terribly encouraging on its own, Fornelli’s justification makes plenty of sense, but at least Napier ranks ahead of Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel, who sits right behind him at No. 33. Other notable coaches that trail him are the Oklahoma Sooners‘ Brent Venables (No. 45), Florida State Seminoles’ Mike Norvell (No. 47) and Auburn Tigers‘ Brian Harsin (No. 49).
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