Florida Hires Louisiana’s Billy Napier as Next Gators Football Coach

Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Billy Napier is congratulated by Louisiana-Monroe Offensive Coordinator Rich Rodriguez after Louisiana-Lafayette won 21-16 in an NCAA college football game in Lafayette, La., Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

Florida has hired Louisiana-Lafayette’s Billy Napier to be the Gators next football coach.

The move ends a quick process that landed Florida its top target.

The 42-year-old Napier will remain with the Ragin Cajuns this week as they prepare to host Appalachian State in the Sun Belt Conference championship game Saturday.

Florida scheduled an introductory news conference with Napier for Dec. 5. He will take over for Dan Mullen, who was last Sunday after the team’s fourth loss in five games.

Napier is 39-12 in four seasons at ULL. Earlier in his career, he was an offensive analyst and a wide receivers coach at Alabama. His hiring will put yet another assistant to Alabama head coach Nick Saban on a rival team’s sideline.

(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)