After a successful tenure at Louisiana, Billy Napier brought some energy when he took over as the head coach at Florida.
And while the Gators have made two bowl games, they’ve only been above .500 one time going back to 2022. And this season, they’ve been undeniably disappointing. They’re 3-4 after losing three of their first four games, including a major upset loss against South Florida.
That’s led to Napier being fired today. Here are three Group of Five coaches who might be in consideration at Florida.
USF Head Coach Alex Golesh
If you can’t beat them, ask them to join you?
Not only has Golesh led the Bulls to two bowl wins in his first two full seasons at USF, he’s helped the program earn two ranked wins this season. Following its win over Florida, USF was up to No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25 before losing to Miami.
Golesh’s first couple seasons as a collegiate head coach were an overall triumph. But he was successful as an assistant before that as well.
He was previously an offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Tennessee from 2021-22. His last season there, the Volunteers were first in the country in scoring with 43.3 points per game. So he’s familiar with the SEC.
He was a co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at UCF in 2020. Before that, he was a tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at Iowa State from 2016-19.
That was after he spent four years at Illinois in a variety of roles, including running backs coach, tight ends coach, and recruiting coordinator. He’s also coached tight ends and was a recruiting coordinator at Toledo from 2009-11.
He began his coaching career at his alma mater, Ohio State, as a student assistant from 2004-05. He was also a graduate assistant at Northern Illinois (2006-07) and Oklahoma State (2008).
Tulane Head Coach Jon Sumrall
Sumrall is one of the top coaches in the G5 right now.
After he replaced Willie Fritz as Tulane’s head coach, Sumrall led the Green Wave to a 9-5 overall record and an AAC Championship appearance in 2024. And now Tulane is 6-1 after two Power Four wins over Northwestern and Duke this year.
Sumrall certainly has the resume to be worthy of a Power Four head coaching job.
Sumrall was the head coach at Troy for only two years previously, but he certainly made a difference. He led the Trojans to Sun Belt Championships in both of those seasons.
Sumrall, who played football at Kentucky and is from Huntsville, Alabama, led Troy to a 23-4 overall record from 2022-23.
Defense is Sumrall’s specialty, and during those two years, Troy ranked among the Sun Belt’s top three teams in total defense and scoring defense. In 2023, the Trojans allowed the 10th-fewest points per game in the FBS (17.15) and the 15th-fewest yards per game (306.5).
He had prior experience at Tulane. He was the team’s co-defensive coordinator from 2012-14.
Sumrall was Kentucky’s co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach before becoming the head coach at Troy, so he also has experience in the SEC. He was also a linebackers coach at Ole Miss (2018), an assistant head coach and linebackers coach at Troy (2015-17), and an assistant at San Diego (2007-11).
Memphis Head Coach Ryan Silverfield
After the success Memphis enjoyed with Mike Norvell as the team’s head coach before he went to Florida State, Silverfield has kept the Tigers playing at a high level.
Since Silverfield became the head coach going into 2020, the Tigers haven’t suffered a losing season. They went 11-2 overall and 6-2 in AAC play in 2024, concluding the year with a win over West Virginia in the Frisco Bowl.
Silverfield has coached at five Division I schools and with three NFL teams.
He began his coaching career at the high school level with his alma mater, The Bolles School, in 1999 as an assistant. He then went to another alma mater of his, Hampden-Sydney College, and worked with players on both sides of the ball.
He returned to the high school level to be Memorial Day’s head coach in Savannah, Georgia, before going to Jacksonville University to be a quarterbacks coach in 2005. He was a graduate assistant on offense and defense at UCF after that, so he’s coached in the state of Florida.
In 2008, he went to the pro level, becoming an offensive quality control staff member and defensive line staff assistant for the Minnesota Vikings. In 2011, he was a Vikings assistant offensive line coach.
In 2014, he went back to the collegiate ranks to become an offensive consultant at Toledo. He was a senior offensive analyst for Arizona State and assistant offensive line coach for the Detroit Lions in 2015.
He’s been at Memphis since 2016, where he’s been an offensive line coach, a run game coordinator, an assistant head coach, and a deputy head coach.
