Billy Napier was fired in October following a disappointing stint as the head coach at Florida, but he didn’t remain out of work for long.
James Madison is set to make Napier their new head coach. Napier reportedly is getting a 5-year deal, and an announcement is expected to be made on Saturday.
Napier will be replacing Bob Chesney, who is taking the UCLA job. Chesney will continue to coach JMU in the Sun Belt Conference championship game against Troy. JMU has a chance to make the College Football Playoff if they win that game, and Chesney is expected to coach the team through the end of its season before leaving for UCLA.
Napier, 46, went just 22-23 overall and 12-16 in SEC play in three-plus seasons at Florida. He had just one winning season with the Gators. However, Napier had a history of success at Louisiana-Lafayette, which helped him earn the Florida job. Napier went 40-12 with the Ragin’ Cajuns and had three double-digit win seasons.
