Odds change indicates Florida may have next head coach locked up
Florida fired head coach Dan Mullen on Sunday, and it is starting to sound like they may have already had a replacement in mind when they made the move.
Louisiana head coach Billy Napier has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the Florida job. At some point on Monday, oddsmakers seemingly became convinced that the Gators are going to hire him. BetOnline listed Napier as the favorite to be Florida’s next head coach at +350 on Monday morning. Lane Kiffin was next at +500. That same evening, the odds for Napier shifted to +140. Kiffin remained the same.
We have an update.
Napier: +140 (!!!)
Kiffin: +500
Mark Stoops: +800
Cristobal: +900
Bob Stoops: +1000The rest are mostly the same.
— Dan Thompson (@DKThompson) November 22, 2021
That is a significant shift and the type that usually only happens if there is inside information or, at the very least, a credible report.
Napier has never coached a Power Five school, but he was the wide receivers coach on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama from 2013-2016. He has won at least 10 games in each of the past three seasons at Louisiana, so it’s no surprise he is drawing interest from major programs.
There is at least one other school that seems interested in Napier, but we’d be surprised if he chose that school over Florida.