Florida would owe Billy Napier quite a bit of money if they fired him. (Photo: Kim Klement, USA Today)
Florida fans are understandably enraged after the Gators’ 33-14 loss to Kentucky. The fury likely reached even greater temperatures when Napier declared during a press conference on Monday that he would not be relinquishing the play-calling duties (which may or may not have been a reasonable expectation mid-season). As such, as is usually the case when a coach is underperforming, the topic of firing Billy Napier has quickly grown louder and more widespread.
But how practical is that, really? And I’m not even talking about from a “did Napier really get enough time to have a fair chance?” type of way. I’m talking about from a financial standpoint.
Napier came to Florida in 2022 with an initial salary of $7.1M. That salary is set to increase by $100,000 in each of the seven years his contract runs through. So Napier is earning $7.2M this year, in 2023, will earn $7.3M in 2024, and so on. In total, that seven-year deal is worth $51.8M.
If Billy Napier is fired without cause- meaning, he just didn’t win enough games, as opposed to a situation where he embarrasses the university with off-field actions the way Mel Tucker did at Michigan State- Florida would be forced to pay him 85% of what remains on his contract. That 85% number doesn’t change by the year; it would be 85% of the salary owed for each season left. (Objectively speaking, that’s a great job by his agent Jimmy Sexton. As for Florida’s side of the negotiating table… not so much.)
With that established, let’s go year by year and detail what that means from a dollar standpoint if he’s fired after each season.
If he’s fired after 2023, Billy Napier will be owed a buyout of $31.875M. That’s because there would be $37.5M left to pay him over the remaining five years on his contract, and 85% of 37.5 is 31.875. Translation: Florida’s not paying that. Sure, this is disappointing second season #2 in a row for Billy Napier after a largely underwhelming first season, but Florida’s simply not paying that. Point blank. It’s not even worth discussing.
So let’s start the breakdown after 2024, which is the earliest it’s feasibly possible for Florida to fire him without cause.
After 2024: Billy Napier’s buyout would be $25,670,000 (85% of 30.2M)
After 2025: Billy Napier’s buyout would be $19,380,000 (85% of 22.8M)
After 2026: Billy Napier’s buyout would be $13,005,000 (85% of 15.3M)
After 2027: Billy Napier’s buyout would be $6,545,000 (85% of 7.7M)
(Note: the contract expires after the 2028 season. However, it’s worth noting that it’s extremely rare for college coaches to coach exactly until their contract expires. In most cases, a coach is either extended if he meets or exceeds expectations, fired if he falls short of expectations, or retires or leaves for another job for any of a variety of reasons.)
So it’s safe to say that Billy Napier isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. While it may be a frustrating reality for some Florida Gator fans, the truth of the matter is that it’s time to accept that Napier is going to get at least one more year- and maybe more- before a change in leadership is even considered.
