The college football coaching carousel continues to rotate at Mach speed. With Bob Chesney leaving James Madison for UCLA, it opened up the JMU job. This made way for fired Florida head coach Billy Napier getting the job just days later, according to Pete Thamel.
Napier spent less than four years at UF before being let go. He went 22-23, including a 12-16 mark in SEC play. He was fired after a 3-4 start to the season, even though the decision came after a win over Mississippi State.
Before joining the Gators, Napier had Louisiana rolling in the Sun Belt. He finished 12-1 the season before Florida hired him. That success and early struggles in The Swamp led to fans beginning to call him ‘Sun Belt Billy.’ Now, he’s back in the conference.
Sources: Billy Napier is finalizing a five-year deal to become the next head coach at James Madison. A formal announcement is expected on Saturday. Napier is the former coach at Louisiana and Florida.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 4, 2025
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Florida replaced Napier with Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall. He is in his second season atop the Tulane program. In 2024, he steered the Green Wave to a 9-5 (7-1 American) mark, including a loss in the conference championship and Gasparilla Bowl.
This year, he has Tulane at 10-2 with the potential to earn a spot as the Group of Five representative in the College Football Playoffs. The Green Wave will play North Texas in the American Championship for a potential bid, with Sumrall being allowed to still coach in the game.
Sumrall previously coached two seasons at Troy, where he won back-to-back Sun Belt championships. He played linebacker at Kentucky from 2002-04 and was the co-defensive coordinator for the Wildcats before landing the job at Troy.
