Florida Hires Louisiana's Billy Napier As Next Head Football Coach

Florida has hired Louisiana coach Billy Napier as its next head coach. 

On Saturday, sources told SI that Napier was the leading candidate to join Florida and that a deal was imminent. 

Napier replaces Dan Mullen, who was fired last week after a loss to Missouri dropped Florida's record to 5–6. His hire ends a week-long search process that centered around the 42-year-old. Napier has led the Ragin' Cajuns to four division titles in four seasons as coach and one Sun Belt championship.

Florida made an announcement later Sunday confirming the hire. A team meeting had been called for Sunday afternoon in Lafayette to inform players and staff of the move.

Napier previously had agreed to a new contract with Louisiana during the summer that raised his salary to $2 million, with a $2.5 million salary pool for assistant coaches. He has been one of the country's top coaching candidates over the last several seasons, passing on offers or pulling his name out of several Power 5 searches.