Who is TurnkeyZRG? What to Know About the Search Firm Consulting Florida in Head Coach Search, Timeline for Hiring

Florida is using TurnkeyZRG to consult in its search for a head coach. Florida Gators on SI breaks down what the company is as well as what a hiring timeline could look like.

Florida Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin is making his third football head coach hire. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- While Scott Stricklin in the midst of his third search for a football head coach, the Florida Gators athletic director is leaving no stone unturned and using every resource possible to replace the fired Billy Napier.

So much so that Stricklin has tabbed TurnkeyZRG to help as the search consultent throughout the process, which Stricklin said will be thorough due to the amount of time between Napier's firing on Oct. 19 to the end of the season.

Florida Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin fired head coach Billy Napier after the team's win over Mississippi State. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

He will also be working with Florida's Board of Trustees while also being supported by Florida's boosters.

"I'll use every available resource. We have two ears and one mouth for a reason," he said. "I'll be listening to a lot and taking a lot of suggestions and advice. And we do have a lot of access to a lot of information. So we'll utilize all of that."

What Is TurnkeyZRG?

ZRG primarily helps companies across all industries make important executive hires. ZRG describes itself as "global talent partner built for speed, scale, and outcomes that matter. From executive search to on-demand talent to consulting and embedded recruiting, we help leaders move faster, think smarter, and hire like it counts. Because it does."

Turnkey, founded in 1996 and described as "a founding service provider for executive search to the sports industry," joined forces with ZRG in 2020.

TurnkeyZRG's Experience

TurnkeyZRG has had much experience with high-profile coaching searches both within college football and throughout professional sports, filling over 1,500 positions while consulting more than 30 college teams, college conferences, the NCAA, professional organizations and the NFL.

Led by Chad Chatlos, TurnkeyZRG Intercollegiate Athletics section played a major role in Texas' hiring of Steve Sarkisian and South Carolina's hiring of Shane Beamer ahead of the 2021 season and Indiana's hiring of Curt Cignetti ahead of the 2024 season.

Specific to Florida, TurnkeyZRG helped the Gators hire men's basketball coach Todd Golden, who, in his third season, recently led the program to its third national title.

"I think they can bring a lot of value and looking forward to working with them," Stricklin said of TurnkeyZRG.

Who Will Florida Hire?

Florida fired Napier on Oct. 19, a day after the Gators' win over Mississippi State and marking the fourth head coach fired since Urban Meyer departed from the program after the 2010 season. Wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales was named the interim and coached his first game in that spot on Saturday with a 24-20 loss to Georgia,

While Stricklin did not give specifics on who he will target, saying that there will likely be a "wide variety" of candidates, the general consensus is that Florida will target an experienced head coach at a higher-profile school rather than a young, up-and-coming coach from a smaller school (Napier), a high-profile coordinator (Will Muschamp) or a head coach with SEC experience either as a head coach or an assistant (Napier, Dan Mullen and Jim McElwain).

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin is a popular pick to be Florida's next head coach. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Right now, popular picks to be the next head coach include Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz, Louisville's Jeff Brohm and former Penn State head coach James Franklin among others.

"We want people who can win championships at the University of Florida. That's going to be our goal," Stricklin said. "We want somebody who can come in here, be a strong leader and win championships. And, like I said, there's probably people from a lot of different backgrounds that could have the potential to do that."

Potential Hiring Timeline

Based on previous hirings, Florida is unlikely to announce a hiring before the regular season ends on Nov. 29 against Florida State. However, by firing Napier with more than a month before the end of the regular season, the Gators have a great opportunity to be thorough in its search.

"Time is an asset. I think it's going to be beneficial. The more time you have the easier it is," Stricklin said. "One of the unique things about these high-profile position -- searches like football and men's basketball, usually those are, the time to make those searches is compressed.

"Usually you have a week or two and there's some kind of impending date that you want to get it to because it's a portal opening up or signing day occurring or whatever. We have a little bit more time in this circumstance. Signing day isn't until the first week in December. Portal doesn't open until January. We have a chance to be very thorough."

Florida Gators hired Billy Napier on Nov. 28, 2021, a day after the regular season finale against Florida State. He was officially introduced days later. | Brad McClenny/The Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

Looking at Florida's past history, the turnaround for hiring a coach has been faster, but none have happened until after the regular season finale against the Seminoles, even if the head coach firing was done beforehand.

Since Steve Spurrier's resignation after the 2001 season, Florida has hired six head coach, fired five head coaches and had one resign before the season officially ended. Only two of those fired head coaches finished out the regular season.

Coach Fired/Resigned Date	Date of FSU Game/Final Regular Season Game	Date New Coach Hired	Turnaround Time
Oct. 19, 2025 (Billy Napier)	Nov. 29, 2025	TBD	TBD
Nov. 21, 2021 (Dan Mullen)	Nov. 27, 2021	Nov. 28, 2021 (Billy Napier	Since firing date: 7 days Since FSU game: 1 day
Oct. 29, 2017 (Jim McElwain)	Nov. 25, 2017	Nov. 26, 2017 (Dan Mullen)	Since firing date: 28 days Since FSU game: 1 day
Nov. 16, 2014 (Will Muschamp, coached until end of regular season)	Nov. 29, 2014	Dec. 4, 2014 (Jim McElwain	Since firing date: 18 days Since FSU game: 5 days
Dec. 8, 2010 (Urban Meyer, announced after end of regular season, coached bowl game)	Nov. 27, 2010	Dec. 11, 2010 (Will Muschamp	Since resignation announcement: 3 days Since FSU game: 14 days
Oct. 25, 2004 (Ron Zook, coached until end of regular season)	Nov. 20, 2004	Dec. 3, 2004 (Urban Meyer)	Since firing date: 39 days Since FSU game: 13 days
Jan. 4, 2002 (Steve Spurrier, announced after bowl game)	Dec. 1, 2001 (vs. Tennessee, reschedule due to the events of Sept. 11)	Jan. 9, 2002 (Ron Zook)	Since resignation announcement: 5 days Since final regular season game: 39 days

What could potentially hold up the hiring process, as a result of potentially targeting a higher-profile coach from a bigger program, is if the coach qualifies for the College Football Playoff with his current team.

Kiffin with No. 7 Ole Miss (8-1), Brohm with No. 14 Louisville (7-1) and Drinkwitz with No. 19 Missouri (6-2) all find themselves in the playoff hunt. The Rebels and Cardinals are likely to be favorites in the rest of their games, while Missouri will have a chance to boost its resume with matchups against No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 11 Oklahoma on the schedule.

The College Football Playoff begins with the first game of the opening round on Friday, Dec. 19 until the national championship on Monday, Jan. 19. Quarterfinal games will be held from Dec. 31-Jan. 1, while semifinal games will be held from Jan. 8-9.