Billy Napier nears deal to coach perennial College Football Playoff contender

Former Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

As many college football programs around the country fire their coaches, some of those de-crowned leaders are landing at new homes. Just take James Franklin, for example, who just stole a handful of Penn State's recruits for his new Virginia Tech Hokies, a job he took weeks ago, whilst the Nittany Lions fumble about their search. The coaching carousel works in vicious ways.

The latest bit of news on the college football coaching front again marries a disgraced power conference head coach with a ripe opportunity in the Group of Five. On Thursday, On3's pair of expert CFB reporters, Pete Nakos and Chris Low, reported that former Florida head coach Billy Napier is landing on his feet with the James Madison job.

"James Madison is working to finalize a deal to hire former Florida coach Billy Napier as its next head coach, according to On3’s Pete Nakos and Chris Low," Nick Schultz wrote in a report. "On3 previously reported Napier as a name to watch in JMU’s coaching search."

Napier is now back in the conference that gave him his hallowed Sun Belt Billy nickname. This time, he's with the bully of the league in JMU. The Dukes still have their eyes squarely locked in on the College Football Playoff, which they can leap into with a win in the Sun Belt title this weekend against Troy plus a Duke win over Virginia in the ACC Championship game.

James Madison Dukes quarterback Matthew Sluka (9) hits THAT pose | Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

James Madison has powerhouse potential

That may not be a one-off occurrence, especially under Napier's direction. James Madison has been an FBS program for 4 years and has won 8+ games every season, including 11 this year and 11 in 2023, their final under head coach Curt Cignetti.

As they've shown in basketball with a 2024 NCAA Tournament win and are now showcasing in football with such sustained success, James Madison is one of the premier athletic departments at the power-conference level of college athletics.

Obviously, Cignetti departed and ascended to legend status at Indiana not too much longer, and Boby Chesney hardly let the standard dip one ounce as he won 20 games in two seasons and put the Dukes on the brink of the program's first College Football Playoff appearance before dipping west to take the UCLA gig.

Heading into 2026, Billy Napier takes over one of the consistently strong mid-major programs in all of college football. You could argue JMU has an easier, consistent path to a Playoff bid than even Florida does.

All in all, JMU can't complain about an SEC head coach who has huge Sun Belt success on his track record, while Napier couldn't ask for a better job at the Group of Five level. It's a huge school that's always loaded with talent and has some real money.