ACC head coach named candidate to replace Billy Napier at Florida

With the departure of Billy Napier from Florida, the Gators are rumored to be considered a current ACC head coach to take the UF job. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

As the door closes on the Billy Napier era at Florida, the focus now shifts to the replacement for Napier. A host of names have already emerged as possible candidates for the Gators, but one of the more intriguing candidates is current SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee. A young (42 years old) coach with an offensive background, Lashlee's recent success and style of play make him a plausible Florida fit.

Lashlee's story

SMU coach Rhett Lashlee is one of several names being linked with the Florida head coaching job. | Ken Ruinard-GREENVILLE NEWS-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Lashlee hails from Arkansas and played quarterback in high school for Gus Malzahn. After playing at Arkansas, he worked his way up the coaching tree. Lashlee has coached at both his alma mater and twice at Auburn. He climbed the ladder as an offensive coordinator, landing at Miami with Manny Diaz in 2020. After two years with Diaz, Lashlee became a first-time head coach at SMU.

Lashlee is 34-14 at SMU and has seen the Mustangs transition from the AAC to the ACC before 2024. He won 11 games in both 2023 and 2024, taking the Mustangs to their first College Football Playoff berth last season. He has the best winning percentage at SMU since Bobby Collins, whose success came on the back of serious NCAA issues that ultimately landed SMU on the NCAA's death penalty in the late 1980s. Last season, SMU finished seventh in the nation in scoring offense.

Lashlee's contract with SMU is secretive information. As a private school, SMU isn't subject to some of the open records requirements that allow information of public school salaries and contracts to be freely obtained. He signed an extension after last season and the contract is believed to run through 2030.

While Lashlee has never coached at Florida, he did, as noted above, spend two seasons coaching at Miami. He also coached for seven seasons in the SEC as an assistant coach. Lashlee might be a more economic hire that several other top current head coaches, but again, due to him coaching at a private school, the full details of any buyout monies that SMU might take should he leave remains an unknown.

Like several other coaches reportedly under consideration, Lashlee's successful 2025 season could be a bit of an impediment. He has 5-2 SMU in the ACC's title conversation (and thus, in the CFP conversation). If Florida is going for Lashlee, the hiring process might well drag out into the postseason.