Tim Tebow floated as possible Billy Napier replacement at Florida

As Florida looks to find the right replacement for Billy Napier, one college football analyst went there...

Florida is looking for the answer at head coach after dumping Billy Napier, and one analyst is throwing Tim Tebow's hat into the ring. | John David Mercer-Imagn Images

In a move that everyone knew was coming, Florida finally pulled the plug on Billy Napier.

Now, as the school embarks on another landmark coaching search to find his replacement, college football analyst Robert Griffin III believes the answer is right there in front of them.

“I think they should hire Tim Tebow,” Griffin said on The Dan Patrick Show.

"You look at #Florida, I've said this for years now, I think they should hire Tim Tebow!" 👀

– @RGIII sees a potential fit for the new head coaching vacancy in Florida. pic.twitter.com/jlbphZV9Za

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) October 20, 2025

“If Tim Tebow goes into any home in Florida, those parents are saying, ‘Yep, sign me up. I’m coming.’ You got to put a great staff around him... I’m not saying Tebow would take the job. But if I’m Florida, I’m trying to do that because you need that level of exposure.”

Few, if any, names command as much respect at Florida as Tebow, the on-field and emotional leader of the school’s football program during its most recent run of national success.

The quarterback was on two national championship teams and won the Heisman Trophy, remaining a fan favorite, being inducted in the Florida Football Ring of Honor in 2018.

Patrick naturally pushed back on the idea that Tebow would accept the position, suggesting that the school would have trouble if it ever had to fire him, given the strong emotional hold he has on the Florida program and its fans.

Patrick Ewing was the prominent example mentioned, after Georgetown hired the legendary player to coach its basketball program, an experiment that ultimately failed.

But it did notably work in one case at Florida, when it hired Steve Spurrier, the former Heisman Trophy-winning Gators quarterback, to become head coach in the 1990s, going on to win six SEC championships and the national title in 1996.

The question remains, would Tebow even be interested?

“His response is, he’s not chasing that. It’s not that he’s not interested at all. He’s just not chasing that, and I understand it,” Griffin told Dan Patrick.

“You’re the favorite son... You don’t want to have to fire your guy. But I’m just talking about the overall thought process of teams in college football today. You’ve got to give these young men a reason to want to go there, because they can go to seven different schools and still make it to the NFL.”

For now, Tebow’s connection to football remains his appearances on SEC Nation, where he was recently in Gainesville to take in Florida’s upset against Texas. Anything else seems like a long shot.