
How Gators Have Fared after Firing Coaches
For the fourth time since 2014, Florida football has fired its head coach. The Gators axed coach Billy Napier on Sunday following a close win against Mississippi State. Napier leaves Florida with the fourth worst record in program history.
In turn, receivers coach Billy Gonzales will serve as the interim coach for the remainder of the season.
Here’s how past Florida interim coaches have fared:
In 2014, following a 23-20 loss to South Carolina, Florida fired coach Will Muschamp. The Gators then named DJ Durkin as the interim and won the following game, blowing out Eastern Kentucky 52-3. Florida then went on to lose to Florida State 24-19 before ending the season with a 29-20 win against East Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl.
In 2015, interim coach Jim McElwain was hired as the head coach and stayed with Florida until being fired in 2017 following a 42-7 loss to rival Georgia. Randy Shanon then served as the interim coach and led Florida to a 1-3 record to end the season, including a loss to rival FSU in The Swamp.
The following season, Florida hired Dan Mullen as head coach and remained with the Gators until 2021, when the Gators fired him after a 24-23 loss to Missouri. Greg Knox was then named interim coach and led the Gators to a victory against the Seminoles, the first for an interim coach in the last decade. He proceeded to fall to UCF 29-17 in the Gasparilla Bowl.
So what does Napier’s firing mean for the Gators?
Billy Gonzales is interim coach for the remainder of the season, which could suggest better days are ahead for Gator fans. Although past history does not suggest a great post-firing win rate, fans should be optimistic. In 2024, he was one of the proponents that led the Gators to their late-season charge and finish 8-5 overall.
Florida will travel to Jacksonville to take on Georgia on Nov. 1.
Category: Football, Gators Football