Florida has fired Billy Napier, and that could mean something for the Penn State coaching search.
Up until now, Penn State was by far the most attractive vacancy.
It still might be, but Florida being open certainly tightens the gap.
The benefits to coaching at Florida are obvious.
As Urban Meyer proved in the 2000s, Gainesville is a place where the right coach can build a dynasty. Between 2005-10, Florida went 65-15 and won two national championships. But since Meyer left after the 2010 season, Florida has been trying to find “the next guy.”
Plenty of people have tried.
Florida has gone through five full-time head coaches and four interims over the past 15 years, and it will be five interims now.
With that said, there’s a lot of appeal in the possibility of being the guy to fix Florida.
Maybe that guy is somebody Penn State is targeting.
There are names Nittany Sports Now and others have written about, such as Eli Drinkwitz and Lane Kiffin, that are SEC guys and might be more likely to leave their programs for a conference school that they’re familiar with.
There’s also James Franklin, who will be the top coaching free agent on the market after Penn State fired him last week. Franklin clearly wants to return to coaching, as he made clear in his interview with ESPN College GameDay Saturday morning.
James Franklin: ‘We’re Just Gonna Go Win a Championship Somewhere Else’
Franklin does have experience in the SEC, having run Vanderbilt for three seasons before getting the Penn State job.
Would he want to go back to the conference where “it just means more,” or would another Florida job be more enticing.
