Billy Napier’s Contract Buyout Ranked

[Escambia94]

Billy Napier’s contract buyout is the 11th most expensive in college football.

1. Kirby Smart, Georgia ($103M)
2. Lincoln Riley, USC ($100M)
3. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M ($86M)
4. Mel Tucker, Michigan State ($85M, not executed due to termination for cause)
5. Brian Kelly, LSU ($78M)
6. Mario Cristobal, Miami ($70M)
7. Dabo Swinney, Clemson ($64M)
8. Nick Saban, Alabama ($58M)
9. Ryan Day, Ohio State ($54M)
10. Brent Venables, Oklahoma ($36M)
11. Billy Napier, Florida ($32M)

Just in case you need the numbers to argue with Gator fans on the Internet… Here is what it would cost to fire Billy Napier:

• December 2023: $31.9M (85% of $37.5M)
• December 2024: $25.7M (85% of $30.2M)
• December 2025: $19.4M (85% of $22.8M)
• December 2026: $13.0M (85% of $15.3M)
• December 2027: $6.6M (85% of 7.7M)

Here is a list of buyouts for the last few coaches:

• Jim McElwain ($7.5M negotiated down from $12.9M)
• Dan Mullen ($12.0M)
• Will Muschamp ($6.3M)
• Ron Zook ($1.8M)

For reference, the most expensive buyouts ever paid:

• Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M ($77.6M)
• Gus Malzahn, Auburn ($21.8M)
• Charlie Weis, Notre Dame ($18.9M)
• Willie Taggert, FSU ($18.0M)
• Ed Orgeron, LSU ($17.0M)
• Tom Herman, Texas ($15.4M)
• Scott Frost, Nebraska ($15.0M)
• Will Muschamp, South Carolina ($12.9M)
• Todd Graham, ASU ($12.8M)
• Jim Mora, UCLA ($12.0M)
• Larry Fedora, North Carolina ($12.0M)
• Dan Mullen, Florida ($12.0M)
• Kalen DeBoer, Washington ($12.0M)
• Karl Dorell, Colorado ($11.4M)
• Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech ($11.3M)
• Paul Chryst, Wisconsin ($11.0M)
• Chad Morris, Arkansas ($10.0M)
• Herm Edwards, Arizona State ($8.0M)
• Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M ($9.9M)
• Bo Pelini, Nebraska ($7.9M)
• Jim McElwain, Florida ($12.9M negotiated down to $7.5M)
• Gene Chizik, Auburn ($7.5M)
• Will Muschamp, Florida ($6.3M)

Boosters will be footing the bill for $400M stadium upgrade starting in 2024. Assume that is $80M per year for five years.

TLDR: Florida cannot afford to fire Billy Napier until 2026! Even that is a stretch.

 

[Leakfan12]

Tucker might challenge that with a lawsuit though unsure how successful that would be.

 

[DRU2012]

AND, to reiterate a salient point Escambia94 made earlier, that "very high/slow descending buy-out rate" was something that the "Big Money Folks" behind the scenes here at UF set up ON PURPOSE in order to "take it out of the hands of the fans and online rabble rousers and KEEP it in THEIR OWN"--which, in this fast-changing, upside down and twisted world of major modern college football makes a certain crazy kind of sense.

 

[Escambia94]

AND, to reiterate a salient point Escambia94 made earlier, that "very high/slow descending buy-out rate" was something that the "Big Money Folks" behind the scenes here at UF set up ON PURPOSE in order to "take it out of the hands of the fans and online rabble rousers and KEEP it in THEIR OWN"--which, in this fast-changing, upside down and twisted world of major modern college football makes a certain crazy kind of sense.

Yeah. Check out the list of programs with the most expensive buyouts. Florida is on that list three times! Something had to change. I like taking fickle Gator fans out of the equation by forcing 6 year minimum with no pressure to take shortcuts just to earn a contract extension. Make the coach fix all the underlying problems so there are no more excuses for him in year 6 or for his successor.

 

[Escambia94]

Now that we see how expensive it would be to fire Napier, let us compare him to fellow state of Florida coaches Mike Norvell and Mario Cristobal.

	Games Coached	Vs Top 20	Record vs Top 20
Napier	14	9	2-7
Norvell	34	6	1-5
Cristobal	14	1	0-1

Napier has coached 14 games at UF. 9 of those have come against Top 20 opponents. For comparison, Mike Norvell has played 6 Top 20 teams in 34 games at FSU. Mario Cristobal has played 1 Top 20 team in 14 games at scUM.

The takeaway is that it is harder to rebuild in the SEC.

 

[Escambia94]

More excuses for Napier: inherited talent level by talent ranking and number of top 20 matchups. Napier had the most matchups against top 20 teams and he inherited a class that was less talented than anyone else’s but Mullen’s class from McElwain. Napier is also facing all the rivals when they are consistently ranked in the top 5 (T5), top 15 (T15), or top 25 (T25).

Coach	Inherited Talent Rank	Games vs Top 20 in First 2 seasons	Rival Rankings (FSU, UGA, UT, LSU)
Muschamp	4 (Meyer)	7	T15, T5, Bad, T15
Meyer	5 (Zook)	7	T25, T15, T25, T5
McElwain	6 (Muschamp)	6	T15, T35, T25, T35
Napier	11 (Mullen)	11	T15, T5 (NC), T15, T25
Mullen	12 (McElwain)	5	Bad, T5, Bad, T5

 

[DRU2012]

Yeah. Check out the list of programs with the most expensive buyouts. Florida is on that list three times! Something had to change. I like taking fickle Gator fans out of the equation by forcing 6 year minimum with no pressure to take shortcuts just to earn a contract extension. Make the coach fix all the underlying problems so there are no more excuses for him in year 6 or for his successor.

(@Escambia94, I was tempted to include "replies" to all THREE of these last several posts; assume that the following acknowledges abd includesctheur underlying points here...These last two "additional but not specifically replied to" lists are real eye openers--they only further support the main point you make here: That Napier really DOES deserve the extended time he apparently was PURPOSEFULLY given!)
As for the first (and in my view "main UBER point") above, this idea of their intentionally building in a shoulder-shrugging, "Hey--We're STUCK with him for now..." public "maneuver" that somewhat "outflanks" short-sitedly loud and over-reactive Gator fans and their rabble-rousing click-baiting exploiters (Finebalm et al) into their own proposed contract, if true, is at least theoretically, if somewhat a gamble, a pretty damn BRILLIANT one--especially if it WORKS.
Thing is, all any of us can do now is simply "Wait and SEE..."
Which, I suppose, was the whole IDEA.
Judging so far by the recruiting trends, though, "So far so good."
If similar attention is applied (and the lessons heeded) in the cases of subsequently revealed onfield/ingame COACHING weaknesses ("ATTENTION COACH: Ongoing OC and Special Teams problems showing WEEKLY at a Stadium near YOU"), this TOO can be part of a resulting acceleratingly steady improvement and strengthening.
He's NOT gonna get another "SIX years"--but in THIS way he MIGHT get things acceptably going in another THREE.
You get the picture: Continued strong recruiting and an evolving onfield product, all facing a somewhat less daunting schedule by the year AFTER next, PLUS the fact of the expanding CFB Playoff field, and the various lines can theoretically be envisioned "converging at the horizon", know what I'm saying/seeing?

 

[Escambia94]

Dating back to the 2018 season, Napier ranks 10th in the FBS with 51 total victories, trailing only Nick Saban (69), Kirby Smart (68), Dabo Swinney (64), Brian Kelly (60), Lincoln Riley (60), Luke Fickell (57), Jim Harbaugh (54), Ryan Day (54) and Josh Heupel (53). He has more wins than Kirk Ferentz, James Franklin, Sonny Dykes, Mike Gundy, Mark Stoops, Mario Cristobal, and Mike Norvell in that time, among others.

 

[Leakfan12]

Looks like Jimbo is gone and getting a very nice payout.

 

[DRU2012]

Dating back to the 2018 season, Napier ranks 10th in the FBS with 51 total victories, trailing only Nick Saban (69), Kirby Smart (68), Dabo Swinney (64), Brian Kelly (60), Lincoln Riley (60), Luke Fickell (57), Jim Harbaugh (54), Ryan Day (54) and Josh Heupel (53). He has more wins than Kirk Ferentz, James Franklin, Sonny Dykes, Mike Gundy, Mark Stoops, Mario Cristobal, and Mike Norvell in that time, among others.

INTERESTING.
(See my latest post on the "Reaction: Florida at LSU" thread, entered shortly after noon Sunday, November 12...)

 

[DRU2012]

Looks like Jimbo is gone and getting a very nice payout.

Yup--ANOTHER "High Buy-Out" situation--in this case I suspect more maneuvered by Jimbo at its arranging than the would-be "puppet-masters" in Tallahassee...
Whereas, as E-- cogently pointed out some days ago, it would seem OUR "backroom money boys" took a more intentionally PROactive role in structuring BILLY'S "Descending Buy-Out Schedule" in order to try and give him, and THEM, a longer "front-end Grace Period"--one in which he would gain time to effect what they anticipated would BE a long, painfully ROCKY REBUILD: At times a loud and raucous one, given the nature of Gator Nation, but one that would give him EVERY OPPORTUNITY to eventually weather and ultimately SUCCEED in, even WITH the mob howling through the ups'n'DOWNS.
So: Here we are late in Year 2, the crowd indeed "HOWLING" right on schedule and, if one were to actually step back and recall the warnings and elaborate statistical analysis from the "expert prognosticators", one MIGHT consider:
The guys whose whole reputation and livelihood DEPEND on such things, those who "set the betting lines" in Vegas had our win/loss projection coming INTO the 2023 Season at "5.5"...Let's see...It has been a strange road, but we are AT 5 wins as this season winds down; We arguably SHOUKD have had that 6th win at home against Arkansas, but a ridiculously inpossible-to-foresee (if it wasn't the Gators) substitution penalty at the very end moved them back 5 yards just before attempting what would have been the winning kick and, well YOU know the rest...So there's that ".5 wins" either WAY right there, as we move to these last couple of games that, like the one just past, in either case would take a near-perfect performance that we have yet to show we are capable of un Orting in order to somehow pull out another real shot at it after all.
"We ARE what they SAID we were!"
(Remember that line, paraphrased from one "Dennis White", years ago in the pros? Yes or no, doesn't matter: It applies here.)
WE may know, even ACCEOT exactly WHY things have turned out this way...To Gator fans, the important thing is that WE see this in terms of whether or not our Coach is doing the OTHER things, all the ongoing "Big Picture" moves that will eventually allow us to CHANGE ALL THAT!
Given what we are seeing in terms of recruiting snd "Culture Change"I would say "Yes".
But given what has YET to be VERY NECESSARILY DONE about the OC and Special Teams situations, well, that, plus the wider issues of implied stubborness, perhaps even a certain "fatal blind spot" when it comes to his own seeming crucial inflexibility in certain important matters, well, he's only human--but he either "learns and grows" HIMSELF here, or he goes down in flames: a victim of his own human flaws.
Sooner or later, we ALL face such moments. The bigger the stage, the more dangerous and gaping the hidden holes just ahead in the dark.
Something about "the test that IS LIFE , right?
Billy himself talks about such things in his postgame pressers all the time.
Now he has to listen to and APPLY some of the very things he's been discussing, presumably considering HIMSELF, in and OUT of the lockeroom!