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Today, we're breaking down the Week 11 schedule. But first, we have coaching carousel news that, surprisingly, does NOT include a firing.
Florida AD Scott Stricklin announced today that Billy Napier will remain head football coach (for an unspecified amount of time) despite Napier's 15-18 start as a Gator. Entering this season, he was the biggest name on the hot-seat list, and although his 4-4 Gators have avoided a complete meltdown, they still need two more wins to reach bowl eligibility and keep him from becoming the first coach in almost 90 years to start his Florida career with three losing seasons.
Is Florida making the right choice? None of the previous three Florida coaches (Dan Mullen, Jim McElwain or Will Muschamp) lasted four full seasons. Evidently, hitting the reset button every few years hasn't worked for the program, which hasn't had a winning season since 2020. Plus, conveying some stability could help with a recruiting class that currently ranks No. 51 in the 247Sports Composite.
It's too early to say if this is the right decision, but it's definitely a more patient strategy than we may have expected. The ultimate prove-it opportunity awaits with the Gators' gauntlet of a remaining schedule: Texas, LSU and Ole Miss. But at least they also get to play Florida State.
What does this mean for the carousel? It's looking rusty. Napier isn't the only coach who cooled his seat this season -- Dave Aranda has won three straight at Baylor, Clark Lea has Vanderbilt ranked and Sam Pittman's Arkansas upset a top-10 Tennessee team. Regardless, Florida was sure to be the biggest opening in the sport if it'd happened.
Now, as Ralph Russo reported today, the most likely power-conference coach to be fired looks like Purdue's Ryan Walters. It's still early, but the last time the SEC made it through an entire season without a coaching change was in 2018.
There aren't any ranked teams playing until Saturday, but if you're looking to kickstart your college football weekend a little early, this is the game to watch: