Coach Billy Napier Talks Senior Class, What UL Has Meant to Him, Why He Took the Florida Job & More [Audio]
Louisiana head football coach Billy Napier's name is one of the hottest in college football.
Rumors have swirled about the Florida Gators interest in Napier becoming their head coach, and began to heat up even more when UF fired Dan Mullen following a loss to Missouri on November 20th.
After another victory on Saturday against ULM, Louisiana improved to 11-1 on the season, extended their school record of consecutive wins to 11, and currently sit at #20 in the AP and #21 in the Coaches Top 25 poll.
With reports of Napier being the frontrunner for the Florida job on Saturday, he said no decision had been made yet following the win over ULM.
Yesterday, it become official. Napier would be the next head coach at Florida.
He held a team meeting Sunday afternoon to inform his team of the decision.
Napier is still the head coach at Louisiana, as an official announcement in Gainesville to welcome him as Florida's new coach isn't scheduled until Sunday.
He will coach the team this Saturday afternoon in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game at Cajun Field against Appalachian State.
As he has every Monday during the season, Napier joined me this morning on ESPN Lafayette.
In this exclusive one-on-one, Napier discussed the emotional decision to take the Florida job, the senior class at UL, what the Acadiana community has meant to his family, preparing for the Sun Belt Championship game against Appalachian State, and much more.
Napier's record at Louisiana is now 39-12, with a 27-5 mark in Sun Belt play, with a chance to improve both numbers, and capture a Conference Championship.
#20 Louisiana (11-1, 8-0) hosts the Appalachian State Mountaineers (10-2, 7-1) this Saturday at Cajun Field at 2:30.
Listen to the game, along with pregame (beginning at 12:30) and postgame on ESPN Lafayette, ESPNLafayette.com and the ESPN Lafayette app.