The Florida Gators made an interesting move after the end of the 2021 season: They decided to fire head coach Dan Mullen and hire Billy Napier to replace him.
Mullen was the head coach of the Gators for four seasons. In his first three years, he finished with winning records and a spot in three New Year’s Six Bowls.
The 52-year-old head coach’s fourth season was not good, and he finished below .500. Even though he had one bad season, the team still decided to move on in a shocking decision.
It was wrong to fire Mullen after one bad season, and now Florida is stuck with Napier, who is about to get fired after losing the first two games against power four teams this season.
When Mullen was fired three years ago, he did have some input on who he wanted to have replace him as the head coach.
Dan Mullen Wanted Florida To Hire Another SEC Coach
The former Gators head coach was on the Zach Gelb show, and the two were talking about whether Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin would leave and head to Florida if he was offered the job.
Mullen stated that when he was let go by Florida a few years ago, they asked him who they should hire, and he said to go hire Kiffin right now.
Dan Mullen reveals he told Florida to hire Lane Kiffin after being fired in 2021
(via @ZachGelb)https://t.co/6fwAaJMQMOpic.twitter.com/jrCxXKFfx1
— On3 (@On3sports) September 20, 2024
Of course, nobody listened to Mullen and decided to hire Napier instead, and now the program is paying for it.
Kiffin would’ve been a great coach in Florida, and the program would be in a much better place than it is currently.
It will be interesting to see if Kiffin will be offered the Florida job this offseason, and there is a great chance he will accept it.
Florida is a better program than Ole Miss, and they can offer much more NIL money, so maybe the team will listen to Mullen this time and hire Kiffin.
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