Who is coaching Florida? Meet Gators interim coach after Billy Napier firing
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Billy Napier‘s tenure as the Florida football coach came to a screeching halt, despite a win in his final game.
The Gators fired Napier on Sunday, Oct. 19, one day after a 23-21 win over Mississippi State. Florida moved on from Napier after he accrued a 22-23 record, giving the Gators’ interim coach a bye week to get the team settled as it enters the final stretch of the season.
Florida opened the season ranked No. 17 team in the country in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll but, following a win over FCS opponent Long Island, the Gators lost four games in five contests to South Florida, LSU, Miami and Texas A&M to derail any hopes of making the postseason.
Wins against Texas and Mississippi State could not save Napier from becoming the first coach since Raymond Wolf ― who went 13-24 between 1946-49 ― to finish his tenure with a losing record.
Heading into Florida’s game on Saturday, Nov. 11, vs. rival Georgia, here’s a closer look at Gators interim head coach Billy Gonzales:
Who is coaching Florida?
Gonzalez, who is in his third stint as an assistant coach at Florida, will take over as the interim coach for the remainder of the 2025 college season. Gonzales is in his 12th season as a Florida coach. He has never been a head coach before Saturday’s game against the Bulldogs, interim or otherwise.
Over the course of his career, Gonzales has coached the likes of Kadarius Toney, Van Jefferson, Odell Beckham Jr., Percy Harvin, Ricky Pearsall and Chimere Dike to the NFL.
Last season, with Elijhah Badger recording 806 receiving yards and Dike finishing with 783, Florida was the only FBS program to have two receivers with at least 700 receiving yards while also averaging at least 18 yards per reception.
“Coach Gonzales has been a valued member of our program for many years, including being a part of multiple championship teams,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a news release. “He is a Gator through and through. His deep understanding of our culture, our student-athletes, and what it means to represent the University of Florida makes him well-suited to lead our team.
Billy Gonzales coaching career
The 54-year-old coach played wide receiver for Colorado State between 1989-1992 before embarking on his coaching career. He began his career as a wide receivers coach at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1994. Gonzales coached receivers and running backs at Kent State from 1995 to 2001.
In 2001, when Notre Dame wide receivers coach Urban Meyer took the Bowling Green head coaching position, he brought on Gonzales to coach his wide receivers. Gonzales eventually followed Meyer to Utah and then Florida, where he was a part of the 2006 and 2008 national championship coaching staffs.
Gonzales left the Gators to coach LSU as the passing game coordinator in 2010 under Les Miles. He was the Illinois co-offensive coordinator in 2012 before reuniting with Dan Mullen at Mississippi State as a receivers coach (2013) and co-offensive coordinator (2014-17).
When Mullen took the Florida job in 2018, Gonzales followed him back to Gainesville, working as the co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach from 2018-21. Following Mullen’s firing, Gonzales joined Willie Taggart at FAU as a wide receivers coach in 2022. In 2023, Gonzales was hired as the wide receivers coach for Florida by Napier.
Here’s a stop-by-stop look at Gonzales’ coaching career:
- 2025: Florida interim head coach
- 2023-25: Florida (wide receivers coach)
- 2022: FAU (wide receivers coach)
- 2020-21: Florida (passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach)
- 2018-19: Florida (co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach)
- 2014-17: Mississippi State (co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach)
- 2013: Mississippi State (wide receivers coach)
- 2012: Illinois (co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach)
- 2010-11: LSU (passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach)
- 2008-09: Florida (recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach)
- 2005-07: Florida (wide receivers coach)
- 2003-04: Utah (special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach)
- 2001-02: Bowling Green (wide receivers coach)
- 1995-2001: Kent State (wide receivers and running backs coach)
- 1994: MacMurray (wide receivers coach)
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Who is coaching Florida football? What to know of Billy Gonzalez
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