Two College Football Coaches Have Been Fired Sunday
Firing season has already started in college football, with two more head coaches getting the axe on Sunday.
Florida's Billy Napier and Colorado State's Jay Norvell were both dismissed this afternoon. Their two teams were a combined 5-9 on the season.
Overall, Napier and Norvell are the eighth and ninth FBS head coaches to be fired in-season in 2025. That number is only going to grow in the coming weeks.
In the end, neither man was able to win enough to avoid the chopping block.
Time runs out for Napier
A 23-21 home win over Mississippi State on Saturday wasn't enough to save Napier, who was booed off the field following the game. The Gators went 22-23 in three-plus seasons under Napier, including a 3-4 mark this fall.
Wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales will serve as UF's interim head coach for the rest of the season. Napier leaves Gainesville with a reported $21 million owed to him, half of it in the next 30 days.
"Making this decision during the open date provides our team valuable time to regroup, refocus, and prepare for the challenges ahead," said Florida AD Scott Stricklin in a statement. "The timing also allows us to conduct a thoughtful, thorough, and well-informed search for our next head coach. We remain fully committed to utilizing every resource available to identify the right leader to guide Gators Football into the future."
What a difference a year makes for Norvell
Norvell, who was hired by Colorado State in December 2021 after a five-year stint at Nevada, went 8-5 with an Arizona Bowl appearance in 2024. Despite going 8-16 in his first two seasons in Fort Collins, it appeared the 62-year-old former Iowa defensive back had things going in the right direction.
This was not the case, however. Colorado State fell to 2-5 on the campaign with Saturday's 31-19 loss to Hawaii, with four of those five defeats coming by double-digits.
Norvell went 18-26 in three-and-a-half seasons at CSU. He is reportedly owed $1.5 million from the school.
Fired coaches list getting longer
So far, there have been nine FBS head coaches let go since the regular season began.
They are:
- Brent Pry - Virginia Tech
- DeShaun Foster - UCLA
- Trent Bray - Oregon State
- Mike Gundy - Oklahoma State
- Sam Pittman - Arkansas
- James Franklin - Penn State
- Trent Dilfer - UAB
- Billy Napier - Florida
- Jay Norvell - Colorado State
Two other programs, Stanford and Kent State, are operating with interim head coaches this season after firing their respective leaders late in the 2025 offseason.