Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said Monday he has one goal when it comes to hiring the next football coach: Find someone who can win championships.
During a news conference in Gainesville, Florida, Stricklin said his decision to fire Billy Napier on Sunday following a 3-4 start to the season was ultimately because "we didn't win to the level we needed to."
Napier went 22-23 in four seasons with the Gators, including 12-16 in SEC play. Although Stricklin credited Napier for leaving Florida in a much better place than he found it -- including modernizing the football program structure -- he also said the two had long conversations about whether Napier should give up playcalling headed into this season.
Napier decided to continue calling plays, and ultimately the Gators struggled on offense behind an injured DJ Lagway and a lack of consistency across the board. Florida ranks No. 90 in the country in total offense, averaging 363 yards per game.
"I shared with him I thought his strength may be in leading the program and overseeing the bigger picture, but my philosophy is you hire head coaches, you give them the authority to make decisions on how they want to run their program," Stricklin said. "And then you hold them accountable and that's probably a big part of the reason why we're here today."
Napier had been under fire over the past two seasons as Florida struggled to win consistently. Stricklin decided last year to stick with Napier, and the Gators finished the year with four straight wins. But that momentum did not carry into this season, and the situation grew untenable as the losses mounted.
Florida owes Napier about $21 million, a cost Stricklin said was not "insignificant."
"We have tremendous resources, but it's not unlimited so we'll have to manage that," Stricklin said. "The resources are not going to be a reason why we don't make the right decision going forward here."
Stricklin said he will decide the next head coach, with feedback from a search firm, the board of trustees and the university president. This is the third time Stricklin will hire a football coach at Florida -- he initially hired Dan Mullen in 2018. Stricklin fired Mullen in 2021 and hired Napier.
When asked what Florida is looking for in its next head coach, Stricklin said, "We want people who can win championships at the University of Florida. That's going to be our goal. We want somebody who can come in here and be a strong leader and win championships."
Stricklin noted the success Florida has had at winning championships in football and men's basketball and said, "I don't think we've ever been as invested as we are right now. There's never been a time that as many financial resources and as much commitment has gone into making Gator football as good as it can be. There's so many things that are in place for this program to be successful at the highest level. We're here to win championships, and I think we have a really unique opportunity for somebody to walk into."
Florida named receivers coach Billy Gonzales the interim coach for the final five games of the season. After an open date, Florida will play rival Georgia in Jacksonville on Nov. 1. Gonzales said quarterbacks coach Ryan O'Hara will call plays.
Lagway, whom Napier signed in December 2023 to help shift the fortunes of the program, was asked Monday whether he was committed to Florida for the long term now that the coach who brought him to the Gators is no longer there.
"I'm a Florida Gator," Lagway said. "My biggest focus right now is these five games and continue to better my craft and continue to develop as a player."