• Loading stock data...
Friday, October 31, 2025
Want a chance to win $250 and free FOS gear? Take our quick reader survey. Take the survey here

Norvell and Napier Buyouts Would Cost FSU and Florida Millions

  • Billy Napier came into the season on the hot seat and now it’s scorching.
  • Mike Norvell has the Seminoles on the wrong side of history.
Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin (left) and head coach Billy Napier talk before a game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

The Sunshine State could be turning into the buyout state. 

It’s been a tough start to the college football season in Florida north of Miami. While the Hurricanes are a top-10 team with eyes on making this year’s expanded 12-team playoff, Florida and Florida State have both struggled to start the season, with Florida at 1-2 and Florida State 0-3, leading fans to call for both coaches’ jobs. 

Billy Napier (above, right), the Gators’ third-year coach, appears to be on the wrong side of a fundraiser as school boosters have reportedly gathered the money to fund Napier’s buyout. In 2021, Napier signed a seven-year contract worth roughly $52 million to become Florida’s coach. At the time, he was one of the hottest names in college coaching after going 40–12 in four seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette. 

But he’s gone just 12–16 in Gainesville and has the program on track for its fifth consecutive losing season. The Gators started the season unranked, but they needed to show progress after going just 5–7 a year ago. Should he be fired, the school would owe Napier $26 million, which high-ranking boosters have reportedly pledged to fund. 

Farther north, Mike Norvell has Florida State not faring much better. On Saturday, the Seminoles became the first preseason top-10 team to start the season 0–3 with all three losses coming by unranked opponents. The Noles, which started the season ranked No. 10 in the AP poll, have no realistic path to the expanded playoff. But they are coming off a season in which the team went 13–1 and was out of the four-team playoff despite being undefeated because of a season-ending injury to star quarterback Jordan Travis. 

Parting ways with Norvell a year after an incredible season would be questionable and cost-prohibitive. Norvell originally signed a six-year contract worth $26.5 million in 2019 to become FSU’s coach after leaving Memphis. He’s been given two recent extensions, one in 2023 that paid roughly $8 million a year and another this past January for 10 years worth more than $84 million, after flirting with Alabama as a possible replacement for Nick Saban. The deal made him the sixth-highest-paid coach in the country. 

Firing Norvell now would put the Noles on the hook for $65 million, which equates to 85% of his base salary and supplemental pay for the remainder of his current contract, which ends Dec. 31, 2031. 

Even if Florida or FSU finds the funds to pay their coaches to leave, the buyout money wouldn’t set any records. Texas A&M set the bar for that a year ago when it paid $77.6 million to buy out Jimbo Fisher just three years into a 10-year extension. 

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

LSU Officials Vow Stability: ‘Not Broken’ With Coach and AD Gone

Officials announced a search committee and tried to correct the record.

YouTube TV Loses ESPN, ABC Just Before Big Sports Weekend

More than 20 channels go dark on the No. 4 U.S. pay-TV distributor.
Sep 6, 2025; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly looks on against Louisiana Tech Bulldogs during the second half at Tiger Stadium.

The Governor Who Inserted Himself Into a College Football Coaching Search

The governor said he was concerned taxpayers would be left paying Kelly’s buyout.
Florida Gators linebacker Shemar James (6) tackles Georgia Bulldogs tight end Oscar Delp (4) during the first quarter of an NCAA college football matchup Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Florida Gators 34-20.

Florida-Georgia Rivalry Hits the Road—Still Nets Almost $10M Payouts

The annual rivalry game in Jacksonville is taking a two-year road trip.

Featured Today

Oct 13, 2024; Chicago, IL, USA; Susanna Sullivan of the United States of America finishes seventh in the Chicago Marathon at Grant Park

More Races, More Money: The New Calculus for Pro Marathoners

More races per year mean more money—but the math isn’t simple.
Oct 28, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) pitches during the fifth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during game four of the 2025 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium.
October 31, 2025

Shohei Ohtani Card Market Is Surging—With No Signs of Slowing

Cards have spiked hundreds of thousands of dollars from their initial value.
September 21, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell before the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium
October 26, 2025

NFL Fall Meeting: 7 Big Topics Among Team Owners 

Media, facilities, and labor highlight some of the key areas of concern.
Ohio State Buckeyes running back Isaiah West (32) runs the ball in the second half at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025 in Madison, Wisconsin
October 25, 2025

NIL Has Birthed a Third-Party Cottage Industry—and It’s a Mess

There’s no limit to how much players can make from NIL deals.
Jun 5, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello reacts from the bench against the Washington Mystics in the first half at Entertainment & Sports Arena
October 23, 2025

Sandy Brondello’s Hire Is Rare for WNBA Expansion Team Tempo

Brondello is only a few years removed from winning a title.
Jose Fernandez
October 23, 2025

Dallas Wings Tap College Ranks Again for Fourth Coach in Five Seasons

Jose Fernandez will be Paige Bueckers’s next coach.
Sponsored

How HOKA is Reimagining the NIL Relationship

On Location is redefining the Olympic experience by creating lasting connections beyond the Games.
Oct 4, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea takes the field before a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
October 20, 2025

The Biggest Beneficiaries of College Football’s Coaching Carousel

Newcomer programs are coughing up cash to ensure their coaches stay.
exclusive
October 14, 2025

WNBA’s Fire Prematurely Announce Head Coach Hire on LinkedIn

Portland is expected to hire Alex Sarama from the Cavaliers, FOS confirmed.
Oct 11, 2025; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti watches game play against the Oregon Ducks during the fourth quarter at Autzen Stadium.
October 13, 2025

How Indiana Quietly Became a Big Spender in Football

The Hoosiers are ranked No. 3 in the AP Poll, the highest in program history.
Jonathan Gannon
October 8, 2025

Cardinals Fine Coach Jonathan Gannon $100K for Striking Player

Demercado made a costly mistake in the Cardinals’ loss to the Titans.