JMU is set to hire Billy Napier, fired in October after three subpar seasons at Florida, to take over its football program, with current coach Bob Chesney on his way to UCLA.
The hire makes JMU the second state school to go with a guy with a resume who was fired from his previous job in 2025 to take over football operations.
ICYMI
Virginia Tech went with James Franklin, on the market because he got the axe at Penn State in September, to replace Brent Pry, who as it turns out was Franklin’s former defensive coordinator at Penn State.
Napier, 46, was future-endeavored after a 3-4 start at Florida this fall, and a 22-23 overall record in four seasons in Gainesville.
He got the job there on the strength of a solid run at Louisiana, which he led to a 40-12 record in his four seasons there, from 2018 to 2021.
His final two teams at the Sun Belt school finished in the AP Top 25.
I’ve not been big on the Franklin hire at Tech because Franklin hasn’t had to win in the NIL era with a Tech-sized budget, but I can see the Napier-to-JMU hire working out, because he has a record of success at the Group of 5 level.
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Chris Graham
