Time for Florida to upgrade to a new name- Sunshine State to Buyout State. The upgrade is the need of the hour since both FSU and Florida Gators are in great soup. Well, going by the speculations, they are seeking Mike Norvell and Billy Napier’s replacements. It has been only one year that the world of college football has been stunned by the massive Jimbo Fisher buyout by Texas A&M University, which was the biggest in the history of college football.

Now it’s Florida’s turn to gain the limelight but this time not for good reasons. Instead, the FSU HC Mike Norvell’s buyout will be a financial burden for the team. On the other hand, Gators HC Napier’s path ahead gets more challenging with top recruits on the verge of jumping out of the Florida wagon.    

Mike Norvell under fire after 0-3 season kickoff

The Texas A&M tried to lure away Fisher back in 2017 when he was in Florida State. The Aggies offered the HC as much as $75 million. But it cost them hard as in year 6, they decided to part ways with the HC for which they had to shell out $77.6 million. While Florida was happy to find out how their ex-HC gave Texas A&M a hard time, now it’s time for them to endure the pain.

As per the sources, FSU owes Norvell $65 million in case they decide to carry forward with a new HC. which equates to 85% of his base salary and supplemental pay for the remainder of his current contract, which ends Dec. 31, 2031. Norvell had signed a 6-year contract worth $26.5 million in 2019 to become FSU’s coach after leaving Memphis. He has recently received two extensions.

One came in 2023, which paid roughly $8 million a year. The other one was in January for 10 years and was worth more than $84 million. This took place after some speculation about replacing the legendary Nick Saban in Alabama. The deal made him the sixth-highest-paid coach in the country. But the team under Norvell is having a tough luck lately.

On Saturday, September 14, the Seminoles became the first preseason top-10 team to start the season 0–3 and all the losses came from unranked opponents, Georgia Tech, Boston College, and Memphis by an average margin of 8.7 points. And for this, no one other than Norvell is held responsible. The FSU HC lost 10 players to the NFL. But, it seems, he has been unable to replace them with equivalent talent. And if anything has bothered him the most, that is quarterback DJ Uiagalelei.

Uiagalelei’s lackluster performance has been a common factor in all the three losses FSU faced. The former Clemson quarterback recorded one touchdown against two interceptions through three games and owns a paltry 56.6% pass completion rate. He completed his first five passes in FSU’s 20-12 loss to Memphis. They totaled 7 yards. His sixth pass was intercepted. Such a debacle has left Norvell facing criticism for his choice of Uiagalelei to replace Jordan Travis. And we can not disregard those completely. Let us give you some context.

Travis was an All-ACC quarterback. On the other hand, DJ Uiagalelei ranks last in the ACC in passer efficiency. Should be enough to justify the criticism. However, Norvell stands by his quarterback.

In a press conference on Monday, he said, “I think when you look at the game, there were some things that DJ did really well in putting guys in a position and trying to give opportunities. But there were also a few times that we had some missed opportunities on his part, in our overall execution. I am pleased with the way that he’s preparing. I am pleased with the things that he’s doing. You see the moments where he’s giving us a chance. He’s giving us an opportunity to have big plays.”

But, Uiagalelei, a former five-star prep recruit who transferred to FSU after a decently successful campaign at Oregon State (threw for a career-high 2,638 yards and racked up 21 touchdown passes), has yet to impress. All this being said, the Seminoles are in a dilemma. Keeping Norvell will keep them tangled in their woes while losing out on him would leave them run out of fortune. Well, no worries, they’re not alone—their in-state rivals, the Gators, are feeling the pinch with buyouts too.

Billy Napier’s third year at Florida could be his last

The Gators HC Napier is all set to move into his third year as a coach. But things are very likely to come to an end soon for Napier as the HC. As per the sources, Florida has already gathered the money to fund his buyout. Back in 2021, the program ran after the hottest name in college coaching, as the HC was coming off fresh from 40-12 in four seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette. However, never in their wildest dreams did the Gators think that they would wait for the time to drop Napier from their shoulders.

Going by the reported figure, Florida would owe him $26 million in case they fired him. However, they are ready to go to such limits, particularly after their alarming 20-33 loss against Texas A&M. Besides, Napier has somehow lost the trust of the top recruits like DL Jalen Wiggins, and WR Naeshaun Montgomery, among others.

On3 analyst Steve Wilfong came up with the reason as well, “It’s not good right now for them because there’s just a lot of doubt of the direction of this program now moving forward.” The Sunshine State is so desperate for a top contender, that they are all ready to empty their banks to seek replacements for Mike Norvell and Billy Napier.