Florida Gators football coach Billy Napier seemingly had things turned around during the 2024 season. Even if Alex Golesh’s Bulls look like a potential College Football Playoff contender from the Group of 5 ranks, that’s an unforgivable loss in the Sunshine State. 4 Mississippi and South Carolina have parlayed successful hires made in the same general timeframe into near-annual College Football Playoff contention. Florida is far behind in the NIL game after hiring Napier, and will be financially hamstrung by his contract buyout. They do have the right resources to make the right hire and have a similar trajectory to Tennessee, Ole Miss, and South Carolina.