Next Man Up: Florida Gators

The season has just started, but already, it feels like the bottom has fallen out in Gainesville. The Florida Gators are two weeks removed from their worst & more embarrassing loss under head coach Billy Napier, losing 18-16 against South Florida. Not to mention the horrific performance against LSU last Saturday. And what's worse is that the real test comes as they prepare to handle the bulk of the toughest schedule in college football in the country. But after last Saturday's loss, fans and some analysts are saying, "Enough is enough!" & calling for a change in coaching now and/or to begin the process of finding Napier's replacement ASAP.

As of now, this of course is all speculation & opinion, but it does not go without reason to say that this could be case by this point and time. Which has lead me to wonder: who are the major targets to take over at Florida if Billy Napier is fired? So, I now give you my "Next Man Up" list for the Florida Gators for next season.

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{The "Winner" Picks}

Kenny Dillingham - Head Coach: Arizona State (15-13 record)

This is a no-brainer. If you are a team trying to crack the Big Ten or SEC ranks to make the College Football Playoff, Kenny Dillingham is likely at the top of your list. At just 35 years old, he's ascended farther than most coaches could ever dream of at that point.

He built a team that was picked to finish dead last in the Big 12 last year (their first year in the conference) after finishing 3-9 in 2023 (their last year in the Pac 12 conference) & was able to have them in the Top 10 in the rankings, win the Big 12 championship, & took a top ranked Texas to double overtime in the Peach Bowl.

His offensive mind & scheme is dynamic & creative. His track record with quarterbacks is impeccable. What he could do with a guy like D.J. Lagway would (or could) be something special. With a bigger brand and budget, Dillingham could build a real contender in The Swamp.

The Risk: He's only had three years of head coaching experience, including this season. Dillingham's loss to Texas could be a sign of that because, despite beating four ranked teams during the season, losing that playoff game could be attributed to his lack of experience (particularly against powerhouse programs.) They also did just lose one against Mississippi State (who was last in the SEC last season) which is not a great look for a coach entering the SEC no doubt.

Rhett Lashlee - Head Coach: SMU (30-13)

Another one that feels like a smart choice. No one discredits former SMU head coach Sonny Dykes (now at TCU) for his work at the school, but Rhett Lashlee has come in & put the program on the map. So far, Lashlee has had a winning seasons in each of his three seasons at SMU, with back-to-back seasons being nationally ranked.

Similar to Dillingham, SMU entered a new conference of the ACC & was able to have a 11-1 record overall with a perfect 8-0 against the conference. With that, they played in the ACC championship game against Clemson that came down to a field goal & were able to finish 12th in the rankings, which was enough to get the final spot in the playoffs.

Also like Dillingham, Lashlee has a knack for working with quarterbacks. The proof is in that pudding when you look at his three years with three different quarterbacks throwing for over 3,000 yards & 20 or more touchdowns. Not many can say that in their first three seasons. His offense is a machine when comes to scoring points. He has a little bit of that "Steve Spurrier" offensive vibe to himself, and Florida fans know was Spurrier was able to accomplish at Florida.

The Risk: He still has a lot to prove in the department of beating Power 4 competition. While SMU did has two wins over ranked teams last season, those two teams were Louisville & BYU. Not exactly two teams anyone would consider "cream-of-the-crop." And to that, the times they did play those top teams (Clemson in ACC championship & Penn State in the CFP first round), they lost both times. Now they did come back & tie the game against Clemson in the 4th quarter, but before then, they were down 31-14 at the end of the 3rd. Safe to say, it was almost all but written at that point and time.

{The "Safe" Picks}

Matt Campbell - Head Coach: Iowa State (67-51) / (102-66 Overall)

This one feel conventional & typical. Whenever a college head coaching job opens up, you can bet Matt Campbell's name will be out there and in the mix. But who could blame them? Campbell has built a name for himself at Iowa State that has always been seen as an unconventional route for college football to come through as a threat.

His time started at Toledo, where he won the MAC West Division in back-to-back seasons in 2014 & 2015. He then got the head coaching job in Ames, IA in 2016 & has turned the Cyclones into "trap game" picks & world beaters in many major schedules. He's only had two losing seasons in the 9 years he's been with Iowa State & even had them finishing ranked in the Top 10 (9th) in 2020. And just last year, he coached his team to a bowl win against a Miami team that many felt were deserving of a playoff bid.

Campbell is best noted for his culture-building. His teams are always together & working as one life form. It's a proven commodity that, I would argue, is needed in all levels of football. He has also shown to get the best out of less in taking lesser-talented recruits & making them into a competitive roster. Some even go on to become significant NFL prospects for the draft. Campbell would have top tier talent at Florida & could use a breath of fresh air from Napier's "culture" or whatever you want to call it.

The Risk: Campbell is not one who seems to "rattle the cage" if you will. He stays on a pretty steady approach when it comes to landing the plane. He has a routine & sticks to it. Certainly nothing wrong with that. But the question is if that will work in the SEC where chaos & cutthroat expectations for top recruits & national titles are the norm. All love to Ames, but it does not compare to Gainesville and The Swamp on game day. The question of if he could flip guys and get transfers is certainly out there.

Lance Leipold - Head Coach: Kansas (24-29) / (170-68 Overall)

Some may think this is "out of the box" but it is another name that will show up consistently in the coaching searches in college football. Lance Leipold has become a more interesting name that gets mentioned for more prominent jobs. And just like Campbell at Iowa State, Leipold has turned Kansas into a team that, at times, cannot be over-looked as a potential upset.

Leipold comes from humble beginnings at Wisconsin-Whitewater (his alma mater), where he had five undefeated 15-0 seasons in his 8 years & 6 D-III national titles. After which, he took the job at Buffalo University, which started rough but then saw three straight winning seasons with back-to-back bowl game wins in 2019 & 2020 & even finished ranked 25th in 2020 as well. Leipold was then finally hired to be the head coach for Kansas, who were coming off the COVID year but still managed an 0-9 record. While these five seasons have not been easy, he has still managed to put a program together that had a 9-4 season in 2023 with an upset over Oklahoma & a bowl win to cap.

Lance Leipold is a former quarterback so you know that he knows offense. Wherever he's gone, he always figures out his team & puts an offense together that is effective & works for his guys. If the passing game is struggling, he goes to the run. If a QB isn't working, he'll put in the backup. He is not afraid to try anything and everything to see what sticks and wins games. And has done all of this with smaller-name recruits & transfers.  What could be done with some proper backing behind him? Maybe the Gators winning again.

The Risk: Lance Leipold is spry when he needs to be. Otherwise, he's very laid back & "matter of fact" with his coaching. And just like Campbell, he has a sense of routine to his way of doing things it would seem. So one would have to wonder if he could handle to pressures that come with coaching in the SEC, much less the Gators. My personal main concern would be about his recruiting. Leipold is not a flashy coach by nature & the SEC has a lot of style & swagger usually running around. Could he find a way to transform or reinvent himself to fit the mold. I'm an LSU fan so I know how that can come off to some & Brian Kelly isn't exactly getting five star talent to stick to their commitments lately.

{The "Swing for the Fences" Picks}

Urban Meyer - Former Head Coach: 4 Colleges, 1 NFL [Jacksonville] / (187-32 Overall)

Oh yeah. You knew this one was coming. Why? Because it comes up every year! No seriously! Like every single year that there is a coaching job at a Power 4 school, Urban Meyer's name gets thrown into the mix. That rings especially true when it's the job at Florida. And despite what many may think, he is a potential and viable option.

Everywhere Meyer's been, he makes that school a winner. Two winning seasons at Bowling Green turned into a head coaching job at Utah. And just two seasons with the Utes that saw back-to-back winning seasons that finished with Top 25 rankings (4th in 2004), Meyer was one the move again to Florida, where he became a legend. Two national titles, 5-1 in bowl games, & a Heisman Trophy winner in Tim Tebow. He resigned after the 2010 season & after a year away, took the job at Ohio State, where he worked his magic again. He turned the program around from 6-7 in 2011 and back to being undefeated in 2012. In his seven seasons in Columbus, he won a his third national title, had a 4-2 bowl record (banned in 2012 due to Jim Tressel sanctions), & were finished ranked in the Top 10 six of his seven years.

The name "Urban Meyer" brings the energy of championship-winning pedigree to a program. He is a heck of a salesman that can get some of the top recruits to commit & flip. And his work in the transfer portal would be interesting, if anything else. He has seen & done it all in college football. There really is not much that could catch him off-guard at this point. At the very least, that he cannot figure out a game plan for with time. Give him NIL backing & Meyer could have Florida feeling like it's 2008 all over again.

The Risk: Urban Meyer comes with quite a bit a baggage. Some from his time at Ohio State. A year's worth from his NFL trial in Jacksonville. But the bulk of it from his days at Florida. On top of the past that follows his name, Meyer has also been one whose track record says he eventually will suffer from burnout & exit stage right. There's also ideas being floated that Meyer's old school approach may not click with new-age players & that his name may not have the weight it once did after being out of the college coaching scene for seven years. For Florida fans though, they know what he did & what his name means. It's the players that need to believe he still has some of that old magic still in him.

Jon Gruden - Former Head Coach: 2 NFL [Oakland (twice) & Tampa Bay] / (117-112 Overall)

Feels like this one comes way out from left field. Would a man like Jon Gruden want to coach at the college level after so many years in the NFL? According to a statement he made at a Georgia Bulldogs' speaking engagement, Gruden stated, "I'd love to coach again. I'd die to coach in the SEC. I would love it." So with that being said, let's look at Jon Gruden taking his talents to Gainesville.

His coaching career started with a handful of position coaching jobs in college & the NFL before becoming the one of first offensive "wiz kids" for a head coaching job after three seasons as offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles. He eventually landed the job in 1998 with the Oakland Raiders, during which he took his team to the playoffs in 2000 & 2001 where they lost both times to the eventually Super Bowl champions (Baltimore in 2000, Patriots in 2001). His time in Oakland ended when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded two first & second round picks & $8 million for Gruden to be their new head coach after firing Tony Dungy in 2002. That year, he helped guide Tampa to their first Super Bowl victory. He was then fired in 2008 and found successful work as an analyst & speaker. Then in 2018, Gruden got the call again from the Raiders to return to the sidelines of the silver and black as head coach. Despite a rough start to his third stint, the team improved each year before Gruden resigned in 2021 just five games into the 2021 season.

Jon Gruden's prowess for offense has never been a question. His understanding of the passing game may be one the best we have ever seen in the modern history of football. Exaggeration? Perhaps. But he seems to back it up with his analysis of quarterback prospects entering the NFL Draft over the year's through his show, Gruden's QB Camp. He's a product of the Bill Walsh coaching tree via Mike Holmgren. Under Holmgren, he perfected his style of the west coast offense. Implementing a modern pro-style offense with the quarterback & weapons they already have could make Florida a great landing spot for players looking to go to the next level. Not to mention his charisma and energy at 62 years old is infectious. Plus Gruden has done an solid job of staying in the realm of relevancy by continuing to speak to high school & college players while hosting The Shred Line on Barstool Sports.

The Risk: The glaring issue is that Jon Gruden has been out of college football as a coach, in any capacity, for decades now. He last college job was at Pitt in 1991 as the WR coach. Other than that, he has never been a head coach in college. So there could be a learning curve there. And considering how rough the Bill Belichick era has started at UNC, it could be a warning sign. Gruden also comes with some baggage as well. There is speculation on whether his relationship with former Raiders' owner & CEO, Al Davis, had grown thin when he was traded to Tampa. Most recently was in 2021, when he resigned in his second stint with the Raiders due to emails found between himself & former Washington Commanders general manager Bruce Allen during an investigation into workplace misconduct for the Commanders, where he used awful & horrid derogatory slurs about NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL players, & even then-president of the United States, Barack Obama. All of that compounded together is enough to make Gruden more feel like a far-off pipe dream fantasy than an actual long-term solution.

{The "Eyebrow Raising" Pick}

Lane Kiffin - Head Coach: Ole Miss (46-18) / (107-52 Overall)

I know what you might be thinking: no way. It won't happen. You are off your rocker. But just for moment, let's live inside a dream that maybe more real than some want to give it credit. Lane Kiffin is always in the Power 4 coaching ether. Anyone with any chance of cracking into the College Football Playoff is always linked to Kiffin. So I guess the question stands: is Florida a big enough pedigree to entice him away from Ole Miss?

Kiffin, like Gruden, was labeled a "wiz kid" coach while being a position coach at USC for seven years, where he was instrumental in helping the Trojans win national titles. Then came a shocking move: Oakland was hiring Kiffin as their head coach at 31 years old (then tied for the youngest coach hired in NFL history). The Black Hole was excited & energized. But that quickly fizzled out. Gruden lasted just 20 games before owner Al Davis fired him over the phone due to a growing frustration from going 4-12 in his first full year. He then became the youngest head coach in college football when he was hired by Tennessee. But one year in Knoxville was all that would be when he was offered the job as head coach at USC in 2010. In his 4 years in L.A., he had USC finish ranked 6th in 2011 & were eligible for a bowl game in 2012. But again, he was fired after the team had a 3-2 start in 2013. He then spent 3 seasons at Alabama as offensive coordinator before accepting yet another coaching job in 2017, this time at Florida Atlantic. He had two seasons of 10+ wins at FAU with two trips to the Boca Raton Bowl. But after one successful year, he was one the move again when agreed to be the head coach at Ole Miss before the end of 2019. In his first five years, Kiffin has had four straight winning seasons with five straight bowl appearances while posting a 3-2 record in bowl games.

The standout features of Lane Kiffin is he is an insane recruiter as head coach. Be it on the high school recruiting trail or diving into the transfer portal, he can always get the top kids in the country to commit & sign on the dotted line. He is a ball of energy. Which is perfect for what Gainesville needs. It also helps that he has coached at big programs & has working knowledge of the SEC. And then there's his offensive mindset, which while basic at times, can be highly effective with the right personnel on the field. By now, he should have a good understanding of what Florida is from just watching film on them to scheme against them. If he were to join them? It could be the move that puts him on par with some of the best.

The Risk: If you go back up to the top of his profiling & count the number of moves he's made since becoming the Raiders' head coach, you get six different coaching jobs in 18 years. That's a lot of bouncing around. Not really the kind of track record you want as a head coach. Though in fairness, Ole Miss has been his longest tenor at six years including this season. But still, moving to Florida could just another bump in the road if all goes wrong (or slightly not right). Programs want long-term stability in head coaches. Unfortunately, Lane's history doesn't speak well to that style. Also, he would owe Ole Miss about $3 million as a buyout to leave to Florida. Now to Kiffin that may not seem like much, But it is still $3 million all the same. Add onto the fact that moving to Florida could, in his eyes, be seen as a lateral move. Most of us would agree that the Gators are the bigger (possibly better) brand, but Kiffin is particular about his coaching choices.

{The "Too Perfect" Pick}

Glenn Schumann - Defensive Coordinator: Georgia

Amongst all the coordinators out there to choose from (are there are many we could talk about), this is "the one" that just makes sense. Almost too much sense. It's a name you've likely never heard of until possibly now. Yes, Glenn Schumann of Georgia, is the head coach & savior the Florida Gators & The Swamp desperately needs to hire.

Schumann's coaching resume is very short, but man is it sweet. He was just a regular student in 2008 when he began as a student assistant at Alabama under Nick Saban & Kirby Smart. Essentially, he was a runner that did everything & anything to prove his worth. After graduating in 2011, he became a grad assistant that worked closely along side Kirby Smart & the defense. Then in 2016, Kirby Smart was hired as the head coach at Georgia, where he hired Schumann to his staff to coach the linebackers. In 2019, Schumann was made co-defensive coordinator along side future Oregon Ducks head coach, Dan Lanning, after Mel Tucker left to be the head coach at Colorado. During that time, he helped Georgia become one of the best defenses in the college football & win back-to-back national titles in 2021 & 2022.

Glenn Schumann is not a name that any casual fan will likely know. Deep dive & you will see that he is one of the best in the country among assistants. His knowledge of defense is strong & vast thanks to studying under Saban & Smart. He's also a relentless recruiter & noted as one of the best in the country. Defensive players at Georgia have attributed his work as a recruiter to get them in the red & black, on top of his work as a coach in developing their talent to be top tier in college to become NFL caliber. Along side the previous mentioned back-to-back titles at Georgia, he also got the experience of four championships at Alabama too. And at 35 years old, he is a young coach with a lot of energy & juice combined with championship pedigree who has deep knowledge of the SEC & how it works in the college football world. Added bonus: he would weaken their biggest rival, Georgia, in both recruiting & defensive coaching. This feel like the shot that Florida would need to bring them back to glory.

The Risk: The only big glaring issue that would be talked about that could hurt him & be his downfall is that Schumann has never been a head coach. He's never run his own program. While he was darn near raised in one at Alabama & came of age in to help build another at Georgia, he has yet to show if he has the chops to take a firm hold of a large program in such a cutthroat conference. Add to that statement that he is another very young coach, which can lead to mishaps & mistakes being made within the program. So while I personally see Schumann as the "perfect" pick for Florida, it is still a roll of the dice & a hope that he can turn it around or else be apart of the Gators sinking farther into the swamp.