ESPN’s Paul Finebaum thinks Bill Belichick or another prominent SEC coach could have been in play for the Florida Gators
When Bill Belichick made his jump from the NFL landscape to college football, no one pictured that it would be to join the North Carolina Tar Heels. That is exactly what happened and Belichick landed a lucrative contract to do so. Belichick should have the Tar Heels as a threat in the ACC, which traditionally […]
When Bill Belichick made his jump from the NFL landscape to college football, no one pictured that it would be to join the North Carolina Tar Heels. That is exactly what happened and Belichick landed a lucrative contract to do so.
Belichick should have the Tar Heels as a threat in the ACC, which traditionally isn’t very strong past Clemson and Florida State (at times).
But what if it wasn’t North Carolina for Belichick and he landed in the SEC instead? ESPN’s Paul Finebaum thinks that could have been on the table if a team decided to move off of their current head coach.
"Let's say Napier completely imploded, they needed to swing big," Finebaum said recently on “The Paul Finebaum Show”. "I think that it would have come down to two people [and that is] Lane Kiffin or Bill Belichick. What a diverse choice that would have been."
The 2024 season started rough for the Gators and it made many wonder if Billy Napier would be canned in the end. Florida started 4-5 but was able to win their last four games to finish at 8-5 on the year. Florida grabbed wins over LSU and Ole Miss in November, which stood out with the bad start to the year.
"I had heard the Belichick to Florida deal," Finebaum stated. "I think Florida was his first choice."
The other interesting name is Kiffin, who Finebaum also mentioned could have been an option if Napier were let go. This isn’t the first time that Kiffin was mentioned for the Florida job. Kiffin was the head coach at Florida Atlantic for three seasons from 2017 through 2019 and has been with Ole Miss since 2020.
Belichick would have had a lot more resources at an SEC program like Florida, which has aspirations to get back into the mix to compete for the College Football Playoff. DJ Lagway is an excellent quarterback who is only a sophomore in 2025, so he would have been an attractive piece to any potential head coach they could have looked at if Napier was let go.
Belichick making the trip from the Upper East Coast to sunny Florida would have been quite the lifestyle change, one perhaps that was fitting for Belichick who could retire and ride into the sunset at any time.
The Gators are all in on Napier getting this thing right for at least one more season. If things go south, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Belichick or Kiffin’s name tossed around some more.
