All eyes in the college football hot seat watch are squarely focused on the situation unfolding in Gainesville with Florida’s Billy Napier.
While Napier is still acting as the Gators’ head coach, his tenure in Gainesville has many sports media outlets watching the clock regarding his future.
In a recent piece from USA Today, seven replacement candidates were listed, including one big-name head coach from the Big 12 Conference: Kansas‘ Lance Leipold.
“If Florida is looking for a coach who knows how to turn programs around, there may be no better man for the job than Lance Leipold,” Grubbs wrote. “The 60-year-old head coach’s first win at Kansas was the program’s first victory in 22 months. Although Leipold was unable to lead Kansas to immediate success, he gradually rebuilt the program into a legitimate Big 12 contender. Last season, the Jayhawks went 9-4 and 5-4 against conference foes. Kansas entered the 2024 campaign as one of the favorites to win the Big 12 but have had a slow start, only winning one of its first three games.”
While Leipold remained at Kansas through the Washington coaching search, his name was in hot contention for the job. In 2024, Leipold and the Jayhawks have had a rough start. Despite entering the season in the Preseason AP Top 25, the team is coming off back-to-back losses against Illinois and UNLV.
In private conversations, things inside the Jayhawks football facility may not be the smoothest. Leipold’s wife, Kelly Leipold, openly criticized Kansas fans this week on social media for their attendance before quickly deleting the tweet and claiming she was hacked.
Still, the Florida Gators have a long way to go before entering the coaching carousel.
