After presiding over three consecutive double-digit win seasons with the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, the Florida Gators gave Billy Napier a salary up there with the best in the SEC to try and deliver success to the program. What does Napier’s salary, contract, and net worth look like following his 2021 mega deal?
Billy Napier’s Salary and Contract in 2023
As a result of his success with Louisiana, Florida snapped Napier up to replace Dan Mullen as their head coach in December 2021. In doing so, they gave the former Ragin’ Cajuns head coach a deal that almost tripled his salary with the dominant Sun Belt program.
The seven-year contract that runs from Dec. 5, 2021, until Jan. 31, 2029, pays Napier an average of $7.4 million salary per year. However, the exact details of the Florida head coach’s salary per year are a little bit more complicated than that.
For the first year of his contract — that ran from signing until Jan. 31, 2023 — Napier earned a salary of $7.1 million. That amount will increase by $100,000 in each year of his contract.
So, for the 2023 contract year (Feb. 1, 2023, through Jan. 31, 2024), the Gators head coach will earn $7.2 million. In the final year of his contract, assuming that he isn’t terminated or extended at any point before Jan. 31, 2029 — Napier will earn $7.7 million.
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Napier’s salary firmly entrenches him as one of the highest-paid coaches in college football.
Although he might not command the same salary as Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, or even Mark Stoops, the $7.7 million per year puts him ahead of other SEC coaches, such as Hugh Freeze, who recently signed a deal worth $6.5 million for 2023, according to 247 Sports.
Describing Napier as “the only candidate I met with about the job” in his official press release in 2021, Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin put his money where his mouth was as far as his confidence in the former Louisiana coach to deliver success to the program is concerned.
If that confidence eventually turns out to be misplaced, it will be a costly endeavor to part ways with the Gators head coach. Napier will be owed $31.9 million if he’s dismissed after the 2023 season. The figure barely reduces if they want to terminate his contract at the end of the 2024 season, with a $26 million buyout at that point.
Napier’s Net Worth
With a seven-year deal that pays an annual average salary of $7.4 million, Napier’s net worth as a result of his contract with Florida equates to $51.8 million. However, that doesn’t factor in additional potential earnings that the Florida head coach can bolster his base salary with.
The Gators head coach has some lucrative success-based provisions woven into his contract. Currently, there’s potential for Napier to bolster his salary by a maximum of $1.5 million for meeting all of the objectives laid out in his deal.
However, there is an understanding that this bonus structure could be modified to factor in the expansion of the College Football Playoff. Currently, the following are the bonuses that Napier is eligible for:
- SEC Championship Game appearance: $125,000
- SEC Championship Game victory: $200,000
- Bowl-game eligibility: $100,000
- Major bowl-game eligibility: $250,000
- College Football Playoff semifinal appearance: $500,000
- College Football National Championship Game appearance: $750,000
- Winning a national title for the Gators: $1 million
- SEC Coach of the Year: $50,000
- National Coach of the Year: $100,000
- Top 10 College Football Playoff ranking: $100,000
It’s worth noting that the bonuses in Napier’s contract are not cumulative. For example, if the Gators were to win a national title, their head coach would only be eligible for the $1 million bonus and not an additional $750,000 for the appearance in the game.
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It’s also interesting that some of the bonuses woven into Napier’s contract are significantly more lucrative than for his predecessor. The most notable difference is that Mullen would have only received $400,000 for a national title success, more than half what Napier will receive if he can guide the Gators to national glory.
In addition to fiscal reward, Napier’s contract has several other benefits. According to Saturday Down South, his deal includes the “use of two luxury cars, a suite for football games, and personal use of the University Athletic Association’s jets.”
