A former Clemson assistant has a new head coaching job.

Billy Napier is finalizing a five-year contract to be the next head coach at James Madison, according to multiple reports.

Napier was fired by Florida on Oct. 19 in the midst of his fourth season with the program. The Gators were 3-4 overall at the time he was fired, and he went just 22-23 during his tenure in Gainesville.

At James Madison, Napier will replace Bob Chesney, who is set to become UCLA’s head coach beginning in 2026.

Napier now returns to the Sun Belt, the conference he coached in as Louisiana’s head coach from 2018-21. Napier compiled a 40-12 overall record at Louisiana and led the program to 10 or more wins in each of his final three seasons there. He guided the program to a share of the Sun Belt title in 2020 before winning the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship.

Napier was an assistant at Clemson from 2006-2010, serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during the 2009 and 2010 seasons, before Dabo Swinney decided to move on and bring in Chad Morris ahead of the 2011 campaign. Napier also coached tight ends and was the recruiting coordinator during the final three seasons of the Tommy Bowden era.

After leaving Clemson, Napier had stints as an assistant at Colorado State, Alabama and Arizona State before being hired as the head coach at Louisiana in 2018.

–Photo courtesy of Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images