Billy Napier
Head coach at James Madison in 2026, hired after his Florida tenure. The "fallen-SEC-coach" play — a departure from JMU's prior pattern of hiring up-and-coming FCS coaches like Cignetti and Chesney. Bill Connelly's read: Napier built a Louisiana team that was way more talented and bigger in the trenches than the rest of the Sun Belt; if he can do that here, JMU is positioned for sustained playoff-bid runs.