Billy Napier, former Arizona State head coach in waiting, fired by Florida after a win

Yesterday, Arizona State pulled off the unthinkable: they upset No. 7 and previously undefeated Texas Tech. The huge win catapulted the Sun Devils back into the AP Top 25 and also reignited their push for a Big 12 title repeat.

That same day, the Florida Gators beat Mississippi State to win their second game in three weeks, the other being a huge upset over Texas. That wasn't enough for embattled head coach Billy Napier, who was fired today despite winning on Saturday.

Sun Devil fans will remember Napier, who spent the 2017 season as the offensive coordinator in Tempe. While it was only one short season at Arizona State, which ended with head coach Todd Graham getting the boot, it was also a pivotal time for the program.

Shortly after Graham was let go, now-former athletics director Ray Anderson hired Herm Edwards to be the head coach, igniting controversy all around the state. At the time, the plan was for Edwards to retain Napier as his offensive coordinator and designate him the head coach in waiting.

Initially, per reports, Napier had agreed to the plan. However, he quickly reneged when Louisiana-Lafayette offered him their head coaching job. The Tennessee native who played college football in South Carolina opted to go closer to home and take a head job today rather than wait for a job five years down the line.

That move unknowingly became the first domino to fall that led to where Arizona State is today.

The Edwards era started off with some promise, with several big recruiting wins and a few major upset wins on the field, too. With Napier gone, Arizona State was looking for a new successor to the seasoned Edwards, and they eventually settled on Antonio Pierce.

Of course, Pierce's fast rise in the program ultimately empowered him to assume a de facto dictatorship over the team, and he became the ringleader of the illegal recruiting operation that led to the downfall of the program in 2022.

Pierce, along with Edwards and several others, were recently handed a lengthy show-cause penalty for their role in the scheme and it led to consecutive three-win seasons for the Sun Devils, statistically the worst two-year period in program history.

It also led to Kenny Dillingham's hiring, which has worked out pretty great for the Sun Devils thus far.

It's fascinating to wonder what would've happened if Napier had indeed stayed in Tempe and eventually rose to the position of head coach. He won a lot with the Ragin' Cajuns, which he parlayed into the Florida job, but he finishes with a 22-23 record despite having elite resources in Gainesville.

Either way, it's safe to say that Arizona State got the better end of that deal in the long run.