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Mike Bianchi: Billy Napier’s, Mike Norvell’s contracts at Florida and FSU are a scandalous misappropriation of funds

ORLANDO, Fla. — The news media is in a tizzy about the extravagant spending of former University of Florida president Ben Sasse, who apparently was spending the school’s money on hosting a lavish holiday party for big-money donors that featured a $38,610 sushi bar.

As a result, Gov. Ron DeSants’ administration has directed the state auditor general to investigate Sasse’s expenditures as part of a previously scheduled audit of the university.

I have an even better idea:

How about we get the state auditor general to investigate the exorbitant, wasteful contracts that UF and Florida State have bestowed upon their now-embattled football coaches — Billy Napier and Mike Norvell?

These bloated coaching contracts make Sasse’s sushi bar look like the popcorn shrimp basket at Long John Silver’s. The outlay for Sasse’s expense reports is chump change compared with the football spending sprees at Florida, Florida State and most other big-time institutions of higher earning.

I understand the state media and government beancounters digging into Sasse’s sushi-spending habits, but if you want a real fishy scandal and a misappropriation of funds in higher education then somebody should do a deep dive into the finances of the athletic associations at Florida and Florida State.

Let’s start with the Gators, who are seemingly close to pulling the plug on Napier not even three years into the 7-year, $7.4 million-a-year contract he signed in December 2021. If Napier gets fired, the Gators are on the hook for the $27 million it would take to buy out the remaining four years of his deal.

The obvious question: Why, after three losing seasons, does Napier still have four long years left on his original deal? In other words, why did UF athletic director Scott Stricklin give Napier a 7-year deal instead of the traditional 5-year…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mike-bianchi-billy-napier-mike-093000036.html

Author : Orlando Sentinel

Publish date : 2024-09-19 09:30:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

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