Sources confirm: Billy Napier landing at James Madison (Billy Napier)

Penn State could perhaps learn a thing or two. James Madison search for Bob Chesney's replacement lasted less than a week.

The Dukes are hiring former Florida and Louisiana coach Billy Napier as its replacement for Chesney, who has accepted the head coach's post at UCLA for Chesney's first-ever Football Bowls Subdivision Power Conference job.

Chesney will guide the JMU program into Friday night's Sun Belt Conference Championship game, and he will also lead the program into the College Football Playoffs if the Dukes defeat Gerad Parker's Troy Trojans and are among the final teams selected into the 12-team CFP field.

But the program moving forward will be guided by Napier, who had record-breaking success atop the Louisiana program that never translated into his initial foray as a Power Conference coach at Florida. Napier was fired two-thirds of the way through the Gators's 4-8 campaign -- though he did manage an upset-win against Texas that has likely knocked Steve Sarkisian's Longhorns out of the CFP field.

Napier evolved into one of college football's hottest coaching commodities during his run with the Cajuns, where they consistently punched above their weight against Power Conference teams and also posted a 33-5 mark in his final three years at the helm.

He's also worked under some of the sport's brightest luminaries as he coached under Dabo Swinney at Clemson and also worked for Nick Saban at Alabama. Napier also served as Arizona State's offensive play-caller, just before he accepted the Louisiana job prior to the 2018 season.

Additionally, he played for the well-regarded Bobby Lamb during Napier's standout-career as a Furman Paladins quarterback.

The Dukes hope that Napier can lend some stability to their program -- though the success has remained consistent.

Napier is the program's third head coach in less than three calendar years. 

Curt Cignetti left for the Indiana Hoosiers job at the conclusion of the 2023 regular season, and Chesney was hired as his replacement.

Now, Napier is finalizing terms to become Chesney's replacement.

The Dukes host Troy Friday night (7, ESPN).

The CFP Selection Committee will reveal its final 12-team bracket Sunday at 12 p.m ET. The Dukes, alongside both Tulane and North Texas, all are alive for a conference champion auto-bid selection.

It's possible that both JMU, with a win, and the winner of the North Texas-Tulane American Athletic Conference Championship could be the final two bids into the 12-team field. That scenario is possible if five-loss Duke, which already lost this season to Tulane, upsets Virginia in the ACC Championship. 


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