The University of Florida will hire Louisiana-Lafayette’s Billy Napier as the Gators’ next head football coach and the man to stabilize one of the nation’s top programs for the first time in more than a decade.

Napier will replace Dan Mullen and become the Gators’ fourth head coach since 2014.

“We are humbled and honored to accept this incredible opportunity,” Napier said in a statement released by UF.

Athletic director Scott Stricklin fired Mullen on Nov. 17 after an overtime loss at Missouri continued the program’s stunning downward spiral during the past 12 months. But the school had decided to move on from Mullen before the Gators’ 24-23 loss to the Tigers and met with Napier the week of the game, a source told The Orlando Sentinel last week.