Billy Napier: Florida will prove better people make better football players in 2024

Billy Napier mentioned it multiple times during his more than 20 minutes in front of local media on Tuesday. As the Florida Gators open their third training camp under Napier’s stewardship, the head coach believes a deeper, more experienced roster will pay dividends.

“We’ve been really close. We have experience. We’ve got a core group of players that are coming back, they’ve tasted it, they’ve been right there in those fourth-quarter games back-to-back years, down the stretch we haven’t quite finished the way we’d like to,” Napier said. “And I think ultimately that’s the motivation behind this. They know it’s just right there.”

Florida went 5-7 last year and it posted a third consecutive losing record in SEC play — a first for the program in the last 7 decades. Napier has had his posterior warmed by the seat in his office all offseason, but the Gators lost by 3 points, 2 points, and 9 points throughout the skid to close the season.

Their point differential said they were a 6-win team. Their inability to finish made them a postseason-less team for the first time since 2017. That was Jim McElwain’s last year. Napier’s critics believe he shouldn’t have gotten a third at Florida.

And maybe the Gators’ schedule in 2024 — the toughest in the FBS, according to ESPN’s FPI — will ensure he doesn’t get a fourth. But Napier isn’t concerning himself with hypotheticals as camp dawns.

“I think every good movie, every good story has challenges. We’re right in the middle of this one. I’m hopeful that the things we’ve done to make change will help us perform better,” Napier said. “But I’m going to tell you, I’m a firm believer that sometimes you need to go through struggle, and we’ve done that, and I’m hopeful that it will be rewarding when we do accomplish some things of significance.”

Napier fired his secondary coach and his defensive line after the 2023 season ended. He lost his linebackers coach to Mike Elko at Texas A&M. He re-assigned the team’s strength coach to a player development role and brought in 2 new faces to reinvent the operation.

The offseason has seemingly brought some growth for the Gators’ physical profile.

He also mentioned speed has increased. Said a few guys are running 23 mph (I cannot relate), and many are running 22 mph, more than at his previous stops. Miles said #Gators have really bought in to new program. https://t.co/d9oj4c7U9O

— Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) July 30, 2024

And Napier said Tuesday he hopes the physical changes within his team will lead to more belief within the locker room and on the field on Saturdays. Napier claimed this fall camp will be the most competitive in his tenure at Florida. The Gators have better competitive depth, he said, more experience, and a challenge in front of them.

Seventeen starters are back from last year’s team. Per Bill Connelly’s calculations (which factor in incoming transfers), the Gators are among the top 4 in the SEC in returning production. Napier said there are more than 41,000 snaps coming back.

“I think we went through a little bit of a youth movement in Year 2 in certain parts of our team and we’re reaping the rewards of some of that now,” he said. “We’re really close, and I think we’ve got a core group of veterans that know that. Finish is a word that has been used quite a bit this summer, and I think that element is one of the areas where we can pursue that difference. I think how we train might just be the difference.”

Rather than spending fall camp in a hotel, as they did in previous years, Napier had his team move into Tolbert Hall. He said the staff is trying to create “crossover” relationships with “unique” roommates and build a team.

“I think it’s good for our guys to experience something different. I think it provides an opportunity to be around your teammates during training camp. I think it provides an opportunity to build some character, to some degree, and maybe create some gratitude,” Napier said. “We’re trying to create an old-school feel to training camp.”

The end goal? A group that fights for each other.

“I’m a firm believer that better people are better football players,” Napier said. “We’ll prove that this fall.”

Florida is a long shot to win the conference in 2024. FanDuel has the Gators +10000 to win the SEC, right next to Kentucky on the board. The win total is 4.5, though most of the action there is on the over. The Gators open the season with Miami, they’ll play UCF at home in October, and they’ll play the annual game against Florida State in November. The conference slate features Texas A&M, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, LSU, and Ole Miss — all teams that currently reside in the FPI top 16.

At FanDuel, Miami is a 2.5-point favorite in the opener. Georgia is a 20.5-point favorite. And Florida State, despite all it lost from last year’s team, is an 11.5-point favorite. The Gators have the same odds as Colorado (+2000) to make the CFP.

But UF can author a successful season in other ways. At least, Napier can derive success from other areas.

Be more sound. Don’t give away games. Don’t spot Kentucky 23 first-half points. Don’t give Arkansas 10 points in the final 5 minutes of regulation. Florida was within 3 points of LSU in the fourth. It had a lead over Missouri late in the fourth. It took a lead on Florida State into the fourth. But the Gators were awful last season when the offense faced a third down. The defense gave away points like candy in the red zone. Only Temple produced fewer takeaways. No one was worse at preventing explosive plays.

“We’ve gotta go execute our formula. We haven’t quite done that in all parts of our team,” Napier said. “We’d like to work hard and become situation experts. … I do think having veteran players who have been in that system will help in that area.

“I think we need to be aggressive and try to overwhelm people in how we play, with the number of variables that we present and the aggressive approach — how we call the game and how we play the game. And then we need to finish. That’s the last part of the formula is how we finish. That’s what we’re going to focus on over the next month.”

Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.