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Billy Napier wins national weekly coaching award for impressive Florida debut
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Florida’s Billy Napier might be the hottest coach in college football entering Week 2. For his efforts against No. 7 Utah, he’s being honored in the national spotlight.
Napier was named the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week for his impressive debut against the Utes. Florida, an underdog in ‘The Swamp,’ was able to pull off the 29-26 upset despite having a new staff and personnel group leading the charge.
✅ Upset No. 7 Utah in front of the largest opening crowd in @GatorsFB history
✅ Extend UF’s home season-opener win streak to 33
✅ In your first game as head coach@coach_bnapier is our Week 1 #DoddTrophy Coach of the Week! ?@PNCBank?: https://t.co/ETg39XMkOZ pic.twitter.com/QqYt6QaMea
— The Dodd Trophy (@thedoddtrophy) September 6, 2022
Behind redshirt sophomore quarterback Anthony Richardson, the Gators tallied 451 yards of offense compared to Utah’s 446. Richardson, a dual-threat option a native of Gainesville, finished 17-of-24 passing for 168 yards. He also tacked on 106 rushing yards with 11 carries and scored 3 touchdowns, including the game-winning 1-yard run with less than 90 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Utah quarterback Cam Rising threw a costly interception at the goal line to Florida linebacker Amari Burney, thus sealing the Gators’ win. With the victory, Florida extends its home-opener win streak to 33 games. Napier also picked up his first win over a top 25 opponent in SEC play.
Hired away from Louisiana this offseason, Napier posted a 40-12 record during his 4 seasons at the helm. He led the Ragin’ Cajuns to 4 consecutive Sun Belt championships, winning back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021. Louisiana was also ranked for the first time in program history under Napier, reaching No. 15 and No. 16 in the AP Poll during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, respectively.
The No. 12 Gators return to ‘The Swamp’ to face No. 20 Kentucky on Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
Cole Thompson is a freelance writer for Saturday Football who has covered college football and the NFL for multiple websites. Thompson is currently based in Houston, Texas, and also can be heard daily on SportsMap National Radio's 'Just Sayin It' from 3am-6am.
