Florida must move as Billy Napier’s time ends and program’s rebuild begins
The players weren’t dressed in black, but maybe they should’ve been.
Florida football’s Monday press conference after Billy Napier’s firing felt like a procession. One long overdue, but still jarring and poignant. Faces came from far and wide, packing into the Heavener Football Center’s second floor conference room. An extra two rows of seats lined each side of the Gator-branded podium.
Athletic director Scott Stricklin, newly-minted interim coach Billy Gonzales, and players Jake Slaughter, DJ Lagway and Myles Graham all spoke for the crowd, eulogizing their departing leader. The center, Slaughter, briefly held back tears. Each praised the work that Napier did.
But as with most funerals, the time has come for Florida to press forward. Dragging its heels reminiscing won’t help in the coming weeks. Changes loom and a program rebuild awaits.
“We didn’t win as many games as we wanted to, but there was no question we had the talent to win at that level. I believe we have the talent to compete with anybody left on our schedule,” Stricklin said. “They want to win.”
If nothing else could be gleaned from Florida’s testimonials, the program isn’t going to roll over. This season, these players, this staff — there’s an edge, sponsored by the Gators’ porous start and a hope to turn things around, despite facing three top-17 opponents in the coming weeks.
No. 5 Georgia will be the first test following the bye week, leaving Gonzales 12 days to tune-up Napier’s trudging machine. The offensive musical chairs have begun, with Florida’s play-calling changing hands. Some duties will fall on Gonzales, but the passing game will funnel through quarterback coach Ryan O’Hara, not offensive coordinator Russ Callaway. Since Napier’s arrival, clarity of the cast involved in Florida’s decisions was evasive. The only definitive: Napier had the last say.
So Gonzales needs to spark a Florida offense predicated on a five-star quarterback, two four-star freshman receivers and a running back who just rushed for 150 yards in Napier’s ouster. The objective, when solely looking at the characters, doesn’t mesh with the struggles that have come before. Under Napier, UF lacked pizzazz (and was second-to-last in the SEC in scoring at 22.4 points per game). The big plays rarely materialized, which is at the forefront of Gonzales’ mind.
“You’ll see some things that are a little different,” Gonzales said. “We’ve got a lot of playmakers, and I’d like to be able to spread it out a little bit hopefully and get some of those players involved.”
He’s fighting an uphill battle, swatting away questions about his coaching future all while clawing to become the first UF interim coach since 1989 to win more than one game in the role. He’ll get five shots, and two of which Florida figures to be favored in. But his greatest test may be in player motivation.
Stricklin urged that his third coaching search would feature “a high degree of confidentiality.” However, with booster pressure galore, it will undoubtedly draw the public eye. And managing a transition of this sort, where gameplan changes loom, is already challenging alone. Yet Florida must balance all of that with a gaggle of teenage contributors.
Of Florida’s three leaders who took the stage Monday, two are 20 or younger. In many ways, they’re representative of the youthful lineup UF’s leaned on in recent weeks, with three true freshmen playing among its starters Saturday.
In multiple instances, including on Monday, Stricklin praised the culture and program Napier built, where players felt empowered and meticulous organization reigned. He built a Sunday-Friday championship program, and the players he recruited defended him to the end. Which makes the emotions, especially for those Napier brought in, even more potent.
“It’s been hard,” Lagway said. “But at the end of the day, we still got to continue to get better. Me, personally, I got to continue to take each and every day as another day to improve at my craft.”
His sentiment circles back to Stricklin’s reasoning for Napier’s ouster: “We want to win championships.” While 3-4 won’t get you there, the first steps clearly lay in the coming days. With the transfer portal and NIL, Florida’s players and coaches are auditioning for whomever the next leader is, not that they’re thinking about.
“That’s above my pay grade. I don’t make that decision,” Graham said. “But we just want a competitor. We want someone that can win, man, and whoever that is, I’m gonna play my heart out for him.”
But it’s not a given for everyone. A systematic school reset like that which surely looms for Florida won’t shift or bend for many. To survive, and possibly flourish in coming seasons, the Gators’ formalities, procession and all, must remain brief.