Billy Napier shows personal side at SEC media days press conference
Billy Napier was busy on Wednesday in Atlanta. The former Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns coach made his SEC media days debut as head of the Florida Gators football program. While the annual summer event is often lively depending on who is at the podium, it was all business for the latest skipper on UF’s coaching carousel. Here are three things we learned from Napier’s time in the Big Peach.
First off, the new head coach emphasized the importance of a good culture. When talking about Anthony Richardson, Ventrell Miller, and Richard Gouraige (the three players who accompanied Napier to media days) he said the following.
“These players represent our values. They have integrity. They’re great teammates. They have discipline in their approach. They give great effort. They’re tough. They believe. I think that comes from great preparation.
They not only contribute on the field, but they’ve done a great job off the field, as well.”
It’s clear that Napier’s primary objective isn’t in the Xs and Os (although that’s important too) but rather to create an environment that can be self-sustainable and team-oriented.
It is also of significant note that Napier has the support of the higher-ups. A program can only reach the levels the Florida fanbase expects the Gators to reach when there is synergy from top to bottom. Napier famously turned down multiple SEC head coaching jobs because of a lack of institutional structure (a rumored seven of the SEC’s 14 jobs).
The evidence is also in the massive investment made in the off-field section of the program. While in the works before Napier’s arrival in Gainesville, the new football complex shows the eagerness of the Florida higher-ups to do what it takes to win championships in the current college football landscape. Napier said it himself.
“I have been impressed with the leadership at Florida in terms of their awareness, what it’s required to be competitive at this level, their investment in the Heavener Center, the resources it took to build this new facility. I think is going to help us in recruiting, it’s going to help us acquire players, it’s going to help our player experience, our efficiency as an organization.
They were committed to our vision and our plan, right? I think we’re 20% bigger as an organization. We’ve modernized the approach. We have an incredible product.”
Then there is the narrative that Napier owes everything to his dad. He comes from a football family, and his father, William “Bill” Napier, was a legendary high school football coach in Georgia. He was the winningest coach in the history of Murray County High School football. In 2013, William was diagnosed with ALS and passed away in September of 2017. He was a massive presence in Billy’s life, and that has translated to how Billy approaches his teams. Here is Napier’s answer to a question about what he learned from his father.
“You’re trying to get me here today.
Dad showed I think sometimes when adversity strikes, you can choose character or you can choose to compromise, right? Dad did an unbelievable job. Every day he chose character. He relied on his foundation, which was his faith. He was a great example to a lot of people.
Even to this day, it’s impacting me and a lot of other people, too. So thanks for the question.”
While we may not have gotten many “football” questions answered at media days, we did, however, learn a lot about who Billy Napier the person is. And heading into his first season as Gators head coach, with the task of overhauling a program, that’s a pretty good thing to learn.
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