Podcast: Breaking down the hiring of Billy Napier as Florida Gators’ head coach

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David: What’s up folks of Gator Country? This is none other than your boy David Soderquist, along with Andrew Spivey. Some breaking news hitting the University of Florida today, as it’s showing that Billy Napier now is set to be Florida’s official head coach. Spivey, how do you like that one?

Andrew: Love it, man. The best choice Florida could have got. The total opposite of what Dan Mullen was. Guess what, we’re not talking about Mullen no more. There’s a new head man in charge. This deal has been in the works for a while. Billy Napier was first reached out to by Scott Stricklin after the South Carolina game. This deal’s been going.

Here’s what you need to know about Billy Napier. He’s one of the most detail oriented coaches that I’ve ever been around, that I’ve ever seen and talked to. People that I know are very high on Billy Napier. He’s so attention to detail that he called Jim McElwain, who’s one of his best friends. He spoke to Mullen. He spoke to Muschamp. He’s spoken to former players. He’s spoken to Stricklin multiple times. He’s spoken to everyone about what needs to happen at Florida differently. What is it at Florida that has hurt them from winning at Florida? What has helped them from winning at Florida? All of those things he’s talked to just shows how attention to detail he is. He’s really just looking to have everything in place.

I said this to someone. He’s a CEO. He’s coming in to run the show. He doesn’t want anybody in his way. That’s not to say you hand him the keys and tell him to run this multimillion dollar program, but you give him the keys and give him what he needs to do to win and stay out of his way.

David: I think that’s what I like about Billy Napier. He’s very, like you said, very detail oriented. Florida, that’s a hard job. Being a head coach at the University of Florida is a hard job, having to deal with media, recruiting, the expectations. He’s one of those type of guys that is very detail oriented. I like the fact that you mentioned that when he was signing his contract, he laid out what he wanted, and he got what he wanted out of his contract.

Going back and looking at the hires of Muschamp, McElwain, Mullen, this hire just feels different. I feel very different about this hire, and different in a good way. I think Billy Napier is not going to be one of those head coaches that likes to lose, so if he’s losing he’s going to make sure that, obviously, we don’t lose. He’s not one of those guys that could go into a presser, and he’s not going to tell you a runaround answer to something, unless he’s trying to, obviously, not give anything away. Just very night and day from Dan Mullen. Like you said, we’re not talking about Dan Mullen anymore on this podcast.

Overall, he’s 39-12 as a head coach, 2-1 in bowl games. Does have a winning record. Does a way above 500 coaching record, and that’s something you like to see as a head coach. Hopefully, he can bring some of that here to Florida.

Andrew: Again, there’s always risk involved when you hire any coach. There’s no surefire coach that’s going to win. When Alabama hired Nick Saban, they didn’t think they were going to get what they’ve gotten. It isn’t what happens. There’s too much going on to say one person is for sure going to win. All you can do is put the best man there to do it, and that’s Billy Napier.

Again, to go back to what I’ve heard on Billy, he is going to bring in guys that can recruit but also coach. If you’re not getting the job done, he’ll let you go, and he’ll replace you. He has no problem doing that. Loyalty, it’s big to him, but also at the same time he understands he has a job to do. He’s the CEO, and at the end of the day, if Florida loses it’s on him. So, whatever changes he has to make to do that, he will. He’s a guy who learns consistently, a guy who grows every year and is always looking at things. He does like to call his own plays. But, again, he’s not opposed to someone else calling them. He would be okay with that.

He’s going to win in recruiting. That’s the #1 thing that’s going to be different. He’s going to win in recruiting. Relentless effort in recruiting is going to be what you get from Billy Napier. You can expect that to happen very soon.

David: Right. When he took over at Louisiana Lafayette, their recruiting classes were recruiting around the 80s and 70s. He’s brought that up to around 50. I think there was even a recruiting class that he had that he brought up to 40. It just goes to show you, especially at those lesser conferences and those lesser schools, it is harder to recruit the better athletes, because all the better athletes want to play in the SEC and other conferences.

Andrew: That’s another thing. He plans to coach that game on Saturday. Some people have said, why? Well, he owes it to his guys.

David: Yeah.

Andrew: He owes it to his guys. Anybody upset about that is crazy. He’s worked four years for this opportunity with those guys. He deserves that opportunity. Those guys deserve him, that opportunity to go and do this. I’m happy with it. I think that you’re okay with that.

Obviously, he’s now going to have to split his time, and he’s going to have to start recruiting. Florida’s staff goes out on the road on Monday to start recruiting. Corey Bell is actually going out on the road to help recruiting. He’s taking the place, I guess he’d be taking Mullen’s place, but he could be taking Hevesy or Grantham’s place as well. The rest of the staff will go out there. Obviously, they’re going out in a lame duck situation, where they don’t know if any of them will be back. In my opinion, there’s a possibility maybe one will be back. Maybe. We won’t speculate on that. Still, you got to go out and recruit. Billy’s got to start recruiting to have guys starting to visit the following weekend. Start telling guys, watch my game on Saturday and envision yourself in my offense. That’s what he has to start doing.

The job is huge for Billy. There is a massive turnaround effort needed around here. Speaking with several recruits, they said I hope he brings back the energy and the motto that the Swamp was all about. You see former players saying the same thing about that. Fear the Swamp. Don’t lose in the Swamp. Fear the Florida Gators. The Florida Gators should not be taken lightly. Fear them.

On the recruiting trail, that Gator logo on your chest should mean something. I think it’s about to start meaning something very, very soon. It’s a great day for the Gators. It really is. It’s a great day for the Gators.

David: The biggest thing about recruiting is relationships, and Billy Napier seems to have great relationships with kids. He knows what coaching in the SEC is about. He was at Alabama for a while and got himself a head coaching job from being at Arizona State there as well. A guy that 39-12 as a head coach. It’s good. No matter what division you’re in. If you’re playing Division II or Division III, having a head coaching record of 39-12 or something like that is really good, as a head coach overall. You’re already getting a guy that knows the expectations, knows the ways of recruiting, especially in the SEC. The SEC is a different animal from the Sunbelt Conference, but he’s been in the SEC, and he has SEC experience.

I’m excited, as I was telling somebody here. A lot of guys are out there saying, I have no idea if it will turn out to be a good or bad hire, but you take that chance on hiring any head coach. I guess the initial response, from a work ethic and attitude standpoint, I love the hire. On field results, you’re always going to worry about with a new head coach. A lot of people were saying, is our offense going to be the same if Dan Mullen leaves? Really, at this point, you have no choice. You have to go hire somebody else. You’re going to be stuck with the same problem over and over again until something changes, and nothing was changing with Dan Mullen. That eventually led to his firing and Billy Napier here coming to the Swamp. I’m excited. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited about a coaching hire in a while, to be honest.

Andrew: Here’s Nick Evers. We’re taping this live on Sunday, as all this stuff is going. Nick Evers just hit me up through text. I’m excited. We were hoping this was direction, and fortunately it worked out that way. We’ve been connected for a while, but I’m looking forward to spending some time with him very soon.

David: Yeah.

Andrew: There you go.

David: That’s good. Nick Evers is one of those quarterbacks that rose in the rankings. I think he started out in the 400s, and now he’s in the top 150 on some sites. He’s a quarterback that’s climbed up in the rankings and a guy that led this recruiting class and got some of these guys here. I even saw that Shemar James kind of liked the Billy Napier hire. We’ll see what happens with that one.

A lot of recruits, from what I’ve seen on social media, they like it. A lot of players are already following Billy Napier on Twitter, as of right now. From a standpoint of kids being excited and players already were following him before he was even announced as hired, that’s something good to see. Now the team’s jumped on board. You’re not going to have to worry about kids transferring. There probably will be some kind of transfers. I don’t know. There may not be. All the kids may stay. It’s a good thing to see some of the main players, like Diabate and Dexter, all those guys, following Billy Napier and being excited about it. You know they’re not transferring anywhere anytime soon. That’s a good thing as well.

Andrew: Kind of interesting. Did you see where Tim Brewster said this win was for you, Mullen, and Diabate quickly said, it was for who?

David: I did see that. I actually retweeted that. I’m not going to make assumptions out there for any player, but I do not think Diabate was quite excited towards the end of the season for any of the coaching staff. That’s my opinion. I can’t say what a person or player is thinking, because that’s not fair to them. You did see that.

You see a lot of stuff on social media. Right now, Ross Dellenger had reported a team meeting has been called to inform the staff and players of Billy Napier’s departure to Florida. He’s already called his team meeting. He’s already informed his players, and Gators Football has already posted it. Gator Nation, let’s welcome head coach Billy Napier to the Swamp. So, the official Florida Gators Twitter making it news now. So, the deal is signed, sealed, and delivered.

Guys that were all worried about LSU maybe jumping in there and getting old Nap from us, it didn’t happen. LSU is in a bad spot right now, aren’t they, Spivey?

Andrew: Yeah. Billy Napier will be coming to town December 5th for a press conference. He will coaching the championship game, as we’ve said, on December 4th. Do not expect to hear from Coach Napier before then. Again, I am fully on board with that. I don’t think people understand that it’s okay for him to do that. It’s okay for him to coach that game.

David: That also speaks of his character.

Andrew: Hopefully he wins.

David: Yeah. I was going to say, that also speaks to Billy Napier’s character to do that, to, obviously, coach his last game for his kids. I hate to bring up the DM name again, but some coach didn’t do that and didn’t want to coach his last game in the Swamp. Which led to Greg Knox, like I said, being 2-0 as an interim head coach. That’s Superman there, Greg Knox. Getting a coach with great character. I like the hire. He’s going to work hard, obviously. I’ve said that. I’m excited. That’s all I got to say is I’m excited.

Andrew: I’m pumped. If you can’t tell in my voice, I’m pumped. Again, he is a guy who was mentored and stuff by Jim McElwain. I know a lot of people may not like it, but Jim McElwain was close to being really good getting this program going. If he brings that philosophy to recruiting, great. You can hate the Nick Saban trees, but the man’s the best coach to ever walk the face of the Earth. He’s pretty good, and Billy Napier learned a lot from him. Many people have said he’s a mini Saban.

Now, that doesn’t mean he’s going to win like Saban, because nobody’s going to do that. That does mean that he has the attention to detail. I don’t know how to say that more than attention to detail. That’s what he’s going to do. The stupid penalties on Saturdays. The slip ups in recruiting. Billy Napier is not letting that happen.

David: No. He’s not. Not 13 penalties for 107 yards, like yesterday against Florida State. That was just awful.

Andrew: Right.

David: We gave Florida State so many chances to win that game, and they still lost. That was the funniest thing that I said on my Twitter. I said, no head coach, no offensive line coach, no DC, interim head coach, three interceptions, and I think it was 107 yards in penalties, and Florida State still lost the game.

It’s great to be a Florida Gator. You get a win against your rival. The very next day, you get Billy Napier announced as head coach. Like I said, after the year that we had, especially having a six-win season, get to go to a bowl game, and you get to knock FSU out of a bowl game. So, they don’t even get to go to a bowl game. Then you get Coach Billy Napier on top of that. That’s a great thing. We haven’t been able to say many good things on this podcast, so take it in, guys. Take it in. As a Florida Gator fan, be excited.

Actually, it looks like Billy Napier- I don’t know if he had said this in a press conference or what, but he’s quoted as saying, “We are humbled and honored to accept this incredible opportunity to be head coach at the University of Florida. Our team and staff and entire organization will work daily to establish a program with integrity and class that we all can be proud of. More importantly, we will build a culture that is centered around making an impact on our players as people, as students, and on the field.” So, yeah. Honestly, I’m pumped for that press conference, to be honest. December 5th, right?

Andrew: I can’t say it enough. The guy is a winner. The guy’s going to succeed at Florida, in my opinion. I just believe that. I really believe that. Scared money don’t make money.

David: Scared money don’t make money. Chris McClellan just retweeted it with Gator symbols as well, and Zachary Carter says, “Y’all are in good hands, my boy.” Assuming, obviously, Zachary Carter will be heading to the NFL Draft. It’s good to see that players are already on board. The staff’s on board.

Good to also see that Billy Napier was so picky. From what I know, he was picky as anything in signing this contract and heading to the University of Florida. Right then and there, you already know the guy’s got what he wants. From what I have heard, and I don’t know if this is true, Spivey, but I’ll ask you. I heard that there was something about recruiting budgets as well in that contract that he wanted established, wasn’t there?

Andrew: Yeah. Somebody told me, Dan Mullen could have had $1 million, and he still wouldn’t have used it all. He just wouldn’t have. Billy Napier is going to use it. Billy Napier’s recruiting staff behind the scenes is going to be massive. It just is. Because, again, the more eyes, the more people you have talking, the more people you have going after recruits, the better your chances. Again, he won’t be out worked. He won’t be out staffed, and he sure as heck won’t be out energy. That’s just what it is. It’s coming.

Kirby knows it’s coming. Kirby worked with Billy, so he knows what’s coming. That’s another thing. Billy knows what Kirby’s about. Billy knows what Kirby’s secrets are. He worked with him. What better way to do it than that? Also, hearing that a former Georgia staffer, who is now with Billy at ULL will be coming to take Lee’s spot. She also knows the ins and the outs of Georgia’s program.

David: A big question is who is Billy Napier going to hire as his assistants? There are names floating around.

Andrew: Two names I’ve heard. Knowles from Oklahoma State and Beck, the Houston DC, are two names he’s been talking to. Des Kitchings, the Atlanta Falcons running back coach, who was with him at Furman when they were in college, that’s a name to watch. A name that Florida fans should be familiar with, Chris Rumph is a good friend of Billy Napier’s, defensive line coach now with the Bears. Tom Herman’s a name thrown out there. Don’t know how much I put into that. Coach Sale, the Giants assistant offensive line coach, is a name to watch as well. There’s a lot of names to watch that Billy Napier has. He has a gigantic coaching circle of friends already.

David: Definitely. Like I said, you won’t have to worry about recruiting. As a matter of fact, I had gotten a call from my buddy Bill Sikes, if you know him. He used to be a former guy for Dave Waters there. He’s a big recruiting guy. His main thing is statistics and recruiting. That’s his whole thing. He called me up this morning excited. He was talking to me, and he goes, “I think the deal’s done and all that.” It wasn’t official at the time, but you could just see the excitement in his voice, and he hasn’t been excited for recruiting in a while.

I had one guy say, what has he done? I’m like, the guy’s 39-12. He’s improved recruiting at Louisiana Lafayette. That’s a coach you want. He’s coached at Alabama. He’s coached in the SEC. This is going to be his first big-time SEC gig as a head coach, and when you give somebody like that the recruiting prowess of Florida, and whatever he wanted in his budget and all the things that he had signed on his contract, with a different staff, it’s going to be a different team. A guy like that, with that mentality, the recruiting is already going to improve. Couldn’t have gotten worse with Coach Hevesy, the way that he was recruiting. Could have got worse when you’re not sending Terrion Arnold letters of intent on National Signing Day, when he’s a top 50 player, and he wants to come to Florida, and you just don’t send it to him because of your ego. You’re not going to get that with Billy Napier. You’re going to get a guy that he’s going to make sure the kid wants to play at the University of Florida, obviously, does not want to transfer, wants to work hard.

The big question that everybody’s having to, after this hire, is Anthony Richardson transferring? Is Emory Jones transferring? We don’t know. Anthony Richardson did say he’s still a Florida Gator, when he was asked. I believe somebody asked him at the postgame presser. I believe he asked him about the head coach, and he said, I’m a Florida Gators. That’s good news. Hopefully, whoever we play in the bowl game, maybe he starts, and maybe Billy Napier can get a good look at him. I like it.

Andrew: Lorenzo Lingard had an interesting tweet.

David: What’s that?

Andrew: He retweeted the Florida Gators account welcoming Napier. Lingard said, does he need help moving in? He followed that up by saying, not trying to be funny, just determined to play and ready to work. I’ll be off social media platforms soon. This means a lot to me.

David: Lorenzo Lingard, he’s one of those guys that’s willing to wait his turn, no matter what. That’s a good attitude to have, especially from a former five-star player. You don’t see that a lot from former five-star players, because five-star players want to play immediately. They feel sometimes that they should play immediately. The good thing about Lingard is he’s that type of guy that’s willing to wait. You don’t really get that out of five-star recruits, especially Bowman. Look at Bowman. He’s sitting there too. He’s excited as well, from what I know.

That’s the kind of attitude that Billy Napier will instill at the University of Florida. He’s not going to take people that- I can’t even say that they cry on social media, but people that get on social media and just say things and all that. He’s one of those guys he’s no nonsense kind of BS guy, and he’s going to get the job done. Will Muschamp was kind of that same way, unfortunately it didn’t work out here for the University of Florida. Couldn’t find a right OC. If you look back at how Will Muschamp recruited, he recruited pretty elite, top 5, top 3 classes every now and then. Billy Napier is that same kind of attitude and probably even a better head coach. We might get a more vastly improved Will Muschamp here, and he does like to run the ball a lot, from what I know and from what I’ve heard.

You got two five-star running backs there. Dameon Pierce, unfortunately, will probably be gone, going to the NFL. With Malik Davis, Nay’Quan Wright, couple of five-star guys out there, giving that to Billy Napier. Just got to get that offensive line worked out there for him.

Andrew: Lincoln Riley is apparently interested in the USC job.

David: Lincoln Riley. Yeah. I think LSU has no better option besides him. Who else do they have? Everybody else has pretty much got extensions or are off the board. Sucks for LSU, but I don’t care. The Ragin Cajun Network, I think it’s the Ragin’ Cajun Review Podcast, I want to give them a special shout out. Keeping us informed for the Billy Napier hire. They, obviously, don’t like to see him go, but they like to see him come to a university, and they don’t like LSU. So, they’d rather him come to Florida than LSU. I’ve been talking to that guy Josh and a couple other guys over there. They rant and rave about Billy Napier. They don’t want to lose Billy Napier, and they love Billy Napier. He’s like an icon over there to them. They understand what the SEC is like and what college football is like. Scared money don’t make money. Just like you said.

Andrew: That’s right. David, let’s get ready to wrap this up. We’re taping this in the middle of breaking news. We’re going to have more on it. We may get Josh from that Louisiana podcast to hop on with us. May get some other people. Like I said, I know a lot of people who know Billy and have been around Billy, either from recruiting or kids or some former coaches that were there with Billy at Alabama. See if we can maybe drag one of them on as well and get some stuff going. It’s good times for the Florida Gators, my friend. The Billy Napier era is here. Let’s celebrate. Let’s have good vibes going forward. Gators are going to a bowl game. Good to see that happen. Good to have things going in the right direction again. Let’s make Florida football fun again.

David: Right. Especially after the year that we had, very upsetting. Almost beating Alabama and then completely crashing and burning after that. It’s been a tough year for Florida Gator fans, but now.

Andrew: Then it’s tough to see a guy like Ja’Corey Brooks win the game for Alabama against Auburn. When Ja’Corey Brooks should have been a Gator.

David: Yeah. He could have been a Gator too. I believe if Billy Napier is head coach that does not happen. That’s the things that we were talking about. That’s what’s going to improve for recruiting. Yeah. Good win against Florida State. Going to a bowl game. We’ll see who the Florida Gators play in their bowl game when it’s announced. It’s great to end your season, especially when FSU don’t have a bowl game, and you’re the one responsible for them not having a bowl game. Beating your rival, getting a new head coach in here by the name of Billy Napier. Spivey, I got to ask you a question before we end the podcast. You got a bowl?

Andrew: Probably Birmingham.

David: Birmingham Bowl. You think we’re going to be in the Birmingham Bowl.

Andrew: Probably.

David: I’ll say this. I had a crockpot of chili in there, and I asked a bunch of Florida State fans if they had a bowl, and they didn’t.

Andrew: They’re not good.

David: Cheesy joke of the podcast is over with, guys. For Andrew Spivey and for David Soderquist, this will end the GatorCountry.com podcast. A little bit of breaking news here. Billy Napier the next head coach at the University of Florida. You can follow me on social media on Twitter @SoderquistGC, and you can follow Andrew Spivey @AndrewSpiveyGC on Twitter as well. That’ll wrap it up, folks, for this episode of the GatorCountry.com podcast.