Florida head coach Billy Napier remains confident that he can elevate the Gators’ offense as their primary play caller, a role he has handled since his first year at UF in 2022.
“It’s what got me here,” Napier said on maintaining play calling duties. “It’s how I became the head coach. It’s what’s helped us make progress and win in the past. I’m confident it will help us do that in the future.”
The decision won’t go over well with some of Gator Nation, who have observed an aggressively average offense in three years under Napier’s guidance. Florida’s offense ranked 58th in scoring in 2022, 59th in 2023, and 64th in 2024.
“We get it,” Napier said. “It’s a production business. My job is to get the team to win and I try to make decisions that reflect that. I still have conviction about it.”
Napier believes that continuity is the key for development, especially at the quarterback position. That is his primary reason for remaining as Florida’s play caller.
“Continuity in system I think is important, not only — I think it helps to develop other players, and then certainly the quarterback position,” Napier said. “I think it’s the most important for the quarterback spot. So, you know, we’re going to be aggressive in this new model.”
Florida also ended the season on a four-game winning streak which included knocking off two ranked teams. The Gators averaged 28.75 points during this stretch, a slight spike from their 26 points per game average against FBS programs through the first nine games.
“I think one cycle at a time. I think what I tried to do is evaluate things as objectively as I can and think about last year. As the season went there, I feel like we were starting to look the way we wanted it to look. You’re never going to make everybody happy. That’s part of leadership. Definitely in this room. Yeah, I would say we’ll continue to make decisions that reflect the best interest of the team and try to put the team in position to win,” Napier said.
Napier has always mentioned the help he gets from his assistant coaches, although never detailing specific roles. Napier will rely on more input from Russ Callaway, who was promoted last season from tight ends coach to co-offensive coordinator.
“I think we’re going to have some new responsibilities on that side of the ball. We’re working through that,” Napier said on Wednesday. “I think we’ve narrowed our focus a little bit. I think we’ve got good systems in place. We’ve adjusted workflow, delegated. I thought Russ did an exceptional job last year in a leadership role, you know, running the unit meetings, being a huge — from an organizational standpoint, installation, scripting, input on the game plan. He was in every one of those meetings.”
Napier also mentioned senior offensive analyst Josh Donovan, who served in the same role with the Green Bay Packers and as Washington’s offensive coordinator in 2020-21.
“I thought John Donovan brought a lot to the table from the situational football, we kind of gave him some ownership in that area, and he really did a nice job, I thought, throughout the year, week and then on game day,” Napier said on Donovan.
With the NCAA lifting the limit on the number of on field coaches, Napier is looking to capitalize by potentially adding coaches on both sides of the ball.
“We’re going to be aggressive in this new model,” Napier said. “You know, I think now you can have more than the traditional amount of coaches. So you could potentially see us hire more coaches. So, yeah, I think ultimately, we’re still evolving. I think as we approach the season, we’ll settle into a good workflow there and try to continue where we left off.”