Head coach Billy Napier met with the media during the weekly SEC Teleconference on Wednesday morning. The Florida Gators have an open week before taking on No.10 Texas inside The Swamp on October 4th.
Opening statement:
“Yeah, back to work. I do think that the group here — kind of a three-day focus, yesterday, today and today. Players were off Sunday, we put the game to bed on Monday. Really a three-day emphasis on areas that we need to continue to improve. And in general, that’s the focus right now. We’ll turn the page in the weekend and start getting ready for Texas next week, but right now trying to get healthy, trying to attack the work in some of these areas where we need to be more consistent and more productive, and we’ve seen good response from the leadership and the players so far.”
On DJ Lagway wearing a boot after the Miami game:
“Yeah, no, DJ’s fine. He got stepped on there during the game, we put a boot on him, there’s no issue at all. He practiced yesterday, he’s 100 percent.”
On Dijon Johnson’s injury:
“Yeah, DD had [season]-ending surgery yesterday and he had a knee injury in the game. It’s gonna be fixable, nothing long-term there. But he will be out for the remainder of the season.”
On speculation that Lagway could opt out:
“It’s comical. The kid has been back in here since Sunday, working his butt off. Monday, yesterday, had a really good day. So yeah, we can’t control that outside narrative, obviously. But no, he’s just fine. He’s been in the building, just like he’s on the staff, so he’s been back to work. And certainly, yeah, that’s a total myth that’s out there.”
On his message to the team to try to recreate Florida’s bye week magic from last year:
“Well, I think the big thing here is we always have areas on our team where we need to improve from a football perspective, whether you know communication fundamentals, how teams are playing this, what adjustments we need to be making, and then getting plans for improvement for some of the individuals that we need to make progress. So it also gives you an opportunity to introduce some material on future opponents, in particular Texas, Texas A&M and Mississippi State. It’s kind of the next three-game progression here. So we’ll take some time as a staff and get some things organized. So when we get to those weeks, we will be a little further ahead. I do think that it’s important to focus on the work, and I do think that the intangible parts of your team, leadership, amongst the players, to kind of be the change that you would want to see. This is a tough game, right? And when the going gets tough to tough, get going, right? So I think it’s important that we are committed, that we are persistent, and that we’re focused on the work. This is the time in your life and in the game, as a competitor, as a teammate, you show resolve. And if we’re going to improve and make progress and get better. We’re going to have to do that together, and that starts with how we practice and how we prepare. So we got some guys on this team that have been through similar things in the past, and I’m hopeful that will help, but we had a good practice yesterday. I do think today I’ll be an important day, but we’re organized and ready to go.”
On the UF-LSU rivalry no longer being annual, SEC’s handling of creating the new schedule:
“I do think our league has made a business decision. Obviously, we have revenue sharing. That’s a budgetary item that’s been added to each institution’s annual budget. So, there’s a demand for it. I think that our game is more popular than it’s ever been. Obviously, there’s pros and cons, but that we’re really working in four-year blocks now. So big-picture-wise, I do anticipate playing LSU two out of the next four. We may not play them next year, but I do think that it’s not completely going away. Obviously, Tennessee is missing from next year’s schedule as well for us. So, you know, I think some of those things are, you know, part of the evolution of the game, part of the evolution of our conference as we add teams to the mix. I think big-picture-wise, we don’t have control over that, but I love the LSU rivalry game and certainly been one fun one to play in. And you know, we’ve got great history there, but there’s going to be change that comes with nine games, and I think our league has done a good job formatting that in a way where we’ll get exposure to each team in our league, home and away, and you just got to back up and look at it from a bigger chunk of time. If that makes sense, you can’t look at it year by year.”
On the SEC going with Kentucky and South Carolina for UF:
“You know, that narrative is going to be there. I think, again, what I just finished with there, is the approach you got to take. I think you gotta back up and look at the four-year schedule rather than the individual year schedule. So over time, I think we’ll have exposure to all of the teams in our league, and certainly there will be benefits to that. And look, we may miss out on some of these rivalry games annually, but I think over time, we’ll get a chance to play those games and maybe that makes them more significant. So, time will tell.”
On any bye week changes being made, especially on offense:
“I think there’s a renewed emphasis on accountability. Obviously, we have to play better. Every position group is contributing to our issues, so I know obviously a lot is made of DJ and his situation, but I do think when we look at it from a big picture standpoint, we’ve got to play better around them. And then, just some of the points of emphasis are eliminating negative plays. And I do think that first-down efficiency has contributed to some of our problems as well. But in general, I think we have to address that part of our team and there’s gotta be some changes, and certainly that’s what we’re doing.”
On if he’s still calling plays moving forward:
“Correct.”