Head coach Billy Napier met with the media on Monday afternoon to break down Florida’s first fall scrimmage, which took place on Saturday. Gator Country reported big games from Tank Hawkins and Florida’s running back room.
You can watch clips from the scrimmage here.
Gator Country provides you with everything Billy Napier said during Monday’s press conference.
Opening Statement
“I want to congratulate Ja’Quavion Fraziars and Brandon Spikes for graduating over the last couple of days. You know, I think that’s what we want for our players. We want them to come here with a vision. We want them to set out with a goal of graduating and obtaining a degree and stay the course through the ups and downs and battle through the adversity and do the hard work and finish the race. Get to position to where you can get that degree. So, hats off to those guys. I think it’s part of our mission is to prioritize education for our players. It’s great to see those guys do that. You know, we had Inky Johnson here to speak to the team, and he has an incredible story. You know, we’re not going to hold it against him that he’s a Tennessee Volunteer, but he does make an impact, and he’s changing lives with his purpose. And he talked a lot about purpose, and he said that purpose will supersede all that life will throw at you, and he’s been through quite a bit of adversity, and I think his example and how he’s handled that and now he’s re-centered himself and found his purpose in life – just really impressed with him and what he’s done with his experience in life, right, I think he’s making the most of it. We also went to church yesterday with the team. It’s an annual event we do, squad Sunday. We’re very thankful for Greenhouse Church hosting the team, and I thought Pastor Mike had a really good message relative to vision, the power of vision. He talked a lot about how self-discipline, focus, conviction – I think it’s great for our young people. We live in a wildly undisciplined, distracted time, and I think if you’ve got a vision and you have self-discipline and focus and conviction about those things, it helps you say yes to the right things and so no to the wrong things. And so I’m very thankful for that experience. We had a really good scrimmage Saturday. It was extremely competitive, it was back and forth, you know, I think overall, we got what we wanted to get accomplished. We were 122 plays of offense and defense, we were right on our number. We had really good work in the kicking game in all six phases. You know, I think offensively we want to try to create more explosive plays. We want to do a better job on conversion downs, and I think the tempo needs to pick up a little bit, we need to improve in our two-minute operation. And then defensively, a lot of plays where we had 10 right and one wrong, where the good teams that we play will expose that, right, so consistency is what we’re looking for. The tackling was good outside of a handful of plays, you know, and I think those proved to be costly, so we’ve got to continue – if we want to have a good football team, we have to be a really good tackling team. But the effort and the pursuit was good, and overall the film was really clean on all parts of the team, and I think that between-play process – it’s one thing to practice, it’s another thing to play the game. I think special teams, our coverage units, need to improve. But overall, man, really good day. We did have one injury of note. Jamari Lyons broke his ankle, and he’ll be out for the season. And obviously our thoughts and prayers with him. We’ve had a number of players who have been through injuries in the past. I think it’ll be important for those guys to help Jamari, because Jamari is one of our best – he really cares. It was really inspirational, to some degree. The entire team was on the field, which I’ve never seen in my entire coaching career – guy gets hurt, and everybody knows it’s, it’s a pretty good injury. But we got all 132 and on the spot there to support him as he rode off the field. So I think that’s an indicator that these guys are doing something, right – that there is that type of connection. So this is a big week for us. We started today. We’re seeking consistency. We’re seeking habits that will hold up on game day, and we’ve got to have urgency to get that done. So it’s about improvement this week. We’ve got really specific plans and how we’re going to practice, and we’ve got to be intentional about how we do that.”
On explosive plays:
“We moved the ball really well. We were very consistent. We scored a lot of points. But I’m just saying, we know that explosive plays are a significant piece of winning. So we were a little short of our goal, and that’s an area where we’re trying to put an emphasis this week.”
On the tailbacks:
“I thought all four of those guys had good days. I thought you see them getting more comfortable. I think running back’s a position where there’s a lot to learn. Everybody’s a little bit bigger, a little faster, the holes are a little smaller. So I think their footwork, their eye discipline, and then their ability just to put … those instincts come back, right? I think if you turn on the tape and watch all those guys in high school, they have instincts and vision. They’ve been very productive. But they’re just a lot bigger and a lot faster and the holes are a lot smaller. KD, there’s a specific play in the scrimmage where we check a split-zone concept away from the pressure and here it goes. Just to see him, that thing just opened up just a little bit and his ability … I could see him, he saw it and he accelerated – and almost went to the house. We’ve got a block a little bit better in the perimeter, but that’s a good example. That group’s coming along.”
On evaluating turnovers in a scrimmage:
“I think we had two the entire scrimmage, which is obviously not good for the defense, right? So I’m more, I’m trying to evaluate, is the ball in jeopardy? Sometimes you throw it right to a guy and he drops it – nobody talks about it. But we’re evaluating the decision-making of the quarterback, regardless of the result, and then just in general how every skill player is carrying the ball throughout the scrimmage. Is the ball in jeopardy? But overall, no, I thought it was pretty clean.”
What’s the number you want between plays?
“We’d like to be in the low 20s. At times, when we want to go extremely fast, we’d like to be in the low 30s. Sometimes you have shifts, motions — lots of things taking place there — where you get down into the play clock. But, overall, we didn’t have a delay of game the entire day. So, the process was really good. I’m just talking about, ‘Let’s go, man instead of standing around.’ We know what to do. Let’s get lined up and play with a little more pace. We can buy back six, eight, 10 plays a game basically.”
On Lyons and the options behind him:
“I think the biggest thing was Jamari could play nose and end; he had some position flex. You’re going to see Michai Boirea more, Kelby Collins more, and then we’ve got some guys that can develop there: Brien Taylor, D’Antre (Robinson), Tarvorise (Brown). That’s an area where we’ve got some players; there’s some depth there. But I think those roles will be a little bit different. There will be some adjustment. But the biggest thing was Jamari can play nose and end. That’s where we’re going to have to shuffle the deck a little bit. We can also move Sapp over there. He’s played some end before in the past.”
Anyone flash in the receiver group?
“I thought as a whole that group had a good day. I think in scrimmages, the ball gets spread out. If you look at the stats, I bet there were 15 guys that had caught one, two, three passes. Thank Hawkins had two touchdowns, one was in the red zone and another was a vertical play. He is continuing to improve. But in general, I think that group had a good day.”
More on Tank Hawkins developing:
“He got here in January. He’s had a great offseason. He’s definitely playing faster. His skill level’s improving. He’s getting comfortable. Like we’ve talked about before: we kind of have those top three and then you got this group that’s competing. He’s in that group. But that was a great concept. He was down the middle versus Cover 2. I was standing right behind it and DJ threaded the needle there and it ended up being an explosive. But the first question you ask is who was the middle runner in Cover 2. But Tank’s done well. That group as a whole, ton of competition. You talk about a big week in a competitive camp, much like we talked about, that’s one of the positions where there’s a ton of roles here they’re going to be taking place over the next couple of weeks.”
How much have you seen Ja’Kobi Jackson improve?
“Jacoby’s an in-state player, man, go watch that tape from Pensacola Catholic. I think he got overlooked a little bit. It’s a really good evaluation by the personnel department. We were looking for a fifth back this time last year. Nick McDonald is one of our assistant DPPs. Right now he is the DPP. He brought Ja’Kobi to the table. And I can still remember sitting in the staff room and we sent Coach Juluke to see him on the road. We took a chance on the guy, and I would tell you, man, he’s made us right. He’s proved us right. So Ja’Kobi is 220 pounds. He’s got great instincts, great vision, good patience, he sees it well, he’s decisive, he’s a good practice players, has a good attitude. He’s definitely a guy is not a lot of stars, but I think a very capable player.”
On the defense, specifically tackling in the scrimmage:
“Overall, the tackling was good, I just think there’s 8 or 10, I think we had 20 missed tackles on the day, which we played 122 snaps. I think the ball got loose a little bit, loose play, perimeter plays, check downs, perimeter check downs, some runs that rolled off the table where we misfit, then they turn into, eight-yard gain turns into a 22-yard gain. Very correctable, but overall tackling was good.”
On the secondary play:
“I think we had some guys that were a little bit, percentage, we put play counts on some guys, so we played a mixture of players. That’s the challenging thing about scrimmages, you’re trying to spread out the workload, so the combination of players sometimes is not as pretty as you’d like it to be, so you’re trying to evaluate the individual players. No concern there, just need to do a little bit better.”
On the first scrimmages from previous years compared to now:
“I think overall it was just much more intense, much faster, more physical, less loafs, the film’s cleaner, we’re just deeper. You put the first and second group out there, it’s a good football play, even the threes I thought played pretty clean in the scrimmage. I go back to, it’s about the human beings inside the jersey and the helmet and the shoulder pads, that’s why I really respect this team, there’s chemistry, really good relationships, there’s good leadership, that’s where we made the most progress and I think that’s helped us play a little bit better ball.”
On the quarterback play during scrimmage:
“It was a good day for both guys. Good work for both guys, even Clay [Millen] had a heck of a day, I think he was five of six and threw a touchdown to Jackson Wade on a go-ball outside. Overall, lots of things to learn from, we got a lot of offense in, lot of defense in, but I think in general just standing out there behind them the entire time, I like what I see.”
Did any position group battles crystallize during scrimmage?
“I think we come out of that scrimmage and we kind of reboot the computer and organize them in a way for this week, then we’ll scrimmage again next week, and I think ultimately that’s where we’ll start pairing it down. Even this week, we have to continue to work contingency plans. If this guy goes down, how do we shuffle the deck? The reality is you only get to put 11 out there at once, right? We’re going to get 11 every play this year. We get to put 11 out, and right now it’s challenging to say ‘who gets to play?’. We’re going to have a lot of rotation of players, and I would imagine that week to week it will be competitive based off performance and what we observe each week. That’s a good thing, it’s a good problem to have. We’ve had the other problems before, I’d much rather have these.”
Were you calling the scrimmage?
“I let these guys call a few of these scrimmages on occasion. I think ultimately, it’s much like the NFL. I think you’ve got; I’m watching the Rams the other day. By the way, did you catch the end of that game. It was a heck of a game. I think we’re trying to develop our staff and we do lots of things throughout practice and scrimmage to do that. It’s awesome. They did a great job.”
On Asa Turner and his impact, value that he came from a winning team?
“I think it’s part of the evaluation. What does the player bring to the table besides the experience, his traits, his production? I would be lying if I said I didn’t want a guy who’s been around a winner and understands what good culture looks like, has played some big games. He’s definitely brought those things to our team. He was recruited by Chris Peterson and he has a relationship with Coach Harris, I think his freshman year. We knew a lot about him and he started a lot of games, played a lot of football. He definitely has rubbed off on the group just in terms of self-discipline. I mean, this guy, he’s in the building as much as I am. Sometimes I come over here on the weekend and there’s Asa. I think he has a very professional attitude. I think that culture under Coach Peterson, Coach Lake, even Coach (Kalen) DeBoer. He’s definitely brought that to our team and I think that’s been beneficial for our group.”
Has helmet communication been smoothed out?
“I’m gonna tell you, I think it’s going pretty well. We’ve worked at it quite a bit. I think we’ve done a ton of research. It’s definitely a game-changer. It’s going to change college football for sure. There’s a strategy around how you use it in terms of the traditional huddle and then the up-tempo we see at this level. I think, so far so good there. I think we’ve got a couple more weeks here to continue to work on it. I love it. I think it’s been great for the quarterback.”
Ron Roberts said he liked coaching against 20-year-old quarterbacks, do you think it’s more advantageous for offense?
“Yeah. I think so, I do. I think there will be an evolution here. Ultimately, I’ve just seen it impact DJ Lagway as a young player. You eliminate a language that he has to learn basically. It’s like hey, not only do you have to learn this verbal language, you’ve gotta learn sign language too. I think it’s sped up his development. I mean, I listen in to the defense and the offense all throughout. I think that’s one of the benefits of practice and scrimmage. I ger a chance to listen. It affects both sides and we try to adjust our approach accordingly. I do think it’s going to be an advantage (for the) offense, in my opinion.”
How much can you coach during the time you have on the radio … shorten play calls and do more coaching through the call?
“Yeah, there’s quite a bit of time left when the play (call) is done. I think it’s a big deal. There’s going to be a ton of strategy around it. It’s not just the quarterback. It’s the signal caller on defense, too. I’m listening, ok, plays in, talking to the linebacker. You can set the front. You can set the close call. You can set the pass strength. You can talk alerts, hey, run/pass. And then it turns off on you. You can shrink the game or you lengthen the amount or shrink the amount of time the opponent has with their signal caller on the defense. Or, you speed it up for you can talk to your guy more. Every coach in America is going through this right now.”
Is the strategy part also who you put up in the box in terms of coaches?
“Yeah. Everything is on board here. All parts matter. But you’re thinking the right way. You must play the (video) game on the weekend.”