Comparing Florida’s special teams unit from year one to year two under Head Coach Billy Napier.
Special Teams Grades via Pro Football Focus
2022: 70.2 (95th in FBS)
2023: 68.9 (102nd in FBS)
The analytics confirm what our eyes have told us; Florida’s special teams unit has not been good under Billy Napier.
Missed Tackles on Special Teams
2022: 14
2023: 14
Penalties on Special Teams
2022: 14 (1 not accepted)
2023: 9
Special teams penalties have been a major talking point amongst fans since Billy Napier arrived in Gainesville. While the team improved in this department during the 2023 season and actually posted a pretty respectable number of just nine penalties, the timeliness and overall foolishness of the penalties killed the Gators at times last season and directly impacted a number of games.
KICKING
2022 (Adam Mihalek): 42-43 XP (97.7%), 14-21 FG (66.7%)
2023 (Adam Mihalek): 4-5 XP (80%), 1-3 FG (33.3%)
2023 (Trey Smack): 29-29 XP (100%), 17-21 FG (81%)
2023 (Smack and Mihalek combined): 33-34 (97%), 18-24 FG (75%)
Adam Mihalek started the 2023 season as Florida’s starting kicker but was replaced in week three by Trey Smack after missing a 42-yard field goal and an extra point against Tennessee, both of which were kicked painfully low, resulting in at least one of them being blocked.
Smack took over and the rest was history. In his first career start at kicker, Smack was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week following his five-field goal performance against Charlotte. It wasn’t a perfect season from Maryland native, but it was a significant improvement from the 2022 season, even if you look at the at the combined averages of Smack and Mihalek.
Smack will be Florida’s starting kicker in 2024.
PUNTING
2022 (Jeremy Crawshaw): 35 punts, 1,677 yards, 47.84 AVG, 15 I20, 13 50+ yards
2023 (Jeremy Crawshaw): 42 punts, 2,052 yards, 48.86 AVG, 15 I20, 21 50+ yards
Crawshaw ranked 2nd in the FBS in average yards per punt in 2023. While inconsistency is occasionally an issue with the Australian punter, he has one of the strongest legs in the country and will remain a strength of Florida’s special teams unit in 2024. Exactly 50% of his punts in 2023 traveled more than 50 yards last season. Crawshaw ranked 4th in the country in average net punt yards in 2023.
Kick Return
2022: 21.38 AVG (35th in FBS)
2023: 20.69 AVG (51st in FBS)
Trevor Etienne led both units, averaging 24.76 and 24.89 yards per return as Florida’s primary kickoff returner the last two seasons. Florida was slightly worse as a team despite Etienne putting up respectable numbers in the return game. The Gators did not record a kickoff return touchdown during this two-year span. However, only 29 teams returned a kick return for six in 2022 and 25 in 2023.
The Gators will need to find a new primary return man as Etienne transferred from Florida this offseason.
Punt Return
2022: 8.13 AVG (58th in FBS)
2023: 10.79 AVG (31st in FBS)
Florida found some success in the punt return game with Ricky Pearsall fielding the punts in 2023. In 2022, Xzaiver Henderson was Florida’s primary punt returner, who lacked the burst to make anything happen in the return game. No punt returns for touchdowns in two years under Napier. 43 teams returned a punt for a touchdown in 2022 and 44 in 2023.
Kick Return Coverage
2022: 21.38 AVG
2023: 15.07 AVG (6th in FBS)
I couldn’t find Florida’s ranking for the 2022 season, but as you can see Florida noticeably improved their kick return coverage in 2023, becoming one of the better units in the country in this department and certainly the strength of Florida’s special teams unit last season.
Punt Return Coverage
2022: 8.0 AVG
2023: 8.36 AVG (77th in FBS)
TAKEAWAYS
Lack of explosiveness
I recognize that it’s rare to return punt and kickoffs for touchdowns, but the Gators have not recorded a single one in two years under Billy Napier. Roughly 34% of teams returned a punt for a touchdown in each of the last two seasons, Florida was not one of them. A little over 20% of teams recorded a kickoff return for a touchdown in each of the last two seasons, Florida was not one of them. I wouldn’t consider Ricky Pearsall or Xzaiver Henderson home run threats in the return game, so it’s possible that this is a personnel issue as well. With Etienne and Pearsall gone, Florida will have to find two new primary returners on their roster.
Florida has only blocked one punt and one field goal / XP over the last two seasons.
Poor coordination
This is something that’s very important to note on that’s not really going to show up in these stat comparisons. According to Jacob Rudner of 247 sports, the Gators managed to put out less than 11 players on a special teams play in four of Florida’s first seven games of the 2023. That’s an indication of poor coordination, or a lack thereof. The Gators were also caught with two of the same jersey numbers on the field at the same time vs Utah.
There was improvement in specific areas
Florida did improve in some areas, such as the number of special teams penalties, kick return coverage, punt return, punting, and kicking. Florida also blocked one punt this season after failing to record one in 2022. I felt the Gators got more pressure on opposing punters but there’s no stat to back that up.