Florida’s offense is not putting up the numbers they did a year ago when Anthony Richardson was under center. While there were inconsistencies in 2022, Billy Napier’s offense scored 29.5 points per game (T-56 FBS) and averaged 421.1 yards per game (38th FBS) in his first season as head coach.
I don’t think many people expected a jump offensively in year two given the roster, but the significant drop off in total offense has left many fans calling for Napier to give up play calling duties.
The Gators rank 91st in the FBS in scoring offense and 68th in yards per game through five weeks of the 2023 season.
After a series of tough questions from the media during Monday’s press conference, Napier confirmed that he is still the play caller for Florida’s week six matchup against Vanderbilt.
“Yes sir,” Napier answered directly. “Everything that we do is always being evaluated. I think one of the things that’s challenging as a leader when you have a core responsibility, if there’s things in that area that can be done better, you’ve got to be able to tell yourself the truth, if that makes sense.”
“And I would tell you I’m a lot more critical of myself than anybody on the outside is,” Napier added. “And I said it, I’ve said it publicly, there’s no sugarcoating this thing. We have no excuse. We can coach better, and we can play better. I’m hopeful we will do that.”
Although Napier indicated he’s still the play caller, he left the door open for a further evaluation.
CONFIDENCE IN PROCESS
Napier said the week-to-week process does not change, win or lose.
“The level of detail that we put into evaluating a football game every week, that process doesn’t change. I know we all like to think that it does change according to the result or the outcome that we get, but that’s not necessarily true. I think there’s got to be some consistency and some continuity in how you do that. You’ve got to keep it objective to some degree,” Napier said. “You’ve got to remain objective in that part and keep it technical with the players because I do think this group that we have is working hard for us, and I think that they’ll continue to get better.”
“I’ve got a ton of confidence in what we do and how we do it. We didn’t play well Saturday, but that doesn’t change my belief in what we do and how we do it,” Napier said.
This offseason is going to be huge for Napier, as there will be plenty of areas to improve on before the 2024 season.
“Reality is you’ve got to always be have the ability to adapt. We’ve adapted in the past,” Napier said. “There’s strengths and weaknesses of each team. So I think that’s part of coaching is evolving based off the personnel you have, the strengths and weaknesses, what skill players do you have that year, what type of quarterback do you have.”
Florida’s week five loss to Kentucky dropped them to 3-2 (1-1 SEC) on the season with Vanderbilt right around the corner.