It didn’t take Billy Napier long to flip the page and move on to the next stage of his highly organized offseason calendar.
Prior to Thursday’s Orange and Blue Game, he had a conversation with quarterback Anthony Richardson about the importance of him improving over the summer. In his postgame press conference, Napier used his opening statement to get that message out there publicly.
Only the strength and conditioning staff is allowed to work with the players over the summer, which means that any throwing sessions, pass-rushing drills, etc. have to be organized by the players. Napier wants them to treat every day throughout the summer like it’s a game day.
“Anthony is warming up there before the game. I said it to him, and I think it applies to our team, our whole organization is ‘That urgency you feel right now – “OK, hey, I want to perform and do my job to the best of my ability for the team” – we need that same level of urgency between now and the first opportunity in the fall,’” Napier said. “‘Every day, each opportunity, we have to improve in the offseason program, the summer, every meeting. Every walkthrough rep and practice rep, we have to take full advantage of.’
“They all want to play good when they have a lot of eyes on them. More importantly, it’s about what we do when nobody is watching – the discipline we live life with, the integrity we approach things with, certainly the effort. We have a ways to go in that area.”
Phase four is known as the “discretionary period,” and it’ll begin with exit meetings between the coaching staff and every player on the team. They’ll discuss the players’ weaknesses with them and outline a plan for improvement before sending them out on their own.
As a whole, Napier was pleased with the competitiveness and effort that he saw in the spring. The players tried their best to do what they were instructed to do and one-up their teammates.
But playing hard is only part of what it takes to play winning football. They also have to do things the right way and keep themselves out of tough situations. That area is still a work in progress.
“The practice field has been full of emotion, full of energy,” Napier said. “There’s passion. We’ve got to funnel all of that towards execution, poise, discipline. I think that’s where we need to make progress. I think they want to do well. We’ve got to channel all that energy and emotion into the things that will help them play better. Ultimately, it’s about doing your job when it counts. So, our job as coaches is to recreate the game in practice, and we’ve got some work to do to help this group get where they want to go.”
And, of course, as is the norm in the modern college sports landscape, the Gators figure to be active in the transfer portal over the coming weeks, both from a subtraction and an addition standpoint.
Napier wouldn’t discuss specific positions that they’ll target in the portal, but he did seem to suggest that they won’t be super picky.
“I think we’re looking for players that can make our team better,” Napier said. “From a personnel standpoint and everything that we do, we want to make every decision in the best interest of the team. There will be an opportunity. I don’t necessarily think we’d turn down any good player. A player that can get in our two-deep and make our team better, that’s what we’re looking for.”
The spring game may have just ended, but the offseason work is just beginning for Napier and the Gators.