Gator Country provides part two of our Florida football mailbag, answering all your Gator questions.
Alphaomegator: How has Billy’s objective to change the culture at Florida gone? Generally what changes have occurred? How do the players feel about Billy and the staff in general? Are there any player cliques?( for example “Mullen” players vs “Napier” players; upperclass men vs underclass men etc.)Any players vocalizing discontent with the direction of the program under CBN? Do the majority of players seem to buying into Billy’s plan for success of the program? Thanks for your good reporting! Go Gators!
NM: I believe the culture around Florida football has completely changed from the last staff. Napier fixed several things for the players, such as providing better parking, housing, and food. Napier also had a role in adding some new amenities to the Heavner football center. Those were just the instant changes too. The players love the staff. Ventrell Miller said his favorite year as a Gator was this one, 2022. He said this because of the brotherhood that was created this season. Miller played for teams that won NY6 Bowls, but his favorite season was one with a 6-6 record. I think that speaks high volumes on the culture inside the Florida football program right now. There’re no cliques, the young players get along really well with the older ones. I haven’t heard of any players vocalizing discontent with the direction of the program. Seniors, who have no reason to lie, are saying they wish they could have spent all four years with Napier. Great questions and thank you for asking.
Travlingator: Do you think Billy wants AR back next year. Will he encourage him to go pro or would he like another year to try and fully develop him. I sense he really likes AR but I am not sure how he feels about him coming back.
NM: I do think Napier wants AR back. It’s hard to not want someone back with as much upside as Richardson has. Ultimately, I think Napier will guide Richardson to do what’s best for his NFL career. If he’s getting 1st round grades, he should go.
Gatordon: Why has this staff abandoned involving the RB’s in the passing game? That has been a valuable tool in the past
NM: I think inconsistency at the QB position hurts this. How many times did we see Richardson miss a screen pass or a receiver wide open in the flat? I think a QB change could help with this as every QB has different tendencies. For example, Louisiana’s QB in 2018 through to the running backs way more than the QB from 2019-2021. Montrell Johnson isn’t much of a pass catcher, he’s not incapable, but it’s not his strength. I’d want to see the staff work in a RB screen with Trevor Etienne next season.
Fklien8724: Are there any speedsters flying under the radar looking our way?
NM: Florida is in talks with several players from the HS and college ranks. Ask Andrew in the recruiting mailbag.
Juggernautz: Why do you think CBN is being stubborn about hiring a OC? What can we do to improve our ST to the level of the ‘cocks? What’s your opinion of our DC and what should he do to become a better DC?
NM: I don’t think Napier needs to hire an OC; his play calling was not the issue this year. Do I need to see areas of improvement in a few areas? Yes absolutely. I don’t think there’s anything stubborn about not bringing in an OC for offense that ranked 31st in total offense in year one.
There’s a few things Napier could do to improve special teams. The first being hiring a special teams coordinator to take sole responsibility for the unit. I don’t expect Napier to make this move anytime soon as he believes his process will work with time. The 2nd thing you can do is recruit. Bringing in better players will allow for more talented players on special teams. Napier said all year long that depth is an issue, and that showed up on special teams.
I’m a fan of Patrick Toney and I know that several coaches around CFB are as well. I think he was putting players in the right position to make plays, especially towards the end of the year. Recruiting will make Toney a better defensive coordinator.
Thekentuckygator: How do you think the TE room will look next year? Is there any smoke to the Walker Lyons chatter with respect to UF? Finally what are the chances Boardingham gets in the 2 deep?
NM: I think you’ll see a few new faces in the TE room next season. There could be more movement from the unit this offseason. I have not heard anything on Walker Lyons, but I’d ask Andrew. I like Arlis Boardinham and think he has tremendous upside. However, he missed a lot of practice this season and I’m not sure he’s going to be quite ready for next season. A lot depends on how he looks in Spring ball. I expect Napier to hit the portal for a TE, which potentially keeps Boardingham out of the two-deep.
PD: I’d like to know some detail around the exit interviews.
The very term implies it’s only for kids who have either been selected to have their schollies pulled or have elected on their own to hit the portal.
Or do the staff have one of these with every player? In which case, the name makes no sense, but that’s redundant in sports.
So that’s the first question: who gets interviewed? Second question: do the coaches form an opinion on the player before or after the interview?
That probably dictates the third question: are these push or pull interviews? Do the staff bring an agenda or a plan to each meeting, like a career path/personal growth plan? They tell them where they see them going, and what they expect out of them to get there? Or are they more oriented as pulling feedback and input from the players, that will feed into preliminary grades and ideas to create a player plan?
Or is it a hybrid: tell us where you see yourself next year; here’s where we see you progressing; here’s what we need to see from you in spring to get to either future goal.
NM: Every player at the end of the season gets an “exit interview”. The coaches come in with an opinion on the player, but I would say the interviews are more hybrid. They talk about what they did this season, where they see them next season, etc. I don’t know the specifics on how Napier does it, but that’s how other teams I’ve seen do it. I’ll try to find out more info here. Great questions.
Souljah2: How soon will we know who’s sitting out the bowl game? That’ll decide if I’m rolling to Vegas or not.
NM: Selection Day is on Sunday, but I’ll try and have a good idea of where the Gators will land before that.
Chuikov: Have you ever watched tackling practice under Napier? If so please provide details. If you have not could you ask to observe tape of Gator tackling drills? And then provide details of their drills and metrics on missed tackles.
NM: I have seen tackling practice under Napier during fall camp. They did a lot of angle tackling drills when I was there. There’re a few different variations of these drills but it was primarily angle tackling when I was there. I was only there for 10 minutes a day.
Gatorconstructor: How are the Special Teams responsibilities broken down? Which coach is responsible for which area (i.e – punt block, punt return, kick returns, field goals, blocking, etc)?
NM: They have two converge units, two return units, two PAT/ field goal rush units, and each coach is assigned to one of those. I’m not sure on the specifics. Chris Couch provides the leadership and organizational part of the special teams unit. They game play together.
Cmerlin: Billy Napier said he has 8 phases for football–are we in the phase 8, postseason, and what happens?
NM: We are in the postseason phase. The team will start preparing for the bowl game. I will update you all on the practice schedule when I hear it.