Billy Napier Surprised by Florida Gators Defensive Futility vs. Miami Hurricanes

A lot of work went into shoring up a porous 2023 Florida Gators defense, but the results weren't there in a 41-17 blowout loss to the Miami Hurricanes.

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier lacked answers for Miami's offense. / Kyle Lander, Gators Illustrated

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier looked at a loss for words when he described his defense after giving up over 500 yards and 41 points in a loss to the Miami Hurricanes. It was the most points the Gators had ever given up in a home opener. Florida has been playing football since 1906.

"Yeah, I would tell you that -- yeah, I think that I felt strongly that we would perform better," Napier said after the game when asked if he was surprised by the performance of his defense. "But I'm not here to make excuses. We've got to get it fixed. We're going to get another opportunity next week, and we've got to play better and coach better. A lot of the runs got to the perimeter where the secondary was forced to make the tackle. We'll see.

"I'll have more answers for you on Monday, but sitting in here right now, I have no excuses for you."

In what world should a head football coach, presumably the leader of his team, voice such a confusing concern? To a man, from stem to stern, the Florida Gators resembled a mix of apathetic, slow, and lost during the 41-17 drubbing at the hands of the University of Miami. Napier needed to find better words for the post game, because the defensive execution during the game lacked every positive attribute.

Lost Opportunities

Despite the lopsided score, the Gators defense did have the opportunity to force the Miami offense off the field. However, two roughing the passer penalties prolonged drives that led to Miami scores. If Florida's starting defense was teemed with freshmen and inexperienced players, you could almost see why those penalties occurred. Justus Boone drilled Miami quarterback Cam Ward. 

Boone, a redshirt junior knows better, truly. Yet, that infraction gave the Hurricanes a first down, eventually leading to a 10-yard-touchdown pass. Later, while playing in his 38th collegiate game, safety D.J. Douglas earned a roughing the passer penalty on first down. Four plays later, Miami running back Mark Fletcher scored from 10 yards out. Under no circumstance should any veteran player commit such foolish penalties. 

Mental Errors and Missed Tackles

During the postgame, Napier mentioned "some missed tackles" and " mental errors" as a root issue with the defense. Taking the problems one by one, focus on mental errors. Blown coverages are not mental errors. Instead, awful judgment and discipline lead to mental errors. Sound coaching will erase many mental errors. Now, those remaining will not usually lead to catastrophic mistakes that alter the course of a game.

Meanwhile, missed tackles plagued the defense all day. This issue, for the last two years, continues to hurt the defense. For reference, pop in the film of the Kentucky disaster from a year ago. Poor angles and subpar technique, things that needed fixing during spring and fall camp. At this point, the onus starts to shift to the responsibility.  

Harbinger of the Future?

Noted scholar Warren Bennis once said that "leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality". After watching the defense, and how last season ended, eyes need to turn towards defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong. Florida, as a defense, does not lack for overall talent at all three levels. 

However, the scheme makes the unit look slow and out of position. Instead of forcing players into a system, the opposite must happen. Florida's defense could not stop Miami. When they did, lack of discipline hurt them. That falls solely on the coaching staff, as the players looked unprepared.

The Swamp advantage of forcing the Hurricanes into mistakes was negated quickly. However, Florida has a much easier opponent coming up next week in Samford that can be used as a scrimmage of sorts to try and right the ship.