On the Road Again, Florida Emphasizing Sleep in Hopes of Improvement
Photo: Billy Napier; Credit: Alex Shepherd
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- One-and-five in true road contests as Florida's head coach thus far, Billy Napier and his Gators are off to an unideal 0-2 start with a -32 point differential in losses at Utah and Kentucky to begin the 2023 season.
Consider Florida the neutral site away team that it was against Georgia in 2022, and that record drops to 1-6. Last season's Las Vegas Bowl appearance was essentially a road matchup with Oregon State, too — Napier's win-loss tally in such situations becomes 1-7 with the inclusion of the 30-3 Beavers' win.
After bouncing back from its Week 5 drubbing against the Wildcats with a 38-14 home victory over Vanderbilt in Week 6 — the win lifted Napier to 9-2 inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, comparatively — Florida's efforts to correct its road woes will be tested at South Carolina on Saturday.
A key to the drill is to develop and maintain "good energy" in preparation for the matchup, according to Napier.
"We're going to try to get to Columbia a little earlier this week. We're tweaking our schedule on Thursday. We're going to put a huge emphasis on sleep Wednesday night and things that, just little things. I think we're going to arrive to the stadium a little earlier," Napier explained of Florida's adjusted approach to its upcoming away matchup on Monday.
"All these things are typical quality control that we do."
Napier has implored his team to develop good sleeping habits during his tenure as head coach, specifically, as a form of physical and mental prehabilitation and rehabilitation.
The Gators follow sleeping schedules that are adjusted "relative to data, practice-to-practice" during Napier's offseason training camps, were provided Sealy Posturepedic mattresses in 2022 and, according to strength and director of strength and conditioning Mark Hocke, have made use of Oura Rings to track sleep "quality" and "efficiency."
Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall shared on Monday that UF's players were also recently tasked with filling out a daily "sleep questionnaire."
"They say the best growth hormone is God's given growth hormone, and that's sleep," Hocke said in Aug. 2022.
"You always have athletes and people who say, 'What supplement can I take? Hey, what protein should I take?' All this. And it's like, 'Well, have you gotten eight hours of sleep? Let's start there.' And then we've talked about how hard they're going to work. Sleep's going to be really important to recover so you can wake up the next day and push the gas again."
Pearsall's perspective aligns with Hocke's.
Florida's leading pass-catcher with 34 receptions for 453 yards this season, Pearsall spoke to the challenge of maintaining a consistent and effective sleep schedule due to the demands made of student-athletes, especially those who are dedicated to their craft.
"We don't get as much sleep as maybe other people because of how busy our schedules are. Especially if you're a dedicated guy, you have a system and way of doing things," Pearsall said. "If you're sticking to that and obviously want to get extra work in, I think you're not going to get as many hours as maybe somebody that's not doing that.
"But coach [Napier] has done a good job of getting players' feedback on certain things, and I think sleep was one of those. We just had a leadership meeting and we emphasized getting more rest throughout the week. Obviously, sleep is the best recovery tool that we have."
In addition to practicing better communication, fundamentals, decision-making and discipline pertaining to penalties — lapses in each category were apparent in Florida's performance against Vanderbilt, per Napier — the Gators are explicitly honing in on a good night's rest in hopes of boosting their road game productivity in Week 7.
Napier believes the sleep and travel schedule adjustments will better mentally, physically and emotionally prepare Florida to play in a hostile environment, providing the team with the energy it needs to emerge victorious.
"Bottom line is when the ball's spotted and we kick it off, we've got to be ready to mix it up," Napier said. "If you've done a good job preparing all week, you're mentally prepared, you can communicate at a high level, you can play fast, you can anticipate. And then physically you've got to have a sharp sword. You've got to be ready to go. That axe can't be dull. Gotta make the work a little bit easier.
"If we take the right approach Tuesday, Wednesday, if we're growing and improving in the physical parts of our team, we can apply that."
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