Florida Gators Understand Tough Task Ahead in Billy Napier's Tenure-Opener

Billy Napier faces a tenure-opening challenge unlike anything his head coaching predecessors were tasked with during their time at Florida.

Photo: Billy Napier and the Florida Gators; Credit: Alex Shepherd

Billy Napier's first matchup in charge of the Florida Gators isn't the typical season-opener UF head coaches of the past, or even many SEC coaches as a whole, have walked into.

Florida will host the No. 7 and reigning Pac-12 champion Utah Utes on Saturday — unlike Charleston Southern in 2018, New Mexico State in 2015 and Florida Atlantic in 2011, the programs Dan Mullen, Jim McElwain and Will Muschamp respectively opened against in their first campaigns on the job. 

Napier is in a similar situation to his predecessors, however. He's tasked with the elusive challenge of returning Florida football to prominence following calamitous endings to coaching tenures.

Florida fans are known for expecting a quick turnaround, and Napier hopes that the program's faithful will make a positive impact on the matchup, which can set the tone for what is to come.

"We all understand Gainesville transforms on game day, and I'm certainly excited about experiencing that for the first time being on this side," Napier said in his Monday press conference before speaking directly to the fanbase. "So, be there early, know that you're a part of the team and that you can contribute and help our team in terms of the game."

It will take a lot more than an active crowd to upset Utah, though, even in the echoing confines of The Swamp. Napier amplified his respect for the program head coach Kyle Whittingham has built over the last 17 years in Salt Lake City, and his Gators players were no different on Monday.

"We've got a tremendous amount of respect for Utah and the brand of football that they play on offense, defense, and special teams. Very fundamentally sound group," Napier expressed. "I admire the brand of football that they play, I think, on a number of different surfaces."

The challenge starts, as tight end Dante Zanders noted, with the experience the Gators' opponent brings to the table. 

The Utes return 17 starters and nine All-Pac-12 honorees from their successful 2021 season, boasting far more members of their No. 41 nationally-ranked offense (431.4 yards per game) and No. 27 defense (343.4 yards allowed per game) of a year ago than new contributors on the team's Week 1 depth chart.

"It's going to be a big tone-setter because they're an experienced team. They won their conference last year, made it all the way to the Rose Bowl and everything," Zanders said. "For us to open against them, it's an experience. It's a great opportunity too to show and prove what we're made of." 

On their own side of things, the Gators have spent their entire offseason preparing for this moment, trying to identify exactly what they're made of. They've recognized issues from last year's squad and focused on correcting them, namely discipline and faith in one another.

Punter Jeremy Crawshaw, a member of Florida's leadership committee for the 2022 season, is hoping these offseason improvements lead to enhanced team chemistry on and off the gridiron. 

The Utah game is a perfect opportunity for the Gators to showcase just how far they've come in that department. If they've come far enough, their unity could be a factor in UF pulling off the victory.

"Coach Billy Napier came in and he [put] a lot of emphasis on the whole team coming together," Crawshaw recalled. "Kind of at the start of this year, we might have been a bit divided. It might have been a bit offense versus defense kind of mindset. In practice, that's good because you want offense versus defense to try and help each other get better, but in the locker room sense, that's probably not a great thing.

"Probably just the sense of family coming together, just doing a lot of activities, creating team bond. I'm pretty sure it will come out this Saturday when it gets tough and we start coming together and pulling stuff out of the hat."

Napier's message to the team as it prepares to take on Utah is very similar.

"I talked to the players a lot about it yesterday: Execution is what's going to decide the game. Anything that doesn't contribute to that, I think could be a distraction this time of year," Napier said. "We try to map it out for them, and I think it takes self-discipline and focus and keeping the main thing the main thing throughout the week."

There are football tasks left to complete before Ben Hill Griffin Stadium's lights shine bright on Saturday evening, too. Unlike Utah, Florida has yet to finalize its Week 1 depth chart, which Napier indicated won't be established until the Gators walk off of the practice field on Wednesday night at the earliest.

UF spent the latter half of last week simulating its Week 1 game prep and pre-game rituals to eliminate distractions leading up to the Utah matchup, as well. Napier has reflected on his four years with the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, in which he went 2-2 in season-openers, to identify best practices to keep the team on track in the days leading up to kickoff.

"I think that a lot of openers, there's a lot of them that are lost more than won, if that makes sense," Napier explained. "I think you spend a lot of time thinking about all your game-day processes, making sure that they're game ready. There's a lot of things that go with that.

"We have those things built in, our training camp if that makes sense. We've done a lot of mock situations to prepare for this week ... I've told you guys this many times before, I don't know that I would feel as prepared or have a certain level of confidence without those four years of doing that." 

No Florida coach in recent memory has encountered a season or tenure-opening game like Napier has in 2022. 

The result will, as Zanders indicated, set the tone for the Gators moving forward either way: A loss could suggest that the Gators aren't where they want to be quite yet, while a win would imply that Napier's approach is already paying off.

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