Billy Napier Fulfilled Buy-In Promise for Florida Gators TE Dante Zanders

It wasn't how he planned, but the result of Dante Zanders' "buy-in" to Billy Napier's plan led to his long-awaited emergence with the Florida Gators.

Photo: Dante Zanders; Credit: Alex Shepherd 

Just over four months ago, Dante Zanders was looking elsewhere to finish his college football career. It wasn't the first time Zanders sat back and wondered whether football at the University of Florida was right for him or not over the last four years. 

A member of the 2018 recruiting class who saw the coaching staff that brought him to UF, led by Jim McElwain, get swept out before his enrollment, Zanders arrived at Florida unfamiliar with the next group of coaches and lacking confidence in his own abilities. 

There wasn't much hope to cling onto as Zanders familiarized himself with the new staff and life as a college athlete. His playing time was minimal and he did not catch a pass across his first two seasons, overshadowed by the emergence of tight end Kyle Pitts in 2019.

Two years into his Gators tenure, the second coaching staff moved Zanders to the defensive line and surrounded him with physically imposing players, which began to change his outlook.

"I have no clue why, I just saw everybody and I felt like I couldn't compete at that level," Zanders explained to AllGators.

"Once I switched over to defense, being around Zach Carter and Gervon [Dexter] all the time, it made me realize that I can actually play with these boys," Zanders said, acknowledging the new duties required being physical, doing the hitting instead of taking it.

"That helped me build up my confidence and then over the years built my body up better than where I was before."

Still, by the time Dan Mullen's staff was let go in November 2021, Zanders had yet to play much meaningful football for the Gators. He took the field for 23 games over the last two seasons, but as a reserve defensive lineman, only compiling 11 tackles along the way.

"I just felt like I wasn't being used and I was just in my own head a lot," Zanders admitted.

Zanders looked to the transfer portal upon the coaching change, allowing other schools to pursue his talent before he ran out of eligibility. His time in the portal was short, however, as the Gators' new coaching staff, led by Billy Napier, convinced Zanders to give Florida one more chance to develop his talent and carve a path for him to contribute. 

Upon arrival, Napier shared that he intended to give players a clean slate to show the new staff what they've got — Zanders took that opportunity and ran with it.

"When coach Napier came in," Zanders explained, "he talked to me and said, 'Whatever you do, if you give us your all and aren't just like, "Oh, this is another coaching staff, they're just gonna say it and I'm gonna be washed away," if you come in, you focus and have the right mindset, I can get you exactly where you want to go. I can get you to where you want to be.' 

"And so, I just bought in."

---

The thing is, where Zanders ended up a short few months later wasn't the place he originally had in mind when Napier said he can get the Boca Raton (Fla.) native exactly where he wants to go.

Zanders emerged as the "story of the spring" for the Gators, in the words of Napier, for making the move back to tight end in recent weeks, alongside fellow defenders in defensive tackle Griffin McDowell and walk-on outside linebacker Noah Keeter. 

Given Zanders' prior experience at the position, the move back was a necessity, as Florida lost three of its four scholarship players at tight end due to injury — Jonathan Odom (shoulder), Nick Elksnis (shoulder) and Gage Wilcox (unannounced but considered career-ending) — before reaching the midway point of camp. 

The move wasn't a complete shock to Zanders as members of the new staff had teased the possibility of it previously. 

"When I first got here," tight ends coach William Peagler shared during camp, "I talked to [Zanders], kind of like one of those wink-wink, nudge-nudge type of things."

But, very quickly, the running joke between Zanders, Peagler, defensive line coach Sean Spencer and tight ends quality control assistant Ty Darlington became a reality.

"When I first found out about the tight end, coach Darlington came to me and he was like, 'Oh, I'm coach Darlington, a tight ends coach.' I was like 'Tight ends coach?' I had been training with the D-line all offseason, I was like, 'This is kinda new,'" Zanders said. 

"So I called coach Spencer and talked to him about it, and I talked to Coach Pegler also. It was something we all decided that I'd stay at D-line, this was before all the injuries, but I stayed at D-line. Then once the injuries occurred, they came and asked me again and I was just like, 'Whatever is best for the team.' So I switched over and just, we joked about it I want to say, and then it came true."

The transition back to tight end wasn't seamless, Zanders shared, despite his prior knowledge of the responsibilities that come with the position.

Zanders claimed that playing on offense comes naturally given his exposure to the unit, but learning the playbook — a new one, in particular — and adjusting his mindset after two years of chasing ball-carriers instead of being chased as a ball-carrier hasn't been an easy task.

What helps, though, is where Zanders lined up defensively. At defensive end, Zanders would often align head-up or shading tight ends at the line of scrimmage, and his time doing so has prepared him for the moves ends will make against him while manning the tight end spot.

"If [the defensive end is] tight, he's going to cross face or try to jam me. If he's loose, you can tell if he's rushing off the edge or if he's going to drop and everything," Zanders described. "It's just the little things that I learned when I was playing end, those are the things that I can try to see and pick up once I understand everything quicker."

---

Napier shared after the spring game that a program's quarterback is supposed to set a great example when it comes to work ethic, attention to detail, self-discipline and approach. He's seen a lot of growth from projected starter Anthony Richardson in those areas, and Richardson's involvement in Zanders' move to tight end is a perfect example.

"I remember the first day they told me that he was going to be out there," Richardson recalled about Zanders' transition. "I was like, ‘Man, that’s different.'"

The two crossed paths later that day at the football facility parking lot and simply reassured each other that they've got each other's back: "I got you," the two exchanged.

They've stayed true to their word. Richardson has been a resource for Zanders in recent weeks as he's learned the offense on the fly, helping Zanders break down film, reminding him where to line up in certain formations, and pointing out blocking and route concepts.

"He's trying to grow into the position of a quarterback, into the leader of the team and be vocal and stand up," Zanders said of Richardson. "He's been doing this since last year, but this year you can really tell that he's trying to take it to that next level to get the team to where it should be."

Zanders, in return, was Richardson's top target during the spring game last Thursday. 

He immediately found comfort in the offense, hauling in five of six targets for a scrimmage-leading 56 yards, comfortably executing dagger route concepts in the middle of the field and at one point finding a soft spot up the seam to make an acrobatic catch for 23 yards. Zanders also caught a dart pass from a rolling-out Richardson for a first down on a free play due to an offsides penalty.

Zanders was also proficient as a run blocker throughout the game, handling his own while taking on edge rushers and at one point creating a rushing lane for Richardson on an option play with a second-level seal block. 

He explained that his heavy involvement was an example of how fun this offense can be for tight ends.

"Deep shots, short shots, mid shots. You think we're blocking, we're throwing the ball and when you think we're throwing the ball, we're blocking," Zanders illustrated. "They want to use us in every way. We go out wide, we stay inside, it's everything that they plan on using the tight ends for. I think it's a good offense."

It's also the perfect offense, Zanders said, for Richardson to excel in, although he believes the talented signal-caller can find success in any scheme that he plays in.

"When he steps on the field, everybody's watching him, you know? Everybody's eyes go straight to 15, no matter who we're playing because he's a hell of a player," Zanders praised Richardson. "And with the offense, I think in any offense Anthony is gonna be electric, no matter what to be honest. And this offense in particular, I feel like it just fits him."

---

In just a few weeks, Zanders has become a poster player of sorts while Napier has installed his offense and continued to rebuild the culture of Florida football. Previously an upper-class afterthought to Florida fans, Zanders has helped keep the Gators' offense afloat by taking on one of the most important roles within Napier's scheme, which tends to be two tight end-heavy.

Although it wasn't how he planned, Zanders has arrived exactly where he wants to be due to his work ethic and commitment, as Napier promised when the fifth-year Gator pulled his name out of the transfer portal.

"[The] first thing I would say is Dante Zanders, you can immediately see where he's got a future. I can't compliment him enough," Napier proclaimed on Thursday. "We moved them over from defense and the guy picked it up quickly. He did the extra, I saw him around the facility more than some of the coaches. He was in there grinding away."

Part of what inspired Zanders to do the extra was the culture that Napier has put in place. He, like any player you speak with, is thankful that Napier immediately fixed the Gators' parking situation and the quality of food served upon his arrival at UF. 

However, his admiration of Napier's actions goes well beyond the improved perks of being an athlete at the University of Florida. It applies to the attitude players have in practice as well, where Napier has prioritized creating a true team-first environment.

"During the whole spring, he was pushing everybody to a limit to where we competed, but he also was making sure that we all knew we were one," Zanders remarked. "He was making us know that it's okay to be able to compete with each other and still be as one rather than two sides."

Now firmly on a path toward playing time this fall as Florida's coaches have suggested his move to tight end will be permanent, Zanders is confident he can finally become the special player for the Gators he started to believe in two years ago.

"I think I'll be able to help the team in every aspect that they need. The type of player I am, I'm a buy-in guy, I'm gonna just do my role and do exactly what they ask," Zanders said. "I'm not going to try to do too much, I'm not going to try to do too little, I'm going to do exactly what they say and play the hardest I can. I feel like that's gonna make me be able to stand out." 

Stay tuned to AllGators for continuous coverage of Florida Gators football, basketball and recruiting. Follow along on social media at @SI_AllGators on Twitter and Florida Gators on Sports Illustrated on Facebook.