Napier Credits Gators’ Mental Toughness for Early Success In One-Score Games

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier credits offseason preparation for his unit’s mental toughness to achieve 3-1 record in one score games.

The Florida Gators own a positive 33-point differential six games into head coach Billy Napier's tenure as head coach. Remove UF's 52-17 thrashing of FCS Eastern Washington in Week 5 from the equation, and that number becomes minus-two.

Four of Florida's six matchups have come down to one possession, including three of its victories. Only the Gators' win over EWU and their ten-point loss to Kentucky ended in a double-digit difference on the scoreboard.

However, in those one-score contests, Florida holds a record of 3-1, with the lone loss coming on the road against a Tennessee Volunteers squad performing as a legitimate contender to Georgia’s crown in the SEC East.

Gators head coach Billy Napier calls on mental toughness as the attribute it takes to prevail in close games. He feels the offseason preparation that went into equipping the team for the high-pressure situations it’s faced plays a major role in the success in one-score games this season.

“I think your off-season program is where you create these intangibles,” Napier said during media availability on Monday. “I think if you're intentional about — what I say is its design difficulty. Everything that we do from a training perspective is both physically and mentally, we're trying to design difficulty for the players. It's the only way that you can create growth is to make it hard. Harder is better. I think we work hard and try to do that in the off-season program.” 

Napier understands that not everything that happens in the offseason can translate into the game. He’s keen on in-game adjustments to put plays in situations to succeed.

However, if everyone operates on a similar wavelength via the installment of various aspects of the operation in the offseason, it’s easier to execute when the ball is snapped, he says.

“I think specifically, when it comes to game day, the football component comes in there,” he said. ‘If the players have a good understanding of what's happening, why it's happening, what went wrong, what went well, I think that's where your in-game adjustment process is important, how you review the series, you anticipate what's next. A language that your players speak.”

That new language has resulted in a drastically different product on the field in one-score games from in years past.

In four close games in the final campaign of the Dan Mullen era, Florida reigned victorious on just one occasion — against FSU, a week after Mullen had been fired. That number is nearly flipped on its head to begin Napier’s reign. 

While some may see that as Florida’s inability to separate from its opponents to this point — which is fair in some settings to begin the season — the changes to the unit are resulting in what you look for in each contest: favorable outcomes. 

“I think as a team we've just kind of gotten better at eliminating some of the silly mistakes, some of the penalties,” starting offensive guard Ethan White said. “It's kind of the self-inflicted errors. We've just tried to eliminate those.”

Going from a team ranked No. 118 in penalty yards per game (69.1) in 2021 to No. 6 (34.33) through six games this season, the areas of discipline are a catalyst for the improvement.

As a result, it’s hard to ignore the positive steps Florida’s taken under new leadership this season. However, sitting at 4-2, there are still areas to clean up to achieve the level of competitiveness Napier and Co. are vying for in the SEC and national landscape in the near future.

"We have not executed our formula to win games at the rate in which we would desire," Napier said on Saturday following the victory over Missouri. "We're very much a work in progress."

The 2022 season is the time to work through the kinks.

”I heard a coach say one time that you're always really close to being a very good team, and you're always really close to being a very bad team,” Napier said. “And that describes our team in a lot of ways. Where we're at, I think we have a very capable group.  

“What I'm hopeful that we see here is we start to minimize error a bit better. We start to be a little more efficient. We start to believe a little bit more. I think our practice habits are improving. I think that the chemistry, the morale of the group is improving. So there's no easy outs in this league. We've got a tough slate ahead of us.”

Defensive end Princely Umanmielen added to Napier’s sentiment about the practice habits, namely, the effort of the unit each time they take the field during the week.

Running back Montrell Johnson, who has experience operating in the peak culture and system Napier is in the process of instilling at Florida, is critical of the Gators' performance as someone who understands where the unit should be compared to where they are.

When Florida escaped a near-upset loss to USF in week three, he shared his frustration over being close with the Group of Five opponent.

Johnson again spoke candidly following Saturday's victory over Missouri about the areas where the Gators program lacks compared to that of Louisiana-Lafayette.

“I would say just playing closer than what we are right now and playing turnover-free football,” he said. “That’s two main things.”

Playing closer is a testament to the family approach Napier and Co. are taking to building the program. Johnson believes that plays a role in the continuous progression of the team moving forward.

“I think we’re going to get better each and every game and each and every practice and toward the end of the season, you’re going to see a totally different football team from now.”

As another game with the potential for a close finish sits on the horizon with cross-divisional rival LSU heading into The Swamp, Florida has the chance to flip that switch under the lights on Saturday in a crucial battle of rebuilding programs.

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