Napier Reveals Billy Donovan's Message to Florida Gators

Florida Gators legend Billy Donovan visited with Billy Napier's football team last week.

Former Florida Gators basketball head coach Billy Donovan visited the football team last week with a clear message. / Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Billy Donovan, for lack of a better phrase, is Gainesville royalty. He coached the University of Florida to back-to-back national championships. During his tenure, Florida won seventy-one percent of its games and established a standard for Florida athletics. 

On the flip side, Billy Napier faces a big season and extremely difficult schedule, pressure mounts, and people start calling for his job. Yet, Donovan visited the football team last week to impart some wisdom. During media availability, Napier discussed the visit. 

"I’ll tell you what, it was awesome to have Billy Donovan here the other day to speak with the team,” Napier said. “I think a once in a lifetime opportunity for our players and staff to listen to a guy who’s got tremendous experience in general, right, but obviously 19 years at the University of Florida and accomplished some really significant things." 

Napier fully comprehends what Billy Donovan means to the athletic program. Furthermore, by exposing his team to insight from a Florida legend, he impresses upon them what being a Gator truly means. Donovan never attended the University of Florida, but his success in Gainesville grants him an Urban Meyer-like legend status without all of the problematic history. 

“And one of the things that he really emphasized was that adversity is our greatest gift. The harder the better, you know, and I think throughout the offseason, you kind of embrace that,” said Napier. “You have to use that as a way to grow, to improve. I was really interested in how he talked about choice, right, we have this illusion of choice at this level of competition in our conference, and he said in the NBA, there’s this illusion of choice.“

As mentioned, the Gators play not just in the toughest conference but possess a nightmare schedule. Donovan explained that the team needs to not look ahead and play week-by-week. While trite and cliche, the point hits home with not only the players but the coaching staff. Furthermore, the Gators play who lines up against them. 

They have no choice of conference opponent. With that mindset, the team liberates itself from thinking they cannot control. Focus will serve as the guide, a north star to where Napier wants his Gators to go.

 Donovan made his bones in basketball on the court as a grinder, a player that did the little things to not only compete but win. Somehow Billy Napier needs to bring that positively grimy, do-it-all approach to his team. 

In the end, that could separate a successful from a disastrous season.