Billy Napier on Strength of Florida's Roster: 'We're Talking About 61 Points'
Photo: Billy Napier; Credit: Alex Shepherd
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Roughly a month ago, head coach Billy Napier candidly expressed that Florida's roster needed reinforcements. With five scholarship openings on the day the spring transfer portal closed, April 30, Napier suggested the Gators would be active in pursuing capable players to fill those spots.
"Our roster is not complete, and certainly we could add some players in the future," Napier stated on April 13, acknowledging any acquisitions would be made on "a case-by-case basis."
And following three spring portal additions — former Michigan safety R.J. Moten, Florida International offensive tackle Lyndell Hudson Jr. and Coahoma Community College running back JaKobi Jackson — Napier appears pleased with the roster's progress.
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"I think our roster’s somewhat stable," Napier told reporters at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Gainesville on Monday, on the final leg of his annual speaking tour. "We’ve got a couple of spots left, but, you know, our team is very young, right? So I think, big picture wise, you’ve got to be calculated about just filling a spot, relative to the player maybe you can add in January if that makes sense."
Florida head coach Billy Napier and transfer quarterback Graham Mertz during the Gators' 2023 spring training camp.
Zach Goodall
At the same time, Napier shared his belief that Florida made the most of a "much deeper, much more talented" winter transfer portal period in which the Gators reeled in ten veterans of college football. Each player brings a varying degree of experience to the table but will be expected to contribute in some capacity immediately.
Two scholarship openings now remain. Walk-on wide receiver Kahleil Jackson is in contention for one of them, per Napier, and class of 2025 UF quarterback commit Austin Simmons is widely believed to have a spot reserved in the event of reclassification.
"I think there are some limitations relative to what we can say publicly about that," Napier said about Florida's plan to add a fourth scholarship quarterback this offseason — such rules apply to discussing prospective student-athletes, like Simmons, before enrollment, "but still intend to do that.”
Pair the spring and anticipated summer patchwork with the Gators' winter transfers and 20-man 2023 recruiting class, and the talent overhaul entering Napier's second season as UF's head coach could be considered drastic.
"I like a lot of the players we added to our team," said Napier.
Now, the goal is for the newest Gators to sync with the veterans of Napier's system in hopes of significant improvement from the 6-7 (3-5 SEC) campaign Florida produced in his first year at the helm.
Napier has adamantly stated throughout the offseason that the team's growing camaraderie, scheme familiarity on both sides of the ball and increased understanding of the game's principles will lead to an improved football product. The results began to shine through in spring training camp, he insinuated.
“I was really pleased. Fundamentally I think we took a huge step forward, all positions groups," Napier recalled before offering an honest assessment of the state of the roster.
"We got areas of our team where we’re going to be young. But we have some talented players. We’re halfway through the off-season at that point. Summer is going to be critical. Training camp is always important. But I think this team, certain position groups the summer training camp is going to be more important.”
Despite the team's general youth, Napier supports his theory of what will lead to improvement in 2023 by contemplating how the Gators lost games in 2022.
He pointed to UF's three one-score defeats — by five points at Tennessee, seven points at Vanderbilt and seven points at FSU — and late one-score deficits in losses to Kentucky (by 10 points), LSU (10) and Georgia (22, although the Bulldogs' lead was briefly narrowed to eight in the third quarter) as evidence that Florida contended in every regular season game it played a season ago.
"We’re talking about 61 points," Napier noted, the total point differential in Florida's regular season drubbings. "We’re talking about essentially five games that came down to one score."
How can the Gators flip close games into their favor moving forward? By playing like a true team, something Florida failed to consistently do a season ago according to its head coach.
"We had some talented players last year. I think the thing is that we didn’t execute very well, right, we weren’t much of a team in my opinion," Napier admitted. "I’ve been a part of some fantastic teams in the past and when I say team, I’m talking about the human element, the camaraderie, the teamwork.
"And I think the accountability and discipline, the familiarity with our process, the systems that we teach offensively, defensively, special teams, that’s where we’ve made the most growth. I think that’s probably what I’m most excited about.”
This story was updated to reflect junior college running back JaKobi Jackson's May 25 transfer to Florida, which was announced shortly after publishing.
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