Billy Napier Breaks Down Florida Gators' 'Running Back By Committee'
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Photo: Trevor Etienne; Credit: Alex Shepherd
The Florida Gators' offense is proving to be an early indicator of team success in year one under Billy Napier.
Producing two polar opposite performances against Utah and Kentucky, as the unit moved with relative ease against the Utes while struggling mightily when hosting the Wildcats, the outcomes responded according at 1-1 on the year.
However, a constant in the drastically different outings is the efficiency of the rushing game, and the continued emergence of young pieces Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne. In the first two weeks of the season, the duo is averaging over seven yards per carry — at 7.2 yards on 19 attempts for Johnson and 7.9 yards on 14 attempts for Etienne — proving to be a consistent and explosive tandem.
Their production leads to the question: Should they earn an increased share of the carries from veteran Nay'Quan Wright's (3.5 YPA on 17 attempts)?
Despite that noticeable uptick in production when the younger guys in the room are on the field, Napier emphasized on Wednesday that the running back by committee model featuring a near equal share of carries and playing time for the trio of backs is a staple of his scheme. He will continue to employ it.
"We're very much a running back by committee group," he said during the weekly SEC Teleconference. "That's been our philosophy for a long time. We've been one of the best rushing teams in the country. Those players have went [on] to play in the National Football League. Montrell, Trevor and Nay'Quan, those guys are next up."
During his time at Louisiana-Lafayette, Napier and Co. operated at least a two-headed running back system that saw at least a duo of backs earn 100 or more carries per season. Ranking at the top of college football each year with the top ball carriers earning over 800 yards or more in each season, the game plan established Napier's formula for offensive as a head coach.
Most notably, in 2019, Elijah Mitchell (now playing with the San Francisco 49ers), Raymond Calais and Trey Ragas each ran for over 800 as the team rushed for nearly 300 yards per game. Mitchell was featured in the offense with 198 carries, but Calais and Ragas were frequent contributors with 117 and 116 attempts on the season respectively. That was the same case in 2021 with Johnson (before his transfer to UF), Chris Smith and Emani Bailey equally contributing to the offensive and overall team success.
The tried-and-true blueprint the Ragin' Cajuns 2019 and 2021 teams laid out shows what a running back by committee can do when operating at its peak. However, Florida, specifically, is familiar with the ill effects of a mundane rotation of backs when one is outperforming another. Think back to the usage of Dameon Pierce last season.
Fortunately, that type of talent neglect won't be the case in Napier's offensive system.
Since they rarely see the field simultaneously, even two at a time, a running back rotation can become players performing as individuals rather than in accordance with their counterpoints. The unit's cohesion can be a factor in not allowing that to happen in the current group, as each ball carrier understands his duties in the interworkings of Jabbar Juluke's room.
Napier's praise for the unit's selflessness and willingness to perform in their role when the opportunity comes once every three offensive possessions show individualism isn't the case with this unit.
"The good thing about that room is those guys are selfless, they've got a great attitude, they work hard each day," he said. "They're improving as practice players. I think Trevor in particular is learning more and more as a rookie player. But Nay'Quan provides leadership. Montrell obviously is still a young player but played in our system last year."
As a result, along with Lorenzo Lingard who is yet to record a carry on the season, Napier is confident in how the group operates moving forward.
That could change as the season goes on if the rotation isn't resulting in sustainable success, forcing him to succumb to the hot hand(s) in the long term to produce a continuous spark. But, for now, the three-headed monster in the Florida backfield is still intact.
"Each one of those guys contribute to our team in a great way and we'll continue to roll those guys through."
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