Florida Gators, Billy Napier Must be Patient With Program Building
With the Florida Gators venturing into a new era of its football program, there will be plenty of expectations that come with it, especially considering how the previous regime under then-head coach Dan Mullen concluded.
Now, the program will be run by an up-and-comer in Billy Napier, a coach that, while he's had a lot of success in his career, has to yet lead a program as nationally relevant as the Gators are.
By many accounts, Florida is part of the 15 most successful college football programs in history, winning two National Championship games in just the early 2000s alone, another in 1996, and part of many SEC Championship games in perhaps the toughest conference in college football.
Because of that, the expectations of the program having success will certainly be high. With Mullen, the Gators went from a 4-7 team the previous season to a 10-win team with a bid in a New Year's Six Bowl. That sort of jump doesn't happen often, just look at what Florida State has done since Jimbo Fisher left the program, and subsequently Willie Taggert.
Still, for a program like the Gators, there won't be any wiggle room, even during the first year under Napier, but perhaps there should be, at least a little.
"Well, you know, these jobs will chew you up and spit you out if you let them, right? I think we've got to keep perspective," Napier said in his post-press conference scrum a few weeks ago.
"You know, we gotta have balance. I think that's one of the reasons that I believe in the infrastructure that we're going to create, right, as we can allow our people to have balance to do a good job at home with their families, because they can delegate, you know, because each role is clearly defined.
"Nobody's got too much on their plate. And it'll be the most difficult early, but once we get this machine up and running, I think we'll be able to have some pace to life where we can enjoy."
That sort of balance Napier is talking about happens even away from the gridiron. But, ultimately, the patience that'll be required for both the fans and the coaches themselves will be plentiful. Creating a winning program isn't easy, and it certainly won't happen overnight.
But, what has been clear from Napier himself, along with athletic director Scott Stricklin, is that they both understand the expectations for the program's future. For Stricklin, Napier is exactly the person to bring meet those expectations, given his traits, indicating that Stricklin is in favor of a patient approach.
"It was interesting, I kept hearing certain descriptions over and over again, words like 'genuine', 'authentic', organized, 'detailed', 'disciplined', 'methodical', 'caring', 'competitive', 'hardworking', 'thoughtful," Stricklin mentioned when introducing Napier at his introductory press conference earlier this month.
"If you think about all those words, for us to reach the high expectations shared by everybody who loves the Gators and we talk about championship experience with integrity, to have consistent and sustained success, those are the traits that are going to be imperative."
Heading into his first season as the Gators head coach, Napier will have to move quickly, but with patience. The recruiting class for this season is certainly not going to dazzle, and that's known already due to the large number of commitments the program has lost over the past few weeks.
There will be transfers, too.
But, one thing is clear, and that in order for this to get right, it will have to be worked on meticulously, and for what Napier has been described as, and where he's come from (working with Alabama and Clemson, among others), it appears he's going to be the right man for the job.
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