Napier Still Looking for Clarity on NCAA Roster Cuts

Florida currently has 115 players on its roster, not including seven signees who will enroll in the summer, with 34 walk-ons. NCAA mandates limit programs to 105 players with the SEC further limiting programs to 85 scholarship players.

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier and Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway (2) watch during spring football practice at Heavener Football Complex at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, March 6, 2025. [Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun] / Matt Pendleton / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- In November, Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier first discussed the impending NCAA roster cuts, calling the decision one of the "more transformational things in our game," while also expressing the need for further clarification from the NCAA regarding deadlines for the cuts and the idea of using replacement players.

The new mandate limits college football programs to 105 total players on the roster, while SEC further limits its schools to 85 scholarships. Meaning, Florida will be allowed 20 walk-ons for 2025, but who those 20 are remains to be seen.

Thursday's spring roster revealed the Gators currently have 115 players on its roster not including seven high school signees who will enroll this summer. By Gators Illustrated's scholarship tracker, the Gators are at its 85-man limit. Additionally, Florida has 34 walk-ons on its roster and will need to drop 14 to reach its walk-on limit.

Napier on Thursday explained that programs will need to be at the 105-player and 85-scholarship limit by their first game. Florida opens the season on Aug. 30 against Long Island.

"So we'll have access to the players that we have currently ‘til then, but we will have to make a decision and determine, ‘hey, these are the 105 players that will be available for competition and practice from that point forward,"' he said.

Despite the limits, Florida has added to its walk-on roster with four preferred walk-ons in freshman running back Chad Gasper Jr., freshman long snapper Mack Mulhern, transfer legacy defensive back Vincent Brown Jr. and transfer defensive back Evan Jackson.

Additionally, Florida returns a slew of walk-ons with in-game experience, mostly either on special teams or in mop-up duty, in quarterback Aidan Warner, receiver Taylor Spierto and defensive back Javion Toombs.

Despite now having a deadline for when the roster will have to be trimmed and an idea of which players could comprise a portion of the 20-player walk-on group, Napier explained that he is among a group of coaches around the country that are still seeking further clarification on the rule.

"Outside of that, there is a ton of work to be done. What does the next spring semester look like relative to Title IX, relative to the settlement? So a lot to be determined here between now and then,” he said.

Overall, the topic comes with controversy with walk-ons, who have qualified academically and passes a tryout to join the team while paying their way through school, being removed from the roster at no fault of their own. Defensive coordinator Ron Roberts on Friday expressed his displeasure with the decision during his media availability.

"The walk-ons losing opportunities is not good," he said. "I hate that part to see that in college football because there's a lot of young men that, not just what they bring to a university or bring to the program, and there's valid places that obviously many of them have gone on to having elite careers. So anytime an opportunity gets limited for players, I don't like that."

However, the hope for keeping walk-ons who don't make the initial 105-man roster isn't lost. An idea floated around is whether or not programs can call up a "replacement player" if someone on the roster goes down with a season-ending injury, an idea Napier first brought up in November.

Although there may not be specifics from the NCAA, Napier expressed pleasure with a February meeting between SEC athletic directors and head coaches in New Orleans where the idea of replacement players was one of the many topics discussed.

"I think it's a really important topic, and there's been a ton of narrative about it out there," he said. "We probably had one of the more productive, better meetings from an SEC AD/head coach meetings in February in New Orleans. I think that was one of the topics that was discussed. But I do think we're making progress. Is it perfect? No, but I do think that we've got pretty smart people that are working hard on that.”

In the meantime, Florida has essentially created its own rules while staying within the NCAA's parameters, he said, citing the always-changing rules in this era of the sport with the transfer portal, NIL and now a revenue share model that's set to begin this summer.

"I think now we're, we basically got to the point like, hey, we're not going to sit around and wait on anybody to tell us what to do," Napier said. "We're going to create our own system kind of control what we can control and live within those parameters. That's what we've done probably the last 18 months. It's worked well for us."

Leading the way with Florida's roster management and its front office is Nick Polk, who was recently hired as Associate Athletic Director/Football General Manager. With over two decades of salary cap management in the NFL, Polk will lead the way with revenue share and coaching contracts.

Although his time in Gainesville has been brief and the idea of front offices for college football is still fairly new, Napier did not hesitate to praise Polk's immediate impact on the program and his ability to take more off Napier's plate.

"Now here comes rev share, and I do think that that will provide a little bit more stability, where his experience with the cap management, the strategy around contracts, that's part of the game, right?" Napier said. "He's hit the ground running. Man, he's made my life easier already."

There's no telling when or even if there will be an answer on the nitty gritty details as a result of the NCAA's and SEC's mandates, but it appears Napier, Polk and the rest of Florida's football organization have a plan going forward while trying to tame the college football's Wild West Era.

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