Billy Napier addresses what he wants from his Florida coaching staff

New Florida football coach Billy Napier is currently in the process of building his first SEC staff. The former Dabo Swinney and Nick Saban assistant has taken pieces from his Louisiana staff while infusing experienced members of the coaching community.

During an appearance on the Paul Finebaum Show, Billy Napier went in depth on what he is looking for from his Florida staff and how he plans to fill out the remaining spots.

“I think it’s the most important thing that we do,” Napier told Finebaum. “I think we’ve got to find people with integrity and character that have a sincere, authentic care for the players. We certainly want a level of expertise and a competence in the job we’re asking them to do, and then – within this recruiting footprint – I think it’s gotta all work. It’s a big puzzle, it’s the most challenging part of the job and certainly the most important.

“I think the people we add to the team – starting with the staff and then certainly the players – will have a lot to do with our success here. So we’re gonna be very patient, we’re gonna be diligent in our process. We’ve added some outstanding people so far, certainly some more to come and we look forward to announcing those as they come in.”

So far, Napier has added former Louisiana assistants Jabbar Juluke, Patrick Toney, and Darnell Stapleton, along with former LSU cornerback coach Corey Raymond. Other reported additions to this point include strength and conditioning coach Mark Hocke, offensive analyst Ryan O’Hara and defensive analyst Jamar Chaney.

In addition, many other high-profile candidates have been linked to the open coordinator positions and final assistant coaching roles.

Billy Napier’s playcalling role

Billy Napier, Florida’s new head coach, brings an offensive-minded play style to the Swamp: he’s coached tight ends, quarterbacks and been the offensive coordinator at Clemson, he’s coached quarterbacks at Colorado State, tight ends at Florida State, wide receivers at Alabama, quarterbacks at Arizona state and more — getting a new gig at Florida, he says, won’t change that.

Napier still plans on calling the plays for the Florida Gators offense moving forward, regardless of who he hires as his offensive coordinator. He plans on maintaining his strong foundation of offensive principles.

“I will be calling the plays here,” Napier said in his introductory press conference. “I think it gives us an advantage, in my opinion. We’re one of the only teams in the country to have two offensive line coaches (at Louisiana). We’ll have an offensive line coach and an assistant offensive line coach (at Florida).”