Billy Napier assesses how Florida's program has grown during his third season

Florida sits in an interesting position ahead of a key showdown against rival Georgia.

On the one hand, a wholly improbable and almost certainly unrealistic possibility remains that the team could win out and thus earn College Football Playoff consideration. On the other, head coach Billy Napier has a 15-17 overall record in Year 3 and is firmly on the chopping block.

Somewhere in the middle lies the consensus expectation. Florida enters as an 18.5-point underdog, yet the team has shown signs of life in recent weeks and is playing much better football.

“Yeah, mindset has shifted a little bit, I think,” Napier said. “I think the makeup of our team, I just think we’re in a lot better place in that regard. Look, I mean it’s a production business and we’ve got to do it on the grass. We’ve played better the last few weeks, a little bit more like we anticipated playing as a team. Certain parts of our team, in particular.”

Whether that’s enough to help stave off the axe for Napier remains to be seen. Sentiment certainly seems to have shifted toward the positive for him in recent weeks.

Still, Florida eventually has to start competing with its rivals, not just showing up to play them. The Gators are 1-6 against rivals Tennessee, Georgia and Florida State under Napier.

Napier, though, is proud of his team.

“Yeah, just I have a respect for the attitude and the effort of the group, the resiliency of the group,” he said. “That’s the term I would say that’s impressed me the most. And again, these things that I’ve talked about, like the performance character of the group has improved, sure. There’s a noticeable difference in the effort. Just the intensity and the execution of the football.”

Turning that into wins is the ultimate end game.

Florida, though, might not have gotten here without the qualities Napier says this team embodies.

“More importantly there’s a moral character that allowed them to deal with the criticism and the noise and to stay loyal, stick together, to be solution-oriented, to not splinter, to not point fingers, to continue,” he said. “I think that takes some character to do, especially in today’s era. So I’m hopeful that’ll pay off.”