Billy Napier shares how Florida balances practice physicality with tough opening game

Billy Napier and the Florida Gators have a tough opening game against Utah, but practice won’t change much in preparation.

Napier wants to stick to the plan while also maintaining his team’s health against a very physical opponent. The two schools went in opposite directions last season following the Gators’ win over the Utes.

It remains to be seen how both will fare in 2023, but Napier and Florida is preparing just like any other game.

“I think that the workload may change depending on the players that are available practice to practice,” Napier said. “But we’ve got a blueprint that we’ve used for a long time that’s time tested. We continue to evolve relative to the information that’s available from a sports science standpoint. So it’s got all the data. And we’ve taken a look at the last few years training camp relative to approach.”

Essentially, Napier didn’t give anything away in terms of pertinent information about Utah, but is confident in the approach for Florida.

“We use the information we adjust and I really believe it’s not only the team practice to practice, position group to position group, but as individual players, we’ve gotten to a point where we can say hey, you know, we know the player load on this guy and we need to adjust accordingly,” Napier said. “The scripts are built, the meeting time is built, the walkthroughs are built, the sleep you know, everything is built and we’re going to try to go execute it. We’ll adjust relative to the data practice to practice.”

Moving into 2023, Napier is quite optimistic on the improvement at Florida from a 6-7 debut season last fall.

“I think so,” Napier said. “I think you’re much more aware of the arena, right? Like there is — I hate to say it, but you’re probably calloused a little bit, if that makes sense. I mean, I think there’s an element to like, ‘It is what it is.’ I joke around with my brothers all the time and say, ‘Hey, look, it doesn’t matter if you’re coaching at LaGrange High School. If you don’t win, there’s going to be tough dynamics that come with that, right?’”

While the 2022 campaign wasn’t a glaring success, spectators can see Napier’s potential at Florida. Napier focused on building a foundation of discipline. Consequently, the Gators ranked fourth in the SEC in total penalty yards (584), penalty yards per game (48.7) and eighth in total penalties (78).