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Billy Napier reveals parallels between rebuilding Louisiana and Florida

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•07/28/22•

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Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Florida coach Billy Napier is gearing up for another rebuild. He did it once at Louisiana, and he’s trying to do the same in Gainesville.

Florida moved on from Dan Mullen late in the 2021 season and Napier took over a Gators team that went 6-7 overall and 2-6 in SEC play. In 2017, when Napier became the Louisiana head coach, the Ragin’ Cajuns were coming off a 5-7 season when he took over and he turned them into a Sun Belt Conference power in his four years.

As he tries to turn Florida around, he said he realizes how similar the two situations are.

“There’s a lot of common ground,” Napier said at SEC Media Days. “Each one of these teams — I think each year is a little bit different. But year one, you’re learning your place. You’re learning how to present your product, you’re learning your community, the administration, the players. There are so many people that contribute to your team. That’s where we’re at at the University of Florida and I feel like looking back, it was very similar at UL.

“Every day there’s a problem to solve. I think that just goes with year one. I often say year one is like giving a year of your life away because each day, there’s just a handful of things that continue to pop up. We’re a work in progress, much like we were at year one there. We’ve got a lot of work to do to improve. But I’m confident we’ve got the resources and the people to do that.”

Florida had to deal with some transfer portal losses, as well. Notably, Jacob Copeland — last year’s leading receiver — transferred to Maryland. But Napier landed Arizona State transfer Ricky Pearsall to help replace that production, and with Justin Shorter coming back and Anthony Richardson under center, the offense could be in a good spot in the first year of the Napier era.

On defense, Mohamoud Diabate transferred to Utah after leading the Gators in tackles in 2021. However, Brenton Cox returns after leading Florida in sacks last year and could play a big role again in 2022.