Billy Napier shares unique way he minimizes errors as coach

At this year’s SEC Football Media Days, On3’s Andy Staples did a few live shows of his  Andy Staples On3 Podcast. During one of the shows he had on the Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier. As the two discussed ongoing storylines surrounding the Gators program, it was revealed that Napier has a unique way of minimizing errors as a coach. According to the Florida headman, he likes to take detailed notes and store them away for later use.

“Yeah, I mean, just creates consistency, and then you minimize error. I think half the battle here is just don’t make the same mistake twice. So, it’s one of the ways that we improve our process; quality control everything that we do right and then. It’s a ton of research behind this. And then you go back to that, and then you prepare when you encounter that next time. Over time, it adds up. All parts of the organization, we challenge them to take the same approach,” said Napier.

“I’m trying to get better, right? And I think, ultimately, you gotta learn from the past.”

The process is something that the Gators’ head coach used when he was the headman at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. This time around, he’s using it a little differently: to help him with the daunting task of rebuilding the Gators program. Florida has not won an SEC championship nor played for a national title since the late 2000s. And if they are going to climb to the pinnacle of college football once again, Napier has to be on his A-game constantly.

“I think that it’s very evident that there’s a lot of things that needed to be done here. I think we all understood; it’s like giving a year of your life away. First year, your time is so divided, and a couple of the new variables caused that would be a challenge. You’re immediately a class and a half behind recruiting. For me, that was magnified a little bit because we weren’t recruiting that pool of players. And then you throw in NIL, you throw in the portal, not to mention all the things that needed to be done at the University of Florida.

“Ultimately, your time is divided. I left the place where I felt like I had an incredible connection with my team on my staff. And you take that for granted a little bit. So, it’s pretty apparent; hey, look, we got to start over here.”

From his transition to Florida from ULM, Napier has lost a few things along the way. But fortunately, he system of taking notes and storing them will help him rebuild what he lost in Gainesville, FL, with the Gators, along with rebuilding the program.