Billy Napier shares how Florida players have responded to change in culture

A new era of Florida football has begun as the Gators are now being led by head coach Billy Napier. After a successful run as Louisiana’s head man in the Sun Belt Conference, Napier has made the transition to the SEC and is tasked will rebuilding a program that significantly declined the past two seasons under former coach Dan Mullen.

While Florida has been a prestigious football school for quite some time and led by coaches such as Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer, there are high expectations for Napier – who went 40-12 in four seasons at Louisiana – to take the Gators back to the top, but it’s certainly going to take some work.

That work has been in progress ever since Napier first arrived in Gainesville – and now it’s showing in the Gators’ spring practices. Meeting with reporters after a practice on Tuesday, Napier was asked about his players buying into his new staff and their overall approach, and the coach said it’s been a great transition so far.

“To be honest with you, we have had zero resistance,” Napier said. “I think that’s probably the biggest compliment I could give the players because they’ve completely embraced every change. I think it goes back to – I think the people within the organization have done a good job of establishing trust, there’s been good communication and I think we’ve explained why we do what we do and how we do it. And, overall we’ve hired really good people and people that are experts at what they do.

“I think immediately when the player senses that they care for them and that they can help them, I think that’s the reason we haven’t had much resistance at all. So, it’s probably the best thing about where we’re at right now.”

Napier is taking over a Florida team that went 6-6 during the 2021 regular season. The head coach signed a seven-year, $51.8 million contract with the Gators that will pay him $7.1 million during the 2022 season and increase his annual salary by $100,000 each season.