Billy Napier assesses Florida's depth behind starters

With the transfer portal rules set up the way that they are at the moment, building depth can be a challenge, particularly for new head coaches. That was the case last year at Florida for head coach Billy Napier.

The 44-year-old worked this offseason to improve Florida’s depth, and he feels like the Gators made strides.

There are more players on the Florida roster that Napier is confident in, even if a lot of those players are newcomers.

“Yea, I mean I think, look, we had a two-deep group of players last year and we lost a lot of close games,” Napier said. “So I do think we have more depth. I do think at some positions on our team maybe we don’t. But I do think that we’re just young.”

Florida finished 6-7 last year, with five of the seven losses coming by 10 points or less. That list includes one-score losses to Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Florida State.

With more talent this year, Napier hopes to improve Florida’s record in close games. To help, the Gators brought in the No. 13 recruiting class in the country, according to the On3 Industry rankings. They also added the No. 25 transfer portal class in the country, per On3.

“I think that two-deep is made up of rookies or portal players,” Napier said. “But I think we’ve got a very capable group. I think there’s some height and length, speed, that’s maybe there that wasn’t there before.”

Billy Napier lists Florida players that have made progress in camp

Florida head coach Billy Napier also spoke about specific players who have stood out during preseason camp that will help on the two-deep this season.

“I do think we’ve made a ton of progress,” Napier said. “A lot of these young players have made significant progress, Kamran James, in particular. Ja’Keem Jackson, Jordan Castell. I think Mannie Nunnery has had a really good camp. I think Jaden Robinson has had a really good camp. Caleb Banks is impressive at times. TJ Searcy, [too].

“Lyndell [Hudson] is a guy who’s done really well. We all know about Kniejah [Harris] because he had a good experience in the spring. Tony Livingston, Hayden Hansen both really have accelerated their growth. Treyaun Webb, [also],” Napier said. “Those are a few off the top of my head.”

That’s good news for the Gators, who open at Utah on Thursday, Aug. 31.

“It is extremely competitive right now in most rooms, relative to how we’re going to play the players in the game,” Napier said. “We’ve got a group of established players but we’ve got a lot of players that are right in the middle of heated competition. And I think we’re just going to let that competition take its place, if that makes sense.”