Billy Napier shares how he has adjusted to NIL

NIL may still be in its infancy stages of collegiate athletics, but it’s already made a major impact on the landscape that is college sports. Florida head coach Billy Napier is in his first season with the Gators, and is not only trying to navigate a turnaround on the field for the them, but navigate NIL off the field as well.

“What a year to get a head coaching job at this level right? I mean the portal opens up and NIL starts a new era, just completely changes the game, I mean all the things that maybe were a part of your recruiting strategy, this has shifted the landscape in a huge fashion,” Napier said

Napier went into depth about the nuances and challenges presented by the new age of NIL, starting with the lack of regulation.

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“So I think it’s very fluid, I think that state law, NCAA compliance, enforcement, what are the rules to the game?” Napier asked. “I’ve said this before, at one point there, and still, it’s almost live living in a land with no laws relative to what can you do what can’t you do, and certainly some schools have more resources than others to some degree.”

Napier also touched on the present and future of NIL for the Gators, as they boast one of the most popular and identifiable brand names in college football with both a strong fan base and market.

“I do think that I’ve said it vocally, I think at the University of Florida it can and will be a strength, I think it is a strength truth be known. With the state that we live in with 21 million people, we’ve got 470,000 living alumni, I mean we have economies that are nearby that are huge. I think the Gator fanbase in particular in this state is right up there with some of the NFL franchises, so very capable in that area,” Napier explained.

Florida has already started the Gatormade program since Napier’s arrival, described as a holistic player-focused and purpose-driven initiative that intended to equip Gator football players with the necessary skills to succeed in life, which could include NIL dealings as well.

“And our guys are benefiting from that currently and I think that it’ll just continue to grow as there’s more awareness, we’re equipped with that, we’re equipped for that for what’s to come with GatorMade, I really believe that,” Napier said. “We’ve got in-house advisement there to really educate and equip our players, help them make good decisions.”

The Gatormade program is a direct reaction to some of the negatives that exist in the NIL space due to its lack of rules, which also include the potential for rapid turnaround and imbalance in the college football landscape.

“Nobody wants to talk about the negatives here, there’s a lot of people trying to take advantage of young people in terms of representation and a lot of legalities. So you guys are well informed, this has become unprecedented relative to the impact of changing your roster in a hurry, Texas A&M is a great example of that,” Napier said.

It’s clear that there needs to be more governance and supervision pertaining to NIL, but for now, Napier is in the same position as most coaches in the country, who are all trying their best to capitalize and navigate through the unprecedented, uncharted, and seemingly lawless waters that are NIL.

“I think most coaches would tell you, it’s like going to play pickup basketball and nobody explains the rules before game, you know what I mean?” Napier laughed and said. “So I think most coaches would say hey look, let’s create some balance here in terms of opportunity and parity, I do think you’re going to see it become a little top heavy in my opinion.”