Billy Napier issues apology for 'rural central Florida' comments

Speaking with reporters Wednesday night, Florida coach Billy Napier apologized for his “rural central Florida” comments. He made the remarks during his Monday press conference.

Napier addressed the criticism around the Florida program after the Gators’ season-opening loss to Miami at The Swamp. He spoke about the need to focus on getting better and “not necessarily what some guy in his basement saying in, you know, rural Central Florida on social media” before acknowledging “sometimes, you deserve criticism.”

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The comments quickly made their way around social media, and UCF’s NIL collective started selling shirts with the phrase. Wednesday night, Napier walked them back during his regular press conference.

“A terrible choice of words,” Napier said, via Gators Online’s Nick de la Torre. “Obviously, I didn’t explain myself the way I should have there… I want to make it very clear, that was not my intention there.”

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Napier entered the 2024 season with mounting pressure after an 11-14 record through his first two years at the helm. That went up another notch after a 41-17 loss to Miami that also saw quarterback Graham Mertz leave with a concussion. As a result, DJ Lagway is expected to get the start on Saturday against Samford, Napier said Wednesday.

But when it comes to what’s next, Napier said it comes down to bouncing back. That’s what he said his focus would be after starting the season off with a loss to an in-state rival.

“It is probably one of the bigger challenges you have as a head coach, you know, in terms of turning the page,” Billy Napier said. “You know, how do you filter the results? How do you evaluate the game, especially when it’s negative? And I would tell you one of the other big challenges, when you do win, but maybe you were sloppy and you didn’t play well, that’s another big challenge. Because they’re all happy go-lucky. 

“But reality is like, look, I can remember standing up here when we built Utah the first year, telling you guys like, look, everybody thinks we’re gonna win the Super Bowl this year, but we have things that we have to clean up as a team, right?”

Florida will stay in Gainesville for Saturday’s game against Samford. Kickoff is set for Noon ET on SEC Network+.