A team once divided, Gators open fall camp with newfound ‘propinquity’

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Gators have moved into their team hotel for fall training camp, embarking on the next phase of Year 1 under new coach Billy Napier.

Tuesday marked the first day of a 22-day camp for Florida, which opens the season Sept. 3 with a night game in The Swamp against Utah.

Kicking off UF’s first media availability for fall camp, defensive lineman Gervon Dexter was asked what will be one of the biggest differences that the average fan is going to see with this year’s Gators compared to the 2021 team.

“A huge, huge discipline difference. Just you’ll see a family out there,” Dexter said. “It won’t be an individual this or that. It’ll be all the guys going the same way. That will be the biggest thing you’ll see out there.”

Staying together as team, Dexter added, been a huge point of emphasis for Napier. In fact, he even has a word for it: propinquity, which is defined as the state of being close to someone or something.

“It’s a team sport. I think as much as we can do to create that culture, the better,” Napier said. “Individual players don’t make a great team. I think that we have a lot of really good individual players on our roster, but if you are going to have an exceptional team, then there’s got to be a certain level of detail and discipline on the roster and a buy-in. … I just think that puzzle, the reality that, ‘Hey, look, I’m nothing without the others.’ Coming to grips with that fact.”

When Napier held his first practice in the spring, it was apparent that Florida lacked propinquity and togetherness.

According to UF offensive guard O’Cyrus Torrence, a few players got into it when the Gators opened camp March 15. Torrence discussed this Tuesday after being asked how he’s seen the team discipline improve.

“It improved a lot from the first practice where it was like almost two or three fights that happened at the first practice to where now we can be out there by ourselves and it’s like a brotherhood,” Torrence said. “Even if something like a bad play happens where two guys tackle to the ground, it’s a friendly, brotherly love type deal. Like, they’ll help each other up.

“When I first got here, something like that would happen and we would have to hurry up and step between them just because you don’t know what might happen. It was more like offense versus defense rather than the team getting better.”

Over the course of spring ball and summer workouts, however, that has changed according to the players and Napier. Florida’s first-year coach said Tuesday that his team’s culture grew this offseason and “the togetherness, the chemistry, the morale, and the overall level of discipline improved the accountability.”

Torrence concurred.

“I feel like now that coach has been here and we’ve practiced together and just getting his core values and knowing what he’s really like, it’s just helped us be able to play better as a team. The communication is a lot better,” Torrence said.

“We’re out there by ourselves with no coach and just practicing, getting it out of the way in like 30 minutes, and we were able to do it. But when Coach first got here, we wouldn’t be able to do that because we just weren’t together enough or disciplined enough. But from the time I’ve been here until now, I’ve seen the growth, and they’re pretty good from then to now.”

Napier promoting propinquity

The newfound brotherhood of the 2022 Gators doesn’t stem simply from the grind of spring practices and summer workouts. It has also grown thanks to some intentional actions by Napier to create more chemistry.

He shuffles the deck in the locker room a few times a year and puts players next to new teammates. For training camp, he pairs them with a roommate they don’t really know. The entire team has to learn everybody’s name and hometown.

“We do all types of things,” Napier said. “We’re very intentional about the human element of the game. I think there’s something to be said about developing loyalty and galvanizing the team.”

Napier was asked Tuesday what’s the most significant change he’s seen with the team since his arrival.

“We probably know each other a little bit better. I think the relationship piece is important,” Napier said. “I think the connection inside the building, that’s one of the things we’ve really focused on. I just think there’s a certain loyalty that comes with this game. There’s a human element.

“When you have a relationship with the people that you are competing with, when you know their story, when you’ve had in-depth conversations, when you know what to say to motivate, you can push a button. I think it’s critical for the leadership on our team going out of your way to connect.”

That connection, and propinquity, is key. Napier believes that if players get to know their teammates and learn their backgrounds, they will play harder for them.

“Absolutely. 100 percent,” he said. “When the game is over and you are sitting around here down the road, that’s what you are going to remember. You are going to remember your teammates. You are going to remember the things that the game taught you.”