Billy Napier looking to develop 'four-dimensional players' on Florida's roster
Billy Napier has spent a good portion of his first spring camp installing Florida’s schemes on both sides of the ball.
He calls the offensive plays with coordinator Rob Sale, while co-DC Patrick Toney dials up the defense. Through 12 practices, Napier feels the players have done well with picking up the new systems.
“It’s not a problem. I think we know what to do, I think we are making progress in how to do it, and I think we actually have some players that maybe know why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Napier said. “You know, we need more players that understand how to do it and why we do it that way, right? Now there’s a handful of guys out there, they don’t even know what to do. So, and that comes with the territory, right?”
Following the second scrimmage, Billy Napier said the Gators need more players who can play winning football and do their job consistently. However, executing your assignment on every play is just scratching the surface of Napier’s expectations.
He explained how he and his coaches are looking to develop “four-dimensional players.”
“Let me see if I can explain this quickly,” Napier said. “The first dimension is you know what you’re supposed to do, OK? The second dimension is, you know what every player in your position room is supposed to do, right? So you play Z receiver, you know what the H and the X have. You play left guard, you know what all five linemen are supposed to do when you play.
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“The third dimension is you understand all 11 players on offense or defense or in special teams. You understand all 11 players on your side of the ball.”
A four-dimensional player, Napier said, is really rare. We’re talking about starting quarterbacks who can dissect defenses, middle linebackers who see plays coming before they happen and veteran players with a high football IQ.
“A four-dimensional player,” Napier said, “he understands all 11 on this side of the ball, and he knows and can comprehend and discuss what the 11 other people on the other side of the ball are doing. So a four-dimensional player, what is that? How do you get to that point?
“You do that by evaluating, recruiting, retaining, and executing your year-round plan, over and over and over, right? And we’re in the first year, you know. Listen, we’re a little two-thirds of the way through phase three. I’m hopeful here we’ll look up in a couple of years and have a lot of four-dimensional players that are playing for the University of Florida.”
