‘The buck stops here’: Napier takes ownership of issues, vows to do better

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The UF media didn’t pull any punches during Billy Napier’s weekly Monday press conference. Reporters peppered him with questions stemming from the Gators‘ season-opening loss at Utah.

Napier was asked about procedural penalties, offensive line issues, the lack of a rushing attack, third-down struggles, the special teams mishap, how he structures his staff and his team’s readiness to play.

The second-year coach took ownership of it all.

“There’s no one single individual to blame here, other than me, OK? I think ultimately the buck stops here. We’re going to go fix it. That’s what I would tell you,” Napier said.

Napier is now 6-8 in his 14 games at Florida. Two of his predecessors, Jim McElwain and Will Muschamp, both had 18 wins before eight losses. Former UF coaches Steve Spurrier, Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen didn’t suffer loss No. 8 until the end of their third seasons.

Napier also had eight losses at Louisiana through his first year in 2018 and the 2019 opener at Mississippi State. From there, the Ragin’ Cajuns won 11 of their last 13 games that season (both losses to App State) and then lost just one game in each of Napier’s final two years (22-2).

He was asked Monday how he’s processing the losses at UF.

“I’m committed to not getting used to it I guess is what I would say. I’m not joking when I say that,” he responded. “I asked the team yesterday, I said, ‘What motivates you?’ I think for me, seeing the players get the reward from the work is motivating, but it’s also just as motivating to watch them have to go through the difficulty of losing, right, knowing what I’ve observed for a very long time, if that makes sense. Sometimes as a leader, it’s not about me, it’s more about the rest of them. Players in particular.

“… You just want to do the best job you can do for your people, ultimately. When you struggle, you just want to do better for your folks ultimately. You got the people that work really hard, they don’t get the result they want, you’re frustrated and disappointed with the performance. Ultimately you want to do better for your team, right? I would tell you that a lot of people feel that way. It’s not just me. So, I think this group’s going to respond the right way.”

Napier also addressed his team having to face adversity one week into the season. He expressed disappointment in the lack of discipline and execution at Utah but added “there’s no question” that the staff can coach up the players better.

The Gators committed nine penalties, allowed five sacks and only rushed for 13 yards. Napier said he was surprised by the procedural issues in the opener.

“We had played pretty clean football, scrimmages, practice setting. We’d done quite a bit of significant crowd noise work. So those were surprising. I really felt confident our team was ready to play,” Napier said. “But you watch a weekend of college football, you see a lot of success, but you also see a lot of struggles. So, the key to the drill here is how we respond and how we adapt, right? That’s not just coaches, that’s individual players. I think this group is ready to do that.

“… Take responsibility, take ownership. Certainly, that starts with me. I think success is a dirty process, right? You’ve got to navigate a world that has doubt, that has fear. There’s always disruptions, there’s always challenges. It challenges everything inside of you. If you’re a competitor, this game will challenge you. I think it demands all that you’ve got. For many it’s not worth it. But for the select few out there, they wouldn’t have it any other way. We certainly embrace the things that come with this challenge.”