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Billy Napier travels to Florida State Capitol for Gator Day

On3 imageby:Zach Abolverdi•02/15/22•

ZachAbolverdi

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Gators coach Billy Napier at the Florida State Capitol. (UAA Communications)

UF football coach Billy Napier spent Tuesday in Tallahassee celebrating Gator Day.

Napier spoke outside of the Florida State Capitol alongside University of Florida President Kent Fuchs. He also met with Gators fans and signed footballs and mini helmets.

“I had an awesome experience in Tallahassee today celebrating #GatorDay,” Napier tweeted after the event. “Humbled to represent OUR TEAM & entire organization. The #UFuture is bright!”

Gator Day is a yearly event hosted in the state Capitol that allows University of Florida faculty and students the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations with legislators and esteemed leaders from throughout the state of Florida.

This year’s event included Napier and other distinguished speakers, a luncheon at the Capitol, a reception hosted by the University of Florida’s Alumni Assocation and an opportunity to meet representatives from all 16 of UF’s colleges.

Napier, Gators gearing up for spring ball

Napier and the Gators started phase two of their offseason program last Friday and will begin spring practice March 15. Florida will have its first true spring game in three years on April 16. 

The Gators had their spring game canceled in 2020, along with every practice, due to COVID-19. The team held spring practices last year, but the final scrimmage didn’t take place in front of fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Napier called the first half of phase two the most difficult and challenging thing the players will do the entire year from a mental and physical toughness standpoint. It consists of 15 one-hour sessions, four days a week in the indoor practice facility.

“It’s 25 days total. It’s 23 days prior to spring break and then two days once we get back. And I think we’re trying to, really want the players to have 100 percent focus and attack the work, right? We kind of define this for the players. Identity is the qualities and beliefs that make a group different than other people,” Napier explained last Friday. “I think every team around the country does an offseason program. We would like to think that ours is an advantage, that we do it better and that we have a very specific plan in this area.

“So the key here is that the players make a commitment to the prescribed work the right way, really believe in the power of routine, structure, discipline. And certainly, this workload will challenge self-discipline for the players. We need to control the controllables and we need to work hard to create the identity of our team. And that starts inside out. It starts with the players as people. We all know that significant change is always made from the inside out. So, we’ll do 15 of these and we look forward to it.”

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