Can new structure within Florida Gators change history of penalties?

Kingsley Eguakun blushed and hung his head. As if he knew the question was coming but hoped it wouldn’t come up. He didn’t want to talk about the problem the Florida Gators had with penalties.

Florida was 119th out of 130 teams in the country in penalties. The Gators continually shot themselves in the foot with penalties. From some excusable ones, like pass interference, to the mind-numbing string of false starts that came in such droves they became comical.

“I would say penalties were definitely a killer for us last season. That was definitely something, and it kind of hurts me talking about it because it was just not a good situation,” Eguakun said. “Coach Napier’s definitely big on, you know, deleting a lot of that stuff, putting it in the rearview mirror, and ultimately looking onto next season and improving right there.”

Florida was undisciplined and nothing shone a light on that more than how frequently the Gators were penalized. It’s not new. The Gators were the most penalized team in the SEC in 2018, 2016, 2012, and 2011. That doesn’t make it better but Napier does think it’s an easy problem to fix.

An NFL coach lays it out plainly

Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Ruhle came and spoke at the Florida Gators coaching clinic. He also spoke to the team.

“Coach Matt Rhule just came in and gave us facts,” defensive lineman Gervon Dexter said. “We were one of the last people in penalties in the country. Little things. It wasn’t no big issues. It wasn’t one person that defined it. There’s no way I can point a finger at exactly what happened. Just little things we all needed to fix.”

If there isn’t one thing to fix or one thing to point at as a problem, wouldn’t that make it harder to fix? If you have a slice on a golf course but it’s consistent, that’s just one problem to fix.

When you step up over a golf ball and don’t know if you’re going to hook, slice, or chunk it, that creates a multitude of problems. Florida’s penalties were nondiscriminatory. They just came in waves. Napier has identified it as a discipline issue.

Gators getting more discipline and structure

The word of spring camp from every Florida Gators player that has spoken to the media is structure.

Players are accountable for everything. Things as small as how you’re dressed. If you wear a backplate, NCAA rules dictate that it has to be covered during games. That means it’s covered at practice. Billy Napier’s attention to detail knows no limits.

“I think he is a stud. He’s super detailed. He has his hands in everything we do, knows everything,” linebackers coach Jay Bateman said of Napier. “The thing I think is so impressive about him is any problem it might seem like a pebble or might seem like a boulder. If he identifies it as a problem, he attacks it. That’s a guy I feel like every day I come to work, I’m just like, I’m learning from one of the best guys at this level that does it.”

Napier’s hand touches everything around the Florida program. If it’s happening in the program he knows about it. Discipline starts off the field and will translate to it.

“I think we needed a little bit of discipline, you know, because we didn’t have a head coach for a little while, so we started doing our own thing,” Eguakun said. “Kind of like when you have a substitute teacher. Y’all know that. I think everything coach Napier’s bringing in has been good for us to build discipline, build unity and ultimately like get better.”