Everything Billy Napier said ahead of LSU on the SEC teleconference

After notching his first SEC win as Florida’s coach, Billy Napier and the Gators will be back in The Swamp for a night game Saturday against rival LSU.

As UF prepares for the Tigers, he spoke Wednesday about the identity of his team halfway through the season, Ventrell Miller’s play and a big recruiting weekend coming up.

Here is everything Billy Napier said on the SEC teleconference.

Billy Napier opening statement:

“I think, as an organization here, we’re right in the middle of the work. We’re continuing to work hard to create an identity for this team. Halfway through, we’re really working hard on the mental toughness of our team, the ability to overcome obstacles, you know. Coaches accountable, players accountable, and really competition, right, earning our opportunities to compete, right. So, we’ve got to take ownership of our mistakes, continue to work on our fundamentals here and eliminate the bad ball. Realizing that practice execution will basically show up on game day. But overall, right in the middle of the action here trying to help our players prepare the right way and create some confidence.”

On what has surprised him about this team through six games:

“Ultimately, I don’t know that we live in that world. I think that we are very self-aware of the things that we need to improve. I think ultimately when I wake up every day, that’s what’s consuming me, is becoming more efficient. Really working hard to help eliminate some of our deficiencies, to minimize error. We’re really focused on our process here, right? We’re in Year 1, and I think everything that we do is different and new, and I think each person in our organization here is getting more comfortable with the process with how we get the team ready to play, players and staff, right.

“Ultimately, it’s been a lot of fun. Heck, I love it. I love every bit of my job. I think the biggest surprise to me is there’s not a lot of difference in what we do here compared to what we’ve been doing the last four years.”

On the thought process behind holding off on official visits until this weekend:

“Well, I think that in-season official visits are always a challenge, just because your staff is a little bit, their attention is divided relative to doing the absolute best job to what you can do for your current team, but also doing a good job with the recruits. We always host recruits for games. We’ve got a handful of official visitors (this weekend). We’ve got an open date the next week, right? So that creates a little bit different schedule Sunday, Monday for this staff so we’re able to do a little bit more time with this group.”

On winning the Sun Belt in his last game at UL after accepting the Florida job:

“That was really an awesome experience, you know, just because of all the people that contributed to getting there, right? It’s an incredible journey to get to that point there, to be hosting the game and have an opportunity to win the game. Ultimately, what I remember about it is all the people that helped us get there. And certainly, that was what was special about our time in Lafayette was the people there, the culture there and certainly all the people that we worked with and worked alongside to continue to improve each and every year. So, that was a culmination of a lot of people’s hard work and effort.”

On what was required for Ventrell Miller to return quicker than expected:

“I do think that’s one of the things that probably gets overlooked. I think especially in the game of football, college football in particular, these guys they work. The amount of time, the ratio of time relative to preparation and competition in college football is incredible. You only get to play so many games. And certainly, when you have an injury, that number goes way up, right? Because now additional time on top of that, what we require of a healthy player. Now you’ve got extra time in the training room, you’ve got a number of things that you’re doing around the clock and got to get back in position to where you can do your job for the team.

“So, there’s no question that it requires discipline, it requires toughness both mentally and physically. And certainly, Ventrell is a great example to a lot of people about how to go about your business.”

On the defensive performance vs. Mizzou:

“Big game, big SEC game, homecoming, obviously Missouri playing well coming off the tough Georgia loss. We knew we were going to have to play our best ball and certainly defend them. We had a good plan, and we had some great individual performances. But overall, we played much better team defense at every level — line of scrimmage, at the second and third level, Ventrell being right at the heart of that. Every time you thought maybe they had something going 51 came out of nowhere and got the guy on the ground. Ventrell is what being a University of Florida football player is all about. He is the example.”

On what the identity of this team is:

“I think this group loves to compete. I think they got some toughness about them. I don’t think they’re scared. I think they embrace the work and I think they’re developing a loyalty for each other. So, it’s been a lot of fun to work with this team and certainly to see all the work behind the scenes with this team. Certainly, you see some of that on game day. This team is a product of its work and hopefully it will continue to improve going forward.”