Napier on new Gators football facility: ‘We’ve got a loaded gun here’

Billy Napier had been to Gainesville just once before he accepted the head coaching job at the University of Florida. Gators Athletic Director Scott Stricklin sold him on a vision. The Gators were a giant, one that had fallen on hard times but, with the right leadership, could be woken for another reign.

Napier accepted the job without stepping foot in Gainesville. So, when he was given a tour of the new Bill Heavener Football Training Complex, he could see the vision.

Speaking to Nick de la Torre and Zach Abolverdi on the Gators Online Podcast, Stricklin recalled the first time Napier was shown the new facility.

“He and myself and Chip Howard, we were kind of showing him some things and pointing out some things. At this point, walls weren’t up and it was kind of a big open space inside. So we were trying to point some things out,” Stricklin recalled.

“He got this grin on his face and his comment to me was, ‘We’ve got a loaded gun here’. This thing is going to be pretty powerful when it’s all said and done.”

The plans for the stand-alone facility date back to two football coaches. An initial plan was kicked around while Jim McElwain was still the head football coach. That was prior to the baseball team moving its home to Hull Road and a beautiful $65 million dollar new stadium.

The first plans were a disjointed three-story building tucked between the track, baseball stadium, and football practice fields. It wasn’t going to be functional. It was, essentially, just doing it to say you have a stand-alone football facility. When the baseball team moved and McKethan Stadium was demolished, the new plans took shape.

Now, the building will be a state-of-the-art space for the football program. It will also serve other sports as well.

“It’s going to be such a huge piece not only for recruiting but for the development of young players,” former UF punter Tommy Townend said. “The facilities and the resources that we’re going to have at the University of Florida are going to be incredible.”

“It’s breathtaking,” Johnny Townsend said. “Just seeing the amenities that these players are getting is truly unbelievable. It’s a premier athletic building that will be known all over the country.”

And former players won’t be left out in the cold. Even though they weren’t student-athletes while the building was up and operational, there will be a former players’ locker room. That will aim to entice former Gators to return to campus and train in the offseason.

Napier gave his input on the facility as it neared completion

By the time Napier had arrived on campus the construction was well underway. Still, there was time for him to give his input and suggest changes.

The process to get to putting walls up had included input from dozens of people and design teams. Now, the new head coach, someone who will spend as much if not more time than anyone in the facility, was asked what he thought.

“A lot of his tweaks were related to; we have this huge graphics package we put together. He had some different sayings and different emphases that he wanted to make sure through the graphics there was a part of the coaches’ offices,” Stricklin said. “We moved a few things around some walls around to create some different spaces that he wanted in the coaching space. The locker room really didn’t change. We may have squeezed a few more lockers in a certain area.”

That, of course, will entail finding office space for the more than 60 coaches and staffers Napier has hired.

The new facility will be a game-changer for recruiting, as well as the day-to-day lives of the student-athletes that get to use it.

Bill Heavener Football Training Complex Details

The estimated budget for the facility was $85 million and is just a few months away from completion. Stricklin estimated that construction and details would be completed by July and the football team would move in prior to fall camp, which begins in August.

This facility will serve as the new daily home for Florida football. Florida’s football team will now be housed right next to its practice field, creating maximum efficiency. Gervon Dexter and Trey Dean were given a sneak preview of what the individual lockers will look like.

The facility will be fully open this summer and will serve as a shining new home for Florida Football.