Utah's Kyle Whittingham on new-look Gators, Billy Napier's offense
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This Saturday will be the second time Florida coach Billy Napier and Utah coach Kyle Whittingham have been on opposing sidelines.
When Napier was the offensive coordinator at Arizona State in 2017, the Utes played host to the Sun Devils in Salt Lake City. ASU dominated Utah to the tune of 30-10 and rushed for 205 yards, including seven plays that gained 10 or more yards on the ground.
“Outstanding young coach. Lot of energy,” Whittingham said this week of Napier. “They beat us (in 2017) pretty handily. They took it to us. Schematically on offense, he’s very innovative. He does a good job with that. Very tough to defend.”
Napier brings a “special group” of UF running backs into Saturday’s matchup along with starting quarterback Anthony Richardson, who Whittingham compared to Cam Newton.
Whittingham’s staff has been preparing for Napier’s new-look Gators by studying the schemes he used at Louisiana.
“I think generally speaking, you’re going to have a lot of the same schematics as the place they came from. Obviously, you have to tailor those to your new personnel and play to their strengths there,” Whittingham said. “As far as just the basics, the x’s and o’s, as far as offense, defense and special teams, all three coordinators came with him to Gainesville.
“So, we’re putting a lot of stock into what they did last year at Louisiana. In any opener, there are so many unknowns, you have to be prepared for everything. You have to have in-game adjustments, you can’t wait till halftime.”
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Whittingham was also asked for his opinion on Florida’s best position group.
“It’s tough to say. I don’t know if there’s any real glaring weakness,” he said. “First of all, the receiving corps is really big — they’re 6-foot-5, 6-foot-4, 6-foot-3 almost across the board. They added the 6-footer in the [Ricky] Pearsall kid.
“At running back, of course, they have the transfer that came with them from Lafayette. On the D-line, they’ve got some really good defensive linemen. I don’t know if you can say which is the most talented, because they’re all very talented.”
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In other Florida football news
- Utah coach Kyle Whittingham compares Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson to Cam Newton.
- Krystal has signed athletes across five different sports from five SEC schools, including six Gators.
- New Orleans Saints trade former Florida DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson to the Philadelphia Eagles.
- Saturday’s honorary “Mr. Two Bits” will be record-setting first-team All-America receiver Reidel Anthony.
UF recruiting roundup
- On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine favors Florida for a top-100 linebacker in the 2024 class.
- 5-star EDGE and former Notre Dame commit Keon Keeley locks in an official visit to Florida.
- Which schools are in the mix to land a commitment from 5-star EDGE Keon Keeley?
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Gators Twitter updates
- The first Gator Talk with Billy Napier:
- Napier visits the UF marching band:
- Hoops coach Todd Golden mic’d up:
