Everything Florida head coach Billy Napier said ahead of playing Ole Miss

Saturday brings the next challenge for No. 11 Ole Miss as it gets back to its regular season coming off a second bye week. That challenge comes in the form of a Southeastern Conference road game at Florida.

When the Rebels (8-2, 4-2 SEC) and Gators (5-5, 3-4) meet in Gainesville it will be another reunion of the Nick Saban coaching tree.

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and Florida head coach Billy Napier spent time together as part of Saban’s staff at Alabama. The two are very familiar with one another and consider each other friends.

Napier valued his time in Tuscaloosa as well as working under Saban and with Kiffin. Calling the experience “beneficial.”

“So just in general one thing I would say is that I learned a lot,” Napier said during his Monday press conference. “I think that environment, the people that we had in the building, when you start looking at the list of coaches and support staff, I think that was a beneficial time in my career just because of the people that were in the building. Obviously Lane was a part of that staff.

“Yeah, that’s what I would say. That entire experience was extremely beneficial.”

Another member of that Alabama staff was Charlie Weis, Jr., current offensive coordinator at Ole Miss under Kiffin.

Napier credits Weis as much as Kiffin for the type of offense the Rebels will present his Gator defense. He also sees Kiffin integrating ideas from previous offensive coordinators he had at Florida Atlantic and in Oxford.

“I think very systematic,” Napier said. “I think he’s had a number of different coordinators. I think you go back to the transition at Alabama and then obviously when he got the job at FAU, Kendal Briles and then it was Jeff Lebby, and now it’s Charlie Weis, Jr.

“I think he’s had a number of different coordinators that have contributed to the evolution of that. The tempo being part of that. Then I think you add in some of the unique formation variables that maybe goes to our background with the pro style.”

The Ole Miss defense will have its challenges, too, in quarterback DJ Lagway. Even if the Florida quarterback is not 100 percent.

Lagway sat out the Texas game two weeks ago but returned for the win against LSU last week.

He was not fully healed from his injury, which is limiting his threat as a mobile quarterback. Despite that Lagway was still effective against the LSU secondary.

After the game Lagway told reports he was healthy enough to move around the pocket, but that was about it.

The Rebels defense line, leading the nation in sacks, will see a Lagway that is a weak healthier than he was on Saturday but the bullseye will be on the Gators quarterback.

“Well, I mean, I think he didn’t miss a rep with the first unit last week, so we’ll take the same approach this week,” Napier said of Lagway.

“I think the soft tissue injury, again, those are very subjective, so we’ve got every gadget that is known to human — I mean, every gadget that you can imagine downstairs. I think we’re using all that data and all those metrics to make decision to try to put him in position to be as healthy as he can be.”

Napier added that Lagway is still “day-to-day.” Florida first availability report on Wednesday will be one to keep an eye on and the rest of the week.

One of those players trying to get to Lagway will be former Gator Princely Umanmielen. He transferred from Florida to Ole Miss in the offseason and has become a key part of the Rebels defensive front.

In the transfer portal era, Saturday is just another game day in Napier’s eyes when asked about his former player returning.

“Yeah, I think it’s just another week in college football,” Napier said. “Get used to it is what I would say. Yeah, I think I’ve commented on that in the past, and I think it’s just the next challenge.”