Napier faces juggling act in final ULL game
The Murray County native is Florida’s newest head coach.
Florida’s new coach — and Northwest Georgia native — Billy Napier never questioned he would coach the University of Louisiana-Lafayette during Saturday’s Sun Belt Championship game, calling the decision “nonnegotiable.”
Napier’s skills as a multitasker are sure to be challenged during a frenetic sixday stretch with two jobs, two teams and tons of pressure as he aims to squeeze every minute out of each day.
The 42-year-old plans to give his all to the Ragin’ Cajuns’ pursuit of their first conference title Saturday against Appalachian State while greasing the wheels to begin resurrecting the Gators.
“It’s part of the challenge,” Napier said. “But what we’ve done here is we’ve tried to make a decision that we’re going to focus on the task at hand. From a loyalty standpoint, anything less than that would be ... that’s not who we are and not what we’re about.
“We’ve allocated some time early in the morning and late at night to work on some of the future challenges that we have, but my schedule won’t change this week. We owe that to the players, and certainly, that’s the approach that we’ll take.”
Beating Sun Belt power App State will require a strong effort from ULL, winners of 11 straight but a 3-point home underdog at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Our detail, our urgency, our ability to execute, the discipline in which we play and certainly we’ve got to produce and we’ve got to execute at a high level,” Napier said. “We understand the challenge that comes to playing against an Appalachian State team.”
A bigger challenge awaits Napier in Gainesville, where the school will introduce him as the new coach Sunday.
Napier has to hire a staff, familiarize himself with the Gators’ roster and position Florida for the early National Signing Day on Dec. 15.
“Given the dynamic with the transfer portal, the combination of that to go along with December signing, there’s so many variables that affect this time of year,” Napier said. “We (are) going to be focused on doing the best job we could do for this staff and the players here. Going to have to compartmentalize a little bit, but my schedule and the amount of time I’m going to spend on our team this week will not change.”
Napier might at times be running on fumes, but athletic director Scott Stricklin is confident he will energize the Gators.
Stricklin identified Napier as the coach to replace Dan Mullen and establish the Gators as an SEC and College Football Playoff contender after the program’s trajectory took a nosedive this season.
Mullen’s promising tenure cratered quickly, beginning with a 55-20 loss to Oklahoma during the 2020 Cotton Bowl. The game was Florida’s third straight New Year’s Six bowl, but exposed a lack of focus, effort and accountability in the players and Mullen himself, who brushed off the loss as irrelevant.
The loss was Florida’s third straight to end the season and set the tone for a collapse in 2021, ending with Mullen’s Nov. 17 firing following an overtime loss at Missouri. By then, Stricklin was ready for a change, targeting Napier to be the school’s next coach — and the Gators’ fourth since 2014.
One of Napier’s key selling points is establishing a winning culture rooted in discipline, communication and leadership. Four seasons (2013-16) under Alabama coach Nick Saban coaching receivers provided Napier the ultimate blueprint for success.
“It starts with surrounding yourself with great people,” Napier said. “You need complementary talent, but you have to have a shared vision. You’ve got to build trust over time by being really consistent and being fair. Communication’s a big part of that .. within the building, coach to player, player to player and player to coach.
“Assembling a staff and certainly evaluating in recruiting and building a roster that not only has talent but also is made of the right intangibles. It’s one thing to
collect talent. I think it’s another thing to build a team.”
Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill said the Gators have landed the right man for the job.
Gill, who hails from Winter Park, is familiar with the program’s storied tradition and high expectations.
“I’ve always been struck at how thoughtful he is — really smart, really thoughtful
person,” Gill said. “He’s one of the coaches that I certainly leaned on when I was trying to get advice and just the way he kind of approaches things, the level of care and deliberation he puts into making decisions.
“The Gators and Gator Nation are going to be in store for a lot of a success and a program they can really be proud of.”