South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Seeking a fresh start
Gators open spring camp in Year 2 under Napier
GAINESVILLE — As Florida kicked off spring football camp Saturday, it felt like a fresh start for the Gators under second-year coach Billy Napier.
It’s a chance to put the disappointment of a 6-7 season behind them and start anew with a roster that went through significant turnover in the offseason, with UF adding 30 players through recruiting (20) and the transfer portal (10). For the rest of the returning players and the coaching staff, it’s a familiarity carried over from Year 1 that makes this spring feel different.
“The biggest thing is you start in a different place from a knowledge standpoint, a communication standpoint, a set of fundamentals at every position,” said Napier. “You’ve got a core group of veteran players that walk out here the first day you put the ball down and they don’t blink. It’s not necessarily what to do, but now it’s how to do it. Why do we do it that way? The players will benefit from all parts of the organization in the second year.
“It’s like you moved to a new country and learned a new language last year. Now you’ve been living in the country for a while, so you’re a little more fluid and start to process quicker.”
It’s even carried over into Florida’s offseason workout program, where the Gators worked to get bigger, stronger and faster heading into Year 2.
“There’s a little more understanding and expertise,” said Mark Hocke, director of football strength and conditioning. “I see more detail, and I see more discipline and that comes with a better understanding of the rules of engagement.”
Hocke admits he gets upset thinking about last season, calling the results “embarrassing.” Instead, he focuses on helping players take the next step in their development.
It’s a crucial one as the Gators have one of the most demanding schedules in college football next season. It features six games against teams ranked in 2022, including Utah, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, LSU and Florida State.
“I’m trying to get engaged and get consumed with the work and that’s team will be ready for the season.”
Cristobal pointed out that he wanted to improve the team’s culture in his second year, and Kinchens said the Hurricanes are looking to work more as a team.
Offensive lineman Jalen Rivers said the entire team spent the offseason looking forward to spring, hoping to put last season’s struggles behind them.
“I think every first practice, first everything — especially this first spring practice — everybody’s amped up, excited,” Rivers said. “We’re trying to move forward and better ourselves from last year, so this whole offseason, our what we’ve been doing the last two months with the lifting with the running,” Hocke said.
But Hocke isn’t the only one disappointed by last season’s struggles.
“It sucks that we’re sitting on this 6-7 season,” said redshirt sophomore tackle Austin Barber. “That’s not what we’re looking for or the standard of what we’re going into the season with. I’m putting all of my focus on the season coming up and this practice on Monday.”
Two weeks before the start of spring practice, Florida lost defensive coordinator Patrick Toney, tight ends coach William Peagler and receivers coach Keary Colbert to NFL jobs. The Gators hired Austin Armstrong last week to fill the role vacated by Toney, but the other two jobs remain open.
“It’s unfortunate. It’s a compliment to those guys and how hard they’ve worked in their career, their reputation and certainly for the NFL to come calling and be willing to do what they needed to do contractually to acquire the coaches,” said Napier. “It’s a compliment to the staff, but challenges come with it.”
Napier said he wouldn’t “flip a coin” and hire someone quickly.
“Ifwehavethepersoninplacethat we think is capable, we’ll make those moves quickly,” he said. “If we don’t, then we’ll be very thorough. So we’re making progress in that area. We shouldhavesomenewshereshortly.”
While Napier admitted the coaching staff is built to handle some attrition, it’s evident that the Gators need to fill those openings sooner rather than later.
Saturday was the first time quarterback Graham Mertz practiced since arriving as a transfer from Wisconsin. His presence, along with the return of redshirt sophomore Jack Miller II and redshirt freshman Max Brown, makes up one of the interesting competitions as UF looks to find a replacement for Anthony Richardson.
“I see a group that wants to please and a group that’s working hard,” said Napier. “Jack’s benefiting from being in his second year, but I’ve been impressed with Graham’s work ethic. He’s done a good job and grasped the system well. Max is obviously in Year 2 as well.
“I’m excited about that group and certainly some good and bad out there, as you would expect the first day, but overall really looking forward to that group and the progress they can make.” winter program, was to come in this spring and this is a new energy, new, positive team. We’re all building to get to our common goal.”
With the 2023 campaign months away, the Hurricanes are hoping for a happier end to the season than they had last year.
“Guys are just tired of losing and being average, and we want to win games, so we’re going to use that as motivation,” quarterback Tyler Van Dyke said. “I think leaders have done a great job of really helping the younger guys and even some older guys step up, and understand that we can’t be average anymore and we want to win.”