Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Following a late-morning flight from Louisiana and a police escort from the Gainesville Air Center, Billy Napier planted his feet on the University of Florida campus at 12:12 p.m. Sunday.

That's the time Napier stepped from a van that carried his wife, their three kids and his mother, and into a throng of cheering fans ready to welcome him to Gator Nation. Napier arrived to similar fanfare at the airport when he was met by the UF band and cheerleaders.

"Let's go Napier!" yelled a young man as soon as Napier appeared from behind the van's sliding door.

"We love you Napier family," another young man screamed.

Napier flashed a big grin, did a Gator Chomp and then wiggled his way through the crowd — stopping for a few selfies along the way — toward the Heavener Football Complex to begin a day full of first-day-on-the-job tasks, including an introductory press conference.

"Well, back to finals,'' one of the young men said as Napier passed.

Much like finals week for UF students, it's been whirlwind week for Napier since he was announced as Florida's head coach a week ago.

Napier concluded his four seasons as head coach at Louisiana Lafayette on Saturday with a 24-16 win over Appalachian State in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game. He said he slept about six hours Saturday night before packing up the family for the trip to Florida.

"We made a great memory there, so I slept a lot better after we took care of business,'' Napier said minutes after his first visit to the Gators' locker room. "It was a great week. I don't think we could have drawn up a better ending, just so happy for the players. Four years of work kind of culminated there at Cajun Field. To see them be rewarded was a pretty awesome experience."

Prior to Sunday, the 42-year-old Napier said the last time he touched down at UF was in 2011 as an offensive analyst for Alabama when the Crimson Tide rolled into town. While he took care of unfinished business at Louisiana and did not visit campus before accepting an offer from UF Athletic Director Scott Stricklin to take over the program, Napier has a past relationship with the Gators.

He can thank his late father, Bill Napier, for that.

The elder Napier was a longtime high school head coach in north Georgia and is the all-time winningest coach at Murray County High in Chatsworth, the same school Billy Napier played quarterback. Bill Napier started to root for the Gators in the early 1990s when Steve Spurrier was UF's head coach and found inspiration for his Murray County Indians from the Gators.

The memory brought a smile to Bill's son on Sunday. They used to watch Spurrier's Gators play on TV together when Billy was growing up. Bill Napier died in 2017 from Lou Gehrig's Disease.

"He was a big Spurrier, Gators fan,'' Billy said. "I grew up watching Danny Wuerffel, all the greats. It probably wouldn't be right for me to mention more and then miss a few. My dad actually was at the same school for 23 years. Eventually, he got the head coaching job and he changed the uniforms at the school to be exactly like Florida's."  The van carrying Napier and his family passed by Spurrier's statue outside "The Swamp." About an hour later, Napier continued to process the moment he stepped from the van and into the role of most-visible Gator.

"It's humbling. That's all I can say,'' he said. "I am just thankful. A lot of people contributed to me being here. This is certainly not about me. I just want everybody to know how humbled I am to have this opportunity to lead at the University of Florida. I look forward to taking great pride in representing this university, this community, all the people that came before me.

"I'm going to work and be relentless in our approach here. There's no question that we've got work to do and we look forward to the challenge."

Napier finished 40-12 at Louisiana and returns to the Southeastern Conference, where he spent a season as an Alabama offensive analyst in 2011 and then four seasons coaching receivers from 2013-16.

Napier's deep roots in the game include stints on both Clemson coach Dabo Swinney's staff and five seasons overall under Nick Saban at Alabama. After multiple offers to leave Louisiana the past couple of seasons, Napier finally decided the time was right when the Gators called.

"I think it was time for the next challenge," he said. "I think it's a unique time at the University of Florida, relative to the investment the administration was willing to make. The great opportunity that we have moving into the new facility this summer, and the history and the tradition, the iconic players and coaches that have competed here. I think this is a unique place at a unique time and I'm looking forward to the challenge of leading here."

Napier's path to Florida was shaped by many, but none more than his father.

"Football is a game that's about people. It's about strategy, and it's about competition. But I think that people have to stay at the top of that list,'' he said. "I think if you ever think that strategy or competition is going to be more important, you're not going to get the return you want. I coach to make an impact on young people. I coach to maybe be the difference in a young person's life relative to this game and the things that it can teach. And we really focus on that part.

"My dad taught me that lesson a long time ago. We kind of kept people at the core of what we do. I think to have success in this game, it truly takes a team of great people. We're going to go to work and we're going to do it one day at a time and one person at a time."

Napier is off and chomping.