Press Conference | Napier: Nice to Get a Win, But Climb Up Mountain Continues
Monday, October 9, 2023 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Gators are 4-2 at midseason, the same record they had a season ago in their first season under head coach Billy Napier. They lost five of their final seven games in 2022.
Napier seeks a different outcome in Year 2, starting Saturday when the Gators return to the road for a 3:30 p.m. game at South Carolina.
Florida has struggled away from home under Napier, going 1-7 versus 9-2 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The have lost at Utah and Kentucky in 2023, the latter defeat coming nine days ago and setting a feisty tone heading into last week.
The Gators rebounded Saturday with a 38-14 victory over Vanderbilt on homecoming, highlighted by a 135-yard rushing performance from Montrell Johnson Jr. and another efficient day through the air for quarterback Graham Mertz (30 of 36, 254 yards, 2 TDs).
Napier opened his Monday press conference with a reminder of the challenge for a program in a rebuild.
"It's important that we understand that growth, improvement, development, is not a one-day event,'' he said. "I think, ultimately, for the individual players, staff members that we have, for us as a team, you just don't get to the top of a mountain in one day. You've got to climb the mountain. And I think there's important things to remember while we do that. It's going to require a tremendous amount of work."
Florida (4-2, 2-1) defeated South Carolina (2-3, 1-2) easily a season ago in its finest performance since Napier took over, a 38-6 victory that featured 374 yards rushing.
The Gators rushed for 215 yards and passed for 280 in the win over Vanderbilt, the kind of balanced performance that pleases a play-caller.
Can they come through with a road win? That is the question this week.
"We have to continue to grow, improve, develop,'' Napier said. "We showed signs of life Saturday in certain parts of our team. I do think it's important that we understand that even though we got a good result, there are some areas where we need to improve, whether that's communication, fundamentals, decision-making, a lack of discipline at times when it comes to penalties. But overall we did a lot of positive things. We're excited about turning the page."
To watch Napier's entire press conference, check out the video below:
Napier seeks a different outcome in Year 2, starting Saturday when the Gators return to the road for a 3:30 p.m. game at South Carolina.
Florida has struggled away from home under Napier, going 1-7 versus 9-2 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The have lost at Utah and Kentucky in 2023, the latter defeat coming nine days ago and setting a feisty tone heading into last week.
The Gators rebounded Saturday with a 38-14 victory over Vanderbilt on homecoming, highlighted by a 135-yard rushing performance from Montrell Johnson Jr. and another efficient day through the air for quarterback Graham Mertz (30 of 36, 254 yards, 2 TDs).
Napier opened his Monday press conference with a reminder of the challenge for a program in a rebuild.
"It's important that we understand that growth, improvement, development, is not a one-day event,'' he said. "I think, ultimately, for the individual players, staff members that we have, for us as a team, you just don't get to the top of a mountain in one day. You've got to climb the mountain. And I think there's important things to remember while we do that. It's going to require a tremendous amount of work."
Florida (4-2, 2-1) defeated South Carolina (2-3, 1-2) easily a season ago in its finest performance since Napier took over, a 38-6 victory that featured 374 yards rushing.
The Gators rushed for 215 yards and passed for 280 in the win over Vanderbilt, the kind of balanced performance that pleases a play-caller.
Can they come through with a road win? That is the question this week.
"We have to continue to grow, improve, develop,'' Napier said. "We showed signs of life Saturday in certain parts of our team. I do think it's important that we understand that even though we got a good result, there are some areas where we need to improve, whether that's communication, fundamentals, decision-making, a lack of discipline at times when it comes to penalties. But overall we did a lot of positive things. We're excited about turning the page."
To watch Napier's entire press conference, check out the video below:
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