Gators coach Billy Napier has urged his team to remain grounded since an impressive win over No. 11 Tennessee. (Photo: Emma Bissell/UAA Communications)
Napier: 'Our Expectation Is The Best We Have'
Thursday, September 21, 2023 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Billy Napier didn't need a whistle or bullhorn to help amplify his message following his team's season-opening loss at Utah. Napier needed only to push the play button when the Gators gathered to watch video.
The nine penalties and numerous correctable mistakes told the players all they needed to know about what must be done. In the two games since — home wins over McNeese and No. 11-ranked Tennessee — the Gators responded in the direction Napier and his staff pushed. The performances weren't perfect, but Florida strung together 11 touchdown drives and surrendered only three, one on a short field following a lost fumble late in the game against McNeese.
That's a winning recipe.
The ingredients Napier has searched for heading into Saturday night's game against Charlotte at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium have been more difficult to find. They are fixings that, 16 games into his UF tenure, Napier has not had to search for on the shelf very often.
The most important one? Handling prosperity.
In the locker room following the 29-16 upset of the Vols, Napier immediately flipped the focus to the future. Florida's 10th consecutive home win over Tennessee stood out in the recent record book — UF's first win to open Southeastern Conference play since 2020 — but the Gators don't get a head start on the scoreboard when the 49ers visit town.
He reminded the Gators of a season ago when they twice put together back-to-back wins only to lose, including a three-game losing streak at the end of the season that ballooned to four before the victory over McNeese.
"We couldn't keep our ego in check,'' Napier told the Gators. "We didn't work the same when we showed up the next day. We would win and have momentum, and then we would struggle. We got to looking in the mirror a little too much.
"We've got more to prove."
Princely Umanmielen makes a tackle in Florida's victory over Tennessee at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. (Photo: Jordan Herald/UAA Communications)
Napier has reinforced that message this week in his public comments, including after Wednesday night's practice. The Gators are making strides, but Napier has not been overwhelmed by the team's response this week in practice.
Neither have some veterans, such as defensive players Cam Jackson and Teradja Mitchell, who urged their teammates to maintain a sense of urgency when practice ended Wednesday.
"I think that's a healthy thing,'' Napier said.
Sophomore cornerback Devin Moore echoed the pedal-to-the-medal mentality earlier in the week, recalling what happened after the Gators became bowl-eligible a season ago with a dominant 38-6 home win over South Carolina. They lost to Vanderbilt, Florida State and Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl to cap Napier's first season.
"When we got a bit of success, I feel like it kind of blew our heads up a little bit," Moore said. "This year, we're putting more emphasis on the approach of, 'okay, that happened Saturday, Sunday new week. Let's get to it.' "
Florida hosts a Charlotte team coming off back-to-back losses at Maryland and last week at home to Georgia State, a 41-25 defeat that left first-year 49ers coach Bigg Poggi in a foul mood.
"This falls on me,'' Poggi said, suggesting changes in scheme and more are on the way. "I'm telling you right now, I'm on a warpath."
The mood around the Heavener Football Training Center is more upbeat. The Gators are chasing their first three-game win streak since winning six in a row in 2020 prior to a late-season collapse.
Edge rusher Princely Umanmielen was around then, a freshman who was starting to play for the first time. Three years later, Umanmielen has been through the ups and downs inside a program seeking to find a permanent home once again in the national rankings. The Gators moved into the AP Top 25 at No. 25 after the victory against Tennessee.
They want it to mean more than just an early-season highlight.
"That gives us a lot more confidence,'' Umanmielen said. "It gives us a good base to start from, especially in the SEC play, for us to keep going and keep climbing. [Coach] told us a few weeks ago, everybody was telling us how bad we were, nobody was telling us how good we were. We have to keep that in mind. We can't practice like we're just a super great team. The work's not done yet."
Napier is a football coach and admits he is rarely overly pleased. That is the way he is wired. Perhaps what he hoped to see in practice this week shows up on Saturday.
That is where it matters most. For now, the work continues.
And if Napier needs a whistle and bullhorn to deliver his memo, so be it.
"There is a mindset we're trying to develop here to where we can be consistent and not depend on external things to motivate us,'' he said. "Ultimately, we can do better. Our expectation is the best we have."
