By: Nick Marcinko -- April 12, 2025 Head coach Billy Napier met with the media after Florida’s 2025 Orange and Blue spring game. Team Blue defeated team Orange 38-32 in a high scoring contest. Here’s everything Napier had to say. Everything Billy Napier said after Florida’s Orange and Blue spring game | GatorCountry.com
I thought his answer to the 2nd to last question accurately sums up how jacked up the transition was in this new era of CFB. The guardrails didn’t just move, they disappeared in the blink of an eye. No guidance, no direction, poor communication …just a complete debacle.
To sort of follow that line of thought scooterp, an earlier Q&A: Q. On that note, how much attrition do you expect this spring from the roster and is there a spot or two that you still want to address in the portal? BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, we’ve reached agreements with 98% of the team, so I think we’re just one or two players away from being done. So as far as the player retention part. Now, we’ll evaluate what becomes available every day going forward. Maybe there’s a situation that can make our team better around we’ll definitely be aggressive if we feel that way. Q. “Reached agreements” interesting. BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, welcome. (Underline mine). * * * * * I'm glad his often maligned process is in place as roster retention will be as big as recruiting, if not more so.
IMO, the uber talented young team Billy has assembled is getting "better and better" - especially as the '24 class shows how strong it really is. Based on the reports about DJ doing well, plus the amount of speed and talent we saw on Saturday, I'm stoked. In fact, my hope is that we come out of the LSU game unbeaten, with a chip on their collective shoulders, spoiling for a fight. I don't really expect to win it all this year, but in the afterglow of Monday night's return to basketball glory, I'm just too damn greedy not to crave more. GG! To hell with Miami.
CBN’s first power 5 head coaching job and he took over a program with a toxic culture at a time when the college football landscape was as chaotic as it has ever been. And he has navigated the football program through that, amid some nasty outside noise, I might add, to a vastly improved roster, healthy culture and improved our standing with our Florida high school coaches. I realize he still has to prove himself on the field but, this Gator thinks he’s getting that figured out too.
If the injury bug does not decimate UF, (big if / especially at QB) I feel like the Gators should be competitive in every game, including Texas at home. I suspect UF needs Wilson, Brown and Montgomery to step up in a big way at reciever. Tough ask for freshmen, but I suspect Napier will need that to happen to be playoff competitive.