Billy Napier breaks down commitment to player retention, benefit of internal growth

For the first time in his tenure at Florida, coach Billy Napier will have a mostly veteran team at his disposal. Many of the players he initially recruited in 2023 remain with the program, giving the squad an older tilt.

Could that mean Florida takes a big jump this fall? It certainly sounds possible listening to Napier.

“I do think that’s one of the exciting things about this team,” he said as the team opened fall camp. “I think we look around the room I think we’ve got six or seven guys from the original group. I think there was a commitment to recruiting big groups of high school players in the beginning.”

That commitment could start to pay dividends this fall. Because while quarterback DJ Lagway is on the younger side, much of his help will not be.

Florida has an experienced and talented stable of running backs for the new full-time starter to rely on. The receiver group is a little younger but immensely talented on paper.

The defense features some real experience at just about every level, outside of perhaps one or two spots in the secondary. It’s all lining up for Billy Napier and Florida to have answers at just about every spot, and that’s by design.

“My opinion is that player retention’s extremely important,” Billy Napier said. “We’ve got a lot of players that are in Year 2, 3, 4 in this program, these systems offense, defense and special teams. And when I look around the room I see individuals that I have extensive experience with, going all the way back to the recruiting process. So know their story, have been to their schools, have sat in their homes, know their parents. And they chose us to some degree as well. So I think it’s a positive in that regard.”

In addition to the veteran talent in the room, there’s also a built-in advantage to the experience. Experienced players are able to help the newcomers along much faster.

“I think that college football, the onboarding process of rookie players is really important,” Billy Napier said. “When you have veteran players that have a good understanding of expectations and know what you want and can be a good example to young players, I think that’s really important.

“And I think we’ve benefited from that. I thought last year’s team benefited from that. And I think this year’s been probably two or three times as impactful because there’s strength in numbers and I think we have that.”

Will it all come together the way Florida wants this season? That remains to be seen and there are plenty of variables. But Billy Napier is ready to get after it with a more experienced group.

“Now we’ve had a good offseason and we’ve got a good roster coming back, but now it’s time to go perform,” he said. “This next month will be about doing that.”