Billy Napier discusses the impact of opening Florida's new training facility
The Florida Gator football program got an upgrade on Sunday with the opening of the James W. “Bill” Heavener Football Training Center over the weekend. The 142,000-square foot, $85 million facility will be Gator football’s new home as well as a place for other Florida athletes to utilize. Based on what it will do for his program alone, head coach Billy Napier was as ready as anyone to move in.
Napier talked about what the Heavener Center will do for Florida Athletics in the present and future at his Monday press conference. He says it’s something that will affect all Gator athletes now and moving forward.
“Obviously moving into the Heavener Center is a big deal,” said Napier. “No question it’s gonna affect recruiting. I think more importantly to me, it’s going to affect the quality of experience for the current player and scholar athlete. The great thing about (it) is it’s going to be used by all student athletes. All 21 sports here at the University of Florida are gonna be able to use the lounge area and the Nutrition Performance Center.”
The new building comes with all the bells and whistles. Inside the building are team meeting rooms, both for the entire roster and individual position groups, a dining space, a weight room and a new locker room for the Gators. It also includes new offices for the staff and a connection to their outside practice field right out the door.
Overall, Billy Napier bragged on the efficiency it will bring to their program. Everything the Gators could need is centrally located within and around the new facility.
“I think it’s going to help our organization from an efficiency standpoint with the amount of time that we’re going to be able to save relative to transitioning between different meetings or events,” Napier said. “The opposition has the same amount of time as you do…I think the difference is about 18 minutes based off our research. That was 36 minutes a day we were losing. Now, we’re right to it.”
A new facility like the Heavener Center can be a game changer for a program. It benefits players already in the program and it is something new up the Gator’s sleeves on the recruiting trail. For Billy Napier, the focus is on what it will do for the here and now. He already understand the difference it will make for his team and several other programs this school year alone.
“There’s some huge advantages here relative to the technology that’s in the building. From a teaching standpoint, from a physical development standpoint, the investment in nutrition for all sports. I think overall these are all things that are going to contribute to the development of the player…There’s so many things here. We’re making the most of our time and given ourselves a few more resources relative to the development of the player.”