Everything Billy Napier said on the SEC teleconference for Week 2

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Each week the SEC holds a teleconference for all 16 head coaches in the league. Billy Napier took his turn Wednesday to address Florida’s win over Long Island, the Gators’ next matchup against USF and more.

Here’s everything Napier said on the SEC Teleconference.

Billy Napier’s opening statement

BILLY NAPIER: “Excited to be back at home, another sellout. Got a really good South Florida team coming in Saturday afternoon. A ton of respect for Coach [Alex] Golesh, and you can see the program continue to improve each year since he’s been there. Obviously they played one of their better games, played really complimentary football and beat Boise, who’s a former playoff team and has a lot of veteran players coming back. So they present a number of challenges in all three parts of the game, offense, defense and in the kicking game, and they had some really unique personnel starting with the quarterback. So there’s gonna be a ton of matchups that will be important in this one, and we’re right in the middle of prep. So far, you know, we’re off to a pretty good start here, so we need to finish strong in our prep. And we look forward to it.”

On Bryce Lovett’s play vs. LIU: 

BILLY NAPIER: “Yeah, some good, some bad, like a lot of our players in the opener. You know, I think, had a lot of great plays in the game, and then I think he had a few where he could play with a little bit more balance, body control, a little bit more detail in his technique, with his feet and hands. But he played really hard, he plays with effort. He’s tough, you know, it’s one of the things I respect about Bryce is he’s competitive, he’s tough, he plays really hard, it’s important to him. And he’ll only continue to improve as he goes forward here. And then we got a chance to see some of the other players as well, right? It was great to see Caden Jones. He did some good things in the game, so, overall, much like you would expect for a guy who is making one of his first starts of his career.”

On a common denominator in identifying freshmen who can playing early: 

BILLY NAPIER: “Well, I think we’ve always had a philosophy from a system standpoint, and if you have a really unique skill player that is a freshman, you need to be able to get that guy ready to play. So I think we’re built from a process standpoint, for a running back or a receiver to be able to play early. Now, it’s a lot more of a challenge to get an offensive lineman, a tight end, or a quarterback ready to play as a rookie. But nowadays with the portal, you got to really think about your year-round teaching, you know, starting in January, for the most part, probably 85% of these kids get here in January. So what is your year-round process look like to make sure if you have a guy who has some talent that he’s able to impact your team? All these guys that you just mentioned there I think were some of the better players in the country and had enough poise and maturity and could retain information and handle the workload to impact the team at a young age. So, you know, hopefully we can continue to find them and get them ready.”

On if he’s ever been part of a game with no penalties or no turnovers: 

BILLY NAPIER: “Not off the top of my head. It was really unique and definitely a tribute to our players and the hard work that they put into playing with a little bit more discipline. I think we’ve done a lot of rules education. We talked a lot about opening games of seasons and how those are three areas: tackling, undisciplined penalties and obviously the ball security piece. We did put the ball on the ground. It’s important that we don’t forget that. We got away with it, but I do think that’s been a point of emphasis for us in the opening game.”

On building on the Gators’ penalty-free performance:

BILLY NAPIER: “Well, I think you compliment players when they do things the right way, and try to confront the issues that you have and things you need to improve. It would be challenging to continue that streak. But as the players improve and the matchups get more challenging, it’ll be more challenging to continue that trend, but I do think a lot of penalties are about discipline. They’re about making good decisions within the game. We spent a ton of time coaching it, and I think that good to see the players be able to do that. Hopefully we can do it. I seriously doubt we’ll be able to do it much in the future, we’re going to play some really, really talented teams.”

On the similarity between USF and Tennessee on offense:

BILLY NAPIER: “Yeah, there’s a ton of carry over. Obviously, Coach Golesh’s experience at Central Florida and at Tennessee, being the coordinator, and ultimately as the head coach, calling the offense. And we have history. Obviously, he was at Tennessee our first year, and then we play against that system a couple times a year. So I do think there’s a little cat and mouse there in general. But I just think as a program overall, you see a little bit of their DNA is similar to Tennessee, in my opinion. I think they’re improving on defense. I thought they played really at a high level on defense in the opener. Tennessee has improved over the last few years, and statistically were one of the better defenses in the country last year. And they present challenges in the kicking game. I think Coach Golesh has a background in the kicking game. A lot of gadgets there and things that you got to detail up from a prep standpoint. So, good overall identity in all three parts of the team and I think that’s a tribute to their head coach. I think he’s a really sharp up and comer. He’s done a he’s done heck of a job there. They’ll continue to get better.”

On UF handling success after a shutout win to open the season:

BILLY NAPIER: “I don’t know that you can put a lot into that opener. Obviously they were sharp, they were ready to play. I think this will be our first true challenge here. South Florida’s got really good personnel. They’ve got great schemes. I think they play extremely hard, and this will be a true challenge here. So we’re on to the next one. A true elite competitor moves forward and starts working on his process, and I’m hopeful that we got a building full of people that are doing that.”