Napier's Gators begin training camp with more discipline, attention to detail

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators football team reported for training camp Tuesday with a first-year coaching staff and a renewed regimen.

As UF begins practicing for the 2022 season under new coach Billy Napier, he is emphasizing discipline and attention to detail to his players.

“It’s a critical time of the year,” Napier said Tuesday. “We want to work really hard, but we’re going to work smart. How we execute the plan is the most important part. Everybody is going through training camp. It’s going to be our diligence when it comes to the discipline and the detail.”

Having played under Napier for three seasons at Louisiana, UF transfer guard O’Cyrus Torrence is well-versed in the discipline and structure of his football program.

This past spring was business as usual for Torrence. But for the rest of his new teammates, their first offseason has been a wake-up call.

“Just from talking with the players, it’s different from how they did it last year,” Torrence said. “Last year they just kind of sat in the locker room and just waited. And I talked to them during the spring game and was like, ‘I don’t know how y’all get ready for the game like that just sitting there.’ I need to go to the field at least twice just to see it and get the smell of it.”

The pre-game routine is just one example of how order is being restored in the locker room and on the football field. Even at Gator Walk, where Napier now has a uniform dress code for players to follow.

“He has everybody wearing a long sleeve Gator shirt and the team-issued shorts with some shoes,” Torrence said. “And then the socks, of course.”

Socks, believe it or not, were a big theme Tuesday during Florida’s first media availability for fall camp. UF defensive lineman Gervon Dexter first revealed that Napier is stickler over small details such as socks.

“It’s been a whole switch as far as everything we do. When Coach Napier says we’re all outside in white socks, you won’t see a blue sock out there. So, that’s been the main thing. He’s big on discipline,” Dexter said.

“It was just kind of new for everybody. With the white socks, some guys were like, ‘Man, we didn’t do that already.’ So, coming in it was a little (uneasy). That’s how it is when you get something new, and you’re not used to it. But he stuck his foot down and wasn’t changing, and we just had to get on the same boat as him.”

Dexter and Torrence shared their perspective how Napier’s emphasis on discipline makes a difference on the field.

“It’s the little things,” Torrence said. “Me walking past someone with the wrong socks on and not saying nothing is just the same as me seeing the offensive tackle on the side of me in the backfield. Before the play starts, I can tell him to get up and if I don’t, it’s a flag because there’s too many men in the backfield. Small stuff like that is the reason why he takes things like socks so seriously.”

Dexter added, “When you see the army go out there and they’re ready for war, you don’t see one guy with a green helmet or one guy with purple socks and purple shoes. So, Coach Napier wants us to walk out there and look like an army and everybody have on the same thing.

“Coach Napier is a big guy on everybody looking the same, everybody doing the same. All the little things as far as jumping offsides or extra activity after the plays, he’s just big on stuff like that. He came in letting us know that’s not going to happen, or there are consequences.”

The Gators ranked No. 119 nationally in penalties last season, averaging eight flags and 70.6 yards in penalties per game. They had three contests with 12 or more flags and two games with more than 100 yards in penalties, including 15 for 115 yards in the loss at Kentucky.

From the dress code to daily practice habits, Napier will be monitoring all the small details in camp so his team has the discipline to execute their formula to win this season.

“It all matters. I think the key is that you provide structure and routine, that you define expectations for the players,” Napier said. “And there are some detailed things we ask them to do, and they do matter, but the most important part of those little detailed things that we ask them to do is they have to make a decision to do it, if that makes sense. It’s an opportunity to say yes to the expectations and the standards and for everyone to buy into the team concept.

“The gray area is the enemy. That’s what I would tell you. We want to have very structured routine process for our players. I think players develop confidence from that. I think routine and great preparation, that breeds confidence. When I know what to expect, I execute my plan. … Any person that’s had success in life, discipline is a direct part of that. It will be a big part of what we do and certainly a big part of our success.”