Billy Napier’s goal: ‘Build the best football program in the SEC’

Cool. Calm. Confident.

Billy Napier has a plan — a very, very detailed one — and he’s ready to get started in the biggest job of his professional life.

The new Florida Gators football coach, fresh off a whirlwind Saturday, arrived in Gainesville on Sunday and took it all in.

The fans. The cheerleaders. The Gator chomps. The expectations.

Napier, a self-described “football junkie,” can’t wait for the challenge and the process of remaking the Gators.

“We’re going to build the best football team in the SEC conference,” Napier said. “We’re going to build the best football program in the SEC conference. We must have a championship approach and everything that we do to accomplish this goal, every choice, every decision, every habit that we build along the way, we’re going to begin with the ending in mind, and that is to be a champion.”

He credited his father, Bill Napier, with laying the bedrock in his work ethic and giving him the desire for coaching. Bill Napier died of ALS, a journey for the family that Billy Napier said reshaped his outlook on life from the way his father faced the terminal disease.

“So, I think that his ability to handle and manage that with impeccable character, he didn’t flinch, right. And the impressive thing was that his foundation was his faith,” Napier said. “So, the example that he set, for not only me, like he inspired a lot of people, so I think that experience changed my approach, if that makes sense. I think it made me a better husband and made me a better father, certainly made me a better coach.”

For one afternoon, it was all about celebrating Napier’s arrival. But it didn’t take long into his introductory press conference to sense that Napier is going to follow a detailed script that he believes in. He used it at Louisiana to turn the Ragin’ Cajuns from a .500 program the year of his arrival to one that ripped off three straight seasons of double-digit win totals.

It’s broken down into eight phases, Napier said, listing ticking each one off like reading from a shopping list.

“I’ll give you the quick version here. Foundation, identity, spring practice, discretionary period, summer regimen, training camp, in-season and postseason,” he said. “We have very specific goals and objectives for each one of those. And everybody in the buildings got things that they’re in charge of and that ... we’re trying to accomplish.”

With far more resources at his disposal and a proven plan — his plan — having shown success at his last stop, Napier is ready to get going. He said that he’ll call the plays and serve as quarterbacks coach with Florida. And Napier said that he’ll have two offensive line coaches, stressing the importance of the line of scrimmage.

Napier is detailed to the core. He spoke about specifics in recruiting and name, image and likeness. Napier wants to boost the resources at Florida to be able to compete with the Alabamas and the Georgias of the SEC. And he said that the school is on board with that.

“We’re talking about a very specific plan and all these different areas that affect your ability to compete. And in this league, you know, the proofs in the pudding, right?,” Napier said.

“It’s like the two that played for the championship game last night, there’s evidence relative to the way that they’ve created their organization. So, we’re going to increase the manpower if that makes sense.”

Napier’s Louisiana team beat Appalachian State 24-16 to win the Sun Belt Conference championship on Saturday. Shortly before noon on Sunday, Napier arrived to a full-on celebration in Gainesville, walking the blue carpet out of a private plane and ready to tackle the job in front of him.

“We talk about championship experience with integrity, to have consistent and sustained success. Those are the traits that are going to be imperative and somebody who understands that they can lead in that manner are going to be really important,” said Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin.

“All those qualities have served Billy well throughout his life in football.”

Napier’s task is a big one against the always outsized expectations that have smothered the final three coaches in Gainesville.

Dan Mullen’s time in Gainesville ended with a thud as Florida sank from a spot in the SEC championship game to a 5-6 mark when he was fired on Nov. 21. Interim coach Billy Knox led the Gators to a 24-21 win over Florida State to reach bowl eligibility. Mullen replaced Jim McElwain (2015-17), who lasted two and a half seasons at Florida.

Will Muschamp went 28-21 from 2011-14 with the Gators. All three of those coaches posted double-digit win totals at least once during their tenure but couldn’t sustain it.

That’s what Stricklin is banking on from Napier, a ferocious recruiter who spent time on the staffs of Dabo Swinney at Clemson and Nick Saban at Alabama.

Florida expects to be competing for SEC East dominance annually and that hasn’t happened enough since Urban Meyer departed Florida.

Napier took Louisiana from a decent program to a dominant one. The Ragin’ Cajuns went 40-12 in his four seasons, including 27-5 in Sun Belt play. Napier had double-digit win totals the final three seasons, including a 12-1 mark this year.

Napier said recruiting, a topic that tripped up Mullen during his tenure, will be done right, even if that means a more measured approach for this month’s early signing period.

“I think the important part here is that we don’t get consumed with the stars. You know, four-star, five-star. I think it’s going to be more about evaluation, right,” Napier said.

“We’re going to go through a very thorough evaluation process. We’re going to hire an army of people here. We’re going to create an infrastructure not only in the personnel department, but also from an on-campus recruiting, creative Media, name, image and likeness. … We got a great vision for the organization that we’re going to create here.”