GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It’s Billy Napier’s first spring practice at Florida, and he’s doing something that much of the hype surrounding his first offseason hasn’t been too focused on: coaching actual football. He’s with the quarterbacks, and he’s coaching his players as well as the student managers who set a drill up in the wrong place, proving that it takes everybody a little time to get used to things on Day 1.
“That’s the cool thing about football,” he said to reporters after practice. “It’s not just the players, man. You get to know the managers, the student trainers, the video crew. We’ve got a lot of people that make up the team. You want each one of those people to take pride in their role. When we win, they win.”
Napier, the coach, has seemingly given way to Napier, the CEO, since he’s arrived on campus. It’s easy to see why when you consider the task of the modern head football coach at a program with championship aspirations.
