Billy Napier: ‘Something good on the other side of this’ for Florida football

Billy Napier truly believes there’s “something good” after this current test for Florida: coming off a tough loss to Tennessee Saturday.

Losing in overtime was tough enough, but Florida missed out on upsetting their rivals on the road. It could’ve really changed the narrative surrounding Napier and the Gators.

And he knows hie steam left it all out on the field.

“I think the hardest part about it … they played their tails off,” Napier said postgame. “I had a front row seat to it, you know, they played extremely hard in the game. You know, there’s no guarantees in this game. You have to put yourself out there with no guaranteed reward. It takes courage to do that … 

“And I think ultimately, there’s an opportunity here for our team. I just really believe there’s something good on the other side of this. And I do think that it’s a challenge, you know, and I think that ultimately, we’re all going to be tested. We’re all going to be challenged in this game. It’s going to be that way.” 

Graham Mertz suffered a lower body injury and had to exit, paving the way for freshman DJ Lagway. He almost willed the team to victory.

“If you’re a competitor, you play this game, you’re always going to be challenged,” Napier said. “You’re always going to be tested. There’s always going to be scenarios where you don’t get the results you want, and do you have the discipline to reset (and) do it again, or will you get distracted? Will you compromise your character?

“I don’t think we have that issue, you know? I think we got a bunch of guys that care about each other, that played their tails off, that prepared the right way and competed. I think we just came up a handful of plays short. That’s where as a coach, it’s a punch in the gut, relative to, you know, you just want to do everything you can do to help the players.”

Napier and the Gators fell to 3-3 on the season but have a winnable game at home against Kentucky. A win there and the team could certainly feel better about itself before playing Georgia in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

But make no mistake, Napier is gutted by this most recent missed opportunity.

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