{"id":11008,"date":"2023-07-19T18:33:06","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T23:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=11008"},"modified":"2023-07-19T18:33:06","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T23:33:06","slug":"billy-napier-on-reported-past-interest-from-tennessee-its-humbling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/billy-napier-on-reported-past-interest-from-tennessee-its-humbling\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Napier on reported past interest from Tennessee: \u2018It\u2019s humbling\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida<\/strong><\/a> coach Billy Napier<\/a><\/strong> is entering his second season with the Gators, hoping to build on a bowl appearance in his first year with the program.<\/p>\n

But there was a brief period where Napier might have been coaching at an SEC East rival.<\/p>\n

When Tennessee<\/strong><\/a> canned former coach Jeremy Pruitt<\/a><\/strong>, Napier was on the short list of candidates targeted for the job opening. The Volunteers ultimately ended up going with Josh Heupel<\/a><\/strong>, who has been quite successful through his first two seasons in the orange and white.<\/p>\n

Napier, though, was thankful for being considered for the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were fortunate to have success at the University of Louisiana<\/strong><\/a> and it was really a result of a lot of people\u2019s hard work,\u201d Billy Napier said. \u201cWe had fantastic staff, we had a great group of players and that created opportunities for myself and other parts of our staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tennessee opportunity didn\u2019t end up being the one for Napier, who would take the Florida job one year later when Dan Mullen<\/a><\/strong> was fired.<\/p>\n

Both programs are high-profile SEC programs, and Tennessee made waves last year by winning 11 games under Heupel and pushing for a College Football Playoff berth in 2022. Florida isn\u2019t quite as close to the playoff picture, at least if preseason prognostications are any indication.<\/p>\n

However, the Florida head man is ready to lace them up against Tennessee after being considered for that head coaching job.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s humbling, that\u2019s what I would tell you,\u201d Billy Napier said. \u201cAll the success we\u2019ve had has been a reflection of a lot of people\u2019s hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, both programs have a lot to be grateful for with their new hires.<\/p>\n

Tennessee\u2019s success under Heupel has been pretty readily apparent. The Volunteers knocked off Alabama<\/strong><\/a> last season and pushed for a playoff spot by winning 11 games. An Orange Bowl win over Clemson<\/strong><\/a> by a dominant 31-14 score was the icing on the cake in Heupel\u2019s second season.<\/p>\n

Florida, meanwhile, has been a little less successful on the field, with Billy Napier facing a rebuild.<\/p>\n

The team went 6-6 in the regular season and then lost a bowl game after quarterback Anthony Richardson<\/a><\/strong> opted to focus on the NFL Draft. Napier will be looking to match or exceed that regular-season record this fall against a very tough slate.<\/p>\n

Despite the on-field results so far, Florida\u2019s recruiting has been superb; the Gators currently boast the nation\u2019s No. 4 2024 class<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Florida opens the season against Utah<\/strong><\/a> on the road and also faces Georgia<\/strong><\/a> and LSU<\/strong><\/a> away from home.<\/p>\n

The post Billy Napier on reported past interest from Tennessee: \u2018It\u2019s humbling\u2019<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida coach Billy Napier is entering his second season with the Gators, hoping to build…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11008\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}