Hail Florida Hail
Fansided

Billy Napier Pens Open Letter To Gator Nation

By Benjamin Henderson

Florida Gators head football coach Billy Napier smiles after a question from a reporter during a weekly press conference at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, in Gainesville, Feb. 11, 2022. Napier was asked about coaching hires, recruiting, his team preparation plans and also mentioned the Gators will begin Spring practice March 15.Flgai 02112022 Napierufpresser 03
Florida Gators head football coach Billy Napier smiles after a question from a reporter during a weekly press conference at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, in Gainesville, Feb. 11, 2022. Napier was asked about coaching hires, recruiting, his team preparation plans and also mentioned the Gators will begin Spring practice March 15.Flgai 02112022 Napierufpresser 03 /
facebooktwitterreddit

Whether it’s feeling the pressure already after missing out on some high profile recruits, or as part of the process to re-establish a sense of culture within the Florida Gators football program, Billy Napier took to Twitter on Friday to pen an open letter.

Napier’s Open Letter

Addressed to “Gator Nation,” Napier’s letter opened with mostly safe verbiage and expressed his eagerness to get the season started.

"“All we can say is that each day we are more and more excited to be part of the University of Florida.Our fans’ passion is evident and unmatched.”"

Towards the middle of his letter will be a line that sounds great on paper, but may not be playing out in reality right now.

"We believe that NIL will be a strength at the University of Florida"

The feeling around Gainesville right now is that Napier and his staff are saying all the right things to recruits and the social media team have certainly been hard at work to make The Swamp feel like the place the be.

The problem is that when it has come time to come up with the money to match or surpass what other programs are offering, Florida isn’t doing that right now.

Creating Well Rounded Athletes

The rest of Napier’s letter talks about the improvements made to Florida’s facilities and improvements made to the student-athlete experience, with an emphasis on student.

The GatorMade program is designed to give players skills that translate off the field such as financial literacy. Compared to the arrest fest previous Florida Gators squads have experienced, this is a nice change of pace.

Napier is not the first coach to write an open letter to Gator Nation. Jim McElwain wrote one back in 2015 trying to encourage better attendance. 

Cryptic Message At The End

If you are someone who really wants to read into things, the final two paragraphs could be interpreted as corporate fluff that means nothing, or it could be Napier trying to diplomatically implore Gator Nation to pony up the cash needed to compete in the NIL world of recruiting.

"To our boosters, alumni and everyday fans: We all must have a championship approach in all that we do.You are part of this team, and we can’t wait to see you at The Swamp this fall as we embark on the journey to our new future."

Home/Florida Gators Football