Florida football: Billy Napier’s staff is downright ridiculous

A couple of days ago, with Florida football set to begin games in just over a week, the team released their team photo.

Looks like any other team photo at first, right?

Well after a second you notice that there seem to be a lot of blue polos in the back. Like a lot.

And then you look a little closer and realize that there are more blue polos than jerseys.

Everyone in a polo is a member of the staff that Billy Napier has assembled during his time in Gainesville. When Napier got the job, he told Gator fans that he would bring in an army of coaches and recruiters.

He wasn’t kidding.

The football team itself has 116 players. Napier has a staff of 140.

Generally speaking, not many teams have this type of coach-to-player ratio in their program. Having coaches outnumber players is a rarity in the sport.

Mike Bianchi, a columnist at the Orlando Sentinel, questioned the size of the staff as well. He said on Twitter, “I’m not saying Billy Napier’s staff is bloated with unnecessary personnel, but does he really need a coffee coordinator and separate cream and sugar coordinators as well?!!!”

Without giving too much attention to a tweet that is clearly designed to bait interactions, it’s worth clearing the air on why this huge staff is a serious advantage, and not unnecessary at all.

Napier learned under Nick Saban during his early coaching days. Have you ever heard of him?

This is where Napier learned the importance of assembling a large coaching staff. Having lots of people you can trust to get the day-to-day operations done is a huge advantage, as it takes the pressure off of Napier and his coordinators.

Having these types of numbers is also huge for recruiting.

As we covered a few weeks ago, Friday Night Lights was a huge success this year, in large part to the number of coaches, assistants, and recruiters that were able to help the recruits feel at home.

Is the size of the staff that Napier assembled absurd? Yes.

But it’s a great thing for Florida football, and fans will see it pay dividends over the next few seasons.

Keep up with Florida football here.