Florida Football: Billy Napier makes bold statement kicking off Brenton Cox
![Florida Gators outside linebacker Brenton Cox Jr. (1) puts on his helmet during warm ups. The Florida Gators scrimmaged in the first quarter during the annual Orange and Blue spring game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL, Thursday afternoon, April 14, 2022. [Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner]2022Oca Orangeandbluegame](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fa426cde7109650770235fbb4b886195bedced676b6e935281e0476afa367868e.jpg "Florida Gators outside linebacker Brenton Cox Jr. (1) puts on his helmet during warm ups. The Florida Gators scrimmaged in the first quarter during the annual Orange and Blue spring game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL, Thursday afternoon, April 14, 2022. [Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner]2022Oca Orangeandbluegame")
Earlier today we wrote that Billy Napier was building a solid foundation in Gainesville even if there were some schematic questions we had for Florida football. Napier believes that without a rock-solid foundation the scheme won’t matter and as we saw under Dan Mullen he’s not wrong.
This afternoon Napier made as bold of a statement as he could to build up his foundation by kicking off the Florida Gators’ best defensive player off the team.
Florida Football: Get in or get out
Brenton Cox was kicked off from the Florida Gators on Monday. In a statement from Napier he said:
"“Brenton, we’ve kind of decided to move on here. Being a football player at the University of Florida is a privilege. There are certain expectations and standards that come with that. Brenton [was] in his third year, obviously has done a lot of good things for the University of Florida, and we wish him nothing but the best. Sometimes, you have to make decisions that are in the best interest of the team. And certainly, Brenton, we’re going to do everything we can to help him with his transition. But it’s as simple as that. We’ve decided to move on.”"
Cox came to Florida after a stint at Georgia that saw him run into to trouble there. Napier said he was going to keep the true reason for Cox’s dismissal in-house.
Whatever the reason is for the dismissal, it is apparent that Napier is valuing the long-term foundation of Florida football rather than trying and putting a band-aid on a problem to salvage the rest of the season. It’s unfortunate because Cox was having a great season on the field and was one of the bright spots for the Gators’ defense, but Napier is letting it be known that no player is above the expectations he is setting.
And frankly, that’s huge for incoming recruits. They know in advance how the program operates and if they go against the culture then Napier will help them pack their bags. Napier is getting guys that want to be a Gator and are not just in Gainesville for the paycheck. Texas A&M for example is experiencing what happens when guys are only on campus for a paycheck.
Losing Cox might cost Florida one of the final four games, but in a season that is going to end in disappointment anyway, it’s a wise move to plan for the future.
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