Florida football: Current players share their thoughts on the program
By Will Thomas
It’s no secret that Florida football didn’t have the season they wanted in Billy Napier’s first season as head coach. They went 6-7 and ended their season with losses to Florida State and an embarrassment in their bowl game against Oregon State.
Despite all the negatives from the past season, there is a ton of optimism within the program that they can turn it around this season and that fans will see an entirely different team on the field come the fall.
Multiple Gators were interviewed a few days ago and expressed their excitement about the upcoming season. Guys like Trevor Etienne, Kamari Wilson, Shemar James, and more gave their answers.
The interview was at a Gator Collective event and conducted by Hightop Sports. You can find the whole interview here.
Here’s what they had to say.
Trevor Etienne: “The team is more bought in and focused than ever. Everyone is working and pushing each other…After reflecting on last season and seeing what we could’ve done, now we know what we need to do, so we don’t lose 30-3 anymore. We don’t want none of that…My personal goal is being the best teammate I can be, being the best person I can be to help this team become a championship caliber team. And that’s really my main goal. The personal stats, individual success comes from team success. As long as the team is successful, I’ll be successful.”
Shemar James: “We brought in some dudes. We brought in some guys that can contribute early to this team. I’m very confident about this season, we’ve been putting in the work. We have no choice but to be successful.”
Austin Barber: “I trust everything he (Coach Napier) is doing, everything he’s saying…In the second year, I think everything just clicked, all our guys are just busting their talk every single day ’cause they know what they want. They want to win.”
Kamari Wilson: “The guys he recruits and the guys he coaches on this team, you know everybody gonna be a leader and it’s kinda showing this year. So, it’s not just me stepping up, it’s everybody.”
Justus Boone: “Coach Billy Napier has really never shown me anything he hasn’t said that’s gonna be done…so I have no reason to go against anything that he says, but to believe in his process, believe in his program, and go at it 100% regardless of what he asks me to do.”
Keenan Landry: It’s just a different energy from last year. A lot of the young guys really stepped up…Everybody just wants it more. We’re hungry. We don’t want to go back to 6-6.”
Desmond Watson: I feel like last year we got a taste of what we could be…we all know what we’re capable of. I feel like I share this with everybody on the team. I never felt like going into a game that we couldn’t have won…Another thing with Coach Napier, quick turnaround, even with the season we had last year, we got a great group of guys coming in. Coming from a former recruit, it’s hard to convince a person to come to your school, for the season we had. We definitely see the progress. I understand why these players trust in Coach Napier.”
For me, the biggest takeaway from what these guys said is that the Florida football brand is coming back. It felt like it hasn’t been the same in a few years, and that guys weren’t buying into what the program could be.
Now, in Napier’s second year, it feels like Florida football will be back sooner rather than later.
Keep up with Florida football at Hail Florida Hail.