Florida football: Billy Napier shares his thoughts on NIL and the transfer portal

Florida football, for better or worse, has been at the center of attention in some issues that have risen with the implemetation of NIL.

I don’t need to go into the Jaden Rashada situation anymore, we all know what happened.

But also it has felt at times that other schools have been more willing to dedicate their resources to NIL that Florida hasn’t, putting the Gators a step behind other schools.

Among all of this, coach Billy Napier has been working on improving NIL at the University of Florida, and recently offered us his thoughts on what it has changed about college athletics.

"“I think it’s just added a layer of work, relative to more evaluation, more recruitment, and then certainly all the work that’s been done behind the scenes relative to NIL. Coming up with a really good system, one that we can feel good about from an integrity standpoint”"

That last line is what stuck with me. Napier, ever since he got to Gainesville, has preached about building a strong, honest program that betters its players both on and off the field.

We all know that the world of NIL isn’t clean, and that before it was legal there were transactions going on under the table.

Sure, in the short run a clean program may be behind others, but its beneficial for the long term vision of your program and the future of your student athletes.

"“You gotta get back to what college athletics is all about, you know, why you got into the profession. But there’s no question, it’s a major issue, I think any college football coach will tell you that, and I would tell you the longer we go the more it’s impacted every sport.”"

Napier has a good point here. While football is the biggest collegiate sport in the country and draws the most attention and money, NIL has really changed the lives of athletes that play smaller sports.

Now, these athletes who may not be on scholarships are getting deals that help get them through school and grow their brands. That change was needed in college athletics, and is beneficial to everybody.

You can check out the video of Napier himself right here:

Keep up with Florida football at Hail Florida Hail.