Florida football: Here’s what Billy Napier had to say about Jack Pyburn

Florida football is looking for a lot of new faces to step up and contribute in big ways this fall as the Gators look to improve in Billy Napier’s second season.

One of those guys will have a bigger opportunity than expected after Justus Boone’s injury opened up a spot on the depth chart.

Jack Pyburn, a sophomore defensive end out of Jacksonville, has found himself in a spot where he could see a lot of meaningful snaps on the field.

Billy Napier is very excited about what Pyburn can do this fall and had high praise for Jack at his latest press conference.

Florida football: Got that Gator in him

At Napier’s presser, he coined a new phrase that I think we’ll hear a lot this fall, “He’s got that Gator in him.”

Here’s his full quote about Jack:

"“Jack is one of the more impressive young men that we have in terms of work ethic and self-discipline…Jack is one of those guys that is at his best when the pads are on. This guy probably had one of the best off-season, if not the best of any player on our team in terms of body composition. All the metrics that we test, he made significant improvements. He’s got that Gator in him.”"

In his freshman season, he saw very limited action in eight games, only registering three tackles on the season. But given all the improvements that Napier has said he’s made, it’s very easy to get excited about what he can do.

With Boone’s injury, Pyburn got bumped up the EDGE depth chart. Even with Tyreak Sapp moving over to get a good bit of those reps, Jack will still see plenty of action at that position and become an impact player on Austin Armstrong’s defense.

Get familiar with his name. You’ll be hearing it a lot.