MINDSET SHIFT and URGENCY – those are the two key words that Redshirt Senior Jake Slaughter used at SEC Media Day on Wednesday to describe what happened, or what caused the Florida Gators to completely gain momentum at the end of the 2024-25 season, including the Gasparilla Bowl.
“It’s one of those things,” he said. “We had a huge mindset shift in the locker room. A lot of guys stepped up into a leadership role that maybe they weren’t in before. We called it a one-day-contract type of mentality.”
Florida Gators went on a four-game winning streak to close 2024
With the pressure of having to win in order to save their season, the noise of having to save Coach Napier, and just the pressure that comes with being a Florida Gator, the 2024-25 Gator football team knew something needed to change. According to Slaughter, the mindset shift took place more than just on Saturdays.
“Guys really shifted the way they thought and approached practice and the weights and the training room” Slaughter stated. “It was a tremendous change and a big mindset shift.”
And in order to be successful on the field, you have to be successful in practice and in the weight room. As the old saying goes, “you play how you practice.” If the mindset isn’t there in practice, it won’t be there on the field. If you don’t give your all in practice, you won’t give your all in a game. The reps have to be the same in both. The mentality, the heart, the hustle, they all have to be there in practice, and that will translate into them being there on game days.
And the Gators did just that, ending their season on a four-game win streak that included upsets over No. 22 LSU, No. 9 Ole Miss, a win over in-state rival Florida State, and a Gasparilla Bowl win over Tulane in Tampa.
“I think everybody felt a sense of urgency, like man, we’ve got to go out there and perform,” said the Senior. He explained how everyone’s on social media, everyone was aware of the shots that were being taken at head Coach Billy Napier in regards to the team, but he said that while everyone’s worried about what’s going on, when it’s game time, everyone puts on blue & orange and you have to block out the noise and play for each other. He reiterated that no players were pointing fingers at each other, but that there was a sense of urgency in the locker room as a whole – an urgency to win, and an urgency to quiet the noise and prove themselves.
“I think we did a great job this past season of blocking out the noise,” said Slaughter. “Go play for each other, go play for Coach. Let's prove each other right” – that’s what he said the Mindset was going into each game.
The Gators enter the 2025 season on a roll and hope to kick off the season with a win in the Swamp on August 30 against LIU.