During his time at SEC Media Days, Billy Napier painted a confident picture of the Florida Gators' future heading into 2025. Leaning into his new mantra of "Spot the ball," Napier highlighted the leadership of the squad and how he believes the development plan in Gainesville is working.
It's with that in mind that Napier was asked a question about his recruiting class of 2023, and it brings the group back into focus as to whether they are living up to expectations.
Florida's class of 2023 is a mixed bag
Napier was asked how he's been able to keep the class of 2023 intact despite not necessarily having the results that one would want:
"That's a great question. Look, we committed to recruiting high school players. We signed, for the most part, three big groups of high school players, and we've been strategic with the portal in terms of immediate needs. But I do think that we're trying to build a veteran team.
Now, that '23 group, I tell them every day, you know, look, you came here, you have this experience. We're in position to keep the momentum that we have. It's important that they're the example.
I think nowadays it's more important to identify the character component and the circle of influence around the kid. You know, I think that if you recruit a problem, they'll continue to be a problem, and I think we present our product in a way where we're selling the degree, the alumni network, the Gator-made program, and you have to be up for the challenge of trying to get Florida back to where it's been before.
And I think that's one of the reasons we've been able to keep it together is we told them when they came in, you know, look, it's not going to all be sunshine and rainbows here. We're in this thing for the long haul. So I think a lot of this is how you pitch it in recruiting. We're going to continue to do that, and retention is more important than it's ever been."