“He taught us all about how to be a good man, a good ball player, how to take care of each other, and he left an imprint on our character.” Those were the words of Senior Jake Slaughter when talking about what former Gator head Coach Billy Napier meant to him.
While many fans were celebrating Napier’s firing online, Slaughter described the Gator locker room as being somber and upset.
Jake Slaughter speaks on Billy Napier's firing
“I can identify with a lot of our guys and we were all pretty upset about (Napier being fired), but we understand it’s a production business and it is what it is,” said the Senior who is going through his second coaching change in his tenure with the University of Florida. Slaughter explained how change is a part of life and that a lot happens with change, and it is particularly for the Gators the remainder of the season, as they are now forced to quickly learn and adapt to a new coaching style.
“Austin Barber, Tyreak Sapp, and myself, we’ve all been through this before,” said Sapp. “We’ve had coaching changes in season.” He went on to state that now even more, the players will lean on each other as they’ve done in the past, they will lean no the coaches, and work to “make each other proud and go out and play our best ball,” said the senior. “
But ultimately, at the end of the day, while you want to give your head coach the utmost respect during their tenure, it’s about playing for the logo on your chest. It’s about playing for each other and making each other proud in the locker room. “In all kinds of weather,” he described, it’s a time for the players to remember the logo on their chest and go out and play for each other, especially with the annual Florida vs Georgia game around the corner.
He went on to describe leaving UF a better place than he found it as being “all that matters to me,” saying he’s going to go out there and continue to be a leader on the field.
For Slaughter, adjusting to Coach Billy Gonzalez’s coaching style won’t be the worst. he explained how Gonzalez’s son was his quarterback in high school and he has a lot of unique experience and external factors that give him a good relationships as is with Coach Gonzalez.
The Florida Gators are in a much-needed bye week this week before heading to Jacksonville for the “world’s largest tailgate party” on November 1.