Florida underwent some big changes when Billy Napier took over the program, and it sounds like the Gators are getting to mirror the NFL experience during summer and fall camps.
Richardson has been working through rookie and mandatory minicamps with the Indianapolis Colts since early May. He told Swamp247 that there are some aspects of his organized team activities (OTAs) that are familiar from his time at UF.
“The OTAs, the way Coach Napier did it, and the things he made us do, leading up to OTAs, I can see the resemblance in Indy, when I’m up there practicing with them,” Richardson said. “It’s more structure for the players to do their job instead of the coaches having to coach them, so Coach Napier definitely does create a sort of independence when it comes to you doing work and wanting to do work.”
Richardson praised Napier for changing the culture at Florida rather quickly. Players were motivated to outwork one another, knowing they’d get a chance to play if they were the best man for the job. Transfers and freshmen thrived at various positions in Year 1 and the team looks completely different heading into a second season under Napier.
It’s clear that the former UF quarterback still looks back at his time in the Swamp fondly, and he openly credits a lot of the success to Napier’s system. Will that translate to other players heading to Florida in hopes of getting an NFL-lite experience? Only time will tell.
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