Everything that stood out from Billy Napier’s Wednesday press conference

The Florida football team (1-2) faces their first road test of the season as they travel up to Starkville, Mississippi to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-2).

Both teams have gotten off to slow starts this year, with the Gators coming off a 33-20 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies and the Bulldogs losing 41-17 at home against the Toledo Rockets.

Each team is looking for a bounce-back victory and with all the headlines surrounding Gators head coach Billy Napier, Florida can really use a win to quiet some of the outside noise.

Napier met with the media on Wednesday and here’s everything that stood out as the team gets ready to travel up to Mississippi State.

Napier on how the team can change things

“Well, I think the big I would tell you, a lot of our conversations this week with players have been about the practice environment relative to habit building,” Napier said. “The intentionality, the intensity, the focus, in particular, the scout periods.”

Napier went on to say, “I think that’s an area where we can improve the quality of those reps from start to finish and all parts working together to get that right, the scout offense, and then the between play process for the defense, I think that’s been the point of emphasis.”

Napier on Mississippi State’s quarterback

“Well, (Blake Shapen’s) got a lot of experience, he’s played a lot of football, and I remember Shapen from high school. Know a lot about him. He’s a gritty player, he’s a good athlete, he’s tough and he’s had success in the past. So I think for me, anytime you’re playing a veteran quarterback, there’s got to be a certain level of awareness about that.”

Napier talks about improvements

“Well, I think the big point of emphasis has just been on improvement. I mean, what is the next opportunity for improvement, the next meeting, the next walkthrough the next practice, and then our intentionality in terms of how we approach that, and we have to learn from our experiences.”

Napier on the Gators first road game

“I think that ultimately, history would say that your first road game in this league is always a struggle,” Napier said. “I think just awareness, I think you try to educate the players. I think you always have a lot of new players, right? So just to educate them, what does that process look like?”

Napier went on to say, “I think continuity and approach is important. I’m sure you make adjustments throughout the years, but we’ve worked with great people in the past, and I think our process reflects that.”

Napier on what motivates him

“My number one, I told the players, is Tuesday prior to practice,” Napier said. “That is number one motivator to me, is to be able to look that group in the eye and see their work pay off. That’s what I’m consumed with, I mean, to be quite honest, with and it really there’s nothing more important to me than that.”

Napier went on to say, “I think ultimately, as a coach, that’s why I do what I do…I want the work to pay off. And I think caliber football is going to get to where we want it to be, where I want it to be, so that they get that return.”

Napier praises the Gators special teams

“Yeah, it’s a bright spot. It’s probably what we’re doing best right now,” Napier said. “The fundamentals and techniques, the organization
and the production, I think we’ve done a good job control over the position in the game. Our specialists are really good, and they’re performing well.”

Napier talks about how he stays positive

“Well, I mean, you grow up in the game,” Napier said. “I think you developed intangibles along the way. You know, every season has its challenges. Even when you maybe are having tremendous success, and then you fall short of a conference championship, or you lose a rivalry game at the end of the year, or you lose the bowl game. Or, I mean, I just think that…there’s a certain resiliency and toughness that come from the game.”

Coming up for the Gators