Florida Gators Football Camp Report: Coach Napier highlights position battles that are still left unsettled.

“Literally there are some positions on our team where it is daily adjusted who is in the front of the line”-Coach Billy Napier

By Loren Meadows, GatorBaitMedia.com, Football Analyst

Week 2 of training camp began with a visit from one of Florida’s greatest coaches, former basketball coach Billy Donovan. Donovan is one of only eight coaches to repeat as NCAA champion and he left championship pearls of wisdom with Coach Napier and his organization. One of the things that he really emphasized is adversity is our greatest gift”, Napier stated. Donovan also noted the “illusion of choice”, which means that teams, in particular good teams have no choice but to do the things necessary to be a good football team. 

Florida Head Coach Billy Napier (Chris Spears photo)

As camp progresses the lack of selective performance that Donovan spoke of will be more important as the Gators continue to deal with the adversity that training camp can bring and the challenges that can come from it. At the running back position the absence of Montrell Johnson Jr. in the short term has brought early adversity but has allowed for others at the running back position to get meaningful practice snaps and enhance the depth at an important position in the Gator offense. On Wednesday Napier further noted that there are several positions on both sides of the ball that the depth chart is not close to fluid. The offensive line which is a major point of emphasis for the Gators continues to have a several possible combinations that the Gators may go with depending on the remainder of practice. “There is competitive depth there”, Napier stated. Napier also detailed that after early struggles in camp the offensive line had been “lights out” and the competition for playing time remained very competitive in the early stages of camp. 

With what should be an upgraded roster Napier expressed that with improved depth there are only a “handful of spots” where the depth chart is clearly defined. “Literally there are some positions on our team where it is daily adjusted who is in the front of the line”, Napier stated. One particular group of note is the edge rusher position where the Gators have a number of serviceable options competing for snaps. Elder statesmen Justus Boone and Tyreak Sapp, both known for their leadership ability, are being pushed daily by a young, talented group led by LJ McCray, TJ Searcy, Kelby Collins, and Kamran James. In speaking of this group Napier expressed that this units practice habits have been "fun to watch". On the back end of the defense the STAR (Nickel) position is highly contested with Aaron Gates and Sharif Denson in the thick of the competition. A crucial piece of what Florida does defensively, the STAR position is key to defending the run game while allowing for flexibility to defend the diverse type of passing offenses in the game today. Both Gates and Denson will continue to battle it out as camp continues and Napier sees both as important pieces of the defense. 

Edge Rusher TJ Searcy (GatorBait photo)

The depth chart will most certainly begin to define itself as the Gators will hold their first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday. At this point most teams have a lot to work on and Napier noted that there are still some situations that need to be addressed and a live scrimmage will certainly give the staff a good look at how the players react in a live session. The scrimmage should set the tone for the remainder of the practices before the showdown with Miami in one of the most interesting matchups of the season’s first week.