First Day on the Gator Football Beat. What Did We See? What Did We Hear?
(Editor’s Note: Former Ohio high school coach Loren Meadows, a loyal GatorBait member who recently moved to Gainesville in a medical job transfer, took his first trip to see the Gators as a media member Tuesday.)
By LOREN MEADOWS
Pen? Check. Notebook? Check. Media credentials? Check. Umbrella? Check. Now it’s time to hurry up and wait.
On a rain-soaked Tuesday members of the media flocked to the Heavener Indoor Practice Facility to catch a 15-minute glimpse of the first day of the Billy Napier Era. 15 minutes? Not much time to gather much information, so I thought. It turns out, you can get a lot done in one quarter.
The first few hours of covering the Florida football program revealed two immediate truths. First, covering a sport that is consistently cloaked in the element of surprise and deception comes with a strict set of rules and guidelines. The media is given 15 minutes to take pictures, some short videos of practice. This limited access comes with strict instructions not to engage in conversation with anyone involved, particularly recruits that may be attending the practice.
Second, after the 15-minute “access” there is a period of dead time where many seasoned writers run to make print and publishing deadlines. While others wait in a crowded room on the north end of the facility for the opportunity to get highly valuable but limited tidbits from Coach Napier himself and select players such as Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson. With all that said the time between the “access” and “availability” could be four quarters so bring a bottled water and a snack.
So what did we see? Practice was in high-speed mode as the media period began. Players were dressed in shoulder pads and shorts and the excitement of spring ball was in the air.
My friend and teammate Franz Beard interviewing AR15. (Chris Spears Photo)
In the middle of the field was Napier, coaching what he called “the standard bearers of the organization,” the quarterbacks including Anthony Richardson (15), Jack Miller (10), and last year’s starter Emory Jones (5).
Coach Napier would state later in the day that “practice performance is game day reality,” and that could not have been more evident as even team managers were being coached up to move intently when lining up trash cans for the given quarterback drills.
The running backs and tight ends were involved in the early pass catching with Demarkus Bowman (23), Lorenzo Lingard (21), and transfer Montrell Johnson (2) impressing with their size, quickness, and pass catching ability.
Shortly after the wide receivers joined the routes-on-air period and receivers coach Kerry Colbert was immediately pressing the attention to detail that many expect from this Gators football staff. There were reminders of placing the ball in the right hand after the catch.
A few more dig routes by physically impressive Ja’Quavion Fraziers (0), and Xzavier Henderson (3), and just like that media period was complete.
What did we hear? We were escorted back to the small room to hurry up and wait. There is a dead period between the viewing session and individuals being made available after practice that can test the patience of a novice in the media person.
It seemed the norm for the more seasoned members of the media as they hurried to a designated area to meet deadlines. Shortly after, Coach Napier was the first to greet the media for the spring.
Seasoned media members asked very sound questions regarding what needed to be accomplished during the allotted 15 spring practices. Napier stated he thought that his team was “well-prepared and organized,” and gave “great effort.” He also noted that the staff wanted to get “as many teachable reps as possible.” Attention to detail and effort seem to be a consistent theme in the early days of practice.
Napier finished by stating he “was most impressed with the reception of the players to the strength and conditioning program” that was instituted during the “FOUNDATION” and “IDENTITY” phases of team building.
This was a nice transition as Associate Head Coach/Director of Football Strength and Conditioning Mark Hocke came to the podium. Hocke spoke of “tremendous buy-in by the players,” with a “premium on the trenches.”
Addressing the importance of the weight room development of both the offensive and defensive lines: Most intriguing was Hocke explaining that the weight room is seen as an extension of the football field with staff members dedicated to work with the positions they played themselves.
“We don’t see a weight room, we see a football field.”
Last to the podium were Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson who both expressed positive thoughts regarding the direction that the football program was headed under Napier.
Jones, who at one time announced his intentions to transfer, informed the media that it was the staff and their plans for him that ultimately led him to change his plans and remain at Florida. Most impressive was the fact that both quarterbacks have a strong admiration for one another and consider themselves close friends.
In any major football program, competition is constant and Jones and Richardson seem to embrace that competition for themselves and the benefit of the team.
With an extremely small sample size, it looks as if the Billy Napier era of Florida football is on the right track. Expressions of commitment, good attitudes and effort are what fans and media both like to hear as things get going.
Although it is easy to be positive when as the say hope springs eternal. There will be more sample-size looks at the first iteration of the 2022 Florida Gators. It will be interesting to see what those in the media have to say after a look at a total of 210 minutes of viewing time.
For now, the “FOUNDATION” has been set. We have IDENTIFIED some of the key parts. Ultimately it will be the fans, not the media, that dictates if a phase of joyful glee resonates anytime soon, but for now “hurry up and wait” for the next 15 minutes.
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