Five Surprises from Billy Napier’s Gator Coaching Debut

by Bob Redman, aka “Hollywood Bob”

The Florida Gators under Billy Napier had their first spring game under Billy Napier Thursday night in The Swamp and it was a successful night for the orange and blue in terms of pulling it off. Moved to a Thursday because of recruiting purposes Napier was hoping to draw a pretty good crowd to the event and the announced attendance was 45,000, another win for the organization. There was some more good than bad when it came to the play on the field and I can think of five things that surprised me.

In terms of the game itself, it was pretty impressive that the staff was able to put together two teams and simulate a game as well as they did. Often in spring games coaches are forced to have the offensive line play both ways or maybe another group and then forced to just show scrimmage situations instead of a game because they can’t wear down their linemen and get someone hurt. Florida was able to pull that off and look like they knew what they were doing on both teams.

There may have been more, but given what I heard all spring these were five things that I was surprised about Thursday night.

The efficiency of Anthony Richardson throwing the ball

We all know what a big playmaker quarterback Anthony Richardson is and have seen it in real games. What we haven’t seen was him standing in the pocket and throwing the ball, read the field, and make plays with his arm in an efficient manner. Richardson was 5-for-5 for 69 yards and a touchdown throwing the ball in the first quarter. He finished the first half going 13-for-15 for 167 yards and two touchdowns. He was finding holes in the defense which was great, but the biggest surprise to me was just how sharp his throws were. The knock on him this spring was that he was just not consistent hitting his targets. If he can throw like that in the fall, that will turn things up a notch for this offense. Kudos to Napier who also the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach along with quarterback analyst Ryan O’Hara for having him prepared so quickly.

The first defense struggling early on

With Richardson doing so well it creates an argument against the other side of the ball. The first-team defense went up against the best of the offense and the final 34-0 score tells you everything you need to know about their play. While they didn’t really give up huge plays (the longest was 29 yards), the biggest disappointment for me came from the edge rushers. I really thought Brenton Cox and Princely Umanmielen would get into the backfield more often than they did. Umanmielen actually had a sack in the game but the two combined for four tackles. We saw some missed tackles as well which allowed the first touchdown of the game, a 19-yard pass from Richardson to Ja’Markis Weston. That part of the defense has to be better.

The tight ends playing so well

While Napier and O’Hara had Richardson ready to go Thursday night, it is hard to imagine a group that was more surprising than the tight ends and for that we should recognize tight end coach William Peagler and quality control assistant for tight ends Ty Darlington. Because of injuries to three players, the staff had to move players from other positions to play. The two leading receivers on Richardson’s team were both tight ends and both got moved from defense to tight end in the first third of spring drills. Dante Zanders and Noah Keeter combined for eight catches and 108 yards. Keeter was responsible for a false start near the goal line and on the next play caught a six-yard pass for a touchdown showing some internal fortitude for playing through the mistake he had just made. These guys showed they can play. The one tight end that has played the position the entire spring also had good night. He caught the ball both times he was targeted and had a big play for 28 yards in the game. It was a great surprise for this group to do so well and speaks well for their mentors.

Bowman fumbling the ball

I have to admit I was surprised and disappointed that redshirt sophomore running back Demarkcus Bowman fumbled twice in the game, once on a kickoff and once running the ball on offense. We haven’t heard much about the offense putting the ball on the ground this spring and that would be a big concern if it is an issue. However, I will say this. Bowman did show me some really good things Thursday night. Running behind the second team offensive line he rushed for 61 yards. What I saw out of him was the ability to get 3-4 extra yards because of his quickness to get around people. A lot of times he would run wide and a defender would seem to have him caught for lost yardage and he was able to actually get around them. He’s got real quickness and burst. It’s going to happen for him, he just has to hang on to that ball.

The kicker

The header for this one is vague because there probably weren’t 50 people in the stands who knew who the field goal kicker that knocked one through the uprights from 52 and 48 yards was before Thursday night. If you missed it, his jersey number is 49 and his name is Adam Mihalek. He joined the team as a walk-on kicker in the spring of 2021 so he’s been a part of the team for a little more than a year now. Well the Tampa native certainly pulled off two big shots in front of a pretty good sized crowd. Place kicker signee Trey Smack may have some competition in the fall now.