By Bob Redman
The word gets tossed around pretty casually among college recruiters to the prospects and families they are recruiting. The staffs want the families to feel like their program is the one that will be the best fit not only for the prospect, but the people they love and love them. But according to mothers of freshmen currently enrolled in Gainesville, when Billy Napier and his staff talk about a family atmosphere in Gainesville they mean it.
And it all starts with the head coach.
Napier has preached to his players, to the fans, and to the media about the closeness of his program. He’s hired more staff than anywhere in the country and he utilizes the staff numbers to make sure the needs of the current players are taken care of.
But there is more to this staff. They are almost all new to the University of Florida since it’s Napier’s first year as head coach in Gainesville, but almost all of them have connections from the past with others on the staff and the familiarity is something that is noticed when around the group for a while like on recruiting visits.
“Florida was best because they say the word family — everybody says family — in all the visits (to the different programs) it’s family, family, family, family. But Florida actually came across as family,” said Kim Boardingham, the mother of current freshman tight end Arlis Boardingham. “When I sat with the coaches they gave me stories and history on how they are all family.”
Ms. Boardingham meant it both literally and figuratively. Most of the staff had connections in terms of working with someone else on the staff before arriving in Gainesville. That showed even early in the very first couple of weeks of the staff being on campus and trying to host prospects on these visits. And then they care not only for one another, but for the players they are responsible for.
But Napier is the one that drives the boat. It’s his philosophy on the details that really made the difference to some. It’s also his personality that shines through letting the mommas and daddies know that he will be there for their sons.
“I told Coach Napier, either you got them on their Ps and Qs or you are just this nice of a guy,” Boardingham said. “He started laughing.”
On the call for this interview with Ms. Boardingham you could tell that she was just shaking her head at some prospects that went elsewhere and were already regretting it.
“I am a really good judge of character and I said, ‘Coach Napier, you are a really food dude’,” she remembered. “I have people that aren’t in this program who have hit me up on Twitter, other moms, who have told me how Coach Napier has affected their sons and how they are the people they are because they spent time with him.”
While some coveted prospects have gotten away after visiting, the people and the visits don’t seem to be the reasons. Almost to a man, the prospects and their families come away from Gainesville glowing about everything that transpired.
That was the case with Florida’s highest rated prospect from the 2022 class, Kamari Wilson and his family. The Wilson’s were seemingly heavily leaning to Georgia before they visited Gainesville. They had been to Athens three times visiting and driving past Gainesville on their way. But Napier was the lead in changing their mind when they finally visited The Swamp.
“He pretty much convinced us at the last minute when he came into play a week before Kamari’s decision,” Kamari’s mom Sherry Wilson said. “Instantly we got good vibes from him. He seemed like a real genuine guy that we could trust. A very straight forward guy. A guy that was by the books, he didn’t sugar coat anything. He just seemed like a really good guy. Kamari committed on Wednesday, we left Gainesville that Sunday before that Wednesday. When we got home, my husband and Kamari both were Gators… especially my husband. I was like, ‘you went to Gainesville one time and come home and you’re a Gator?’”
Those Ps and Qs that Ms. Boardingham talked about, Ms. Wilson also got to see Napier be on his.
“We pay a lot of attention to people, especially my husband,” she said. “Napier, before we came there, he came to my job in Port St. Lucy. It was just something about his character. The things he said sounded real genuine. He made me feel that I had no doubt that he was going to take care of Kamari. Florida was the first school that gave Kamari his first scholarship offer and he stayed home.”
That comfort level is staff wide. Even when they were running around with their heads cut off in the first month they were on campus, they managed to pull off some big prospects. It’s because the family atmosphere trickles down from the top.
“If you ask me the difference on the trips I went on, the difference between Florida and everyone else is that that ‘F’ does stand for Florida but it also stands for family,” Boardingham said. “They’re sincere about that. They connect the dots to tell you how they are family, how he came from here, who came from here and brought him along, they too worked together and brought him along. She worked with her and she brought her along. It’s a real family, it’s real.”