'Spot the Ball': Gators' 2024 Mindset Carrying into 2025

"I think it's just a reminder to the guys that you're going to see a narrative about the challenge of the schedule, but we all understand the reality is we're going to put the ball down," Napier explained Wednesday at Florida's portion of SEC Media Day. "We're going to play those games. We're going to have our opportunity.

"The key is that we are well-prepared when we get there and we keep working on our ability to execute, building the toughness and the resiliency of the team, the discipline that we're going to need to follow through."

With three regular-season games to go, the Gators sat at 4-5 after losses to Georgia and Texas, a multitude of injuries and major outside doubt for the program under Napier, who was 15-19 in under three seasons at the time.

Not to mention, the Gators had two ranked SEC opponents in LSU and Ole Miss next on the schedule. Instead of backing down, Florida rose to the occasion.

"It kind of turned into our MO there," senior All-American center Jake Slaughter said. "I don't care who it is. I don't care if we're in the parking lot. We're going to spot the ball, and we're going to compete, and we're going to go toe-to-toe."

After a three-game losing streak to end 2022 and a five-game losing streak to end 2023, Florida won four straight games to end the season, marking the program's longest win streak since 2020. The streak also included the program's first back-to-back wins over ranked opponents since 2018, its first win over Florida State since 2021 and its first bowl win since 2019.

"I think that's where we really took a big step in the right direction last year is we found a level of confidence that we could go toe to toe with any team in the country any place, anytime," Napier said. "You spot the ball last year -- at the end of the year, you could argue we were playing as good of football as anybody in the country, and I think that that's a result of our development process."

The Gators enter 2025 with a large part of its offensive and defensive production from last season returning in sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway, a strong running back duo in Jadan Baugh and Ja'Kobi Jackson, four of its five starters on the offensive line and two potential first-round picks on its defensive front in Caleb Banks and Tyreak Sapp.

"I think we had a quality group of kids. I don't think a normal group would have been able to handle that," Napier said. "... So, the good thing for us is a huge majority of that group is back. And we've added some more really good young players to the mix."

Still, the schedule, as Napier said, continues to be an outside narrative with road matchups at LSU, Miami, Texas A&M and Ole Miss on the schedule alongside its yearly neutral site game against Georgia and home matchups against Texas and Tennessee, both of which were playoff teams last season.

Florida was 2-5 in those matchups in 2024, including the overtime loss to Tennessee and a late collapse against Georgia, but the Gators don't believe last year's shortcomings will carry over and negatively affect 2025's potential success.

"That was kind of our words for last year. It doesn't matter who we play. Spot the ball," Lagway said at his first SEC Media Day. "And, that's sort of our saying now, and now we're kind of saying, 'If not now, when,' like, when and where? it doesn't matter where we are, we spot the ball. It's kind of our mindset that took on when we went down that stretch. It doesn't matter who stands in front, they got to play the Florida Gators."

With over a month away from the start of the season, the Gators are still undergoing the final stages of their offseason regimen before reporting for fall camp, which will begin in less than two weeks. Even while actual competition is still a good distance away, the "spot the ball" mantra has kept Florida energized at every stage of the offseason.

"I saw (Napier's tweet), and I woke up and had that energy. I was ready to go. I could play a game today," Banks said. "Coach Napier brings the energy every single day. He has that standard for himself and the team. Spot the ball. That's our motto."

While the offseason talking points of last year's results, offseason development and hypotheticals of rankings, predictions and other debates will continue to be the focuses of outsiders over the next month-and-a-half, Napier emphasized that his team has kept their focus on the internal organization as the program still looks.

"You talk about our schedule. You know, I firmly believe that that'll be earned in the fall. So we can talk a lot about potential for the next 40 days, but we'll play the games in the fall," he said.

Florida opens fall camp on July 29 with the season-opener set for Aug. 30 at home against Long Island.

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