Florida head coach Billy Napier played in the FCS, and that’s only one small reason he’s staring directly at Samford and leaving the periphery among other distractions.

“We’ve had a couple days of practice, obviously players are anxious to get back on the field and get this taste out of our mouth. I do think we’ve had a good week,” Napier said.

Napier and Samford coach Chris Hatcher have known each other since Napier, a Georgia native who played at Furman, picked him up as a Clemson assistant before Hatcher spoke at a coaching clinic. Hatcher is in his 10th season at Samford and has a record of 178-100 in 24 total seasons as a coach, which includes time at Georgia Southern, Valdosta State and Murray State.

While he’s not concerned with his own team’s resilience, Napier said he does want to help zero in on focus areas as players fight their way through the letdown of the opening home loss to Miami.

Napier said it’s critical to “remain objective” after one game.

“It’s critical you shape the narrative to some degree,” Napier said. “Ultimately we’ve got to go prove it on the grass. We’ve got another opportunity this Saturday.”

Napier said coverage and pass rush didn’t work together as they should in the loss to Miami and he wants to see more discipline as it relates to penalties. The Gators had two critical flags in the first half that helped amplify the Hurricanes’ momentum.

“We’ve experienced the consequence of making errors when it comes to the margin of error when you play a really good opponent,” Napier said. “Give some credit to Miami. I thought the quarterback (Cam Ward) had a terrific day.”

–Field Level Media