One of Napier’s first tasks as UF Head Coach was to develop close relationships with his players. I have said this countless times. He showed action right off the bat. New parking, buses to practice, better living spaces for many, much better food, NIL support, wide-open access to the coaches and army, better facilities, GatorMade program, and the list goes on and on. He knew it would take time to build trust with the players, and he felt like he needed to SHOW the players that he was serious before asking them to trust him. There was never a better time to be a gator football player.
The reaction of the players was primarily cautious excitement. They wanted to believe but frankly, they had heard some of this talk before. After spring ball, just about every player was on board mainly because they could see that Billy did what he said he would do. Building the trust was in full progress.
Some players were having a hard time getting on board – mainly some of the veterans who viewed themselves as not being at UF much longer. Billy and crew worked with those people one on one and had some positive movement early. As we started losing games, that attitude began to slip with some of these guys.
Cox was one of them. I personally think (my opinion) that BN would have gotten rid of Cox earlier, but he did not want to hurt Cox’s draft prospects. But, it got to the point where BN was left with no choice. Cox’s behavior shifted from just being a pain in the ass to being outright belligerent. His attitude stunk. He would not wear a suit to Gator Walk; got into it big time with Coach Mike Peterson on multiple occasions when he was given tough love; acted selfishly repeatedly; and then went after the offensive players at halftime of the UGA game (some are saying at the end of the game and they may be right) with a dose of screaming and throwing stuff in the locker room. He was just generally being the opposite of what Napier wanted. Napier had enough. End of story.
There are other players who will not be back next year. Some could leave during the remainder of the season, but most of that group will finish the season and be gone when the year is over.
Should Billy have processed these problem peeps right out of the gate? Maybe. But he wanted to give them a chance. I will tell you that, with VERY few exception(s), you will not hear much backlash from the current players about Brenton Cox hitting the road.
KC
The reaction of the players was primarily cautious excitement. They wanted to believe but frankly, they had heard some of this talk before. After spring ball, just about every player was on board mainly because they could see that Billy did what he said he would do. Building the trust was in full progress.
Some players were having a hard time getting on board – mainly some of the veterans who viewed themselves as not being at UF much longer. Billy and crew worked with those people one on one and had some positive movement early. As we started losing games, that attitude began to slip with some of these guys.
Cox was one of them. I personally think (my opinion) that BN would have gotten rid of Cox earlier, but he did not want to hurt Cox’s draft prospects. But, it got to the point where BN was left with no choice. Cox’s behavior shifted from just being a pain in the ass to being outright belligerent. His attitude stunk. He would not wear a suit to Gator Walk; got into it big time with Coach Mike Peterson on multiple occasions when he was given tough love; acted selfishly repeatedly; and then went after the offensive players at halftime of the UGA game (some are saying at the end of the game and they may be right) with a dose of screaming and throwing stuff in the locker room. He was just generally being the opposite of what Napier wanted. Napier had enough. End of story.
There are other players who will not be back next year. Some could leave during the remainder of the season, but most of that group will finish the season and be gone when the year is over.
Should Billy have processed these problem peeps right out of the gate? Maybe. But he wanted to give them a chance. I will tell you that, with VERY few exception(s), you will not hear much backlash from the current players about Brenton Cox hitting the road.
KC
