Kirby Smart on Billy Napier’s Florida firing — and what it means for Georgia
ATHENS — Kirby Smart understands the reality of the situation at Florida.
He has a lot of respect for the now-unemployed Billy Napier. The two worked together at Alabama before Napier spent the previous three seasons running the Florida program.
Napier will not be seeing Smart in Jacksonville on Nov. 1, as Napier was fired after going 22-23 at Florida.
Napier was 0-3 against Smart, with each loss coming by double digits.
“I like Billy a lot,” Smart said. “I think Billy is very intelligent, very well-organized. His attention to detail is at a really high level. He’s a guy that thinks things out really well. I think they’ve recruited well and done a good job. I hate it in this profession. We all know what we sign up for, and Billy understands that.”
Florida and Georgia are both off this week, giving both teams extra time to prepare for the matchup. Florida will be led by interim coach Billy Gonzales.
Napier had been Florida’s play-caller, which will throw a few new wrinkles into the matchup prep.
“In a two-week window there’s still only so much you can do. You know, they’ll make changes, and a lot of times you inject some energy when you do that,” Smart said. “You look across the country at (teams) that have had interim coaches. They’ve had some really big wins and had a lot of energy. I know coach Gonzales is doing a great job. I’ve had respect for him, gone against him many years.”
UCLA, Virginia Tech and Alabama-Birmingham are all examples of teams that won after firing their head coach. Florida will look to do the same when they take the field against the Bulldogs.
As for how Georgia intends to spend the off week, it’s electing to focus on itself.
There’s plenty to clean on the defense, as the Bulldogs gave up 35 points to Ole Miss. Georgia did not record a sack, tackle for loss or turnover Saturday.
Georgia will continue to put an emphasis on being more disruptive, especially considering Florida quarterback DJ Lagway has nine interceptions this season.
“I’ll say probably get more takeaways,” cornerback Demello Jones said. “I mean, we got a few, CJ got a few punch-outs. Ellis got an interception or two. It’s just, we need more.”
The other benefit from the off week is that it gives Georgia a chance to get healthy at some key spots. While the Bulldogs are expected to play without wide receiver Colbie Young and safety Kyron Jones, offensive linemen such as Monroe Freeling, Juan Gaston and Earnest Greene can get back to their fuller forms.
“Yeah, it’s 100% better, and I’m happy we have this bye week so I can really rest it and use the weekend to rest it,” Freeling said. “And I think that, I mean, coming into this next week, I’ll probably be 85% something. But just being this far in the season, you’re gonna be beat up regardless. So it’s just a matter of how well I can manage it.”
Georgia is 6-1 on the season, while Florida is 3-4. The two programs are heading in opposite directions.
But Smart is well-versed in the history of the rivalry game and knows strange things can happen when Georgia and Florida meet.
That is why he wants his team to be at its best coming out of the off week, even if Florida is a bit of a mess at this point.
“I hate to say it, but I’m not worried about them,” Smart said. “I’m worried about us.”
About the Author
Connor Riley has been covering the University of Georgia since 2014 before moving to DawgNation full-time before the 2018 season. He helps in all areas of the site such as team coverage, recruiting, video production, social media and podcasting. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 2016.
