GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The question generated one of those pensive Billy Napier responses. He gave a quarter-shake to his head and tightened his lips. Then he looked down at the lectern.
“I don’t know that it’s something you talk publicly about.”
Florida’s first-year coach had been asked about the backstairs dealings of last November, when agents and ADs pinged in the shadows, and one source conjectured to another that LSUNapier was on the company’s hiring list.
All of this became water under the I-10 causeway once LSU bypassed the up-and-comer from Lafayette and cherry-picked Brian Kelly instead, a $95 million maneuver that rattled the golden domers and amplified Scott Woodward’s affinity for the ostentatious.
Napier negotiated a $51 million contract at Florida. Scott Stricklin made Napier feel like he was the No. 1 choice.
Kelly now brings LSU to The Swamp in a rivalry that was already rife with fiery wackiness well before this coaching pairing. Napier’s storyline is too private to talk about publicly. This week, he focuses on the outcome of the blockbuster hiring carousel and not the details.
“We’re all well aware of chaotic times in college football when you get to November, December, January,” he said Monday. “I’ll tell you one thing: I’m grateful for the opportunity I was given here. For the administration here, for Scott and all the people that contributed to that decision to have faith and confidence, to do their homework on me, to give me an opportunity to lead here.”
Faith and confidence. Stricklin has faith Napier’s design for building a Sun Belt winner will translate to the SEC.
