Billy Napier surprised some fans with the decision to remain Florida’s offensive play-caller this offseason.

As the Gators dealt with staff departures on both sides of the ball, Napier mostly declined to shake up the roles of his current staff.

When offensive line assistant Darnell Stapleton was hired by the NFL’s Washington Commanders, some fans were intrigued to see how Napier would handle the open on-field spot on offense. Stapleton worked alongside Rob Sale, a long-time offensive line coach who oversees UF’s o-line while also holding the offensive coordinator title.

While some fans were hoping Napier might consider one offensive line coach (Sale) to be enough, the head coach opted to replace Stapleton with another OL assistant.

The only other notable change Napier made to his offensive staff in the offseason was the promotion of tight ends coach Russ Callaway to co-OC. It wasn’t immediately clear what Callaway, who has play-calling experience, would be doing in the co-OC considering Sale holds the OC title and Napier has been Florida’s play-caller.

Though Callaway has additional responsibilities and offensive input, his promotion does not make him the primary play-caller. In a recent interview with Josh Pate of 247Sports, Napier confirmed he will call plays again in 2024.

“I think it goes back to kind of what we talked about in the beginning. There’s no doubt the first two years here, it’s almost like you’re trading a couple years of your life – there’s so much work to do to get things up and running,” Napier told Pate. “You know, we’ve always had confidence in our system, we’ve always been very efficient, and I think the working relationship with Graham (Mertz), in particular with the coach-to-player communication piece this offseason that’s being added, we’ve got a really good system. It’s proven.

“I think we finished the season playing really efficient on offense and putting our team in position to win. So, we have reallocated some of our responsibilities. I think giving Russ Callaway the co-coordinator title, giving him a little bit more ownership throughout the offseason and some of the things that we do in-house. But ultimately, I feel like it’s in the best interest for our team for me to continue to call the plays, right, so, if I didn’t feel that way I would have made a decision to make a change.”

Interestingly, Napier appeared to address a criticism in the final part of his answer. While there have been questions asked if Napier is being overextended as the head coach and the play-caller, Napier said that his focus is in the right place as the team’s play-caller.

“So, I’m excited about the input that we’re getting from the staff and some of the things we’ve done to reorganize, but overall, you know, more focus on the things that matter,” Napier told Pate. “Like I mentioned before, I don’t think the place is under construction, I think it’s built, and I think this is going to allow me an opportunity to focus a little bit more on the things that matter, and play-calling’s a part of that.”

At least one other area still needs more of Napier’s focus

Earlier this offseason, Napier brought in a new special teams staffer. Joe Houston, formerly of the New England Patriots, joined Napier’s staff as a senior analyst.

Houston was brought in to oversee a Florida special teams unit that experienced embarrassing issues. In 2023, the Gators failed to get properly lined up on special teams multiple times. There was also the infamous punt return incident with two players on the field wearing the same number.

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It appears that Houston still has work to do with getting everyone on the field. A photo captured of the spring game stream counts only 10 players lined up to defend against a kick. AP beat writer Mark Long noted it happened on the fifth special teams snap of the game.

Napier’s decision to continue to call plays as head coach while using “analysts” for the roles of QB coach and special teams coordinator and having two on-field OL coaches show that he is committed to doing things his way. After an 11-14 start in two years, there are plenty of questions of whether there will be a Year 4 of doing things the Napier way.

Napier’s management of an offense replacing multiple playmakers will likely be the deciding factor.