Billy Napier asked for patience at his introductory press conference, and then doubled down on the request later in the week when he met with the media for the second time. To wit:

“I think the important part here is that we don’t get consumed with the stars, 4-star, 5-star. I think it’s going to be more about evaluation. We’re going to go through a very thorough evaluation process.”

It was an odd quote, especially for a coach who just replaced a guy that refused to answer recruiting questions during the season and recruited like he might have refused to recruit during the offseason, too.

But look deeper, and Napier was saying: “Let us be meticulous about our process.”

The ask, which probably could have been explained a bit better, was straightforward but hardly simple: Gators fans, give me time, Napier was saying. I want to do my own evaluations. They won’t always be about stars, but we will go recruit the best guys.

For a guy who proclaimed “Scared money don’t make money,” this made sense.

Why rely on the evaluations of a failed staff?

Further, if you are going to preach process, like your mentor Nick Saban and your former colleague Kirby Smart, the current recruiting gold standards in the sport, do, why compromise in a transition class?

His guys. That’s what Napier was after.

That’s why, even as various high profile players decommitted over Napier’s first 2 weeks on the job and Gator Nation grew a little nervous, Napier stuck to his plan.

He began hiring the “army” of recruiting personnel and analysts he and Scott Stricklin promised the day he was hired. That army, it should be noted, included longtime LSU defensive backs coach and recruiting ace Corey Raymond, who has helped ink the likes of Derek Stingley Jr., Grant Delpit, Jamal Adams, Kristian Fulton, JaCoby Stevens, Cordale Flott and Kayshon Boutte, among others, in his LSU coaching career.

While Gator nation worried about a rumor that Napier wasn’t calling all of Florida’s commits under Mullen (SDS’ conversations with those inside Florida’s program suggested there was no merit to the claim), Napier was visiting IMG, the famed Florida high school football factory that produces elite talent every season and a place where, for whatever reason, Dan Mullen was met with a frosty reception his entire tenure.

Napier knew that building long-term, healthy relationships with IMG’s coaching staff would pay dividends much greater than anything he’d be able to collect from a transition recruiting class he began to assemble 2 weeks prior to Early Signing Day.

The visit paid off immediately.

Florida landed one of the bigger surprises of Early Signing Day when Napier inked the signature of 5-star safety Kamari Wilson of IMG. Ranked the No. 2 safety in the country, Wilson, who grew up in Fort Pierce, Florida, before moving across the state to play for IMG as a junior, chose Florida over Kirby Smart and Georgia.

In an interview with 247Sports ahead of his decision, Wilson, long considered a Georgia lean, cited Florida’s IMG staff visit, the hire of Corey Raymond, and conversations with Napier’s co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney as reasons he felt comfortable reconsidering Florida.

Before Florida fans get carried away with one big signing, let’s be clear about one thing.

Napier winning one recruiting battle with Georgia doesn’t change the fact that even without Wilson, Smart and Georgia signed one of the greatest secondary recruiting classes in the history of the sport Wednesday afternoon. Wilson choosing Florida over Georgia won’t strike fear into the hearts of Dawgs fans, nor should it. The talent gap, and the scoreboard (Georgia 34, Florida 7), won’t change anytime soon.

But from a purely Florida perspective, signing Wilson is a massive statement of intent from Napier.

First, it’s a victory at a place where Florida has been shut out in the most miserable way for several years. Wilson becomes the first IMG star to sign with the Gators since the school became a national program in 2014. That’s 7 years and 3 coaching staffs full of Gators who couldn’t break the door down at a place that has sent its stars to Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson with regularity. To be successful at Florida, Napier had to sign IMG kids. Wilson shows he can.

Second, while many IMG kids, like former No. 1 prospect and Georgia signee Nolan Smith out of Savannah, come from out of state, Wilson was an in-state kid who decided to stay home and play for the state’s flagship university. To be successful at Florida, Napier has to slow the talent drain from inside the state of Florida. He has to work relentlessly to keep as many elite kids home as he can. Earning the trust — and signature — of a 5-star prospect from in-state in his first 2 weeks on the job is a great sign Napier understands that reality.

Process is rarely about “the other guy.” Kirby Smart is right: if you aren’t recruiting, someone else is. That much is true. But Nick Saban is right, too (and Smart would agree) — that you have to recruit and sign the players who best fit your program. You better evaluate. You better land the big recruit and the diamond in the rough. Sometimes that means you ink a 3-star like Mac Jones or Ladd McConkey. Other times that means you raid South Florida for Amari Cooper, James Cook, Patrick Surtain II, Tyson Campbell or Jerry Jeudy.

If you want to win, you better evaluate. And if you are Florida, you better protect your border as well as you can.

By signing Wilson, Napier showed a nervy fan base he understands he needs to do both.

That’s a heck of a start.