Brian Kelly talks impressions of Billy Napier at Florida: ‘He’s at this level because he’s earned it’

Brian Kelly and LSU will face off against Billy Napier and Florida on Saturday in Gainesville.

Napier, of course, coached in the Bayou State for several years, turning a successful stint at Louisiana into his current post as the head coach of the Gators. After a 7-7 record in 2018, he went 33-5 over his next 3 seasons in Lafayette, including a 22-2 mark in the Sun Belt from 2019-2021 and back-to-back conference titles in his final 2 seasons.

While Kelly and Napier’s paths haven’t crossed in the past, Kelly sees a little bit of himself in Napier’s journey to becoming an SEC head coach.

“I know the climb. Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati. You have to do more with less and he did a great job. He’s at this level because he’s earned it. He’ll do great at Florida,” he said during his Thursday press conference.

More Kelly on Napier: We have the same challenges. We're trying to rebuild our rosters. We run into each other recruiting. That's probably where we'll see each other a lot over the next few years. #LSU

— Scott Rabalais (@RabalaisAdv) October 13, 2022

LSU will hope to shake off a blowout loss at home against Tennessee and right the ship on the road against the Gators at Florida field. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Saturday on ESPN.

Sydney Hunte

Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.