A special teams mat became a symbol of the Billy Napier era at Florida: organized but ultimately ineffective. However, under Jon Sumrall, the Gators are trying to rebuild the culture at Gainesville. A part of that involves burying some old traditions. According to the Gators’ new special teams coordinator, Johnathan Galante, the game-day operation isn’t just for Saturday.
“It starts from the top down. And we’ve got a system to handle all those,” Johnathan Galante said, per 247 Sports. “Game-day operations don’t just happen on game day. You’ve got to practice it. It’s rehearsed. It’s something we start even in the special teams meeting. So organization and communication—it can’t be different on Saturday than it is during the week. So, it’s a process.”
Under Billy Napier, the Gators’ special teams made some impressive plays. However, his tenure was also marked by some nonsensical mistakes. In one instance against Utah in the 2023 season, Florida was penalized for having two players on the field with the same jersey number. And then there were penalties because Florida had either too many or too few players on the field. Napier, to his credit, hired Joe Houston to work with Chris Couch before the 2024 season…