This Is... The Swamp | Do The Work

SEC Media Day what's up everybody heading off to Media day can't wait go Gators go Gat G fired up can't wait it'll be fun season's right around the corner uh go Gators we're ready to rock media day SEC media day feel good look good smell good go gator know where the Dallas immedia did go Gat [Music] us welcome to Wednesday afternoon afteron at SEC football media days welcome to the podium the University of Florida head football coach Billy nap here right good afternoon had a great flight over this morning um really looking forward to the day you know it's that time of the year again you got okay you got the king you don't got FEA King I kept it simple look at his head we what you doing a simple guy simple guy I don't need a feather car you know I like team and I I believe in our team and when people ask me why it's about experience it's about production you know we got 463 starts on this team I think that when you said it people look at the schedule and they say this the hardest schedule in the country and I think that you got to you got to look at his opportunity every team is a work in progress I want to emphasize the word work this group is about the work Lo is very exciting uh you know with this upcoming schedule I feel like the guys are using using it as as motivation and looking at it as toil opportunities to improve ourselves to the to the nation and we we just kind of emphasize finish uh finish execution there's an old saying right it's not about the size of the gator in the fight but it's about the size of the fight in the gator we've been hard at work going all the way back to the beginning of this off season developing the fight a mentality the intangibles of our team our core values the Integrity the togetherness the discipline the effort and toughness of the team if we can do these things consistently we'll develop a high level belief this group is hard at work developing the fight and the mentality this team has purpose and that's why I believe in this team [Music] Equipment Staff/Practice all right so we have a 105 format practice today it is a little different so pay attention here we'll start out at 155 going to OD walk James and lucal spot skill walk Nick a big walk Ryan and rubine on boards for skill walk do we know what we need for defense probably the same thing usual okay halfway through ball security tackle circuit we will switch to skill teach after that we'll go to Tempo James and Luke will spot that in the ref shirts Nick s and slim will be the two man Cher over there like yesterday Anthony on defense boards JB shagen Ben on the play clock Justin on the cut off switch all right inside run Preston Jake blumarten Josh and Jaden you guys be over there that's enough people correct yes sir all right is everybody good there all right let's get everything set up let's have a day [Music] hey you laid the foundation the table set all right stay Square on the step on the hand dog got to stay Square let's Go's go all let's go get drop drop drop that's it good your head break that gra head CH nice good good get loose wo [Music] [Music] go [Music] [Music] Billy Donovan & Speakers I think the speakers coming in was you know very inspirational uh giving us little dimes and things to you know write down jot down and just take into consideration it's definitely a positive uh you know we bring in positive speakers each and every year just having that motivational you know that extra push that extra fire you know to put inside your soul to go in and and be great this season I'm really really honored to be here what I've tried to do throughout my time I've always been really really passionate about what really goes into winning like what does it take to win at the highest level you guys are at the University of Florida so Talent is not an issue okay you guys are some of the most talented football players in the entire country and clearly you guys play in the best football conference in America it's the most highly competitive football environment in all of sports and in college sports that is why I would go to games all the time because I wanted to see competition at the highest level well University of Florida is really really special to me um you obviously being here for 19 years uh I always enjoy coming back to Gainesville and to Florida the number one thing I did when we when we ended up winning back-to-back national champion what are the things that really the best teams that I've been around had and what did the teams that weren't so great what didn't they have you guys have to love each other there has to be a deep love for each other I think as you're starting to build out as training camp starts you're moving towards a really really tough schedule um you know there's going to be adversity there's going to be challenges there's going to be difficulties I think it's how well players can can bond with one another if I'm going to say to you guys 20 years from now hey tell me about what happened on Saturday afternoon on December whatever date you guys are not going to remember what happened on a day 20 years ago but if I said hey tell me about your teammate so tell me about your teammate you'll be able to talk about your teammate pretty openly and honestly okay and here's what I would tell you as you guys share this room as you guys share a jersey it can't be just sharing a jersey in a locker room can't be that you got to start to think about what are my teammates going to tell their kids what are my teammates going to tell their grandkids about what it was like to play with me that's your legacy your legacy is your relationship with each other they can really build the relationships the close relationships because when adversity hits and it's going to hit hits every team you got to be able to have those kind of relationships and that bond to kind of work through those things together and this is the time I think for the football team to really start to establish those relationships and those bonds as they go through training camp so you can have all the experience you want but if you're not connected as a group and have each other's backs it doesn't make a difference what you have that's what the great teams have mean all the speakers they did a fantastic job and the cool thing about it was like almost all of them said one thing that was very similar and it kind of fit the mold for for what our team needed at that exact what does that mean you got to experience good times together you got to have fun together you got to connect together the best way to spell love is t i m what's the best way to spell love you got to spend time together you can't convince you could tell me you love B you could tell me you love being in the swamp you could tell me you love your family but if you ain't spending Tim it's just talk bro if you don't live it you don't believe it and I think that especially during Camp uh you can get into the mode where it's a lot of ball it's a lot of meetings a lot of just your mind cranking on football and it's almost like a reset for you mentally to refocus reenter and and know what our vision is and how we're going to get there and I think that all of them did an absolute amazing job and and the guys loved it understand it's a blessing to play this game it's a privilege to play it at the University of Florida I've always thought character to be when what you do what you say and how you live your life becomes one when what you do what you say and how you live your life becomes one when you're going through that grind um I understand it and you try to give them maybe a perspective or a mindset that you need to have while you're going through it as a teammate as a competitor try to help one another if you can't find the Gratitude in this to being in the position that you are having the opportunity to be in this in in this facility to have an opportunity to play in these games you're missing out because the most egregious thing that any of us could accept letting someone else tell us our narrative someone that doesn't know us someone that's not been invested in us that's never deposited into your life what kind of teammate are you what kind of competitor are you what kind of sacrifice you going to make and those are really the things I think that that make a difference inside the the team and its makeup and is it constantly continues to involve through the course of the season and you guys are got to think about do you guys have that mentality you've got put the work and the investment into it for each other you don't have a choice if you want to win guys I appreciate it I wish you guys nothing but the best this [Applause] [Music] Justus Boone year not really there go oh yeah I'm ready now I'm all the way ready [Music] now hey let go let go get nothing man the dream come true uh a dream coming back to life um man it's just everything to be back out there with my boys man I've been through a little phase of uh just being able to watch them work and watch them grind and uh it's a blessing to be a part of the grind and be a part of the work really unspeakable how excited I am to be back I love every second of it every meeting every every uh extra hour every other minute that we go over practice I love every second of it cuz can just uh remember the times that I wasn't able to do any of [Applause] it if you watch me for 24 hours you're going to see somebody working uh being precise and being intentional with every every minute every second of the day uh every Lift Every workout every practice I'm intentional I'm I'm I'm getting to it oh no the H on the hop on the Hub on the Hop uh Man U honestly when it it happened it didn't necessarily like hurt like I didn't feel any pain it just was a a feeling of emptiness um I just uh went to celebrate out the normal normal little sacking practice and I went to jump and celebrate and I came down and I landed in the wrong direction and um it didn't hurt but it felt funny so I fell to the ground with ever and I just looked down at my KNE and I was like feeling around seeing whether like I could see anything with my visual eyes that was wrong with it I was like no but I know I felt something weird so then when I uh I went to go stand up and I fell straight back down and uh that just kind of like kind of broke my heart we knew right away on the field that it was a you know torn ACL you know and then even um at that moment you know you get him back to the facility to do a further evaluation on them and you know I I've always been straight up and honest with the guys and what my opinion is I told him at that time obviously we still got to get an MRI but I I told him at that time that he probably tore his ACL only thing I could really do is uh break out in tears at that moment just because uh everything just came to my mind about what I want to do and uh how I wanted to represent my team and what we was trying to accomplish and I just saw it all just uh slowly being taken away from me just times that I felt like part of me died just because I'm I'm a hard-nosed guy man I don't I don't really get injured and if I do man you're not going to see me go down because of it so it was just definitely a rough spot in my uh rough spot in my life that uh that I definitely had to elevate through he was devastated um you know those that's the hard part for us is to deliver that kind of level of news I love football and I love the game so much and I uh my reason my why for doing it is just so big and so strong to me that like I honestly felt like as if I fail my family is my wife man I just want to be able to do everything for them and I just want to be able to pay pay my mom back and pay my family back for all the times that they had to go above and beyond for me just so I could uh be in my position and I just uh want to repay all that back I mean he was you know constantly in there um working his butt off um you know handling everything we threw at him you know putting in extra work um you know above and beyond what the just the Baseline requirements that we set forth you know with our protocols and he's one of those ones that was you know really pushing us and challenging us and and that that's the fun part is when we get challenged and we get pushed it makes it makes it a you know a great environment and great uh rehab speaks about you know the type of person he is you know and and we talked about it you know every day you know that that rehab process every day is not going to be a good day um you got to remember your ultimate goal I want to be back I want to be 100% go again hey man like coach said like we stretching the me being out here in this stadium is special man real special so I mean you give everything you got hey defense you already know what time it is we going home with a d i do what y do hey buj ready buj ready buj ready bu Jack T ready x b u yeah anytime the game is taken away from you um and you're not able to be out there I always tell guys the game slows down for okay good finish K get back get back okay there go some hands you don't get away with just I'm I'm the biggest I'm the fastest I'm the strongest guy out there um so you go back to your Technique and you also you you study what the opponent's doing time Oh Come here boy I see all screams we compete on three one two three compete the whole training staff I can't even lie it's hard to put in the words how excited and how grateful I am to be back and uh all thanks to those guys Bo boom Boom D boom is a guy that wears his emotions on his sleeve um a lot like myself when I play um so I'm excited man you know and you know I think it's leadership it's passion that's that's the biggest thing and showing the younger guys showing the team whether it's offense defense special team um bringing that passion to the game every Saturday um I think it's going to be exciting for everybody what's up big guy how you doing big guy doing all right he he's definitely a guy when he speaks other guys listen and guys follow his lead I mean he's a great leader and a great example got I finish got to finish get out I'm extremely proud of his work ethic uh extremely proud uh and honored that he trusts us when you have that trust um you know I'm very appreciative of that from from our athletes and and uh couldn't couldn't be prouder of him he's just a he's just a great young man Caleb Banks how are we doing today brother we see you over here hey can we get some more ice over here I see you man honestly every day I wake up in gville Florida man I'm living my dream bro I come from a place where you small dreams man um I can honestly say that being here in this University and uh with this opportunity man it's a it's a blessing uh as far as for me and my team wise man we've been working non-stop since January man we we all bought in and we all came together and discuss what we wanted and how we wanted things to play out from the beginning of the year and we've done nothing but work and put our heads down and work work work and uh and our and the results of our work and results of um our hardship is definitely definitely showing and I and I believe that we're going to be a whole different team that's never been seen before and we just we going to do our thing now we ready Team Yoga and now go ahead and exhale all of your air inhale fill up uh we did it for the past few years it's a off day and you know you able to relax and stretch and and things like that it's good for stretching invited one more inhale here um it helps the team you know Keeps Us loose and being able to have that off day and then go back to it the next day and then the Center in out I feel a lot more loose and I know that everybody else that what the whole team could say that you know they feel much looser and able to you know move better team yoga uh especially during Camp you get into the mode where you're going going going it's practice it's meetings it's film it's practice it's meetings it's film so it's it's a nice little [Music] break inhale filli up exhale Let It Go they they did this new thing where it was like a sound bath and I know the guys absolutely loved it especially for just for your mental like being able to have that off day you're still watching film you're still getting a lift um but that those 45 minutes of yoga it's a chance for you to almost kind of reset um physically and [Music] Team Snack mentally it gives us a little time you know in between means to to go grab a bowl you know add your your top end to it and you know kind of enjoy that follow follow hey P P talk me to your bowl oh no this pre-made bro all right two out of 10 you didn't make it this what you got on there so you feel me we got the chocolate chip me then we got some honey on top we got coconut flakes yeah coconut flakes and there we got some blueberry and we got some strawberri 10 10 out of 10 Aaron child out of 10 alien alien y yeah you know I kind of judge judge a couple guys pretty tough but you know that's all love just get better add the blueberries right yeah then you got to add the strawberries next chocolate chips as well y'all probably don't see them okay then you got to add them I don't see them we judging balls right now H that over the top and then finish it up with some H that's a little a little too much let me see your bowl walk me through your bowl walk me through it yeah what you got on there they got some uh granola some blueberries and some strawberries yeah that bowl makes you strong it's pre-made don't judge me I got granola coconut blueberries strawberries about to put some honey on there too talk me through it got the best part choc chocolate chips got some strawberries about to put some honey on it okay tell me when M tell me when M tell me when when when when that's it check that everybody B mine's the best go gators come on let him come on let's do it Finn Finn Graham Mertz Mic'd Up nogin dude dude Finn Noggin Finn Noggin Finn Noggin dude pull pull the pin set the tone I need stra yeah team's gotten a lot closer and I think that's the cool part about summer um every summer that I've been on a team in college that's when the team gets really close [Music] great Pro great Pro great Pro great Pro I think it comes from really really knowing each other knowing why everybody's doing this at a personal level why they want to play football um and yeah I think I saw it translate to the field the first week of Camp there you go badge there you go badge good route badge high five is for everybody Blake good to see you again that's a low five actually me high hit me low and I think that's going through all the summer whether it's OTAs or player Le um meetings workouts stuff like that it really forces the players to get close and hold each other accountable and you see it trans to the field like I said in Camp um when the pads are on climb got him good catch BT good ball DJ good catch BT keep going [Applause] B this team um this team's different you know and I I think that all parts of the organization that touch the players day in day out sense that you know I think in every part of life um we've seen growth and Improvement and for the the first time um I think at the player level we have credible leadership and we've got a group that has taken complete ownership of their process going all the way back to January and when you when you have that sense of urgency the entire offseason when when you get to the game you're prepared you're ready and you know what to expect because you put in the work ahead of time and I think that this going to be a group that we love each other we trust each other and we're not going to let each other down First Team Meeting [Music] you know we know what goes on in this building we know the work that we put in day in and day out so just buying in and staying locked then together like I said we know the work that we put in day in and day out so at the end of the day it's always going to you know show on Saturdays belief comes from experience and I think this team has both of those the game of football I think there is a certain mentality uh that comes with that if you want to have a great football team if you want to be a great individual competitor uh it's a mindset it's a mentality it's an attitude and I think that's a daily approach we we put in the the work since January you know and now it's time to show it and it's time to pay off so so I just told some of the guys now I'm I'm I'm tired of hitting y'all I'm I'm ready to hit somebody else so uh you know just just coming out in a swamp uh come Saturday I mean I'm excited I'm excited to hit somebody else besides my teammates I mean I I got my brothers back they got mine I I think that's where you find true confidence as a team uh where you don't want to let your family down this is my family I'm not going to I'm not going to let anybody down 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