GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Team leaders Jake Slaughter, DJ Lagway and Myles Graham are regulars at Florida press conferences. They usually speak after head coach Billy Napier.

Of course, that routine was upended on Sunday when Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin notified Napier that he was no longer in charge of the program. Stricklin has named veteran receivers coach Billy Gonzales as the interim head coach heading into a bye week followed by the annual showdown against Georgia in Jacksonville on Nov. 1.

On Monday afternoon, Stricklin opened the Gators’ latest press conference to discuss his decision, followed by Gonzales and the players.

They covered a lot of ground Here are notable topics and/or quotes:

— Stricklin said the decision to fire Napier was not easy and he praised Napier for his efforts in three-plus seasons as head coach. “He’s leaving this place in a much better position than he found it,” Stricklin said.

— Stricklin said he will conduct a thorough search for the next head coach and has acquired the services of TurnkeyZRG, a consulting firm born in sports and entertainment. Stricklin said the next hire will ultimately be his decision but that he is using a wide range of resources during the process. “This search is going to be thorough. It’s going to be deliberate. Despite speculation about particular candidates or things that have already been done, we are early in this process, and it will be a very thorough process.”

— The UF athletic director made clear one of the prerequisites for the job: “We want people who can win championships at the University of Florida. That’s going to be our goal. We want somebody who can come in here and be a strong leader and win championships.”

To watch Stricklin’s press conference in its entirety, check out video below:

 

— Meanwhile, Gonzales, who has served as an assistant under three different head coaches at Florida – Urban Meyer, Dan Mullen and Napier – is eager to keep the team together and see what the Gators can accomplish in the final five regular-season games. “For us moving forward, we need to get back to work. The results so far this season have not been up to the Gator standard. I have full trust not only in our student-athletes, but in this staff to make the most of the season. We have a responsibility to do that not only for this program but for our fans. Florida is a destination. This program is one of the premier programs and schools in the country. I’ll do my very best every day to make sure our student-athletes and our staff work tirelessly to meet and uphold our Gator standards.”

— Gonzales said that quarterbacks coach Ryan O’Hara, who works closest with Lagway, will call the plays in a collaborative effort that includes offensive line coach Rob Sale and running backs coach Jabbar Juluke. Offensive coordinator Russ Callaway will head the collaboration and offer input and an array of play-call options. “It’s something I’ve been used to over the years. Coach Sale, Coach Juluke will have a lot of input as far as the run game, what we’re doing to make sure that we’re going to be able to break down and see what the opponents are going to be giving us that we’re going to have an opportunity to hopefully take advantage of. And then obviously in the pass game, you’re going to have Coach Callaway, who is our offensive coordinator, who leads the offensive staff. He does an unbelievable job. He does a fantastic job at leading. He does a fantastic job of making sure that everybody’s on the same page.”

— Gonzales called Meyer on Sunday night to pick his brain about taking over midseason with the Gators 3-4 overall, 2-2 in the SEC. Gonzales played for Meyer and coached under him with the Gators. “I wanted to have a chance to talk to him a little bit about the team concept. One of the unique things he talked about, and we talked about, is you’re walking into a situation where it’s not the perfect situation for you, Billy, but at the same time you want to make sure you’re here for the players. We’ve got a bunch of seniors on this football team. We’ve got a bunch of underclassmen that are fighting and are going to do everything they can to be successful.”

You can check out more from Gonzales below:

 

 Finally, Slaughter, Lagway and Graham showed poise during a moment none of them expected when they signed with the Gators. All three earn professional points by speaking with the media and doing in college what NFL players do regularly should they advance to that point in their careers. Here are three key quotes, one from each:

— “I can identify a lot with our guys in that we were all pretty upset about it. We understand that it’s a production business and it is what it is. It’s about like what Coach G says, playing for the logo. We want to make the logo proud. We want to play for each other in all kinds of weather.” – Slaughter on the reaction and mindset moving forward

— “It’s been hard, for sure. Coach Billy Napier, he recruited me here. I’m forever thankful for him. My family’s forever thankful for him. But at the end of the day, we still got to continue to get better. Me, personally, I got to continue to take each and every day as another day to improve at my craft and I’m excited for the opportunity.” — Lagway on the situation

— “We learned from Coach Napier all the time is how you respond. How do you respond to things? It’s not about what happens to your life, it’s how you respond. So that’s a big deal for us. That’s huge. And just battling through adversity. It’s not our first time, and it won’t be our last, as teammates, as people and just life. So, responding to adversity is what we’re going to do. We’re going to come out stronger.” – Graham on overcoming the unexpected midseason adversity

Here is video of the players at at the press conference:

 

 

 

 

 

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