Billy Napier Florida Gators patience year 2 - ESPN

«Execute, play with class and sportsmanship, but when we get them between the pines, they're ours.»

The bronze plaque mounted on the green, wooden frame stands watch over Murray High School in Chatsworth, Georgia, day and night. The face that stares out from above those words isn't smiling, but it isn't frowning, either. It's all business. It looks focused. Like it's already working through the next offensive playcall in the midst of a methodical 14-play, 82-yard scoring drive. Probably an inside zone run behind the right tackle.

It is not the flashiest quote. No one is going to confuse it with Vince Lombardi. But it is deliberate, designed to get straight to the point. A plan, a process and an end goal, with a little motivational pop to boot, all executed in only 16 words. Ridiculously efficient. Zero energy or time wasted. It is attributed to the man behind that intent bronze face: «Coach Bill Napier… Most Wins By A Coach In School History.»

This is where the DNA strand begins, the one that leads us 415 miles south and into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Where the oldest of Bill's four kids stands watch over another football field. The Swamp. When Billy Napier talks football, he uses the word «fundamentals» at least once per sentence. When he talks about offensive football, his specialty, the former Furman and two-time All-Southern Conference quarterback dissertates on protecting the ball and maintaining a solid run/pass balance. When he talks about his haircut, a buzz job that looks like he might do it himself with some clippers over a sink in the Florida Gators locker room, he explains the beauty of its simplicity: «I have more important things to worry about than my hair.»

He certainly does.

Like making people forget