SEC Media Days: Billy Napier Details Florida's Unique Approach To Preparing For The Altitude At University Of Utah

NASHVILLE — Billy Napier is 1-0 against the University of Utah as the head football coach at the University of Florida. The Gators hosted the Utes in Gainesville last season and mounted an impressive comeback to begin his first year with a win.

Now, in year two, Napier and Florida are tasked with repeating their performance from a season prior. And they will have to do so on the road.

First and foremost, playing Utah is no easy task. Even though the Gators defended their house in 2022, the Utes are returning most of their defense and Cam Rising will be back under center.

Pulling out a win against the reigning Pac-12 champions is one thing. Pulling out a win against Kyle Whittingham's program in their own stadium is another.

It's a road environment, so not only will Napier's team be playing against the 11 heads lined up on the other side of the ball, it will be competing against a crowd of 51,444. Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City also poses another interesting challenge— altitude.

The home of Utah football sits at an elevation of 4,637 feet above sea level. That is more than 4,400 feet higher than the stadium in Gainesville, which is no small difference.

Billy Napier says that Florida is prepared.

The Gators will open its season in the Beehive State on August 31. Plans for that trip have been in the works for awhile and he already has some experience playing at Rice-Eccles.

You know, one of the things, we've got a unique schedule this year, and that starts with a Thursday night opener at Utah, and it's a challenging place to play. I spent a year in the Pac-12. I was at Arizona State. We actually went there to play. So have a little bit of a feel for what that's going to be like.
But we've got a ton of respect for their program, the brand of football that they play. It's less about where we're playing and more about their brand of football. So there's no question, they are one of the more established and successful programs in the country.

As for the altitude, Napier spoke Wednesday at SEC Media Days about how his team has been preparing for their trip out West. He kept all of the details close to his chest, but said that his program has worked closely with NFL organizations that often travel to Denver.

You know, I do think we spent a lot of time with our performance team in the off-season researching the altitude. We've done a lot of work with NFL teams and go through that process consistently. We've got a good plan.
All of that is already mapped out and ready to go. It's going to be a great challenge and one that we look forward to.

It's not often that an SEC program plays at a school like Utah. The altitude is not something that coaches have to think about in the southeast, so Napier making a point to get his team ready for the thin air is super unique!