SEC Unfiltered: Unconcerned about 'rat poison,' Billy Napier is not a Nick Saban clone

Welcome to SEC Unfiltered, the USA TODAY NETWORK's newsletter on SEC sports. Look for this newsletter in your inbox every Monday through Friday. Today, SEC columnist Blake Toppmeyer takes over:

The thing about working for a legend is, whatever you do from there forward always will be seen as a byproduct of working for that legend.

It took a national championship for Kirby Smart to break loose of Nick Saban's shadow, and even now, you'll hear that Smart won using Saban's blueprint. It's a fair take, and a point I've made myself.

Prepare for those Saban comparisons as Billy Napier gets rolling at Florida, too.

To be sure, working as an assistant for Saban influenced Napier, and some of Napier's moves at Florida, such as building a behemoth support staff, are straight from the Saban playbook.

But reducing Napier to a mini-Saban oversimplifies the man. For instance, Napier takes detailed handwritten notes that he keeps in binders so that he can consult them years later.

He attributes that habit to his dad, Bill, a longtime Georgia high school coach.

“My dad was a very detailed guy, and he was a handwritten guy," Napier told me in 2021 during an in-depth interview while he was Louisiana's coach. "... I got all these young guys in meetings and they’ve got their iPad out and they’re writing on the screen. We do it with pen and paper.”

When I asked Napier about how working for Saban influenced him, he didn't deny it, but he also said he's learned from working under Oliver "Buddy" Pough at South Carolina State, Jim McElwain at Colorado State and Todd Graham at Arizona State.

Napier, during that interview at UL, estimated that about 65-70% of his approach to running a program came from working for Saban at Alabama.

All of that is to say I'm not surprised Napier did not imitate his former boss and go into a "rat poison" rant when given the opportunity after the Gators (1-0) earned a No. 12 ranking in the AP poll following an upset of Utah in the opener.

Instead, Napier welcomed the ranking but added it is irrelevant this time of year.

“I think obviously people watch us play and develop an opinion about your team, which is a positive," Napier said Wednesday on the SEC teleconference. "But, in reality, it means nothing. … It’s not where you start, but where you finish. I know that’s coach-speak, but that’s where it is.”

Voters in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA coaches poll weren't as generous in their ranking of the Gators. Based on that poll, No. 19 Florida will host No. 20 Kentucky (1-0) on Saturday. Napier is focused on how Florida will contain Kentucky quarterback Will Levis, whom Napier described as “one of the best … in the entire nation."

Naturally, Napier was asked about Saban at SEC Media Days, and he spoke of the effect that working for Alabama's coach had on him.

"He's created opportunities for me because of the things that I learned from him," Napier said. "Admire Coach's consistency. He was unbelievable in his approach."

He also spoke of Bill Napier's influence.

"My dad, anytime he would drop us off," Napier said, "whether it was at elementary school, middle school, to the church, maybe practice for baseball, whatever the case may be, he would always ask us what our name was, right? We had to say our last name. And then he would say, 'Represent.'"

In Week 1, Napier's Gators represented themselves well. That's not rat poison.

Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or access exclusive columns via the SEC Unfiltered newsletter. 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Billy Napier not worried about 'rat poison.' He's not a Nick Saban clone