Georgia players with Florida ties provide a different perspective on rivalry, Billy Napier

ATHENS — Georgia defensive lineman Jordan Hall used to clean his house in order to go on recruiting visits to Florida.

“I love Florida to death,” Hall said. “I was there almost every weekend when it came to recruitment. Like, I asked my mom if I could go on a recruitment visit, and I cleaned up the house so she couldn’t tell me no.”

Chauncey Bowens felt similarly to Hall on his visits to Florida. So much so that he actually committed to play for Billy Napier at Florida.

But Bowens ultimately flipped to Georgia, while Hall — a Jacksonville native — felt a different level of camaraderie with Georgia’s program compared to that of Florida. It’s why they’re both playing for Kirby Smart, instead of the interim Billy Gonzales, who has now replaced Billy Napier.

“I still love Coach Napier to this day, and everybody on the recruiting staff — Miss Katie (Turner), one of my favorites,” Hall said. “So, I mean, there’s a lot of things about Florida I love, just that when it came to Georgia I always felt like I was one of the guys on the team.”

It’s no surprise that players on Georgia’s team hold a fondness for Napier and the Florida operation. There was plenty of overlap between the two programs, given how similar Napier and Kirby Smart are in terms of how they operate.

Georgia has nine scholarship players on its roster from the state of Florida. The Gators, conversely, have 14 players from the Peach State. The most notable is leading rusher Jadan Baugh, from Decatur, Georgia.

“He’s a tremendous talent,” Smart said of Baugh this week. “Met him in ninth grade. He worked, doubled as a safety and played a lot of DB early in his career and just kept getting better and better and better. Played some linebacker and then kept playing safety. His senior year, he had a great year at running back, and really played well, carried their team and some really electric runs. He’s carried that over in his time at Florida. Really good back

Napier and Smart both worked with Nick Saban and Alabama, bringing a similar approach to both schools. But Smart was able to find success in ways Napier never did. Napier lost 23 games in his four seasons at Florida.

Smart has lost just 20 games over the course of his 10 years in Athens.

Napier’s record against Georgia didn’t help. The Gators went 0-3 against the Bulldogs under Napier. All three losses came by double digits.

While some may have been sad to see Napier go because of how Florida had fallen behind Georgia, Bowens, Hall and Smart all offered sincere responses when speaking about the Florida coach.

“I like Billy a lot,” Smart said. “I think Billy is very intelligent, very well-organized. His attention to detail is at a really high level. He’s a guy that thinks things out really well. I think they’ve recruited well and done a good job. I hate it in this profession. We all know what we sign up for, and Billy understands that.”

Even with that sentiment, those on the Georgia side of the rivalry are glad they’re supporting the Red and Black this weekend in Jacksonville.

Georgia is the better team, in part because Smart was able to sway Bowens — Georgia’s leading rusher this season — to flip his commitment from the Gators.

“I know the weight this game has and obviously I was committed to them at a point in time, but I know what side I picked,” Bowens said. “And obviously I love the decision I made, so I’m looking forward to it.”