Watching his basketball counterpart cut down the nets at the Alamodome was a moment of euphoria Billy Napier wouldn’t mind experiencing himself in January.”There’s a little something different in the air right now in Gainesville,” Napier said, referring to his team as a “special group.””This group believes in what we do. I think that’s where we really took a big step in the right direction last year is we found a level of confidence that we could go toe to toe with any team in the country any place, anytime.”Napier said there’s in-house evidence the developmental process is working in overdrive. The Gators will be asked to present evidence he’s right with a gauntlet of a schedule that includes this six-game stretch: Sept. 13, at LSU, Sept. 20 at Miami, Oct. 4 vs. Texas, Oct. 11 at Texas A&M, Oct. 18 vs. Mississippi State and Nov. 1 vs. Georgia.The Gators are counting on quarterback DJ Lagway to lift the offense after a breakout 2024 season.”Just the competitor on game day is really unique. I think his ability to block out all the external factors and really get consumed with leading the team, playing winning football, executing,” Napier said of what makes Lagway a winner. “And we’ve built around the guy. There’s no question. Players want to play with DJ. We’ve built his class around that and certainly some of these guys that are in the rookie group were a part of that as well.”Outside expectations are higher for Florida, but not many are starting their SEC Championship winner projections with Napier’s crew given the proven contender status of some of teams standing in the way. Napier’s coaching life cycle in Gainesville has advanced rapidly, even if not always in the direction he would like.As Todd Golden and the Gators’ basketball team were starting the 2024-25 regular season in November as fringe contenders, Napier was being spared his job by athletic director Scott Stricklin.