Did Florida coach disrespect Kentucky or did he merely credit UK for what it is doing to win games

Dane Key is one of the high-profile Kentucky freshmen who will play his first SEC game at Florida Saturday night. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Did first-year Florida coach Billy Napier disrespect Kentucky in his weekly press conference this week?

Napier has a weekly media opportunity on Mondays during the season just like Kentucky coach Mark Stoops does — and a lot of other coaches do, too.

Coming off an upset win over Utah, Napier was questioned about the win over the Utes. It was not until the final question that a media member asked him about Kentucky.

Here’s what he said:

“I’ve got a lot of respect for coach Stoops and what he’s been able to do there. The consistency, their improvement as a program to win 10 games last year. I’ve always had a lot of respect for his teams because I think they’re sound. I think they know who they are on offense, defense, and special teams,” Napier said.

Nothing wrong there. Pretty similar to what most coaches would say about any opponent.

“I see a good set of fundamentals in all three phases and they do a good job of evaluating players and they’ve got some height, length, and speed. They’ve got some unique players that maybe weren’t highly-regarded but they’re as good as anybody in the country, so this is a good developmental program that I have nothing but respect for,” Napier said.

Developmental program? Now that caused some concern among UK fans. Kentucky just had a fabulous recruiting class and is recruiting at a high level. But Stoops and Vince Marrow have also prided themselves on finding hidden gems and turning them into star players.

So while some viewed Napier’s remark as a shot at the UK program, others see it as praise for the job Stoops and his staff do developing players.

“You gotta beat Kentucky because they’re going to make you beat them. I think they’re a well-coached team and I got a lot of respect for the intangibles, the effort, the fundamentals; all the things that coaches respect, they do those things,” Napier said.

I think he’s right. Coaches do respect what Stoops is doing at Kentucky and if he can find a way to win again at Florida Saturday, then that respect level is going to go even higher.