Alabama has lost a third offensive assistant since capturing its 26th Southeastern Conference football championship in early December.
Receivers coach Billy Napier, the former Murray County High School and Furman University quarterback, left the Crimson Tide this past weekend to become the new offensive coordinator at Arizona State. Napier replaces Chip Lindsey, who left the Sun Devils for the same role at Auburn nine days ago.
Napier was Alabama’s receivers coach the past four seasons, working his first two years with Amari Cooper and the last two with Calvin Ridley. Cooper became Alabama’s first Biletnikoff Award winner in 2014 after amassing a league-record 124 receptions for a school-record 1,727 yards, while Cooper set a Crimson Tide freshman record in 2015 with 89 catches for 1,045 yards.
The Crimson Tide had more than 450 yards of total offense in each of their first eight games this past season but were not nearly as consistent down the stretch, though the defenses of LSU, Auburn, Florida, Washington and Clemson did rank among the top 10 nationally in fewest points allowed.
Offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin was named Florida Atlantic’s head coach on Dec. 13, and Alabama head coach Nick Saban tabbed offensive analyst Steve Sarkisian as Kiffin’s successor four days later. Offensive tackles and tight ends coach Mario Cristobal left to become Oregon’s co-offensive coordinator on Jan. 13, and Saban named offensive analyst Mike Locksley to the full-time staff three days after that.