Napier using traits he learned from his late father to lead Florida

Florida head coach Billy Napier speaks during an NCAA college football news conference at the Southeastern Conference Media Days, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Florida head coach Billy Napier speaks during an NCAA college football news conference at the Southeastern Conference Media Days, Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

ATLANTA - It was never Billy Napier's goal to become a college football coach. His goal, like that of his two brothers, was to simply follow in the footsteps of his dad - and hero - the late Bill Napier, who coached high school football in northwest Georgia for more than 30 years.

But after a successful playing career at Furman University, the former Murray County quarterback was given an opportunity to work as a graduate assistant at Clemson, just as that program was taking off. Napier parlayed that into a quick rise through the college ranks and eventually being named Florida's head coach last November, which put him squarely in the spotlight of Wednesday's SEC media days, standing at the podium moments after Georgia's national championship winning coach Kirby Smart.

But even while mingling among SEC heavyweights as the league's newest coach, it was clear that Napier's coaching roots trace back to watching his dad lead his own program and will carry those lessons as part of the foundation he hopes to build.

"I grew up about two hours north of here," Napier said in his opening remarks to a large gathering of media inside the College Football Hall of Fame. "When I was growing up, my dad, anytime he would drop us off - whether it was at school, church or maybe baseball practice - he would always ask us what our name was. We had to say our last name. And then he would say, 'Represent.'

"I'm very humbled and honored to be here to represent the University of Florida. We want to create an organization that has a life-changing impact on players. We firmly believe that better people make better football players. Everything we do is to serve the players, position them for success within the game, but also when the game's over one day."

Napier's words were the same ones used by former players in describing his father's career shortly after Bill passed away from ALS - more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease - in 2017.

Napier's father began coaching at Murray County High in 1983 and was a part of all three of the program's 10-win seasons, either as the offensive coordinator or head coach, where he went on to win 94 games and later worked as Dalton High's offensive coordinator until the disease took away that ability.

But it was his relationship with his players and his mentorship even after their playing days had ended that he was best known for.

"I think dad showed that sometimes when adversity strikes, you can choose character or you can choose to compromise, right?" Napier said, his voice cracking with emotion as he discussed the influence his father had on his career. "Dad did an unbelievable job. Every day he chose character. He relied on his foundation, which was his faith. He was a great example to a lot of people.

"Even to this day, it's impacting me and a lot of other people, too."

After a playing career that included leading Furman to back-to-back Southern Conference championships and into the 2001 FCS national title game, Napier was given the opportunity to become a graduate assistant at Clemson, and when Dabo Swinney took over as head coach he asked Napier to help with play-calling duties. The following season, the 29-year old Napier became the youngest coordinator in the nation and his Clemson offense set a school record for points scored.

College football's unrelenting grind caught up with Napier after a disappointing 2010 season and he was let go from the Tigers staff. But in a move that has been repeated by several other assistants, including Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin, Texas' Steve Sarkisian and even Arkansas State's Butch Jones, Napier's career was resuscitated when Alabama head coach Nick Saban called and asked him to join the Alabama staff as an offensive analyst, where he was part of a national championship team in 2011. He would later return to Saban's staff as a position coach, working as part of a second national title team in 2015.

"Coach (Saban) created opportunities for me because of the things that I learned from him," Napier said. "We could sit in here all day and talk about the things you learn along the way. He was good to me in my career. He really helped me in a difficult time there."

With renewed confidence in himself, Napier parlayed his time at Alabama into an opportunity to once again work as a coordinator, where he helped Arizona State to a seven-win season that resulted in his first head coaching offer at Louisiana-Lafayette. After guiding the Ragin' Cajuns to three straight 10-win seasons, including a 12-1 finish last year as well as the program's first outright conference title in 50 years and its highest national ranking ever, Napier rose to the top of the coaching wish list before Florida moved quickly to name him just one week after firing Dan Mullen.

Now Napier's challenge is to become the first Gators coach since Urban Meyer resigned in 2010 to remain with the program for longer than four seasons.

"I love a challenge, and this is a challenge," Napier said. "When you take over an organization, a team, you quickly get to work on what are the issues, what are the problems, coming up with really good solutions. It's one day at a time, it's one person at a time. I think that's the approach we're taking.

"We've got a lot of work to do, but we'll look up at the end and see where we're at."

The ability to analyze a situation, then prioritize the people he wants to be a part of building the program his way is a trait he said he learned from his father, then honed during his time under Saban.

"He trusts in himself, he trusts in his system, he trusts in the players and the staff," said Gators sophomore quarterback Anthony Richardson. "He is a people person and that's what I like about him. He puts people before himself, and I really respect that because I try to do the same thing.

"Family is one of the things he preaches, building bonds and relationships and creating a family, which I think makes things a lot easier. Family is a key thing with Coach Napier."

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis

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