Billy Napier reveals how impactful his time at Alabama has been to his career

Florida made quick work of its coaching search, hiring Billy Napier to lead the Gators less than two weeks after firing Dan Mullen.

Napier comes to Florida with an intriguing resume. His most recent stop was at Louisiana, where he had a successful four-year stint as the head coach. In 2018, Napier took over a Louisiana program that had not eclipsed six wins since 2014, and he turned the Ragin’ Cajuns into a top-25 program with apparent ease. Following a 7-7 campaign in his first year, Louisiana amassed two 11-win seasons and a 10-win finish. The Ragin’ Cajuns finished 2020 as the No. 15 team in the AP top 25, and they will finish in the top 25 once again this year.

But prior to his time at Louisiana, Napier served at a number of top-ranked schools, including Alabama. He had two stints under Saban with the Crimson Tide, the first being a one-year tenure as an offensive analyst in 2011, then a four-year stint as Alabama’s wide receivers coach between 2013-16. Napier said his time with Alabama was one of the most rewarding times of his career.

“First of all, it was a unique time in my career. I was certain I was in a very humble place,” Napier said in his introductory press conference Sunday. “I’m thankful for Coach Saban giving me that opportunity. There’s no question — I’d been in college football for 10 years at that point, and that one year I think I learned more than in the previous 10, if that makes sense.”

First year was all about learning from the best

Not only was Napier able to learn from Saban at Alabama, but he also coached the Crimson Tide to immense success, including a 2015 national title.

“I didn’t have a ton of responsibility, so I was able to observe all of the different areas of that organization and how they worked,” Napier said of his first stint, a time in which he served as an analyst. “And then, having been a part of going to Colorado State, coming back to Alabama (for a second stint, this time as wide receivers coach), I think my experiences at Arizona State were beneficial. And then, really, the most impactful thing was going to the University of Louisiana and trying to do that on a smaller scale with less resources, and putting your name on it, your spin on it, your brand on it.

“I’m excited about applying those things I learned here.”

The ‘Process’ paid off at Louisiana

Applying Alabama’s “Process” at Louisiana seemed to have worked for Napier, as he managed to turn the Ragin’ Cajuns into a Sun Belt Powerhouse and land the Florida job. In the past four seasons, Napier coached Louisiana to a 39-12 overall record. He was announced the Sun Belt Coach of the Year after the 2019 season, leading the Ragin’ Cajuns to a program-best 11 wins.

Saban, Napier’s former boss, sang high praise for the newest Florida coach as well. He said that Napier did a great job in his short time with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

“Billy did an outstanding job for us. He was a very good coach. He was a great recruiter,” Saban said. “He had great relationships with the players. He was a good teacher on the field. Hard worker, great character, good personality, very, very good family. I mean, there’s nothing bad that I could think of to say about Billy Napier in terms of what he did here.”