Billy Napier will call plays even as more coaches shed responsibility
Former Florida Gators head coach Steve Spurrier once said if they give you a head coaching job because of how well you called plays, you shouldn’t give up that responsibility. Billy Napier‘s playcalling and program building got him the Florida Gators job. He’s not ready to relinquish that responsibility yet.
“I think it’s a relevant question. I do think it’s part of the evaluation to some degree. But I feel confident in our process,” Napier said to local media on Wednesday. “We’ve done it before. I do think some of the growing pains that come with year one, I went through some of those things much like some of of our other staff and some of our players did. I’m very hopeful we’ll continue to improve. I’ll benefit from year two just as much as any player or any staff member.”
This week has been somewhat dominated by questions to head coaches who are giving up their gameday playcalling duties. Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz Auburn coach Hugh Freeze, Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin are all offensive coaches who intend to give up play-calling this season. There’s a sense of controlling your offense and controlling your team, which, in turn, controls your job security. But can it spread you too thin?
Napier admitted on the SEC Now set that year one was a challenge. He was hired in December, weeks before the first signing period. You have to think of your family, moving your wife and kids to a new state and new schools. You have to find and hire a staff, build relationships with recruits, and get them to sign with your school. The process is new to your entire football staff. That’s not to mention the players that are dealing with a new coach. It was a lot on his plate and, perhaps, he was spread too thin in year one.
“There’s a lot less on my plate this year, I can tell you that,” Napier said on SEC Now.
Other coaches explain the reasoning behind delegating playcalling
Like Napier, calling plays got Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz his job. Giving up the play-calling duties wasn’t easy for Drinkwitz. Tuesday at SEC Media Days, he revealed his reasoning behind the decision.
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“Yeah, I think you have to step back and you know, I think you got to embrace your role and put the team first,” Drinkwitz said. “You know, my nature was I really loved the offensive side of the ball, I loved calling plays, I think I was really good at it.”
Hugh Freeze was once thought of as one of the great offensive minds in college football. This year, his first back in the SEC since 2016, he won’t call plays for the Auburn Tigers.
“I think once upon a time I was probably one of the better play callers in college football. Obviously, better players make you a better play caller,” Freeze said with a bit of truthful hubris on Day 2 of SEC Media Days.
“I don’t know that I was the greatest play-caller or one of the best play-callers the last few years at Liberty. I managed the game really well and gave our kids a chance to obviously win some huge games, and we were really good on defense, and I kind of played to that.”
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