Exclusive: Four-part series profiling Florida Gators coach Billy Napier

Florida coach Billy Napier sat down with Gators Online for an exclusive one-on-one interview. In the four-part series below, GO profiles Napier with a focus on his #cULture, #jOURney, #UFuture and #UFormula.

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PART I: Napier creates a winning #cULture with famous Bill Walsh quote

GAINESVILLE — As Billy Napier sits back down in the chair, he takes off his reading glasses and sets them next to his still-steaming Starbucks coffee. 

Napier’s desk, like his football program, is organized to a T. It includes some paperwork, books and other reading materials at his fingertips. 

“Man, I read a lot. I spend a lot of time reading,” Napier says. “I just think over time, you learn that everything I know I stole from somebody else.”

Napier followed in the footsteps of his father, Georgia high school football coaching legend Bill Napier, and soaked up the college game for half a decade from the sport’s greatest coach, Nick Saban. 

Napier has drawn from many others in the profession, either by working with them or studying their success. 

“I’m into anyone who’s had success no matter what they do. In particular, someone that’s in your line of work,” Napier says. 

His Twitter account features a host of famous quotes by Muhammad Ali, Bill Belichick, Vince Lombardi, Greg Popovich and John Wooden. Napier dials ’em up like ball plays, but isn’t one-dimensional. 

His feed also includes quotes from Abraham Lincoln, Bill Gates and even Mother Teresa. 

“I’m always looking for ways to get a little bit better and ways to help people,” Napier says. “You get put in these leadership positions and you realize that you gotta have a vision, you gotta have a message. 

“You gotta have material ready. You’re trying to shape the mindset of a group, and I think that oftentimes using other resources to reinforce your messages helps.”

Napier’s favorite quote

Since becoming a head coach, there’s one quote Napier has used the most to reinforce his message. He tweeted it four separate times at Louisiana, pinning it to his profile. 

It’s a quote by Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh, who won three Super Bowls with the 49ers and devised the West Coast offense. 

“The culture precedes positive results. Champions behave like champions before they’re champions; they have a winning standard of performance before they are winners.”

Napier shared the quote in the spring and summer of 2018 as he prepared for his first season as a head coach. He led Louisiana to a 7-7 record that fall following three straight losing seasons. 

After the Ragin’ Cajuns won the Sun Belt West title on Nov. 24, 2018, Napier once again tweeted Walsh’s quote that night. Not so much to celebrate the championship, but his #cULture. 

“I like to think it’s a little bit of a reminder that we’re in the game for a little bit more than just winning, if that makes sense. I think we’ve got a lot more to teach than just how to block and tackle and throw and catch,” Napier says of Walsh’s quote. 

“We want to teach a set of values as being part of the program. We want to challenge the staff to model what we would expect from the players. That’s not just on the players, but the organization as a whole. I think Bill Walsh is notorious for that part.” 

A culture of success

In Walsh’s book, The Score Takes Care of Itself, he shares his philosophy on leadership and secrets to success with San Francisco. Walsh’s first order of business was establishing what he called a Standard of Performance.

The catalyst was his culture. 

– Your first job as a new coach should be to create a culture of success.

– Creating, communicating, implementing, and sustaining the right team culture is the key catalyst to lasting success.

– Instilling the right culture almost always takes time. 

“I had never wavered in my dedication to installing — teaching — those actions and attitudes I believed would create a great team, a superior organization. I knew that if I achieved that, the score would take care of itself,” Walsh writes. 

“When you know that your peers — others in the organization — demand and expect a lot out of you and you, in turn, out of them, that’s when the sky’s the limit.” 

The Ragin’ Cajuns improved to 11 victories in 2019 and clinched their second straight division title before winning the 2020 Sun Belt Conference Co-Championship, finishing the year ranked No. 15 in the AP Top-25. 

As Louisiana started spring practice in 2021, Walsh’s quote made its first appearance on Napier’s Twitter account in more than two years. With the program reaching new heights, it was time to remind everyone what brought them there.

“Just trying to create a working environment for the people in our organization with high expectations and a certain standard relative to professionalism and treating people the right way, a certain attention to detail and urgency,” Napier says. 

“But also, a pace to life that is respectable, if that makes sense. I think it’s important that the players understand that it’s not only how you perform but how you behave, how you live life. We want to have the type of place where they’re doing both well.”

The #cULture Napier created in Lafayette culminated with an outright Sun Belt championship, an unblemished conference record (8-0) and a 12-game winning streak in 2021, all firsts for the program. Napier took Louisiana to unprecedented success with a 40-12 record in four years after coaching on multiple title teams at Alabama, making him the No. 1 target for Florida athletics director Scott Stricklin. 

Stricklin wasn’t just looking for a championship-caliber coach, but one whose culture fostered consistent and sustained success. A day after hiring Napier, Stricklin liked this tweet from author Kevin DeShazo.

“A reminder: If I’m hiring a coach, I hire a culture builder. Every coach will know the game but can they connect, communicate a clear vision, hire/recruit/develop people well? It’s about more than X’s and O’s. Their success will hinge on their leadership and culture.”

After beating Appalachian State 24-16 in his final game at Louisiana to win the Sun Belt, Napier boarded a private jet the following morning to be introduced by Stricklin to Gator Nation. 

Less than 10 minutes after taking off from Lafayette for Gainesville, Napier fired off his first tweet as Florida’s head coach 40,000 feet above ground. It’s been pinned to his profile ever since.

“The culture precedes positive results. Champions behave like champions before they’re champions; they have a winning standard of performance before they are winners.” – Bill Walsh#GoGators | @GatorsFB pic.twitter.com/h2aGSybr0v

— COACH BILLY NAPIER (@coach_bnapier) December 5, 2021

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PART II: Billy Napier trying to put the puzzle together on new #jOURney with Gators

Billy Napier smiles and begins to reminisce, letting out a “hmm” when he hears the quote. 

It’s one of his, from long before he landed one of the top jobs in college football.

“That’s a,” Napier says, tapping on his desk twice with his pen, “back in the day quote there.” 

Napier used to say it when he was younger, with an ambition to coach like his father. He wanted to have his own team, but not just that. 

“I would always say, ‘I want to be a head coach before I’m 40.’” 

That became a reality for Napier when he was hired at 38 years old by Louisiana, becoming one of the youngest head coaches in the FBS at the time. Despite his age, Napier had been around the block. 

At 29, he was the youngest coordinator in the nation and in Clemson history. By 32, he became an assistant head coach at Colorado State (more on that later) and then rejoined Nick Saban’s staff.

Napier learned “The Process” from Saban and took that blueprint to Louisiana. It’s an eight-phase football calendar — modeled after Saban’s at Alabama — that Napier calls “The Journey.” 

Napier implemented his detailed plan four times in Lafayette, having more success with each year.

“The Group of 5 head coaching experience was priceless,” Napier says. “Just having a chance to apply all you learned, make some mistakes, adjust the sales at times. We went through some really unique things there. I mean, you had a lot of stuff. Certainly 2020 was a challenge.”

Napier did his homework on UF

Napier, 42, faces a whole new set of challenges at Florida, which suffered its second losing record in five years last fall. The Gators haven’t won a national championship or conference title game in 14 years, with an 0-4 record in Atlanta since 2009. 

Napier is UF’s fourth coach in nine years, and the youngest since Will Muschamp at 39. 

“I think age is a number,” Napier says. “It’s one thing to have knowledge. I think it’s another thing to have wisdom. So, the application of things we have learned is probably the most important part. 

“And heck, I would like to say I still consider myself young. A long way to go and a lot to learn.” 

Napier brought that attitude to Gainesville, where he’s made an effort to educate himself on every facet of Florida football. In addition to making hires and recruiting, Napier did his homework on the program — and problems — he inherited. 

He sought out opinions of the current players first, before embarking on his next #jOURney with them. 

“You’re never going to fool them,” Napier says. “There’s a fine line there, relative to 17- to 22-year-olds and their perspective, their vantage point. That’s important.” 

Napier also reached out to former players to seek their feedback and get them more involved, including Heisman Trophy winners Tim Tebow and Danny Wuerffel. Tebow narrated Florida’s hype video for signing day, while Wuerffel spent two days with the team. 

Napier contacted former UF coaches and staff members as well, especially from championship teams, to pick their brains about the program.

“Talking to people that were here when it was on fire. People that were here when it was being done at its very best,” Napier says. “You get in front of each one of those people and ask questions, listen. What are the challenges? What are the things that have been done well here? What are things that can be done better?” 

Napier met with Steve Spurrier, Urban Meyer

Of the 27 Florida head coaches before him, only two have won national championships. Steve Spurrier led the Gators to their first title in 1996, followed by Urban Meyer in 2006 and 2008. 

Napier has met with both Meyer and Spurrier since taking the job, receiving a visit from Meyer in his office and spending time with the HBC and UF ambassador on several occasions. 

“For me, heck, I’m still a little starstruck when I see Coach Spurrier. I’m that age,” Napier says. “When you got a legend walking around the building, what a great resource, right? Just listening to him about the dynamic in recruiting, and he helps us with those efforts. Listening to him about the coaching aspect on the field.

“He was a visionary offensively relative to what was working at the time and how he made them more difficult to defend and prepare for. And then just a general pride of the place, right? You’re talking about someone who really cares about the University of Florida. And he’s done things at places that had never been done before, both here and at South Carolina. So, just a very accomplished person, and having him as a resource is unique and a blessing.” 

Another resource for Napier has been former Florida coach Jim McElwain. 

They first worked together at Alabama in 2011 when McElwain was offensive coordinator and Napier served as an offensive analyst. McElwain didn’t know Napier “from Adam’s house cat” when he started, but took the young coach under his wing that year before hiring him on his Colorado State staff as quarterbacks coach and assistant head coach. 

At Florida, McElwain became the first coach in league history to reach the SEC Championship in his first two years as a head coach. However, following a 3-4 record to start the 2017 season, his tenure ended after 34 games — the shortest for a non-interim UF coach in more than 80 years. 

“There’s some things we can learn from Coach Mac in terms of his experience here,” Napier says. “Mac’s always been a great mentor to me. I worked with him for a year and for him for another year. Always a guy that I can call and bounce ideas off of.

“I think the big thing is there’s no question the guy’s got insight into what worked. What did you do right? What would you do differently? He’ll continue to be a guy that we have conversations with.” 

Putting the puzzle together

In speaking with Spurrier, Meyer and McElwain, the previous staff, ex-assistant coaches such as Chris Rumph and the current and former players, Napier says he has a long list of things to correct at UF. 

It’s a daunting task, one that two Saban disciples failed to fix.

“There’s always a little bit of history there to uncover. That’s what I love to do, is really try to put the puzzle together,” Napier says. “It’s been done before, it can be done again. 

“This is a place that has a ton of potential. It’s very capable. How do we get this engine running again? That’s part of the challenge. That’s the fun part.”

What’s No. 1 on Napier’s long list?

He felt the player experience and their day-to-day lives needed to improve. Napier addressed some of the issues immediately, from providing parking on campus to serving three meals a day in the Gator Room. 

He created a better schedule, structure and support system for the players, with more than 60 full-time staff members and a phase-by-phase plan for the offseason. 

“You’re really trying to establish trust with the players and build strong communication. That’s where it starts, with the human element,” Napier says. “When they see that you have a plan, when they see that you have an authentic care for them, they know you have their best interests at heart.” 

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PART III: Florida investing in Billy Napier’s #UFuture with bigger budget, ‘all-star’ staff

Billy Napier is mid-sentence when there’s a knock on his office door at 7:25 a.m. 

It’s a member of his army, bringing him paperwork for the 7:45 staff meeting every morning. Florida coaches, analysts and recruiting staffers begin filing into the building as Napier prepares to address the group. 

He announced over 50 staff hires in less than two months, with more still to come. 

“As a leader, the most important thing you do is hire really good people,” Napier says. “So to me, we’ve been given the resources to do that and I feel really confident in the group we’ve assembled. It’s an all-star team.”

After doing his homework on the Florida football program, Napier felt the biggest area that needed improvement was the player experience. He provided them with more amenities and resources, but a bigger support system as well. 

Napier has gone all out in announcing his hires, too. Most head coaches normally just name their 10 assistants, strength coach and director of player personnel. 

Not Napier. In what might have been the most publicized staff announcements in college football history, he went out of his way to send a message to his players, most importantly, as well as everyone in his organization. 

Each one of Napier’s 50-plus hires had a graphic made and their own moment to be publicly recognized for their role. That was deliberate and intentional. Other programs, presumably, took notice as well.

“I think we want to send a message that we mean business,” Napier says. “The goal here is to do it better than it’s ever done before. That’s the objective. We’re committed to the player experience. We have a plan for the entire organization. 

“I think we want to make sure everyone understands that there is a commitment to infrastructure. We also have made a commitment to facilities. These are the things I think are most critical relative to sustaining success.” 

Investing in the #UFuture

Florida athletics director Scott Stricklin agrees, which is why he was willing to invest in Napier’s needs from a recruiting and staffing standpoint. 

Napier received a salary pool of $7,500,000 annually for 10 full-time assistant football coaches. He also has a salary pool of $5,000,000 annually for other football support staff members, such as recruiting personnel. 

During the interview process with Stricklin, Napier presented a detailed plan on the pieces of his puzzle, how they fit together and why that’s going to matter. It was at that moment, Stricklin says, when he decided to loosen the purse strings.

“It’s kind of like when someone comes to you and asks you to invest in a company. You’re willing to do it when there’s a really good plan, a really good business model. And Billy has a vision for what that needs to look like. I was excited about his plan. I thought it made a lot of sense,” Stricklin says. “He gives such a compelling reason to why these things are going to help make the Gators better. … When someone can explain why they need resources, it makes it really easy to want to invest in that. 

“But really, he presented why certain things were needed in his mind to build a structure. And a lot of it — I had done some studying of what he had done at ULL. He had basically built a Power Five program at a Group of Five school. He had just done it being very resourceful with his resources there. I was anxious to hear that and to learn about that. He does a really good job of talking about the structure, the layers of personnel, what the roles will be, why that’s important, how that helps and what the end result is going to be.” 

Former Florida coach Dan Mullen had 37 off-field staff members last year including Paul Silvestri, five strength coaches led by Nick Savage and three additional UAA members in the football video department. 

Billy Napier’s growing army

With his most recent hires, Napier now has 54 off-field staff members including Silvestri, six strength coaches led by Mark Hocke and five additional UAA staffers in the football video department. 

That number also includes creative media, executive assistant Nancy Scarborough, compliance coordinator Shawnee Sellers and Diane Lebon, who has been promoted to football business manager and GatorMade coordinator. 

The GatorMade program was launched by Napier in January after he hired senior director Savannah Bailey away from Clemson. It’s a holistic player-focused and purpose-driven initiative that develops the football players during their time at UF and beyond.

Napier, who vowed to hire an unprecedented army, eventually envisions a 140-member staff including interns. 

All will have two objectives: make an impact and be the difference. 

“Those terms are the two that we talk about all the time. They’re at the top of the pyramid,” Napier says. “We want to create an environment here where every role is appreciated. And everyone understands that they make an impact. These very small things you do, if you’re taking pride in your role, that may be the difference at a critical moment. 

“And ultimately, we want to have an organization here where we very well may be the difference in a player’s life. Our goal here is to equip the players. We’re trying to create habits that will help them in all parts of their lives as people, as students, as football players. I think that’s the way you change your future and you create a better future for yourself.” 

It’s the #UFuture that Stricklin is banking on. 

“The great thing about his plan is, to him, it’s all about the people. It’s about making the players better,” Stricklin says. “Identifying the right players, evaluating the right players, having the right staff, evaluating the right staff, putting the structure and support around all those people to make them as successful as possible. That’s something that is easy to get behind and something that I was excited about when he explained it to me.”

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PART IV: Play-calling duties part of Billy Napier’s #UFormula to win championships

Billy Napier is surrounded by championships in his office.  

His five rings from Alabama are inside of a cube behind his desk, and Florida’s three national title trophies sit to his right. Ultimately, Napier will be judged on whether he can add to that collection. 

He has laid the foundation for his UF program in the first two months, assembling his staff, signing his first recruiting class and establishing his culture with the first two phases of his year-round plan. 

Once the Gators start spring ball, phase three, Napier will begin installing his #UFormula to win. 

One of the key ingredients? His play-calling on offense. 

He first had the opportunity to call plays at South Carolina State in 2005 before becoming the youngest coordinator in the nation and in Clemson history at 29. 

He became an OC again in 2017 with Arizona State, which propelled him to his first head coaching gig. Napier called plays for the past four years at Louisiana. 

“To be honest, it’s what I love to do. It’s one of my favorite parts of the job,” Napier says. “And there’s a few reasons why I believe in doing that.” 

Napier revealed one of those reasons Dec. 5 at his introductory press conference. 

He will coach the quarterbacks in addition to dialing up plays, which he thinks gives the Gators an advantage because it allows them to have two offensive line coaches in Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton. 

Napier puts a premium on the line of scrimmage. 

“Eventually, those parts of your team are going to be critical. If you want to have a championship team, I think history would indicate that you have to be really good on the line of scrimmage, on both sides. To be good on one side, you gotta be good on the other,” Napier says. “And you have to have a year-round plan for development and a practice environment and a structure that allows you to do that.” 

Napier’s game week practice schedule is as follows: Redzone and Goldzone (Sunday and Monday), Short Yardage and 3rd Downs (Tuesday and Wednesday), Landmark, Fringe and Opening Script (Thursday), Walkthrough (Friday) and Gameday (Saturday). 

That structure, which stems from his time in Tuscaloosa, is critical to Napier’s game-planning and the development of not just the offensive players, but his entire team. 

“There’s so much that goes into getting ready for game day. You learn going forward as a head coach that as a play caller and kind of constructing and designing the offense, you can affect the identity and nature of your team,” Napier says. “So, the physicality and the teaching that goes with that, how you implement your entire year-round plan to not only get your offense ready to compete at a high level, but also prepare your defense. 

“Football is very much a developmental game, so you gotta have an environment where you’re working together. There’s a gentleman’s agreement in terms of installation, scripting, practice environment, in terms of what we’re trying to do, and I think that’s another reason why I believe in doing that.” 

Billy Napier’s play-calling resume

In his first season as Clemson’s OC, the 2009 Tigers scored a school-record 436 points, collected 54 touchdowns (third-most in school history) and averaged 5.73 yards per play (fourth best).

In Napier’s lone season at Arizona State, the Sun Devils ranked No. 37 nationally in total offense, 23rd in third-down conversions and in the top 10 in red-zone offense (No. 5) and penalties (No. 7). 

Two years later, Napier’s produced one of the best offensive units in the country at Louisiana. The Ragin’ Cajuns finished 2019 ranked No. 6 in rushing offense (257.4 yards per game), No. 8 in total offense (494.1 YPG), No. 10 in scoring offense (37.9 PPG) and No. 11 in third-down conversions (47.6%). 

“We tried to play complimentary football at Louisiana. It wasn’t one part of our team that people had to worry about. We were really good in all three phases. We work hard at all three and I think I can affect all three by running the offense,” Napier says. “Being able to rush the ball, but more importantly being able to play good rush defense, I think those are two components that are big. 

“And then you gotta have really efficient quarterback play, you gotta take care of the ball and you gotta play really well in the critical situations relative to the down and distance, the field zones and the clock. So, having a certain situational part of what you do. And then I think fundamentally, those are some of the more important areas if you’re going to win a championship.” 

Despite being a former quarterback who now coaches the position and has worked with wide receivers and tight ends, Napier isn’t a pass-heavy play caller with an Air-Raid philosophy. 

He wants the trademark of his offense — and his team — to be its physicality. For Napier, that starts in the trenches and between the tackles. 

But make no mistake, he will air it out and take shots. 

“Don’t get me wrong, there’s going to be days where we gotta throw it for 350,” Napier says. “And there will be some days where it’s pouring down out there and we gotta rush it for 350. Whatever the case may be, with the conditions and the makeup of this league, you gotta be able to do everything. So, we preach balance, we preach having the flexibility to do both and win games both ways.

“But, we’ve got a formula. We got a certain way we do it. We’ll get into that more when we get to the football component. But we’re going to be aggressive. We will attack by scheme. We’re going to be a tough three-day prep for the opponent. We gotta get in position to win and then we have to finish. So, we pair all those things together on both sides of the ball, that’s kind of our formula for winning games.”

Napier got the itch to call plays again when he was assistant coach at Alabama. He now gets that opportunity in the SEC against the likes of Nick Saban, Kirby Smart and Mark Stoops. 

As a competitor, you’re seeking out these opportunities. You want to go against the best and certainly we’ll play in the SEC, so we’ll get that opportunity,” Napier says. “I love the competition.”