Rob Sale discusses his offensive philosophy, OC role with Billy Napier
Rob Sale and Billy Napier started speaking the same language a dozen years ago.
They first worked together in 2011, learning the lingo as offensive analysts at Alabama. They reunited six years later when Napier became Arizona State’s offensive coordinator and hired Sale as his offensive line coach and running game coordinator.
It was in Tempe where they developed their scheme, with Napier calling the plays and Sale helping coordinate the offense. The Sun Devils finished the 2017 season 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).
That success propelled Napier to the head coaching job at Louisiana, where he brought Sale with him as his offensive coordinator. During their three years together in Lafayette, they got more efficient at operating their system with each season.
“You don’t have a lot of wasted time,” Sale said of running the offense with Napier. “You don’t have to sit there and shut the door and say, ‘We’re putting in these eight concepts.’ We can just send a text or I can just look at the install and say, ‘Alright we’ve got this today.’
“We can walk past in the hall and say, ‘We’ve got this, they’re doing this’ and it’s, ‘Alright, I got ya boss.’ We can be efficient in other areas. We’ve just been speaking the same language for so long and living on the same page as well.”
When it comes to offensive coaching and game-planning, Napier isn’t just involved in the play-calling. Sale said Napier is part of the evaluation process for every position, including offensive line.
“Me and Coach Napier think the same way when it comes to evaluation and evaluating at all positions,” Sale said. “He has the ultimate say so being the head coach. Coach Napier is very good at evaluating the offensive line.
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“I can’t sit here and say I took all the credit for the guys at UL. He knows what they look like and what they’re supposed to be. How they’re supposed to be wired. He does a great job of evaluating, I think, all positions.”
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Rob Sale’s offensive philosophy
Napier and Sale produced one of the best offensive units in the country in 2019. Louisiana 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 percent).
After spending last season with the New York Giants, Sale — a former Georgia assistant — is back in the SEC as Napier’s offensive coordinator and O-line coach at Florida.
What will Sale’s offensive identity and philosophy be with the Gators?
“It will be similar to UL,” he said. “There will be some things we’ll probably look at. Always trying to look at other concepts to get better. But we want to put pressure on the defense and make them play the whole field.
“If we need to throw the ball 60 times a game we will. If we need to run the ball to win the game, we will. It’s a multiple offense, where we can change the tempos and make the defense get lined up. We can play at different speeds.”
