Billy Napier: 5 things to know about potential South Carolina football coach
Louisiana head coach Billy Napier is one of several candidates believed to be in the running for the South Carolina football job.
Napier would replace Will Muschamp, who was fired over the weekend. Napier is 41 years old and has ties to South Carolina. He is in his third season leading the Ragin’ Cajuns. Here are five things to know about Napier:
He played college football in SC
Napier was a two-time All-Southern Conference quarterback at Furman, leading the Paladins to the Division I-AA (FCS) national championship game in 2001. During Napier’s senior season in 2002 he passed for 2,475 yards, which was a Furman record at the time. Napier was named a finalist for the Walter Payton Award that season, given annually to the nation’s most outstanding FCS offensive player. Napier still holds the Furman record for the highest completion percentage in a career (.645).
Experience coaching in Palmetto State
Napier got his coaching start at Clemson, working as a grad assistant under Tommy Bowden in 2003 and 2004. He then spent a year at S.C. State under Buddy Pough before returning to Clemson to serve as a full-time assistant.
When Dabo Swinney was hired as Clemson’s head coach in 2009, Napier was promoted to offensive coordinator as a 29-year-old, becoming the youngest OC at the FBS level.
Son of a coach
Napier’s father, Bill Napier, was a longtime high school coach in Georgia. He spent 16 seasons as the head coach at Murray County High, going 94-78-1. Bill Napier died in 2017 after a battle with ALS. He was 60.
Learning from the best
Napier spent time working under the top two coaches in college football in Swinney and Alabama’s Nick Saban. He was Swinney’s offensive coordinator in 2009 and 2010, and was fired after the 2010 season. Clemson’s offense took a step back in 2010 when C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford moved on to the NFL. The Tigers finished 6-7 and Swinney made a change at offensive coordinator, bringing in Chad Morris.
Napier then landed at Alabama, working as an offensive analyst under Saban in 2011. After spending a year as the quarterbacks coach at Colorado State in 2012, Napier returned to Alabama and was the receivers coach under Saban from 2013-16.
Record-setting head coach
Napier got his first head coaching opportunity at Louisiana in 2018 and has already set several school records. The Ragin’ Cajuns won a school-record 11 games in 2019, while also setting records for most points scored in a season (531) and most total yards in a season (6,918). Napier’s Louisiana team was ranked in the top 10 in total offense last year, averaging 494 yards per game. The Ragin’ Cajuns also had a top 10 scoring offense, averaging 37.9 points per game.
No. 24 Louisiana is averaging 31 points and 436 yards per game this season. South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner said he wants an offensive-minded coach, and Napier is a highly-respected offensive mind.
He has a 25-11 record as a head coach — 7-7 his first year at Louisiana, 11-3 in 2019 and 7-1 this season.
This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
