BOL Round Table

Ouch, hate to lose Groh.

BILLY NAPIER
11th season in coaching | First at FSU

Billy Napier at a glance...

Hired by Jimbo Fisher 1/15/2013
Last name pronounced NAPE-ee-er
Was a four-year letterwinner as quarterback at Furman (1999-02), earning two conference championships and two all-conference selections. As a junior, Furman finished as the national runner-up, and during his senior season, was team captain and set several school record records that still stand today. He was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, given to the nation's most outstanding offensive player.
Spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Clemson, including 2003, when the Tigers won nine games, including the Peach Bowl against Tennessee.
Worked as the quarterbacks coach at South Carolina State in 2005, helping the Bulldogs to the fourth-best turnover margin in the country, as the team committed just 11 turnovers, compared to 33 in 2004. S.C. State went 9-2 in Napier's one season, ranking 12th in the nation in rushing, 15th in passing efficiency and 17th in scoring. He was offered the offensive coordinator position after the season, but instead was hired as an assistant at Clemson.
Spent five seasons (2006-10) in Death Valley, serving a variety of offensive duties, including offensive coordinator from 2009-10.
As a tight ends coach in 2006, helped the Tigers to lead the ACC in total offense, rushing offense and scoring offense.
Is known by his peers as a top recruiter. Served as Clemson's recruiting coordinator from 2006-08, and signing several future All-Americans. Clemson's 2008 signing class ranked No. 2 in the nation by ESPN.com, and was ranked in the top-25 by Rivals.com in two of Napier's three seasons as coordinator.
Became Clemson's youngest ever coordinator, taking over the offense in 2009, at age 29.
In his first year as offensive coordinator, guided a Clemson offense that scored 436 points, most in school history. The Tigers, winners of the 2009 ACC Atlantic Division, scored 54 touchdowns in 2009 (third-most in school history) and averaged 5.73 yards per play (fourth).
In his five full seasons with Clemson, the Tigers went to a bowl game each year and finished in the top-25 twice.
Hired by Alabama as the offensive quality control assistant, worked under McElwain and head coach Nick Saban for the 2011 national champions.
Spent one season as the quarterbacks coach for Jim McElwain at Colorado State in 2012.

Personnel file

Age on Sept. 1, 2012: 32
Hometown: Chatsworth, Ga.
High school: Murray County (Ga.)
College: Furman (B.A. health & exercise science '03)
Family: Wife Ali

Prominent players coached

RB C.J. Spiller (2006-09), one of the most prolific All-Americans in Clemson history; 2009 offensive player of the year; currently plays for the Buffalo Bills.
WR Jacoby Ford (2006-09), OG Thomas Austin (2006-09), OT Chris Hairston (2007-10), RB Jamie Harper (2008-10) and TE Michael Palmer (2006-08), all Clemson players who play or have played in the NFL.
Kyle Parker, Clemson QB under Napier who earned 2009 Freshman All-America status.
Dwayne Allen (2009-10), 2011 John Mackey Award winner, as the nation's best tight end.
OL Johnny Culbreath, a unanimous All-American and NFL draft pick by the Detroit Lions.

Playing career:QB at Furman, 1999-02

After nine seasons as an assistant coach and a playing career in the south, Billy Napier heads west to begin his first season as an assistant coach at CSU. He was officially hired to the Rams' staff on Jan. 11, 2012.

Napier, 32, who spent this past season on the Alabama staff, will have some sort of role on the offensive side of the ball at CSU. With the defensing BCS national champions, Napier was the offensive quality control assistant. The Tide ranked 16th in scoring offense, 30th in total offense and 17th in rushing offense in 2011.

Prior to Alabama, Napier spent seven of the last eight years at Clemson.

During Napier's final two seasons at Clemson, he earned an elevated position as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. At the age of 29, he became the youngest coordinator in Clemson history. He may have been young, but in no way was he inexperienced. In his first season as Clemson's OC (2009), the Tigers scored a school-record 436 points. Additionally, Clemson scored 54 touchdowns (third-most in school annals), averaged 5.73 yards per play (fourth-best) and finished the year as the ACC Atlantic Division champions. Quarterback Kyle Parker was named a Freshman All-American, and six players Napier coached from 2009-10 went on to careers in the NFL.

From 2006-08, the assistant coach split his time as the team's recruiting coordinator. In those three seasons, he compiled two top-25 recruiting classes, according to Rivals.com, and in 2008, his class was tabbed as the second-best in the nation by ESPN.com. Known to his peers as a top recruiter, Napier has signed several players that went on to the NFL, including Kavell Conner, Crezdon Butler and Marcus Gilchrist. Fourteen players from Clemson's 2011 two-deep were signed by Napier, including five who earned all-ACC honors.

Napier was the tight ends coach at Clemson for two seasons, helping lead the Tigers to two bowl games and a prolific offense. The 2007 season featured a 9-4 record and the ACC's highest scoring offense. In his first year back with Clemson, 2006, Napier worked primarily with the Tigers' tight ends, but was also responsible for the punt team, and assisted in several special-teams capacities. The Tigers led the ACC in total offense, rushing and scoring offense in 2006, advancing to the Music City Bowl. Clemson averaged 410.9 yards per game, in addition to 32.7 points, more than doubling its opponents totals. Tight end Hunter Thomas started all 11 games for the Tigers, averaging 19.1 yards per reception, and Michael Palmer, who Napier coached for three seasons, went on to the NFL. Also working with the special teams, he helped to develop one of the most talented players in Clemson history, C.J. Spiller.

In 2005, Napier spent one season as the quarterbacks coach at South Carolina State. The Bulldogs finished the year 9-2, and ranked among the nation's best in several offensive categories, including: rushing (12th), passing efficiency (15th) and scoring offense (17th). S.C. State also had the country's fourth-best turnover margin, committing just 11 turnovers, roughly one-third of the total from the previous season (32). Napier developed Cleve McCoy, S.C. State's first-year quarterback, and molded him into the MEAC Player of the Year. He also recruited OT Johnny Culbreath, who became a unanimous All-America selection, and was drafted by the Detroit Lions. Napier was offered the position of offensive coordinator after the 2005 season, but declined, instead taking over as the tight ends coach at Clemson.

Napier began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Clemson, from 2003-04. In 2003, the new coach worked with video coordinating. The Tigers won nine games, including the Peach Bowl against Tennessee. The following season, Napier was the on-field graduate assistant on defense, and off the field, got his first experience with recruiting.

As a player, Napier was a four-year letterwinner and two-time all-Southern Conference selection as the starting quarterback at Furman. The Paladins won two conference championships and in 2001, Napier's junior year, advanced to the Division I-AA national championship, where they lost to Montana, 13-6.

The gunslinger completed 64.8 percent of his career passes, which still stands as a school record. As the team captain during a record-setting senior season, Napier recorded 2,475 passing yards, also a Furman record, and was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the nation's most outstanding offensive player.

He earned his bachelor's degree in health & exercise science from Furman in 2002.

Born July 21, 1979, in Cookeville, Tenn., Napier grew up in Chatsworth, Ga., and graduated from Murray County High School in 1998. His father, Bill, and two brothers, Matt and Kurt, are high-school coaches in Georgia. Napier is married to the former Ali Gunn. The couple is expecting its first child this summer.

A lot of that has to do with him coaching WR's while we had the best QB in our recent history. No doubt he's done a good job though.