Let’s talk about Napier’s downside

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Fired by Dabo

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11 years ago

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Passed over for OC by Saban 3 different times

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Who was hired instead of him?

Why did Saban hire him, Twice?

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New Iberia haircut.

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Not a negative, baw.

Napier was the OC at Arizona State. He called the plays.

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Recently-hired assistant head coach/offensive line/run game coordinator Josh Henson will serve as co-offensive coordinator, with Napier being the lead coordinator.

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Fired by Dabo

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Dabo got rid of all of the holdovers and wanted to create his own staff from scratch.

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"I am very happy for Billy," says Swinney. "He will be a great fit at Arizona State. Billy was the youngest offensive coordinator in the country when he had that position here in 2009. We won our first Atlantic Division title that year and set records for offensive production. What we accomplished this year got its start with that team in 2009 and I am indebted to Billy for the work he put in for our program. Billy has always been a terrific recruiter and a tireless worker. He grew up around the game. He was our recruiting coordinator when I became head coach and many of the players we brought in during that time set a standard for this program. He has gained valuable experience at Alabama and I know he is ready for this opportunity."

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Saban hired Tucker 3 times

Who would you rather of those two?

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I’d be happy with either

Your post is about Napier, let’s discuss Napier

Why did Saban hire him twice?

Who was hired as OC over Napier?

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Let’s talk about Napier’s downside

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I guess it is better than talking about his backside. He does have sort of a shovel arse.

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Fired by Dabo

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Yes- this does bother me. One one hand his QB was Kyle Parker (no, never heard of him? I had to look him up too). On the other hand, that's not a good excuse because Parker was the QB for a good 2009 season (Napier's first year as OC) and he was also the QB coach for 2 years prior.

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Passed over for OC by Saban 3 different times

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This has to be taken into context. Saban was determined to transition his offense at this time and brought in the people to do it. He's very specific about his coaches. And he may have wanted Napier where he was for continuity. Worth noting you don't make the changes they did offensively without changing your WR play too. It was key for Brady for us, it was key for Napier at Bama. I'm not sure I see this as a negative all things considered. A positive? Maybe not that either. Has to be a neutral.

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History is LITTERED with coaches who lit up tG5 then fell flat on their face in the big time.

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Very true. Very very true. But....

A) why?
I'm convinced it's recruiting primarily. Considering Napier was Clemson's RC and later was a key piece of Saban's recruiting, I don't think this carries over for Napier.

b) What made the exceptions different?
First of all, who the hell are the exceptions? I'm struggling here. Malzahn? I suppose. He had a good run in the P5 ranks. He didn't leave after 2 years in disgrace, so yeah... let's consider him. He didn't go straight from a G5 HC to a P5 HC, he had that coordinator tenure. I'm still struggling with this one.

c) What's so different between G5 peer competition and P5 competition that G5 coaches struggle with?
- speed, everywhere
- there are more weaknesses to spot and then exploit at the G5 level. At the P5 level it's hard to find somebody to pick on.
- All three phases. Mistakes are forgiven less at the P5 level. You can't ONLY just have a good offense at the P5 level. And that's where "running a program" comes in.

d) What is the number 1 mistake these G5 HC's are making in the P5 arena?
I've seen this often if you look closely and it is so obvious to me- they are dead set in bring "their guys" along with them for the ride. None of them are ready to handle it. And it compounds all of the above for the HC. Take Chad Morris for example- his OL coach and several others came to Arky with him from SMU. When Morris personally struggled, there was no backstop. Where Morris had holes, they were not equipped to plug those holes.

So that leaves us with the idea of does Napier have the experience to overcome those pitfalls (or any other G5 coach available)?

1-4 vs ranked opponents

Only 1 stop as a HC

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I've seen this often if you look closely and it is so obvious to me- they are dead set in bring "their guys" along with them for the ride. None of them are ready to handle it. And it compounds all of the above for the HC. Take Chad Morris for example- his OL coach and several others came to Arky with him from SMU. When Morris personally struggled, there was no backstop. Where Morris had holes, they were not equipped to plug those holes.

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A coach has to bring his guys in there. That's part of their staff evaluation. What is the alternative, they hire guys that they've never worked with previously? A coach's "guys" is a part of the package deal.

I don't think it's about being ready for it, but whether they can adapt or not. Can't really know that until they're in it, you trust that the HC knows how to select a staff.

One huge advantage is that Napier has access to that Bama network of coaches, so he's not stuck with his current crew, he presumably knows a lot of guys that have had success coaching at multiple big-time CFB programs.

If he was as good as promoted, he should have at least a conference title win against his peers. Fickell, Urban, Petersen killed their peers.

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A lot more questions than answers with that guy. Talk about rolling the dice, hiring Napier would be big time rolling the dice.

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Scared money don't make money

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If he was as good as promoted, he should have at least a conference title win against his peers. Fickell, Urban, Petersen killed their peers.

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But he did last season

Covid Carolina pussed out of championship game because 1 assistant coach got covid and they were trying to sneak into NY6