ATLANTA — Billy Napier’s late father Bill taught him many lessons, including how to represent himself and his family.
“I grew up about two hours north of here,” Napier said inside the College Football Hall of Fame for SEC Media Days on Wednesday. “When I was growing up, my dad, anytime he would drop us off, whether it was at elementary school, middle school, to the church, maybe practice for a baseball, whatever the case may be, he would always ask us what our name was, right? We had to say our last name. And then he would say, Represent.”
“Well, today is a great day,” Napier added. “Very humbled and honored to be here to represent the University of Florida, and all the Gators throughout the entire world, all across this great country that we live in.”
The former Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns head coach took the stage at SEC Media Days for the first time. For Napier, his coaching journey has taken him through many stops along the way, but there was never a doubt that it would end up back in the SEC.
“It’s exciting to be a part of this league,” Napier added. “I’ve been fortunate in my career to be in the ACC, the Pac-12, the Mountain West, the Sunbelt Conference, the MIAC Conference, and I played FCS-level football in the old Southern Conference.”
“This is the SEC,” Napier added. “It is the league. Quality personnel, quality coaching, the footprint, the passion. It is the standard, it sets the bar. There’s so much momentum. The credibility and the stability. One of the greatest slogans of all time is, It just means more, right? I think that explains it very well.”
Just as he did four years ago when he arrived in Lafayette, Napier is looking to establish his culture this time in Gainesville. So what has been the focus of implementing his process?
“Well, I think the big thing here is that the game is about the playersWe want to create an organization that has life-changing impact on the players, right?,” Napier said. “We’ve put together a great infrastructure that’s all about serving the players. We’re trying to improve the player experience.”
“We firmly believe that better people make better football players,” Napier added. “We’re committed to improving their character. We’re going to prioritize their education. We’re going to teach football at a high level.”
Napier may have learned valuable lessons on how to run a program coaching under Nick Saban at Alabama, but he was credit his four seasons with the Ragin’ Cajuns as preparing him for his latest challenge.
“I think the first thing is you get put in these leadership opportunities, you quickly realize how important the people that you surround yourself with are,” Napier said. “I think we had success at Louisiana because we had an unbelievable staff and we had a great group of players.
Then I think time. Time is of the essence, right? What you do with your time, how you allocate your time not only with your staff and team but also with your family, right?”
Napier then took time to thank back in Acadiana.
“Unbelievable experience,” Napier said. “I thought we got a little bit better each year. I wouldn’t be prepared for this job without that experience. And the people in Lafayette shaped me, made me better. I’m thankful for my time there.”
Napier is also thankful for the lessons his father taught him, and those memories came flooding back when asked what he learned watching his father coach, including through his illness.
“Dad showed I think sometimes when adversity strikes, you can choose character or you can choose to compromise, right?,” Napier said. “Dad did an unbelievable job. Every day he chose character. He relied on his foundation, which was his faith. He was a great example to a lot of people.
“Even to this day, it’s impacting me and a lot of other people, too. So thanks for the question.”