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Billy Napier Makes Eye Opening Admission About Working For Nick Saban

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Scott Salomon | Last updated May 18, 2025 7:13 PM ET

Florida Gators coach Billy Napier said last week he learned more from the one year he served on Alabama Crimson Tide's coaching staff under Nick Saban than he learned in the prior 10 seasons as a coach.

It appears that aside from coaching players to be better, Saban also taught coaches how to become better coaches.

“I had gotten let go at Clemson,” Florida coach Billy Napier told Josh Pate this week. “I was regrouping. Just married. Then it’s, what is the next step? You kind of have to invest, even if you have to go backwards."

"I think that first year at Alabama as an analyst, that was my 11th year, I would say I learned more in that year than I learned the prior 10, Napier said. "You think you know until you’re right in the middle of that thing.”

Napier began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Clemson in 2003. He then joined South Carolina State as an assistant quarterbacks coach.

Then he returned to Clemson for five seasons, where he eventually became the offensive coordinator.

Clemson fired him in 2011 and then Saban hired him to serve as an offensive analyst. It proved to be a move that salvaged Napier's career.

“I was 30 years old at the time,” Napier said. “I was relatively still young. Obviously, you’re working with coach Saban, but it’s the other people. The network that go out there and are in the NFL and Power Four football.”

Napier is one of many coaches who successfully used Saban’s coaching rehabilitation program to resurrect their careers. That includes Texas Longhorns' coach Steve Sarkisian, Ole Miss Rebels' coach Lane Kiffin, Maryland Terrapins' coach Mike Locksley and others.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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