‘That experience shaped my career’: Billy Napier praises SC State time, Buddy Pough
New Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier has ties to the Palmetto State that go back years. One of his first coaching stops was in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
Napier was a part of the South Carolina State football staff as an assistant and quarterbacks coach in 2005. That time under Bulldogs head coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough was important for may reasons, Napier said.
“I always will be indebted to Buddy. He gave me my first full-time job coaching quarterbacks and calling plays,” Napier said in July at SEC Media Days in Atlanta. “That experience shaped my career.”
The Gators hired Napier to replace Dan Mullen as coach in November of last year. Being in the S.C. State program for the 2005 season helped him grow, Napier said, and his relationship with Pough is still important to this day.
“The guy’s a legend if you’ve been around the guy. I mean, I can see why he’s had the success he’s had,” Napier said.
Pough is entering his 21st season as Bulldogs coach. The team is coming off a Celebration Bowl win over Jackson State. His 143 wins are the most in S.C. State program history.
“To this day, if I get into a tough spot, he’s the guy that I can pick up the phone and call,” Napier said. “Just tremendous wisdom, right? Not only his experience with Brad Scott and Lou Holtz, but being a high school coach.”
Napier found his way to S.C. State via good words at the time from Clemson coaches Brad Scott and Tommy Bowden, who mentioned him to Pough.
“We were always looking for young, bright assistants. Coach Bowden called me and said, ‘I want you to take a chance on this guy. We think he’s going to be a hot coach,’ ” Pough said.
During Napier’s lone season there, S.C. State went 9-2 with their only losses coming against eventual conference champs Hampton as well as Coastal Carolina. The Bulldogs finished No. 20 in The Associated Press FCS Top 25 that year.
S.C. State was second in points scored that year in the conference, according to ESPN. That stat due, in part, to Napier’s offensive coaching. Pough said knew right away that Napier would be a great coach.
Another coach who was a part of the S.C. State staff during that time was Tony Elliott, the new head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers.
“(Napier) had great ways of framing references when you start talking about, you know, teaching skills,” Pough said. “It was obvious from the very beginning that these guys were really bright football coaches.”
Napier and Pough have stayed in contact with over the years. During the course of his career before reaching Florida, the two would talk about Napier’s potential coaching destinations.
“It has always been fun to have an opportunity to hear about some of the searches and some of the process that was going on,” Pough said. “Every time we got to when there was coach hiring times in a year ... there was always somebody chasing after him.”
After his time at S.C. State, Napier worked as an assistant at Clemson (in a second stint), Alabama and Colorado State. He got an opportunity to be offensive coordinator at Arizona State and became the head coach of Louisiana shortly after that.
Pough enjoyed having Napier in his program, even noting the current Gator coach’s favorite food choice while he was in Orangeburg.
“It was a lot of fun having him down here,” Pough said. “If he ever comes anywhere close to Orangeburg, he’s going to Dairy O and get a curly burger and a banana split a lot faster than he would in other places that he’s gone.”
Billy Napier coaching history
2003-04: Clemson, graduate assistant
2005: South Carolina State, assistant coach/QBs
2006-08: Clemson, assistant coach/TE, recruiting
2009-10: Clemson, offensive coordinator/QBs
2011: Alabama, offensive analyst
2012: Colorado State, assistant coach/QBs
2013-17: Alabama, assistant coach/WRs
2017: Arizona State, offensive coordinator/QBs
2018-21: Louisiana, head coach (40-12)
2022-present: Florida, head coach
