Completed Event: Swimming & Diving at Towson on December 18, 2025 , Loss , 144.5, to, 153.5
S-D
Final
James Madison
144.5
at Towson
153.5
James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
Staff Directory
Billy Napier
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Phone:
- 540-568-6517
Billy Napier was hired as James Madison University's 10th head coach in the history of the JMU football program on December 6, 2025, being awarded a five-year contract to lead the Dukes.
Napier boasts a 62-35 career record as a head coach and most recently led Florida of the Southeastern Conference for the last four years, highlighted by an 8-5 record in 2024 and a win in the Gasparilla Bowl over Tulane. That team won its last four games, including back-to-back top-25 triumphs over No. 22 LSU and No. 9 Ole Miss, followed by topping Florida State on the road and the bowl win over Tulane. Other ranked wins included 2025 over No. 9 Texas, 2023 over No. 11 Tennessee and 2022 in his Florida debut over No. 7 Utah.
Prior to Florida, Napier authored a dominant run at Louisiana, going 40-12 in four seasons from 2018-2021 with four appearances in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game as West Division Champions and two league titles in his last two seasons in 2020 and 2021. In his first season as a college head coach in 2018, the Ragin' Cajuns went 7-7 overall but won the Sun Belt West at 5-3 with a tie for first. But Louisiana improved in each of Napier's seasons, including 11-3 (7-1 SBC) in 2019, 10-1 (7-1 SBC) and a league title in 2020 and 12-1 (8-0) and a title in 2021. The 2019 and 2020 squads won appearances over Miami (Ohio) in the LendingTree Bowl and over UTSA in the First Responder Bowl, respectively. The 2021 team went on to defeat Marshall in the New Orleans Bowl following Napier's departure for Florida. The Ragin' Cajuns were ranked as high as 15th in the AP Poll in 2020 and 16th in 2021.
Widely touted for his recruiting and player development, each of Napier's recruiting classes at Florida were ranked top 20 in the nation. Meanwhile, he had 14 NFL Draft selections in three years of drafts at Florida and another seven picks in four years at Louisiana. Most recently, seven Gators were taken in the 2025 NFL Draft. In 2024, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was a first round pick by the 49ers, which followed a first-round selection of quarterback Anthony Richardson in 2023. He coached an additional 20 NFL Draft picks as an offensive position coach across four FBS assistant jobs. That group featured five first-round selections, consisting of four wide receivers and a running back.
Fifteen years of experience as an assistant coach helped prepare Napier for his head coaching roles, with 14 coming at the FBS level and all 15 on the offensive side. He spent two years as a GA at Clemson before then returning to Tommy Bowden's staff in roles as tight ends and recruiting coordinator coach, then quarterbacks and offensive coordinator when Dabo Swinney took the helm.
In 2011, Napier joined Nick Saban's staff at Alabama as an offensive analyst, then followed Jim McElwain from Alabama to Colorado State to serve a season as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach. He returned to Alabama as wide receiver coach for four seasons (2013-2016) and then spent one year as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arizona State in 2017 prior to earning the Louisiana job.
Napier was a four-year contributor at Furman (FCS/then I-AA) and was a two-time All-Conference quarterback in the Southern Conference. He led the Paladins to two conference championships and, in 2001, led Furman to a national runner-up finish in I-AA. He set a Furman career record by completing 64.8% of his passes. As the team captain during a record-setting senior season, Napier compiled a Furman-record 2,475 passing yards and was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award as the nation's most outstanding offensive player.
Napier grew up in Chatsworth, Georgia, and graduated from Murray County High School in 1998. He is married to the former Ali Gunn, and the couple has a daughter, Annie, and sons, Sammy and Charlie. He earned his bachelor's degree in health & exercise science from Furman in 2002.
Napier boasts a 62-35 career record as a head coach and most recently led Florida of the Southeastern Conference for the last four years, highlighted by an 8-5 record in 2024 and a win in the Gasparilla Bowl over Tulane. That team won its last four games, including back-to-back top-25 triumphs over No. 22 LSU and No. 9 Ole Miss, followed by topping Florida State on the road and the bowl win over Tulane. Other ranked wins included 2025 over No. 9 Texas, 2023 over No. 11 Tennessee and 2022 in his Florida debut over No. 7 Utah.
Prior to Florida, Napier authored a dominant run at Louisiana, going 40-12 in four seasons from 2018-2021 with four appearances in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game as West Division Champions and two league titles in his last two seasons in 2020 and 2021. In his first season as a college head coach in 2018, the Ragin' Cajuns went 7-7 overall but won the Sun Belt West at 5-3 with a tie for first. But Louisiana improved in each of Napier's seasons, including 11-3 (7-1 SBC) in 2019, 10-1 (7-1 SBC) and a league title in 2020 and 12-1 (8-0) and a title in 2021. The 2019 and 2020 squads won appearances over Miami (Ohio) in the LendingTree Bowl and over UTSA in the First Responder Bowl, respectively. The 2021 team went on to defeat Marshall in the New Orleans Bowl following Napier's departure for Florida. The Ragin' Cajuns were ranked as high as 15th in the AP Poll in 2020 and 16th in 2021.
Widely touted for his recruiting and player development, each of Napier's recruiting classes at Florida were ranked top 20 in the nation. Meanwhile, he had 14 NFL Draft selections in three years of drafts at Florida and another seven picks in four years at Louisiana. Most recently, seven Gators were taken in the 2025 NFL Draft. In 2024, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was a first round pick by the 49ers, which followed a first-round selection of quarterback Anthony Richardson in 2023. He coached an additional 20 NFL Draft picks as an offensive position coach across four FBS assistant jobs. That group featured five first-round selections, consisting of four wide receivers and a running back.
Fifteen years of experience as an assistant coach helped prepare Napier for his head coaching roles, with 14 coming at the FBS level and all 15 on the offensive side. He spent two years as a GA at Clemson before then returning to Tommy Bowden's staff in roles as tight ends and recruiting coordinator coach, then quarterbacks and offensive coordinator when Dabo Swinney took the helm.
In 2011, Napier joined Nick Saban's staff at Alabama as an offensive analyst, then followed Jim McElwain from Alabama to Colorado State to serve a season as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach. He returned to Alabama as wide receiver coach for four seasons (2013-2016) and then spent one year as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arizona State in 2017 prior to earning the Louisiana job.
Napier was a four-year contributor at Furman (FCS/then I-AA) and was a two-time All-Conference quarterback in the Southern Conference. He led the Paladins to two conference championships and, in 2001, led Furman to a national runner-up finish in I-AA. He set a Furman career record by completing 64.8% of his passes. As the team captain during a record-setting senior season, Napier compiled a Furman-record 2,475 passing yards and was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award as the nation's most outstanding offensive player.
Napier grew up in Chatsworth, Georgia, and graduated from Murray County High School in 1998. He is married to the former Ali Gunn, and the couple has a daughter, Annie, and sons, Sammy and Charlie. He earned his bachelor's degree in health & exercise science from Furman in 2002.
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