UL COACH BILLY NAPIER – SOT – “yeah, he’d be proud and hopefully we can keep making him proud…”
NO DOUBT, EVERY TIME U-L FIRST YEAR HEAD FOOTBALL COACH BILLY NAPIER GOES ONTO THE FIELD, HIS FATHER…BILL NAPIER, WHO PASSED AWAY LAST SEPTEMBER LOOKS DOWN, IN APPROVAL “SAYING THAT’S MY BOY!”
billy napier- i never had the intetion of being a college coach… i just wanted to be a high school coach and do what my dad did…
BUT, MANY TIMES… “THE BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN OFTEN GO AWRY!” AND IN A POSTITIVE WAY FOR FIRST TIME HEAD COLLEGE COACH.
BILLY, WOULD FOLLOWED HIS DAD AROUND ON THE HIGH SCHOOL FIELDS IN THEIR HOMETOWN OF CHATSWORTH, GEORGIA…
A BLUE COLLAR, MIDDLE CLASS TOWN, THAT LOVED FOOTBALL; MUCH LIKE A YOUNG BILLY NAPIER WHO LOVED WATCHING HIS DAD COACH, AND BUILD RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH THE SPORT THEY SHARED…
SOT – it’s a community that rallied around football and seeing my dad watching him make a difference in the young people’s lives. and really not only the competition and stragety that goes into football.. but at the core, the people, the players the story. i chose the profession becaues of the that!”
IN 2013, COACH NAPIER’S FATHER RECEIVED A GRIM DIAGNOSIS: A.L.S. BATTLING THIS DISEASE WOULD NOT BE EASY… IN FACT, THERE IS NO CURE FOR IT…
BILLY NAPIER SAYS DEALING WITH THIS REALITY, WAS NOT EASY FOR ANY MEMBER OF THE NAPIER FAMILY… BUT THEY WOULD FIGHT…
SOT- “we were like ok bring it on.. we will Beat this. who do we need to see, where do we need to send him. what’s the treatment, what’s the medicine. we are going to find a way to get this done…
repeatedly doors were getting slammed in our face, the more you learn the fact that dad is getting ready to go through a very diffucult time.”
THAT FIRST YEAR, THE TOUGHEST FOR COACH NAPIER.
SOT – “here’s my dad, he’s the salt of the earth, and he’s going to have to go through this difficult time… watching him… his perspective, how he handled that was pretty special..”
COACH NAPIER’S FATHER’S DEATH RECENTERED HIM AND HIS FAMILY. FORCING THEM TO PUT THE IMPORTANT THINGS IN THEIR PROPER PLACE…
SOT- ” YOU KINDA OF SAW A NEW LEASE ON LIFE.. ABOUT WHAT’S IN FRONT OF YOU AND WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH IT. HE’S A GOOD MAN, AND THAT’S WHAT I WOULD TELL YA, AND CERTAINLY FOR ME… I WAS LUCKY I GOT TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME WITH HIM…”
