The Surprising Player Legacy That Sets Billy Napier Apart Among College Football’s Elite Coaches

Not every college football head coach has rolled up their sleeves and truly lived the grind on the gridiron before stepping onto the sidelines with clipboard in hand. Still, the vast majority didn’t just sneak their way into the job—they earned it through blood, sweat, and hard yards on the field. Yet, even among those who’ve played, the paths they took couldn’t be more diverse, each with its own stories and struggles. ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg recently dove into the fascinating task of ranking all FBS head coaches based on their collegiate playing careers—not just their pro stats, but their full journey as players. Included in his list are a few noteworthy names from the Florida Gators coaching roster, like Billy Napier, who stands tall among the “small-school superstars,” and Dan Mullen, recognized for his standout days at a Division III school. While neither cracked the very top of the list, which features an eye-catching No. 1 in Colorado’s Deion Sanders, their stories reveal the different routes coaches take to reach the pinnacle of college football. Curious to see how these coaches stack up and what makes their backgrounds unique?
LEARN MORE“Mullen played tight end for Ursinus College, a Division III program in Pennsylvania, where he earned two letters and was a first-team All-Centennial Conference selection as a senior in 1993,” Rittenberg notes.Neither head coach made it into the top 30 list, which was headlined by none other than Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders.Not every head coach at the college football level participated in the gridiron grind before donning the clipboard and headphones on the sidelines, but a strong majority rose through the ranks the hard way. Even then, while most share the experience of competing on the field with their fellow peers, not everyone had the same experience during their playing days.

Among those mentioned was Florida Gators coach Billy Napier, who landed among the “small-school superstars” tier along with eight others.Recently, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg took a stab at ranking all of the FBS head coaches according to their careers as college football players — at least, the ones who played. His list spotlights what coaches did as college players, not necessarily at the pro level, although their entire careers are considered.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.Former Gators skipper Dan Mullen — who is now on the sidelines for the UNLV Rebels — is also mentioned among the 22 “small-school standouts” for his collegiate efforts.

“After playing high school football for his father, Bill, Napier went to Furman, where he twice earned All-Southern Conference honors as a quarterback,” Rittenberg begins. “Furman won two league titles and reached the Division I-AA (now FCS) national championship game in Napier’s junior season of 2001. Napier set team records as a senior with 64.8% completions and 2,475 yards and was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, given to the top FCS player.”