CHATSWORTH, Ga. — Billy Napier, a Chatsworth native and 1998 Murray County High School graduate who spent the past four seasons as the wide receivers coach at the University of Alabama, has been named the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arizona State University, according to a release from Arizona State.

Napier is widely respected in the coaching profession as one of the most talented recruiters in college football and has also served as the assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach at Colorado State (2012) and was the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Clemson (2009-10).

As part of the Alabama staff, Napier served an integral role in achieving national championships in 2011 (as offensive analyst) and 2015 and also coached in the 2016 national championship game. He was instrumental in helping head coach Nick Saban and Alabama achieve a 63-7 record in his five seasons at Alabama (2011, 2013-2016) and was part of the great run of 26 consecutive wins from 2015-16. In his 70 games at Alabama, the Crimson Tide offense averaged 6.27 yards per play and 36.4 points per game.

Under Dabo Swinney, he aided Clemson as the youngest offensive coordinator in the country to an ACC Atlantic Division title. The 2009 Clemson offense set an all-time school record for most points in a season. Napier led Clemson to the No. 2 overall recruiting class in the nation in 2008.

“Coach Napier will be joining the Sun Devil family as lead offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach,” head coach Todd Graham said. “He will join newly hired Josh Henson as co-offensive coordinator. Billy will be a tremendous fit for our football program. I spoke to (current Florida head coach) Jim McElwain, Dabo Swinney and (former Clemson head coach) Tommy Bowden and each spoke highly of Billy’s talents. In addition to being an exceptional offensive mind, Billy is widely recognized as one of the nation’s finest recruiters. We’ve truly added some fine recruiters to our staff in the past month.”

“I will forever cherish the five seasons I was a part of at the University of Alabama,” said Napier. “Words cannot truly describe my gratefulness for coach Saban, our players, everyone in the organization and in the university community. I’m extremely excited and thankful about this opportunity with coach Graham. I’m excited about the journey and leadership challenge in the Pac-12 Conference at Arizona State University. We will work tirelessly and we will be relentless in our approach in guiding this football program. Forks Up!”

Napier spent the 2011 season on the Alabama staff as an offensive analyst, helping the Crimson Tide win the 2011 BCS national championship. The Tide ranked 16th in scoring offense, 30th in total offense and 17th in rushing offense in 2011.

Prior to Alabama, Napier spent seven of the previous eight years in two different stints at Clemson. During Napier’s final two seasons at Clemson he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. At the age of 29, he became the youngest coordinator in the nation.

In his first season as Clemson’s coordinator, the 2009 Tigers scored a school-record 436 points and collected 54 touchdowns (third most in school history), averaged 5.73 yards per play (fourth best) and finished as the ACC Atlantic Division champions. Nine players Napier coached from 2009-10 went on to have careers in the NFL.

Napier also served as Clemson’s recruiting coordinator from 2006-08. In those seasons, he compiled two top-25 recruiting classes, according to Rivals.com, and in 2008 his class was tabbed as the second best in the nation by ESPN.com. Napier signed several players who went on to the NFL, including Kavell Conner, Crezdon Butler, Brandon Thompson and Marcus Gilchrist.

As a player, Napier was a four-year letter-winner and two-time All-Southern Conference selection as the starting quarterback at Furman. The Paladins won two conference championships and in 2001, Napier’s junior year, advanced to the Division I-AA national championship game, losing to Montana. He completed 64.8 percent of his career passes, setting a school record. As the team captain during a record-setting senior season, Napier amassed 2,475 passing yards, also a Furman record, and was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the nation’s most outstanding FCS offensive player.