Like his old mentor Nick Saban, Kirby Smart builds careers. Just ask Will Muschamp. Once an HC left licking his wounds after rough stops at Florida and South Carolina, he found refuge in Athens where he quietly rebuilt his confidence and his football IQ. From special teams coordinator to co-defensive coordinator, he became a vital cog in Georgia’s rise to defensive dominance, proof that Smart’s rehab for HCs works efficiently. So when another familiar face with SEC battle scars and a $21 million buyout was spotted at Georgia’s practice this week, the buzz was impossible to ignore.

DawgsCentral’s Graham Coffey confirmed on X that former Florida HC Billy Napier was in attendance on Tuesday. “Reported this for our subscribers on DawgsCentral earlier tonight, but I can confirm that former Florida head coach Billy Napier was a UGA’s practice today,” he posted. If that doesn’t sound like déjà vu from Kirby Smart’s Alabama days, nothing will. 

Just like Nick Saban, Kirby Smart seems to have mastered the art of turning cast-off head coaches into valuable behind-the-scenes minds. And with Billy Napier, let’s not forget, these two men weren’t always on the same side. They’ve gone toe-to-toe three times since 2022, and the Bulldogs ran up an average margin of victory of nearly 20 points in those matchups. Florida couldn’t crack 20 points in any of them. Georgia averaged nearly double that. Yet even in victory, the Dawgs HC never shied away from praising his rival’s football mind.

After Billy Napier was dismissed in October, Kirby Smart offered genuine respect. “First of all, I have a lot of respect for Billy,” he said. “I’ve known Billy a long time. We were on staff together at Alabama. I like Billy a lot. I think Billy is very intelligent, very well-organized. His attention to detail is at a really high level. He’s a guy that thinks things out really well.” That’s the tone of a mentor who sees a mirror of his younger self, a relentless worker who just needs the right setting to reset. And that is the same tone he used for Napier even in 2022. 

Billy Napier and Kirby Smart in familiar territory

If it weren’t for Kirby Smart’s recommendation back in 2011, Billy Napier might’ve never landed on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama. After being dismissed by Clemson, he found himself “off the streets,” until Smart vouched for him, pulling him back into the sport that defines them both. The duo share Georgia roots, born to legendary high school coaches who molded them into detail-obsessed, no-nonsense football men. They reunited at Alabama from 2013–2015, sharing long nights in the film room under the GOAT coach before Smart took the Georgia job. 

“I knew from the first time he got to Alabama,” Kirby Smart once said. “He was going to be really good because he paid attention to detail. He took a lot of notes. He was just really smart.” And when Billy Napier got the Florida HC job in 2022, he credited the Dawgs HC saying, “[I] wouldn’t be standing here today without him.” Fast forward to now, that same coach is sitting on $21 million in buyout money, half of it already in the bank. 

Billy Napier’s next move is wide open. He could chase another head coaching job, take a high-level assistant gig, or lay low, learn, and reload. Could there be a second chance with Georgia? And if that learning happens to take place in Athens, let’s just say Kirby Smart’s coaching rehab program might be expanding its roster once again.