Alabama Football: Best-Ever Nick Saban Assistant Coaches
By Ronald Evans
Alabama Football Assistant: Wide Receivers
The Nominees: Curt Cignetti (2007-2010); Mike Groh (2011-2012); Billy Napier (2013-2016); Mike Locksley (2017) and Josh Gattis (2018)
Picking the best wide receivers coach in the Nick Saban era is not easy. It’s a position that has seen quite a bit of turnover in recent years.
There have been 6 different guys that have held the position since 2007 and 3 of them held it for 1 or 2 seasons. The sixth, Holmon Wiggins, is new and has yet to coach a full season.
Two, of the 5 eligible, stand out. I can’t find anything to differentiate the two. One was consistent over four seasons. The other produced the most dominant core of receivers in Alabama Football history but was there for one season.
So, my choice for best WR coach in the Saban era will feature two coaches, Billy Napier, and Josh Gattis.
Billy Napier coached the WRs from 2013-2016. In those 4 seasons, Napier’s receivers amassed 2 of the 10 best single-seasons in receiving yards in Alabama football history. That includes the best single-season performance ever by Amari Cooper in 2014.
Napier’s receivers can also claim 5 of the 10 (17 total including ties) best single-seasons by receiving TDs. Napier would win in a landslide if it weren’t for Josh Gattis.
Gattis turned two 200 yard receivers (Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III) into a 1300 yard 14 TD Biletnikoff winner and a 700 yard 11 TD receiver in only one season. Granted, Tua Tagovailoa and Dan Enos had a lot to do with that increase in production, but there was a clear improvement by the WR unit as a whole from 2017 to 2018.
What Gattis’s receivers were able to do in one season under him is nothing short of remarkable. That is what lands him a spot as the co-best WR coach in the Saban era.