HARRISONBURG, VA (JMU Sports) – James Madison Director of Athletics Matt Roan announced a transition of football program leadership with the hiring of Billy Napier to assume the role for the 2026 season as current head coach Bob Chesney departs for the same role at UCLA.

Should JMU be selected on Sunday to compete in the College Football Playoff, Chesney will lead the Dukes through the conclusion of the Dukes’ playoff run.

JMU is 12-1 after capturing the program’s first Sun Belt Championship on Friday evening at Bridgeforth Stadium with a 31-14 victory over Troy. The Dukes also claimed the regular season title in the Sun Belt with a dominant 8-0 mark. James Madison heads into Sunday’s selection having been ranked 25th in Tuesday’s most recent CFP ranking and also sits 19th in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the US LBM Coaches Poll.

“James Madison Athletics is thrilled to officially announce Billy Napier as the new head coach of our proud football program,” Roan said. “We strive for excellence and maximum success every day and understand that this type of coaching transition can be the price for that success. The challenge and opportunity is to reload and keep taking steps to ‘level up’ the trajectory of the JMU football program, and we are confident that we’ve done that with the hiring of Coach Napier. Following a deliberate and exhaustive search, it became clear that Billy’s pedigree as an incredibly experienced, a league champion, and winning games against the best teams in the country matched our goals at JMU. He’s a winner and he attracts other winners, whether that be his coaching staff or his players. He has a detailed plan to ensure that from day one, every step forward is a step up. Even more, he is committed to the development of young men through our holistic student-athlete experience. On top of all that, he is a man of commitment to his family, to the community and to this university. I’m fired up to work with Billy, and we’re ecstatic to welcome Billy, Ali their three children, and many family members and friends to JMU Nation, and to support them!”

“We are humbled and honored to accept this incredible opportunity to be the head football coach at the James Madison University,” Napier said. “I’ve been blown away with the alignment & vision at JMU. There is dynamic leadership in this administration. Our team, staff and entire organization will work daily to promote a program with integrity and class that will be a source of pride for all of us. More importantly, we will build a culture that is centered around making an impact on our players as people, as students and on the field as elite athletes.

“We embrace the expectations and are excited about the challenge ahead. We will assemble a special group of people and immediately get to work building a great program. I want to especially thank President Jim Schmidt, the Board of Visitors and Athletic Director Matt Roan. We look forward to getting to Harrisonburg and starting this journey. My wife Ali & our 3 children Annie, Sammy & Charlie are so excited about this next chapter. Go Dukes!

“Coach Napier brings an extraordinary record of excellence on and off the field,” James Madison President James Schmidt said. “Under his leadership at the University of Florida, their football program achieved a 3.4 GPA, which was the highest in school history and reflects our shared belief that true success begins in the classroom. Like me, he made a ‘secret shopper’ visit to JMU and to Harrisonburg, and we shared a mutual excitement for the opportunities here in our community and our region. In Coach Napier, we are not only welcoming a leader who knows how to build a championship football team, we are gaining a partner who is deeply committed to helping us build a championship university.”

Napier boasts a 62-35 career record as a head coach and most recently led Florida of the Southeastern Conference for the last four years, highlighted by an 8-5 record in 2024 and a win in the Gasparilla Bowl over Tulane. That team won its last four games, including back-to-back top-25 triumphs over No. 22 LSU and No. 9 Ole Miss, followed by topping Florida State on the road and the bowl win over Tulane. Other ranked wins included 2025 over No. 9 Texas, 2023 over No. 11 Tennessee and 2022 in his Florida debut over No. 7 Utah.

Prior to Florida, Napier authored a dominant run at Louisiana, going 40-12 in four seasons from 2018-2021 with four appearances in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game as West Division Champions and two league titles in his last two seasons in 2020 and 2021. In his first season as a college head coach in 2018, the Ragin’ Cajuns went 7-7 overall but won the Sun Belt West at 5-3 with a tie for first. But Louisiana improved in each of Napier’s seasons, including 11-3 (7-1 SBC) in 2019, 10-1 (7-1 SBC) and a league title in 2020 and 12-1 (8-0) and a title in 2021. The 2019 and 2020 squads won appearances over Miami (Ohio) in the LendingTree Bowl and over UTSA in the First Responder Bowl, respectively. The 2021 team went on to defeat Marshall in the New Orleans Bowl following Napier’s departure for Florida. The Ragin’ Cajuns were ranked as high as 15th in the AP Poll in 2020 and 16th in 2021.

Widely touted for his recruiting and player development, each of Napier’s recruiting classes at Florida were ranked top 20 in the nation. Meanwhile, he had 14 NFL Draft selections in three years of drafts at Florida and another seven picks in four years at Louisiana. Most recently, seven Gators were taken in the 2025 NFL Draft. In 2024, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was a first round pick by the 49ers, which followed a first-round selection of quarterback Anthony Richardson in 2023. He coached an additional 20 NFL Draft picks as an offensive position coach across four FBS assistant jobs. That group featured five first-round selections, consisting of four wide receivers and a running back.

Fifteen years of experience as an assistant coach helped prepare Napier for his head coaching roles, with 14 coming at the FBS level and all 15 on the offensive side. He spent two years as a GA at Clemson before then returning to Tommy Bowden’s staff in roles as tight ends and recruiting coordinator coach, then quarterbacks and offensive coordinator when Dabo Swinney took the helm.

In 2011, Napier joined Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama as an offensive analyst, then followed Jim McElwain from Alabama to Colorado State to serve a season as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach. He returned to Alabama as wide receiver coach for four seasons (2013-2016) and then spent one year as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arizona State in 2017 prior to earning the Louisiana job.

Napier was a four-year contributor at Furman (FCS/then I-AA) and was a two-time All-Conference quarterback in the Southern Conference. He led the Paladins to two conference championships and, in 2001, led Furman to a national runner-up finish in I-AA. He set a Furman career record by completing 64.8% of his passes. As the team captain during a record-setting senior season, Napier compiled a Furman-record 2,475 passing yards and was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award as the nation’s most outstanding offensive player.

Napier grew up in Chatsworth, Georgia, and graduated from Murray County High School in 1998. He is married to the former Ali Gunn, and the couple has a daughter, Annie, and sons, Sammy and Charlie. He earned his bachelor’s degree in health & exercise science from Furman in 2002.

Bob Chesney departs JMU following an impactful two seasons, the program’s first two campaigns as a fully reclassified FBS institution. In 2024, he guided JMU to a 9-4 mark and the program’s first bowl win, defeating Western Kentucky in the Boca Raton Bowl. With this year’s 12-1 mark and Sun Belt title, he elevated his JMU career record to 21-5 and earned the program’s third top-25 poll ranking in the last four years. On Thursday, he was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year as JMU claimed four of the league’s top honors and 16 total All-Conference selections, nearly double any other team. JMU outscored SBC opponents 340-121 and overall rank top 20 in the country in both scoring offense and scoring defense.

“Simply put, Bob Chesney is a great coach and person,” Roan said. “I’m grateful that he was our coach coinciding with my first two years leading JMU Athletics, and it has been a pleasure to work together with him to elevate our program . He redefined success for this program and left us in great shape to continue our upward trajectory with this transition. I also want to thank Bob for his transparency and openness as he considered other opportunities during his tenure. He never allowed other opportunities to detract from this team at JMU. They always had his full focus. Our relationship has allowed us to arrive at this point as successfully as we have. We wish Bob, Andrea and their family well as they head to California. We’ll always be fans of them.”

Chesney reflected on an impactful two years at the helm, saying, “To my JMU family, as I bid farewell after two extraordinary seasons, I want to share my deepest gratitude for the journey that has culminated in Friday night’s championship. The opportunity to lead this program has been a true honor and privilege. Our players exhibited grit, heart, and relentless determination and have elevated this program to new heights. Every achievement has been earned, and I couldn’t be prouder of the legacy each one leaves behind.

“Thank you to the alumni, the Harrisonburg community, and the remarkable JMU fan base for welcoming my family and me with open arms and supporting us with unwavering loyalty. Your steadfast belief in this team has meant more than you know. We will always carry with us the warmth, energy and connection you showed from day one.

“Thank you to the JMU university administration and athletics department for your trust, partnership and commitment to this program. Your support has been vital in everything we’ve achieved together, and the future here is incredibly bright.

“As I step away from JMU, I do so with a heart full of gratitude and immense pride. The camaraderie, the challenges conquered and the victories celebrated—especially Friday night—will stay with me for a lifetime. Thank you for being part of this extraordinary chapter. And last night, as champions—fight for glory, honors won. Brighten the lights of Madison. Show your colors proud and true, we are the Dukes of JMU!”