Louisiana Football Coach Billy Napier Encourages All Scholarship Players to Donate Money to School in Name of Gratitude

University of Louisiana football coach Billy Napier has a challenge for his players. During his press conference on Wednesday, Napier introduced an initiative where all scholarship football players will be encouraged to donate $50 to the Ragin' Cajun Athletic Foundation which will make them a member. And reason Napier wants his players to do this is very simple.

"It's all about gratitude," he said via the Advocate.

Once the announcement was made, Patrick Crawford, the UL assistant AD for communications and digital strategy, released a statement to clarify that this is not mandatory for scholarship players.

"The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Department of Athletics is thrilled that head coach Billy Napier's football program and its student-athletes expressed their collective desire to give back and show gratitude to the Ragin' Cajuns Athletic Foundation," he said. "Members of the football program have started an initiative to demonstrate their appreciation to the RCAF, including its board of directors, staff and investors when they are able to do so.

"Additionally, student-athletes will be encouraged to join the RCAF at the introductory level during their college careers, an initiative the program and its coaching staff supports in order to give back to the foundation that has done so much to support the Louisiana football team and the department of athletics."

Napier also said it's optional for walk-on players, but he hopes that all his players are able to do this because it will only help the program and the university grow.

"That's probably a little bit unheard of and a little bit unique, but I think this is a place where that would be appreciated," Napier said. "I think it's part of the type of program that we want to have. We want our players to be educated and understand the benefits that come with being a student-athlete and that is not something that should be taken lightly — the effort and time and investment that the people that support athletes at UL have put in into this program."

Napier, 40, is entering his second season with the Ragin' Cajuns and he led his team to a 7-7 record in 2018 as well as an appearance in the Cure Bowl. Before taking the job at Louisiana, Napier spent time as an assistant coach at Clemson, Alabama, Colorado State and Arizona State.