TAMPA, Fla. — A lot of people assume former Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris, now the head coach at SMU, discovered Deshaun Watson, but that isn’t exactly the case.

In fact, a year and a half earlier, the coordinator before Morris, Billy Napier, who will be coaching against the Tigers in Monday’s National Championship Game for Alabama, first saw Watson.

In fact, Gainesville High School head coach Bruce Miller, a long-time friend of the Napier family, said it was Napier that gave him a little advice when he asked him to evaluate Watson, a rising freshman in high school at the time, and a senior who was supposed to start.

“I said, ‘Billy, I have a decision to make. I have an up-and-coming freshman quarterback. I have never started a freshman quarterback. And I have an heir apparent. Could you stand here and watch them both for me and kind of tell me what you think.’ About three minutes later Billy looked over at me and said, ‘I made my decision,” Miller said. “I said, ‘Thanks! Now will you come back in the fall and help me make mine.’ He said, ‘I can see right now who it is.’ Billy always had a little pad with him when he was recruiting. He said, ‘I will be back.’”

Of course Napier did not get the chance to come back. Swinney let him go after the 2010 season, and eventually he landed at Alabama where he now coaches the wide receivers for head coach Nick Saban.

But Napier has not forgotten that day in Gainesville.

“I still remember giving my business card to Bruce and telling him to give that to Deshaun and tell him to come to some games next year,” Napier said on Saturday as the media got the opportunity to speak to players and coaches as part of media day. “Deshaun is not only a tremendous player but is a tremendous person, too, and that is what is fun to see.”

When watching Watson practice on that spring afternoon in 2010, Napier could already tell how fast the ball was coming out of his hands.

“He was a great athlete even at that point,” Napier said. “He was better than the other guys that day, and that is all I can tell you.

“I was like, ‘Wow! That kid is just going to be a freshman. You saw him play all throughout his high school career and he owns just about every high school record in the state. He was a winner and he really kind of helped get Gainesville back on the map.”

Watson has now taken Clemson back to the national championship game after losing to Alabama last year. Along the way, he has broken just about every game, season and career passing record at Clemson, while also holding several ACC records as well.

“It is fun to see him grow not only as a football player, but as a person, too,” Napier said. “He is a great role model for the kids out there and more than anything you can see that Clemson has been a great place for him and he has benefited from being there.”