Rick Prete had a lot to say about Billy Napier after Eisa Nealy decommitted from James Madison. The high school football coach at Roman Catholic has since deleted his original post but, as of this writing, his follow-up repost remains live on X.
The repost was/is a clear endorsement of his own personal feelings.
It is not uncommon for recruits to get processed out of a college football program and it seems like that is what happened here. However, we do not know the full story behind this explosive sequence of events— only that Prete is not a fan of Napier.
Who is Eisa Nealy?
At 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, Eisa Nealy rates as a three-star prospect in the recruiting Class of 2027. He ranks as the No. 174 player at his position, the No. 37 played in the state of Pennsylvania and the No. 1340 player in his class.
Nealy plays for Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia. Rick Prete is the head coach. The Cahillites just won their first state championship in school history at 12-3. Their junior pass-catcher finished with 531 yards on 38 catches for nine touchdowns on the season. He averaged 43.6 yards per game. He also scored two touchdowns on punt returns.
Nealy currently holds four scholarship offers from Syracuse, Marshall, Kent State and James Madison. Although I do expect more teams to get in the mix this fall, that is the full list for now. And it might only be three. James Madison might be out.
The rising senior wide receiver actually committed to play for the Dukes back in April.
He (or whoever runs his social media) posted the following image on April 28. It was a series of handwritten letters he had received from the coaching staff in Harrisonburg. It included a note from head coach Billy Napier. Napier was hired at the beginning of December.
And then Nealy decommitted from James Madison on June 11.
The complete story behind this sudden and unexpected decommitment remains a mystery. Perhaps the Dukes pulled his scholarship. Perhaps it is something deeper. We don’t know.
What happened with Billy Napier, James Madison and the Pennsylvania high school football coach?
Roman Catholic high school football coach Rick Prete took aim at Billy Napier on social media. His initial post went live on X shortly after Eisa Nealy announced his decommitment on the same platform. I would assume these two things are related, given the timing, but I cannot say with 100% certainty. Prete did not mention Nealy by name.
Prete posted: “The way @coach_bnapier and JMU do business is just bad. I’ve never known JMU to move like this, but this is how this guy operates I suppose.”
The post has since been deleted. However, a repost remains live on Prete’s profile. He also shared this response to his initial post about James Madison:
Needless to say, Rick Prete does not think highly of Billy Napier or the Dukes. It will be interesting to watch what happens with his wide receiver over the next few months. Maybe Nealy ultimately ends up back at James Madison but it doesn’t seem likely…