Billy Napier has hired Jay Bateman as the Gators’ inside linebackers coach, the school announced on Tuesday.
Bateman previously served as North Carolina’s co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach over the last three seasons.
He was fired after his 2021 defense ranked 10th in the ACC in total defense and 11th in scoring defense.
However, he played a key part in the Tar Heels’ recruiting uptick under head coach Mack Brown. They signed the nation’s 14th-ranked classes in 2020 and 2021, and their 2022 class currently ranks eighth, a tremendous accomplishment for a school mostly known for its basketball success.
He was the primary recruiter for Keeshawn Silver, a five-star defensive lineman who signed with North Carolina in 2021.
Prior to his time in Chapel Hill, Bateman worked at Army as defensive coordinator for five years.
He oversaw an incredible transformation during his time at the school. In 2014, his first season, the Black Knights ranked 91st in the FBS in total defense. They ranked eighth in 2018, which earned him recognition as a finalist for the Broyles Award and gave him the opportunity at North Carolina.
He was also involved in a controversy during his time at West Point, as he was suspended and fined for receiving improper information from a Wake Forest radio announcer.
Bateman, 48, played linebacker at Randolph-Macon, a Division 3 school in Virginia. He coached in high school for three years before working at Hampden-Sydney as a graduate assistant from 1997-98.
His first full-time college coaching job came in 1999 when he was hired as defensive coordinator at Siena. After just one season, he was promoted to head coach, which made him the youngest Division 1 head coach in the country at 26.
He posted just a 5-35 record in three years as the head coach, and the program was disbanded in 2003.
The Richmond, Virginia, native worked for the hometown Richmond Spiders in 2004 as the assistant secondary coach. He also had stops at Lehigh, Elon and Ball State prior to his stint at Army that changed the trajectory of his career.
With Bateman on the staff, Billy Napier’s initial coaching staff is now complete.
Here’s a look at the Gators’ 2022 coaching staff:
Head coach: Billy Napier
Offensive coordinator/offensive line coach: Rob Sale
Assistant offensive line coach: Darnell Stapleton
Running backs coach/associate head coach — offense: Jabbar Juluke
Wide receivers coach: Keary Colbert
Tight ends coach: William Peagler
Co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach: Patrick Toney
Co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach: Sean Spencer
Outside linebackers coach/alumni liaison: Mike Peterson
Inside linebackers coach: Jay Bateman
Cornerbacks coach/assistant head coach — defense: Corey Raymond