Since arriving to Florida in late November of 2021, Gators’ head football coach Billy Napier has dealt with several coaching changes while constantly trying to tweak and make positive adjustments to his staff. With the Gators losing and adding a total of five on-field assistant coaches, there’s no doubt that Coach Napier has been the busiest coach in Gainesville this year. The Gators have also added several off-field staff members in place of some recent departures, as well as promoting Florida’s tight end coach Russ Callaway.
Offensive coaching additions
In just his third season as an assistant for the Gators, Russ Callaway will take on a bigger role for the Gators in 2024 as Co-OC while still looking over the tight ends. There’s chemistry between both Napier and Callaway and that could be beneficial in the long run when it comes to situational play calling.
“I think Russ did a great job when we promoted Russ and put him on the field. Myself, and a lot of my close confidants, we’ve always felt strongly about Russ. He did a great job for our defense in the first year,” Napier said on Callaway. “I’ve been around Russ in the past when we were in Alabama together. He’s had success since then coaching at Samford, LSU, and the National Football League. Last year, to kind of observe him and some of his responsibilities, I thought he did a great job in not only preparing for meetings with me but also his interactions with the players. I think he’s got good understanding. It’s evident that he’s a coach’s son. He’s a leader. He’s done a good job in his role so far.”
Callaway has spent time at schools like Alabama, LSU, and in New York with the Giants as an offensive assistant. Callaway spent most of his time as a coach with the Samford Bulldogs, where he was the pass game coordinator in 2015 and was later promoted to offensive coordinator. Napier also recently added an assistant offensive line coach in Jonathan Decoster after the departure of Darnell Stapleton. Decoster has a solid resume after spending the last three years in Cleveland with the Browns and three years at LSU as an assistant tight ends coach.
Defensive coaching additions
The Gators have completely flipped their defensive coaching staff after making three major changes that should make a big difference in 2024. Former Auburn defensive coordinator Ron Roberts is a coach that brings in the experience Florida needs on defense alongside Austin Armstrong. Before his short stint at Auburn, Roberts was the defensive coordinator at Louisiana in 2018 before taking the defensive coordinator job at Baylor in 2020.
“I would say Ron Roberts, big picture, it’s originally his system. So, there’s a ton of familiarity there. Ron was with me for two years and I think he’s maybe he’s four years removed, right? So, it’s good to have him back. I think he’s got some familiarity with how we operate. We had a good February. The things that we did from a football standpoint, and he and Austin’s working relationship there, the mutual respect, that’s been healthy for us.”
Both Will Harris and Gerald Chatman are some of the popular hires in the eyes of some Gators’ fans. It was clear that both the secondary and defensive line needed a change, and both coaches have made it clear that they understand the importance of their role in this program in year three.
“Yeah, first of all, Will [Harris] with the defensive backs and Gerald with the front, I think you’ve got two personalities that rub off on the group. There’s some urgency there,” Napier said on Chatman and Harris. “I do think they’re both phenomenal teachers and I think they’ve got high expectations for their players. I think we’ve seen improvement there. I think we also benefit from the experience of those groups. A lot of returning players in both of those rooms.
Ultimately, practice will be structured completely different for the defense this season compared to the past two seasons. With Coach Armstrong sitting in the shadow of Ron Roberts in year three, the Gators have a big chance to improve defensively.
“Essentially, you’re getting … Ron’s been a head coach for a number of years. He’s been a coordinator for a number of years,” Napier said on Roberts. “Austin was his graduate assistant the first interaction they had. Obviously, Austin took his system and put his spin on it. Those guys, they have communicated with each other system since they departed. They’re having weekly conversations for the last few years. Ultimately, they’re working together to build the installations, to build the scripts. Austin’s running the unit meetings, and Ron’s doing a good job of creating clarity for the coaches and really helping us to improve the fundamentals.”
Strength staff
The strength program was arguably the biggest concern heading into the off-season; the Gators were in desperate need of a change. In late December of 2023, Napier hired an experienced strength coach in Craig Fitzgerald who ended up leaving for Boston College after five weeks.
“First of all, Fitz did a great job for us. He gave us five weeks of great work, established some things,” Napier said on Fitzgerald. “A ton of respect for Fitz as a man and as a coach. I think a unique dynamic there. One of your best friends gets a head gig there at BC and ten years with the guy. I get it. I think we were fortunate that we had built our staff in a way where there was collaboration. Coach (Tyler) Miles had done a phenomenal job with the programming part. Really, he and the rest of his staff giving Fitz insight into maybe where we were at as a program and what we needed. Tyler Miles was at the core of everything that we were doing,” Napier said on Miles. “I think our players knew that. Our staff knew that. We didn’t want to blow it up and start over but more importantly we felt confident in Tyler relative to being able to do the job. He was, essentially, a huge part of what we were doing. Tyler’s got a strength and conditioning background and he’s got a performance science role. We promoted him and we’ve been able to surround him with really good people.”
Just last week, Billy Napier completed his strength staff after hiring both Rodney Hill and Reed Roberts to assist Tyler Miles in leading the strength program in 2024. It’s unfortunate that the Gators couldn’t hang on to Fitzgerald, but this team should be in better hands this year.
“I think that was a big part of Fitz being here. Tyler was a big resource when we were making the decision of which direction we were going to go,” Napier said. “He knew Fitz, was familiar with Fitz. Then his insight into where we were at as a program, what needed to change, I think that was beneficial. I think when your players have confidence in the person and the methods and a system, when I’ve got a dozen players in my room, if they’ve got conviction about a coach and what they’ve observed as a leader, ultimately that’s what gave me confidence and my staff felt the same way. Tyler has been phenomenal since the first day he’s been here.”