The Florida Gators will promote Tyler Miles to Head Strength Coach, Gator Country has learned. Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel was the first to report that Miles would take over for Craig Fitzgerald, who was hired this offseason before taking a job with Boston College on Feb. 11th.
Miles was hired at Florida in 2023, previously holding the job title of ‘Director of Player Athletic Development’. Prior to Florida, he spent the 2022 season at Duke, where he served as an assistant director of sports performance, working primarily with the football program. Prior to Duke, he spent the 2021 season as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of Miami.
In 2019-2020, Miles worked at Boost Performance, working primarily with athletes on combine training, and National Football League (NFL) and college offseason workouts. During his two years at Boost Performance, Miles helped train 25-30 athletes in prepping for their NFL Combine and Pro Day. Miles had 10 athletes selected in the NFL Draft and 30-plus athletes sign NFL free agent contracts. Miles also worked at Tennessee State during his time at Boost Performance, serving as the University’s head strength coach, working primarily with the football and volleyball programs as well as the track throwers.
Miles brings SEC experience to the table, making coaching stops at the University of Tennessee as a strength and conditioning intern (2018) and the University of South Carolina as a strength and conditioning intern (2017).
In addition, Miles worked with the Salt Lake City Stallions (AAF) as an assistant strength coach and with the New York Jets as an intern for a brief time in 2019 and 2018.
While Miles’ promotion is not officially announced by the University of Florida, the move is not unexpected following Fitzgerald’s five-week stint overseeing the strength and conditioning department.
“I want to thank Fitz for doing a great job during the five weeks he’s been at Florida,” Florida head coach Billy Napier said on Fitzgerald. “He’s a very professional and well-respected individual and has been a great resource for our players and our organization. We understand that these decisions are part of the profession and we all have been put in these dynamics at one point or another. As I’ve said before, this game is about relationships and coach O’Brien and Coach Fitz’s relationship goes way back. We have a ton of respect for Fitz and are thankful for what he did for our team. We also have a great group of strength assistants and sports science staff that I have a lot confidence in. We’ll regroup and we’ll evaluate the situation and make another great decision for our team. We’re fortunate to be at the University of Florida and are able to attract the very best in the country.”
Fitzgerlad was hired in the offseason after Florida decided to go in a different direction with 2023 Director of Strength and Conditioning coach Mark Hocke.
“Mark’s going to be in the player development space,” Napier said during Florida’s signing day press conference. “A lot of our leadership development and character education – a lot of the things that we do relative to learning and teaching, we do a number of tests with the rookies when they arrive, take in all that data and all those assessments in helping the coaches in that space. Also helping me from a messaging standpoint. Motivation, themes throughout the offseason, throughout the season,” Napier said. “Things that he’s really talented at. He’s also going to sit in on offensive and defensive meetings and be a part of the evaluation and recruitment process. It’ll help him as he continues to evolve.”
It’s expected that Hocke’s job title will be ‘Director of Player Development’ in 2024.