Billy Napier has only been in Gainesville for about 24 hours, but the new Gators head coach is already working on putting together a staff.
It was reported on Sunday that two of Napier’s assistants at Louisiana, defensive coordinator/outside linebackers coach Patrick Toney and associate head coach/running backs coach Jabbar Juluke. Now, according to college football insider Bruce Feldman, it’s confirmed that Toney will join the staff as a co-defensive coordinator. Juluke’s role is unclear but it is likely he will coach running backs once again.
Toney taking a co-defensive coordinator role opens the door for Napier to bring in another top hire to coach the defense alongside him. As was reported last week, both Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and Houston defensive coordinator Doug Belk are considered potential targets.
As far as the rest of the defensive staff goes, On3’s Corey Bender reported that cornerbacks coach Jules Montinar will not be retained by Napier. Offensively, Bender also reported that quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee will not remain on staff.
This tracks with what Napier said during his introductory press conference on Sunday. He said that he will call plays and coach quarterbacks with the help of an analyst, opening the door for the team to have two offensive line coaches.
On Monday, Ryan O’Hara, an offensive analyst who has worked under Napier in Lafayette since 2018, announced that he would be joining Florida’s staff as an analyst. Per his Twitter bio, he will be working with quarterbacks. Also, ULL associate head coach and strength/conditioning coach Mark Hocke is coming to Gainesville as well, according to On3’s Nick de la Torre.
There are still a lot more pieces of this puzzle, but Napier’s staff at UF is starting to come together. We’ll keep you posted on more updates over the coming days.
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