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Billy Napier has wasted no time putting a new infrastructure in place after being hired to lead Florida’s football program. A few of his assistants from Louisiana have already found homes with the Gators, but the majority of positions seem destined to be filled by individuals poached from other places. The first of those hires was reported by On3 Sports on Wednesday evening, as Napier has reportedly hired LSU’s defensive backs coach Corey Raymond as defensive co-coordinator.
Raymond’s staying power over the course of his career with the Tigers has been impressive. He’s spent ten seasons in Death Valley, establishing himself as one of the best cornerbacks coaches in the country. He’ll maintain that responsibility with the Gators. Leadership of the defense as a whole will be shared between Raymond and safeties coach Patrick Toney, who was a defensive assistant on Napier’s Ragin’ Cajuns staff.
The strength of Raymond’s resumé is his firepower on the recruiting trail. He’s reeled in number of notable players, being credited by 247Sports as the primary or secondary recruiter on a whopping eight five-star prospects. Notably, one of those players, cornerback Eli Ricks, entered the transfer portal and has yet to decide on a destination.
Regardless of whether Florida is serious a contender for Ricks, Raymond’s presence on the Gators’ staff will be a valuable one. The team needs to recover from a series of rapid decommitments and outgoing transfers following Dan Mullen’s dismissal and there aren’t any obvious candidates to flip among Napier’s Louisiana recruits.
As one would imagine, Jules Montinar will not be retained by the team after serving as the cornerbacks coach in 2021. Montinar was a part of Florida’s coaching staff for just one season. While Florida’s cornerbacks performed badly all season long, Montinar will likely land on his feet. He has the very legitimate excuse that he was stuck in Todd Grantham’s scheme and has a pedigree working with both Nick Saban and Kirby Smart.
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