Tag: Chris Couch

Florida football offers scholarship to 2025 punter out of California

Florida’s specialist room is running a bit thin these days and this Golden State punter might be what the corps needs.

Following an official visit with the Florida football program this weekend, the Gators extended a scholarship offer to punter Alex Asparuhov — an unrated recruit in the 2025 cycle out of Fresno (California) San Joaquin Memorial.

The 6-foot-3-inch, 190-pound specialist’s main contacts were game-changer coordinator [autotag]Chris Couch[/autotag] and senior analyst [autotag]Joe Houston[/autotag] coming into last weekend. The news was announced on Saturday morning on Asparuhov’s personal Twitter account.

With current punter Jeremy Crawshaw’s eligibility ending following the 2024 campaign and just Jack Muse on the roster as a walk-on behind him, the Orange and Blue could certainly use a boost in the specialists room.

Asparuhov’s 247Sports scouting report

“Asparuhov might be the most fundamentally sound punter in the 2025 class. He scored well at the Underclassman Challenge by accumulating 109.71 points.

“When in rhythm his control and repeatability is special. He scored over 109 points on a cold 40-degree night in December of 2023. He made a big jump at the Western Showcase Camp earlier in the year. He graded out at the 5.0-star level as a punter and 4.5-star level as a kicker.

“Asparuhov scored 110.2 points in punting, 6 of 15 points on field goals, and 103.1 points on kick-offs. His punting is very impressive and he is already a college prospect in punting!

“He competed at his first Kohl’s ranking event during the 2022 Kohl’s California Winter Showcase Camp. He finished with a 39.5-yard average throughout the punt charting. He is way ahead of his age a punter! Asparuhov has the makings of a D1 punter and will be exciting to follow this spring and summer!”

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Billy Napier and staff out to put ‘special’ back in Florida’s special teams unit

Gators are looking to dominate in between the offense and defense.

Often overlooked but even more often pivotal in big-time matchups, special teams in college football can be a game-changer with the right personnel and coaching. For Florida football, the unit has been dominated by big boots — both in the place-kicking and punting game — but has been sorely lacking otherwise for the past decade. The new coaching regime in Gainesville is looking to change that.

New head coach Billy Napier has been busy building his massive staff in an effort to rejuvenate a stagnant program that has fallen from its once lofty heights. Among the former Ragin’ Cajuns coach’s many focuses is the game that resides between the offense and defense, and to assist him in his endeavor he brought on Chris Couch, who bears the title of “Gamechanger Coordinator” and follows him from his previous gig at Louisiana.

Couch’s pedigree includes five seasons at Tulane as a special teams analyst and recruiting coordinator prior to ULL, which came after spending 2012 as the slot-backs coach at Missouri Southern State, a stint as a defensive graduate assistant with Georgia Southern working with defensive tackles in 2013 and linebackers in 2014, and coaching special teams and linebackers at Point University in 2015. In Napier’s own words “Coach Couch is a special teams coordinator, really special teams analyst,” according to 247Sports.

So what exactly are the Gators looking to improve on?

For starters, the staff will be looking to exploit weaknesses in their opponents wherever they can be found and ensure that the unit is capable of any task handed to them. The model that is suggested in the above-linked 247Sports article is that of the Urban Meyer era, in which Florida football excelled at special teams play. The example provided is the 32 blocked kicks in Meyer’s six seasons versus just 21 in the past 11 seasons, with 12 coming in the first two years after his departure.

The biggest quirk when it comes to special teams is that the roles involved are very niche and requires a different mentality than an every-down kind of player, similar to that of a pinch hitter in baseball. Often, the biggest contributors are lesser-known names and even walk-ons who find their way onto the field with their specific skill sets.

In order to tap into those resources, the program must have a culture in place that allows these special players to thrive. And that is exactly what Napier and Couch are looking to do as they push Florida football into its next era.

[lawrence-related id=73917,73850,72289,72141,70278]

[listicle id=63502]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.