Tag: Jaydon Hill

Defensive backs coach Corey Raymond looking to restore DBU title at Florida

Corey Raymond’s experience is invaluable at a time when Florida desperately needs to turn things around on defense.

The Florida Gators’ defense has been a bit of a disaster over the past couple of years, but [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] is hoping to turn things around after bringing in experienced support staff to coach that side of the ball. One of the more important names on the new staff is cornerbacks coach [autotag]Corey Raymond[/autotag].

After 10 years with LSU, Raymond and the Tigers parted ways as Brian Kelly took over and chose not to retain him on the staff. Napier quickly jumped in and got one of the top position coaches in the country on his staff to start recruiting.

The decision paid off almost immediately as five-star safety [autotag]Kamari Wilson[/autotag] decided to sign with Florida over a top 4 of Florida State, Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M.

“First time (in Gators colors) was different for me,” Raymond said to Gators Online. ” I went to college (at LSU), I’m from there, but that blue and orange is looking good on me. I’m in Florida. I recruited the state of Florida. It has a lot of talent. We have a chance to do special things here.”

Raymond produced 14 NFL defensive backs while at LSU, including three first-rounders. He knows what it takes to get the best at the college level ready for the pros, and he’s relentless in his efforts to get them there.

“It’s going to take a little time getting used to me, who I am,” he said. “Because I’m hard to get along with out there on the field. It’s demanding. You play a position that’s an easy place to line up, but there’s a lot of little things you have to do to be good at the position.”

Raymond sees plenty of potential in Florida’s current crop of cornerbacks. [autotag]Jason Marshall Jr[/autotag]. has a chance to develop into an elite corner under Raymond’s guidance, and [autotag]Jaydon Hill[/autotag] and [autotag]Jalen Kimber[/autotag] also have the potential to be great once fully returned from injury.

Florida’s new cornerbacks coach not only has the respect of the players but he’s revered by most everyone on the staff. Napier thinks highly of him as both a coach and a person, and he appreciates Raymond’s veteran presence on the side of the ball he’s less involved with.

Co-defensive coordinators [autotag]Sean Spencer[/autotag] and [autotag]Patrick Toney[/autotag] also appreciate having Raymond on the staff. Toney coaches the safeties on the team, but he’s also tasked with calling all of the Gators’ defensive plays. Having Raymond to help with the defensive backs is about as useful a tool as you could ask for.

“He’s like the Yoda of DB coaching,” Spencer said. “This guy has coached everybody. He talks in that room, just so confident. He has so much experience. He’s been around the league. He’s been multiple places.”

The early returns have been good on Napier’s investment in Raymond, but his legacy at UF will ultimately be determined by how his players perform during the season. If Florida is going to claim the title of “DBU” once again, Raymond will be the reason why.

[mm-video type=video id=01fz8qp0r2f5asred51r playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fz8qp0r2f5asred51r/01fz8qp0r2f5asred51r-0de97427cfe5bd4623e0371bc6a15788.jpg]

[lawrence-related id=80744,80726,80697,80675,80671]

[listicle id=78540]

[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.

Florida CB Jaydon Hill involved in felony theft case

Jaydon Hill admitted to stealing a debit card in May and is facing the consequences.

Florida’s Jaydon Hill signed a deferred prosecution agreement on July 28 after admitting to the theft of a debit card he used to pay over $1,600 in parking tickets, according to WUFT.

The junior cornerback is already out for the year after suffering a torn ACL and it’s unclear if the team has punished Hill for the felony charges. Hill will avoid three charges on his record if he completes 50 hours of community service, reimburses the $1,753 in stolen money and stays out of trouble for the next year.

Police tracked down Hill after tracing the parking citations that were paid. Surveillance footage also caught Hill pumping gas and getting food using the stolen card. Police questioned Hill on June 2 about the May 8 incident. He initially denied the accusations but quickly admitted to stealing the card after police found an image of the victim’s driver’s license on Hill’s phone.

Expected to be the No. 2 cornerback for the Gators this year before the injury, it’s unclear how the legal issues will impact Hill’s future at Florida. He’s played in 22 games over two seasons with UF and recorded 25 tackles and 10 pass breakups.

[lawrence-related id=53161,53152,53099,53068,53040]

[listicle id=48013]

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

Stream college football games from the SEC, Big 12, The American, and more on ESPN+

Florida CB Jaydon Hill out for the season with a torn ACL

Florida’s Jaydon Hill was in prime position to grab a starting spot this season, but it won’t be the case due to injury due to a torn ACL.

Florida cornerback Jaydon Hill was in prime position to start opposite of star teammate Kaiir Elam. However, he won’t be able to compete at all this season. Coach Dan Mullen said Thursday that he has suffered a torn ACL in his left knee that will keep him from playing in the 2021 campaign. Hill suffered a similar injury in his right knee during his senior year of high school.

“Jaydon Hill tore his ACL, he’ll be out for the year,” Mullen said. “Very unfortunate when you’ve got to deal with injuries. It’s really a tragedy the amount of work these guys put in, how hard they put in.”

Without Hill, the Gators will have to turn to a host of young players that don’t have a ton of experience like five-star freshman Jason Marshall, redshirt freshman Avery Helm and Ethan Pouncey and new transfer cornerback Jadarrius Perkins.

“There will be a bunch of guys. You’re still in training camp, so there’s going to be a lot of opportunities for guys coming in,” he said. “We have Perkins transferred in, going to have an opportunity. You have Avery Helm who I think is going to be extremely talented. Might just have to accelerate his career to get him on the field. Ethan Pouncey coming off the surgeries, really kind of getting back to the player we thought he could be. So there are going to be some of those young guys who get a little more opportunity than they were expecting at this point.”

[lawrence-related id=48560]

Mullen added that Hill was obviously very disappointed but noted he’s gone through it before.

“So I think he understands how to come through it, what he needs to do and how he can get through it and how he’ll improve,” he said. “And I think within knowing the program, knowing the defense, knowing his maturity is a guy that’s going to be pretty comfortable saying, ‘Hey, I put myself in a position to be a starter, and I had this little setback, but I worked hard. I had to work hard to be a starter.’ And if you’ve done that, know the path of hard work, how to get into that role, when you get knocked off course, you know how to get back there.”

Hopefully, Hill has a speedy recovery, so he can be ready to compete for a starting spot next season.

[lawrence-related id=49379,49373,48877,48880,48878]

[listicle id=48013]

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

Gators cornerback Jaydon Hill’s journey to become likely starter

Florida cornerback Jaydon Hill had the challenge of recovering from an ACL tear while adjusting to the speed of college football.

Florida cornerback Jaydon Hill faced one of the most difficult challenges any college football player will ever face. He was recovering from an ACL tear that happened in the first part of his high school senior season while trying to adjust to the college game. Heading into year three with the Gators, Hill will vie for a starting spot opposite of All-American candidate Kaiir Elam.

Entering year three with the Gators, Hill met with the media to preview fall camp. He discussed some of the struggles he faced as a freshman. He wasn’t allowed to participate in contact drills, but he was able to compete with the defense in almost anything else in 2019.

[exco_embed id=”e5869bc6-faf6-4b7a-8c06-b5610c96a8fe”]

“When I got here, honestly, I couldn’t even draw up a play besides Cover 3,” he said. “I knew one defense, Cover 3.”

Hill played high school football in Huntsville, Alabama, where his team relied on their players’ physical talent and ran a simplified scheme. This helped him gain recognition, but it put him behind trying to learn about college football.

“My game has progressed tremendously, my mindset off the field, in meeting rooms, I couldn’t even diagram an offense,” Hill said. “Now I can draw up offensive plays, defensive plays and match them.”

He feels like he is in the best shape mentally and physically of his career. Hill gave most of the credit to his former teammates.

“It’s been an honor to come in and have CJ (Henderson), Marco (Wilson), those older guys to just spell out the game to you,” he said. “I was basically a sponge when I got here. Being hurt, I really couldn’t do much, so I basically just soaked up a lot from them boys.”

His coaches have also noticed his progress. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said Friday that he’s done a great job of trying to improve every day.

“He’s worked hard to understand leverage, to understand concepts,” he said, according to Swamp247. “He understands the importance of being physical and working the play… like I said make plays with the ball in the air. Really a guy that can take the coaching. You know the thing that happens is you are going to have plays that you can always improve upon. The thing about Jaydon is that he’s very coachable. He improves on the last thing that happened which allows him to be the player he wants to be and helps the defense.”

If he earns the starting spot across from Elam, Hill will likely have opposing offenses target him. But he said it’s another challenge he’s prepared for.

“I mean, I want that,” he said. “I like for that to be the case. I want teams to come at me. That’s what I’ve been working for.”

[lawrence-related id=48684,48687,48680,48678,48650]

[listicle id=48690]

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

Six Florida players feeling the pressure as fall camp gets started

Here are six Florida players The Athletic believes face the most pressure this season.

Coach Dan Mullen and the Florida football team kicked off their fall camp Friday to prepare for the 2021 season. The Gators’ first game is versus FAU on Sept. 4 in the Swamp. Heading into the new season, Florida enters as a heavy underdog. Only seven out of the 134 voters at SEC Media Days picked the Orange and Blue to repeat as the East Division winner and only one pegged the program to become SEC Champions.

As fall camp kicked off Friday, there are a handful of players trying to cling to their starting spot or prove they deserve to be the No. 1 running back or wide receiver. Here are six players The Athletic believes are feeling the most pressure heading into fall camp.