William Peagler – Syndication Server

Gators promoting analyst to tight ends coach position

The Gators think they already have a coach qualified to lead the team’s tight ends, so Florida is promoting from within to fill the empty spot.

The Florida Gators are promoting from within to fill the tight ends coaching spot left by [autotag]William Peagler[/autotag] after his departure to the NFL. Defensive analyst [autotag]Russ Callaway[/autotag] is being promoted, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz.

Callaway played quarterback for Valdosta State but tore his ACL twice from 2009 to 2010 and followed his father’s footsteps as a coach. Callaway’s dad, Neil, was the head coach at Alabama-Birmingham at the time. After serving as a student assistant at VSU his senior year, he served as a defensive assistant for Alabama during back-to-back championship seasons in 2011 and 2012. Billy Napier was also an analyst for the Crimson Tide in 2011 and Callaway was coaching under then-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Kirby Smart.

After Alabama, Callaway coached wide receivers and was the recruiting coordinator for two years at Murray State. He moved on to Samford, where he lasted five years as a wide receivers coach and then quarterbacks coach. Callaway made his way back to the SEC in 2020 as a senior offensive assistant and analyst for LSU and then worked with the New York Giants in 2021 before joining Billy Napier’s staff as a defensive analyst.

Florida is expected to name Russ Callaway as its new tight ends coach, sources tell @on3sports.

Callaway, a former offensive coordinator at Samford, had been an analyst at Florida after stops with the New York Giants and LSU. https://t.co/DlIXY67ten pic.twitter.com/92awkGLBeu

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) March 6, 2023

Although Callaway was working with Florida’s defense in 2022, he should transition into his new role seamlessly. He’s worked with pass catchers before and produced great results. He’ll be working with a group that didn’t perform up to expectations a season ago but should have a bit more depth in 2023.

Juniors [autotag]Keon Zipperer[/autotag] and [autotag]Dante Zanders[/autotag] served as starters a year ago and are both returning, and [autotag]Jonathan Odom[/autotag] is also back on campus. [autotag]Arlis Boardignham[/autotag] didn’t play a game last season, but he could be a factor in his redshirt freshman year. Fellow 2022 signee [autotag]Hayden Hansen[/autotag] also returns, and [autotag]Andrew Savaiinaea[/autotag] has transitioned from defensive end to tight end.

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Cardinals landing 2 coaches from Florida to add to defensive staff

Florida co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney will coach safeties for the Cardinals.

The Arizona Cardinals are continuing to fill out their coaching staff under new head coach Jonathan Gannon. Their latest defensive additions come from the college ranks.

They are adding Florida co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney and tight ends coach William Peagler to their defensive staff, according to ESPN’s Chris Low and Adam Rittenberg.

Peagler will be on the defensive staff and Toney will be coaching safeties.

Toney was the defensive playcaller for the Gators last season.

The 32-year-old coach has been in the college coaching ranks since 2012.

Now he will be the position coach for Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson.

Peagler has been coaching in college since 2006.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Sub scribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Gators tight ends coach William Peagler also headed to NFL

In addition to defensive coordinator Patrick Toney, Florida is losing tight ends coach William Peagler to the NFL.

After news broke that Florida would be losing its defensive coordinator, [autotag]Patrick Toney[/autotag], to the NFL, word came in that he wouldn’t be the only Gators coach poached by the Arizona Cardinals.

On3’s Matt Zenitz is reporting that Florida tight ends coach [autotag]William Peagler[/autotag] is also making the move from [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s staff to work under Jonathan Gannon in the pros. Peagler spent just one year with the program after spending time at Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana and Michigan State.

Peagler worked his way up the coaching ladder quickly and found himself as one of the premiere assistants in the game while at Michigan State. He helped developed second-round pick Kenneth Walker III while with the Spartans, but Peageler faced a much more challenging task at Florida.

When he got to UF, the Gators had just lost [autotag]Kemore Gamble[/autotag] to the transfer portal and had just one active scholarship tight end on the roster, [autotag]Keon Zipperer[/autotag]. A couple of injuries forced defensive players to switch positions, including [autotag]Dante Zanders[/autotag] who ended up getting some playing time for Florida at tight end.

The position group never truly shined throughout 2022, but Zipperer, Zanders and [autotag]Jonathan Odom[/autotag] are all returning in 2023. Redshirt freshmen [autotag]Arlis Boardingham[/autotag], [autotag]Hayden Hansen[/autotag] and [autotag]Andrew Savaiinaea[/autotag] will also be in the position room under the new coach.

Florida has until March 4 to hire a tight ends coach before the start of spring camp.

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Gators hoping to get another visit from 4-star two-way athlete

Can the Gators get this big-time athlete back on campus for the Orange and Blue Game? He certainly hopes so.

Florida football’s recruiting efforts have seamlessly transitioned from the 2023 cycle into the 2024 class and beyond as the winter months continue to wane. One of the top prep prospects that have entered the program’s focus for the next round of recruits is four-star two-way athlete [autotag]KingJoseph Edwards[/autotag] out of Hoschton (Georgia) Mill Creek, who is looking to get another gander at Gainesville soon.

The 6-foot-5-inch, 242-pound ATH has already made a few trips to the Swamp prior, including a stop for the LSU Tigers game last fall, and has been on the Gators’ radar since [autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag]’s tenure. While Edwards could not commit to a specific date, he told Gators Online that he could possibly visit the Swamp for the spring intrasquad Orange and Blue Game.

Napier’s staff offered Edwards a scholarship back in June after participating in the program’s camp along with several other teammates. After his visit for the Gamecocks game, he offered the following to Gators Online.

“This is my third time on campus. I met with the academic counselors and toured the new facility. What stood out about this visit was my talk with coach Peagler. We spoke about tight end and where I’d fit in.”

Previously, the Gators had recruited Edwards as an edge defender, but more recently as mentioned in his quote, Florida has been considering the tight end position to maximize his talents. The assistant coach/tight end coach [autotag]William Peagler[/autotag] has been at the forefront of his transition from one side of the line of scrimmage to the other.

The high school junior’s preferred schools at this point is a nebulous cloud at best, given that his “top-five schools may be schools that weren’t even listed in (his) top 15” released at the beginning of the year. So far, only the Ohio State Buckeyes have earned an upcoming official visit, which is scheduled for June 16. He is expected to make his other OVs around the same time.

Edwards is ranked No. 43 overall and No. 5 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 consensus has him at Nos. 40 and 5, respectively. The high school junior currently has two crystal ball predictions for Georgia Bulldogs according to 247Sports while On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has UGA also out front with an 83% chance of landing him, while Ohio State, the Tennessee Volunteers and Florida follow at 3.4%, 1.5% and 1.2%, respectively.

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Top 2025 quarterback prospect remains a target for Florida

A top 2025 QB prospect says the Florida Gators are a team to watch in his recruitment, citing personal relationships and heavy interest from the coaching staff.

The Florida Gators quarterbacks room has been a hot topic as of late, with the 2023 edition expected to look very different from the 2022 edition. With 2023 five-star prospect [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] committed and openly recruiting for the Orange and Blue, all eyes turn to the 2025 class.

[autotag]Antwann Hill[/autotag] is among the best quarterbacks in the 2025 class, with the Florida Gators expected to be a major player in his recruitment process. The 6-foot-4-inch, 205-pound signal caller from Warner Robbins, Georgia, was offered by the Gators after an impressive showing at UF’s Friday Night Lights camp in the summer of 2022. As a result, [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and his staff have been keeping tabs and creating a relationship with Hill. They were so impressed, that Napier himself has been personally involved in Hill’s recruitment.

Hill’s relationship with the Florida staff actually goes back to before he was in high school. Antwaan’s uncle is Trey Hill, a former Georgia offensive lineman who was drafted in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL fraft by the Cincinnati Bengals. One person involved in Trey’s recruitment to Georgia was [autotag]William Peagler[/autotag]. The current Florida tight ends coach was a graduate assistant on Georgia’s staff and is familiar with the Hill family.

While Peagler has a personal connection with Hill, offensive analyst Ryan O’Hara has been the main point of contact with the Houston County signal caller. Their relationship has consisted of breaking down film and building a working relationship that would translate to the UF quarterback room if he were to arrive on campus in 2025.

Despite having visited Gainesville twice, Hill has yet to see the new Bill Heavener Football Training Center. The complex opened one week after his Friday Night Lights visit and, despite being on campus for the season-opening Utah game, he was not able to see the facility after it opened up. The Gators would love to have Hill back on campus to show off the state-of-the-art facility.

They’ll need to fight off other top programs like Tennessee, Auburn, Texas A&M, Notre Dame and Georgia, who On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine have as the leader in Hill’s recruitment with a 43% chance of signing the in-state player. Despite that, Hill is adamant that all programs have an equal chance of landing him and that he will see where the recruitment process takes him.

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Top 2024 tight end target looks forward to another Florida visit

A top target for the Gators in the 2024 class will be making another visit to Gainesville in March.

One of [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s biggest 2024 targets tells On3 that he will be making another visit to Gainesville.

[autotag]Walter Matthews[/autotag], a 6-foot-7-inch, 245-pound junior athlete is being heavily recruited by the Gators. Despite being listed as an athlete, Matthews tells On3 that Florida would like to see him play tight end for the Orange and Blue.

According to Gators Online, Matthews was visited by Florida tight ends coach [autotag]William Peagler[/autotag] at his Georgia high school, Hiram High. A couple of weeks after that, Peagler returned to visit Matthews, this time with head coach Billy Napier along for the ride. Matthews is on record saying that the series of visits make him feel like he will be a good fit in Gainesville because of how important they are making him feel. He also added that Florida is the program recruiting him the hardest.

The visits clearly made an impact on Matthews, as he says he will be visiting Gainesville for a third time. Florida is the only program to date that Matthews has visited multiple times. He took two visits to The Swamp in 2022, including the home finale against South Carolina. While not providing an exact date, Matthews says he will be visiting in March as part of a Florida tour. He will also visit Florida State and Miami, the other two Florida schools that have offered him.

According to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine, the Gators are currently the leader in his recruitment with a 23.6% chance of landing him. Vanderbilt is second with 10.8%. While surprising at first glance, the Commodores should be taken seriously in his recruitment, with his uncle having earned All-American honors at tight end for the SEC East program.

Matthews is currently the No. 20 overall player in the state of Georgia, according to the On3 Consensus. He holds offers from multiple major programs like Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, LSU, and many others, with Vanderbilt and Florida State currently posing the biggest threat to the Orange and Blue.

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2025 Gators legacy DL recruit stoked over Florida football offer

This in-state defensive lineman is excited about his Florida football offer.

Billy Napier and his staff have been handing out scholarship offers now that Florida football’s recruiting efforts have shifted gears from the 2023 cycle to the future. While the NCAA’s dead period is currently in effect that has not slowed down the Gators on the recruiting trail.

One of the student-athletes who received an offer from UF on Tuesday was 2025 in-state defensive lineman [autotag]Brandon Brown[/autotag] out of Melbourne (Florida) Eau Gallie, who is a legacy at the University of Florida. Subsequently, the 6-foot-2-inch, 275-pound trench warrior was elated by the Orange and Blue’s gesture.

“The UF offer is huge. I have relatives that played for them and I grew up watching Gators football,” Brown told Gators Online’s Corey Bender. “I love that they are turning the program around and I think coach Napier has developed relationships to be successful there.”

Brown has connections with Florida through his uncle Joe Cohen, who is a former Gators defensive lineman, as well as his cousin [autotag]Marcus Maye[/autotag], who now plays safety in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints.

He noted a desire to make it to campus in March for his first face-to-face meeting with Napier and Co. but has not locked in a date as of yet. The head coach along with assistant coach [autotag]William Peagler[/autotag] have been working hard to recruit him on his home turf in the meantime.

“Coach Napier and coach Peagler came by a couple of weeks ago and I know they really liked my film,” Brown said. “My coach had been telling me they will eventually get to it as a staff and hopefully they like it; obviously they did. I’ve talked to them a few times through my coach.”

Neither 247Sports nor On3 have any data on the high school sophomore.

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Florida impresses this 4-star tight end over weekend visit

Florida is searching for a tight end in the 2024 recruiting cycle, and position coach William Peagler is getting close with this Peach State talent.

Four-star Carrollton (Georgia) tight end [autotag]Caleb Odom[/autotag] was on campus at the University of Florida this weekend and things went about as well as it could have for an unofficial visit.

In fact, Odom left Florida so impressed with the university and football program that he plans on using one of his five official visits to return to UF, according to 247Sports.

“It’s definitely up there now,” he said to Swamp247’s Blake Alderman. “It’s definitely a place I want to take an official to. Get more in-depth with them. It’s only going to get better with them.”

Tight ends coach [autotag]William Peagler[/autotag] has led the charge for Florida so far in Odom’s recruitment. Peagler is constantly in contact with Odom, texting him as early as 6 a.m. and well into the night if he has a basketball game to play in.

Florida is sitting in a great spot with Odom, but the Gators will have plenty of competition for the No. 13 tight end on the 247Sports composite. Ole Miss, Penn State and Tennessee are some of the programs he’s looking at for his other official visits, and Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes just joined the race as well.

Odom wants things to be wrapped up by the end of the summer (late July/August), so those official visits should come over the spring.

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Florida still pushing for this 4-star Stanford tight end commit

The recruiting calendar is close to shifting back into a dead period, but Florida is still pushing hard to flip four-star tight end Jaden Platt.

The Florida Gators hosted four-star tight end [autotag]Jaden Platt[/autotag] over the weekend and the team met with him one final time Thursday before the dead period goes into effect, according to Gators Online

Florida tight ends coach [autotag]William Peagler[/autotag] has visited four-star tight end Jaden Platt’s area each week of the current contact period, so he was of course the man to stop by on Thursday. Platt is a Stanford commit but coaching changes might have him backing off that pledge in the near future. It’s not just the recent attention that’s drawing him to Florida either.

“People talk about having the visit high or coming off a visit and you really like a school, but they’ve really had my interest before everything went down with Stanford,” Platt said to Gators Online. “I’ve kept them in the back of my head if something were to happen.”

Platt understands that he’s a priority target for Florida, a team that has yet to land a tight end in the 2023 recruiting cycle. Peagler leaving the team during bowl preparation reinforced the seriousness of Florida’s attempts, too.

Playing time could be easy to come by and his parents enjoyed the trip to the Swamp, so all that’s left is for Platt to pull the trigger and flip his commitment. That’s easier said than done though with Texas A&M also hot on his trail and a new Stanford staff that’s desperately trying to retain him.

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Florida picks up a pair of crystal ball predictions from 247Sports

Although he’s yet to take his official visits, a pair of crystal balls have come in for safety Bryce Thornton in favor of Florida.

A pair of 247Sports recruiting insiders are convinced that three-star [autotag]Bryce Thornton[/autotag] will wind up a part of the 2023 Florida Gators recruiting class.

Both Blake Alderman and Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports logged crystal balls for Thornton on Monday, August 22, with a confidence score of six. Thornton narrowed things down to Florida, Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Miami in April and is trending toward the Gators, Tide and Hurricanes. He has official visits lined up to all three programs during the fall.

Miami gets him on September 23, which is the weekend UM hosts Middle Tennessee State. Alabama is getting him for the Texas A&M game on Oct. 7, and Florida should get the last meeting with him on October 21, which is a bye week for the Gators.

“Though Miami has a visit scheduled, they seem more active with some other names on their board at this time,” Alderman wrote. “Alabama currently has three safeties committed in their 2023 recruiting class, and while they like Thornton, it doesn’t seem likely at this point for them to add a fourth. Then that leaves the Florida Gators, who have wanted to add some new blood into their safety room through the recruiting trail. Sources have also indicated to Swamp247 that Thornton is an absolute take for this coaching staff as well.”

Thornton’s last trip to the Swamp came in June, and he left extremely high on the program. Co-defensive coordinator [autotag]Patrick Toney[/autotag] and tight ends coach [autotag]William Peagler[/autotag], who is Florida’s area recruiter in Alpharetta, Georgia, have continued to press since then and hope to land a second safety to the class.

Four-star safety [autotag]Jordan Castell[/autotag], the No. 200 overall recruit on the 247Sports composite, is the only other safety committed to Florida at publishing time, and Thornton would provide some depth to the class. The composite ranks him No. 502 overall and No. 45 among safeties. On3 is a little higher on Thornton, ranking him No. 28 at his position and giving him four stars.

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