In his press conference following early national signing day on Wednesday afternoon, Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier addressed rumors surrounding some changes being made to his coaching staff and he confirmed both reports of changes and that some more are in the works.
Florida will have a new Strength and Conditioning Coordinator
“I do anticipate some different leadership there, different approach there,” Napier said regarding a change being made to the team’s strength and conditioning coordinator position.
Florida is going to be alleviating Mark Hocke of his role as strength and conditioning coordinator and will be placing him in a different role in the program according to Napier.
“Ultimately we’re going to try to help Mark with that, and he’s going to be doing different things for our organization, a lot more upstairs, kind of making some of that transition into the coaching element,” Napier said.
“He’s always had aspirations to do those things, and I think that presents an opportunity for us to bring new leadership from a strength and conditioning standpoint,” Napier added.
As of the writing of this, a new strength and conditioning coordinator has not been named, but according to a report from FootballScoop.com’s John Brice, potential candidates include New York Giants strength and conditioning coach Craig Fitzgerald, ex-Notre Dame head strength coach Matt Balis and Alabama Director of Applied Science Paul Constantine.
Florida Gators closing in on Tulane’s Gerald Chatman to be the next Defensive Line Coach
Tulane Green Wave defensive line coach Gerald Chatman – David Zalubowski/Associated Press
Florida is also finalizing a deal with Gerald Chatman to be the next defensive line coach for the Gators according to multiple reports. Napier addressed those reports in his press conference Wednesday afternoon.
“We’ll have that announcement as soon as we can. We’ll get it to you. We’ve been going through that process, and I feel comfortable with where we landed,” Napier said.
Chatman currently coaches for the Tulane Green Wave, but was previously the interim defensive coordinator at Colorado in 2022, a defensive assistant for the LSU Tigers that focused on their defensive line, and spent two seasons as a defensive assistant with the Cincinnati Bengals working with their defensive line.
Potential Offensive Coaching Staff Changes?
Napier also addressed potential offensive coaching staff changes being made.
“It’s to be determined. Much like we discussed before, we’re in the middle of that. We’re going to go through…it’s one box at a time here, right?”
Florida will be Looking for a New Linebackers Coach
Florida Gators former linebackers coach Jay Bateman- Alex Shepherd/ Sports Illustrated
On Thursday morning, according to multiple reports, former inside linebackers coach for the Gators, Jay Bateman, was hired away by newly appointed Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko to be the Aggies new defensive coordinator.
Bateman was previously the defensive coordinator at North Carolina before coaching inside linebackers for the Gators, so he has experienced calling defenses and he re-joins forces with former Gators defensive line coach Sean Spencer who is the Aggies new defensive line coach after Florida let him go shortly after the 2023 season ended.
Bateman came into Florida when Billy Napier was hired ahead of the 2022 season. Bateman recruited and helped Florida sign the likes of Shemar James, Myles Graham, and Aaron Chiles in his time in Gainesville.
An option Florida will likely explore to replace Bateman, especially given the fact that the Gators are hiring much younger coaches relative to the ones they let go in recent weeks, is Western Kentucky’s Jamar Chaney.
Chaney, who was as a defensive analyst during Napier’s first season at Florida and was previously the direct of player personnel for the Gators in 2019, left to take a positional coaching job at Western Kentucky to be their outside linebackers coach.
Chaney was one of the best recruiters on Florida’s staff when he was in Gainesville in 2022 and certainly would be one of the best again if he were to be hired back by the Gators.
It would not be surprising to see the Gators bring Chaney back for a third time.
