Florida football: Breaking down all offensive coaching hires under Billy Napier

Florida football hirings: Offensive coaches

Coach #1: Jabbar Juluke – Running backs coach & Associate offensive head coach – Hired 12/6/21

The first offensive coach hired to the Gators under Billy Napier was Jabbar Juluke, who follows Napier from the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns.  Juluke has spent the last four seasons at Lousiana and has coached the team extremely well in terms of the rushing attack.  He has helped Lousiana be top four in rushing yards per game every season he has been there and had them get up to #1 in the statistic in 2019.  He will be a vital addition to a Florida offense that just had 4-star RB Trevor Etienne commit as of this past weekend, as he should be able to get the best out of him without a doubt.

Coach #2: Ryan O’Hara – Quarterbacks Analyst – Hired 12/6/21

The second coach brought in on offense was the quarterbacks analyst Ryan O’Hara, who also spent the last four years with Napier at Louisiana.  O’Hara was formerly a quarterback for the University of Central Oklahoma in the early 2000s, so he clearly has a grip on the position and how to optimize it.  He should also be a large addition to this team as if Emory Jones stays he can help him work out the indecisiveness in his game.  If Emory is to transfer, he can help coach whoever may be the new starting quarterback, whether it be Anthony Richardson, Jack Miller, or otherwise.

Coach #3: Darnell Stapleton – Assistant Coach (Offensive Line) – Hired 12/10/21

Darnell Stapleton is one of the more interesting coaches on this list due to his playing career, however, he will be the offensive line coach for the Florida Gators.  Stapleton would play center at Rutgers in the early 2000s, and interestingly enough blocked for Hall of Famer Ray Rice during that time at college.  Stapleton was also a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers team that won Super Bowl XLIII.  Overall Stapleton has had an illustrious playing career, and was another coach at Louisiana for Billy Napier during the 2021 season, spending the previous four at Sam Houston State.

Coach #4: Nick McDonald – Personnel Analyst (Offense) – Hired 12/14/21

Nick McDonald is another member of the Louisiana staff Billy Napier is building, and worked in the division of football personnel and recruiting.  For a Florida team that has somewhat struggled to recruit recently, this addition should most definitely bring some much-needed attention to the spot.  On top of this, he spent 3 seasons in Alabama as a recruiter for Nick Saban, which is also extremely impressive.

Coach #5 – Keary Colbert – Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers) – Hired 12/15/21

Keary Colbert is our first coach to not be following Billy Napier out of Louisiana and was actually at USC for the last 6 seasons coaching wide receivers there.  Colbert has coached the likes of Michael Pittman and Drake London, and will now be taking that talent to Florida football.  The connection to Napier is there, however, as in 2014-2015 he worked with Billy at Alabama before moving on to USC.  Keary should be an extremely valuable addition to the Gators’ offensive staff, as he has learned from some of the best in the PAC-12.

Coach #6 – William Peagler – Assistant Coach (Tight Ends) – Hired 12/24/21

Next in line, we have William Peagler, who is another really interesting coach who will be transitioning to the tight ends coach for Florida.  The last two seasons of his career he has been a coach at Michigan State, as a running backs coach, however with that spot filled by previously mentioned Jabbar Juluke, he will instead take tight ends.  Peagler coached the best running back in college football in 2021, that being Kenneth Walker III, and worked with Napier at Lousiana in 2018 prior to his time at Michigan State.  Peagler will be a great addition to the Florida football coaching staff, both to develop tight ends and aid in developing Trevor Etienne at times when needed.

Coach #7 – Rob Sale – Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach – Hired 1/11/22

Finally, for offense, we have the most notable of them all, Rob Sale, who has had quite a career in coaching so far.  Sale last season in 2021 was the New York Giants offensive line coach, however, prior to that was with Billy Napier at Louisiana for 3 seasons in the same position he will be in Florida.  Rob is a 14 year veteran in the coaching world and has spent all 14 years all over the place in college football.  Additionally, Sale was an interior offensive lineman for LSU in the early 2000s and won the SEC title game with them in 2001.  Overall, Rob sale brings a huge amount of experience and knowledge to Florida football and was a phenomenal pickup by Billy Napier to add to his coaching staff for 2022.