Florida Football fans divided on whether keeping Billy Gonzales is the right call

Yesterday, it was reported that Florida Football coach Billy Gonzales would be returning as wide receiver coach. Gonzales was one of six assistant coaches whose contract was set to expire at the end of the month, which is standard for assistant coaches.

Gonzales has a lengthy resume with a plethora of drafted wide receivers on the list. That doesn't mean everyone in Gator Nation is welcoming his return with open arms.

Florida Football: Catch The Ball

The common defense for keeping Gonzales is that he has had players' draft stock skyrocket in his latest go-around with the Gators. In 2023, Ricky Pearsall emerged as a 1st round draft pick, and in 2024, Chimere Dike and Elijhah Badger had big years.

This year, Florida also signed five-star wide receivers Dallas Wilson and Vernell Brown III.

Gonzales has the most Power Four experience of any of Billy Napier's assistants, and plenty of notable players have sung his praises over the years. It's not like Gonzales is strictly riding the coattails of others.

But like most things in the Billy Napier Era, bringing Gonzales back wasn't met with fanfare by everyone online.

Badger and Dike had solid years, but both had already put up similar numbers at their previous destination. When Eugene Wilson couldn't play against Texas A&M, Taylor Spierto wound up getting a huge bulk of snaps rather than guys like Aidan Mizell or Tank Hawkins.

And as we have noted on the site, the wide receiver room coming into 2025 is a question mark. Wilson, even when healthy, was still just used as a gadget player, and Mizell was losing out snaps to Marcus Burke to close out 2024.

Ultimately bringing Gonzales back for 2025 is fine, and some of the online consternation feels a bit overblown. His unit has been competent enough, especially compared to a couple of other units, to justify keeping him on the staff.