As we continue to exile Billy Napier into the underworld and turn him into an entity that can only be summoned if we speak his name three times, one of the very real flaws of his regime was the coaching staff he assembled. Most notably, Napier used up two of his coaching spots on offensive line coaches, but had average play at best out of the unit. 2025 was particularly bad as Florida had a ton of experience returning along the offensive line, but looked like a bottom-half of the SEC unit.
As Jon Sumrall assembles his staff in Gainesville, he just made a hire along the offensive line that should excite Gator fans and leave rivals starting to wonder if Sumrall is going to be a thorn in their side at Florida.
Phil Trautwein to be hired as offensive line coach
Based on multiple reports, in addition to a change of social media profile, the Gators will hire Phil Trautwein as their offensive line coach.
Trautwein was an All-SEC tackle for the Gators in 2006 and 2008 and went on to a brief stint in the NFL. He started his coaching career in 2013 with Boston College, and outside of a two-year stop at Davidson College, he has been coaching exclusively in a power conference.
Most notably, Trautwein has been the offensive line coach at Penn State since 2020. He is credited with having seven offensive linemen drafted since arriving at Penn State and landed two five-star prospects on top of eight four-star prospects during his time in Happy Valley.
To put it mildly, this is a massive upgrade compared to the previous regime, which relied heavily on mid-tier three-star linemen they tried to build up over time.
It’s also yet another assistant coming to town with actual proven Power Four experience rather than someone who has to learn on the job. When the previous offensive line coach, Rob Sale, showed up, his power conference experience consisted of one year at Georgia, one year at Arizona State, and one year with the New York Giants.
Trautwein already has eight years in a power conference under his belt.
Combined with being a Gator alum who came up in the era with Urban Meyer, this hire feels like a home run for Sumrall, who keeps assembling an extremely strong staff to surround himself with.