![Co-Offensive Coordinator / Tight Ends Coach Russ Callaway, coaches during Fall practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, August 13, 2024. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_3571,h_2008/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01kc9rwerdaqtm00q72n.jpg "Co-Offensive Coordinator / Tight Ends Coach Russ Callaway, coaches during Fall practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, August 13, 2024. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]")
Now that Jon Sumerall is settling in at Florida, one of his orders of business has been to figure out his staff for the 2026 season. To this point, defensive line coach Gerald Chatman is the only holdover coach he has officially retained from Florida’s previous staff.
Russ Callaway is one of the names who hasn’t had his fate publicly reported on, but it came out today that he might be heading to the place that Sumrall just came from.
Russ Callaway targeted by Tulane to be offensive coordinator
Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports has reported that Tulane is targeting Callaway to be its next offensive coordinator under Will Hall, who will coach the Green Wave in 2026. The report also indicates the possibility of Callaway returning to Florida in 2026 to be on Sumrall’s staff.
Callaway’s time with the Gators has been an odd one, to say the least. He came to Gainesville in 2022 as an off-the-field analyst after spending 2021 with the New York Giants. In 2023, Callaway was promoted to tight ends coach, and this past season, he was promoted to “offensive coordinator.”
We use that term loosely because it’s not really clear what exactly Callaway did as offensive coordinator. He didn’t call plays, and the offense looked the same as it had the previous three years of the Billy Napier Era. Even after Napier was fired, Billy Gonzales tapped QB coach Ryan O’Hara to be the play caller to close out the season.
Worse, though, Florida’s tight ends have been a constant sore spot of discussion. The Gators have not recruited the position particularly well, and for as much as the tight ends were used in Napier’s offense, they were a constant liability on the field, who offered minimal support in the passing game and often struggling to get to their spot to block on screens.
Sumrall has hired Buster Faulkner to be the offensive coordinator at Florida for 2026. Of note, Callaway was a QB at Valdosta State from 2007 through 2010 and crossed paths with Faulker, who was on staff there in 2007 and 2008, which could influence whether or not Callaway gets kept on staff at Florida.