Zach’s Mail Stack: What Florida could do for strength coach, 10th assistant

This edition of Zach’s Mail Stack at Gators Online covers Florida’s 2024 class, spring portal needs, UF’s chances to make the NCAA Tournament and more.

Do you think we hire a new S&C coach or just ride it out with other people stepping up? — @Smittastic14

For the time being, director of player athletic development Tyler Miles is leading the football program through offseason workouts on an interim basis. A former strength at Duke and Miami, Miles was hired in June to replace Joe Danos, now the Denver Broncos’ director of sports science.

When Florida coach Billy Napier decided to reassign head strength coach Mark Hocke this offseason, some players lobbied for Miles to get Hocke’s position, according to sources. Napier interviewed three candidates for the job and ultimately hired Craig Fitzgerald from the New York Giants.

Gators Online has learned that Miles worked closely with Fitzgerald on planning and writing Florida’s strength and conditioning program this offseason in terms of the workouts, format and schedule. Miles executed the first phase of that plan with Fitzgerald and has the blueprint to move forward.

With Fitzgerald leaving for Boston College, Miles will be one of the candidates considered by Napier and could get promoted to the director of football performance. This month can even serve as an audition for Miles. Napier may also look at other options or circle back to one of his previous finalists.

In addition to Fitzgerald, Napier also interviewed Alabama director of applied science Paul Constanine and former Notre Dame director of football performance Matt Balis, according to sources. Constanine was hired by the Atlanta Falcons last week as associate director of strength and conditioning, but Balis is still available.

Balis is a veteran strength coach with SEC experience and won a national title with the Gators in 2006. He resigned for personal reasons last July after leading Notre Dame football’s strength and conditioning program since 2017. The Irish went 63-14 during his six seasons, including two trips to the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Former Florida coach Urban Meyer was a key figure in Balis’ rise after promoting him to head strength coach at Utah in 2004 and bringing him to UF, where he was assistant director of strength and conditioning from 2005-06. He also served as the head strength coach at Virginia (2007-08), Mississippi State (2009-13) and UConn (2014-16).

One other housekeeping note: Tevin Geddis is no longer on Florida’s staff as one of the assistant strength and conditioning coaches. He came over with Fitzgerald from the New York Giants and will be following him to Boston College.

Will we bring in another coach for the line or go in a different direction with an OC or QB coach? — @lurkin_gator

Along with finding a new director of football performance and an assistant strength coach, Napier has to hire a 10th assistant after offensive line coach Darnell Stapleton left for the Washington Commanders. That leaves a vacancy on the coaching staff with spring ball just over two weeks away.

Napier could go a few directions with this hire, but replacing Stapleton with another offensive line coach will undoubtedly be one of his options. In Napier’s six years as a head coach, the only time he didn’t have two O-line coaches was when one of them, DJ Looney, passed away before the 2020 season.

Even after offensive coordinator Rob Sale left Louisiana in 2021 to be the New Yorks Giants offensive line coach, Napier replaced both him and Looney with two more O-line coaches in Stapleton and Jeff Norrid, who was recently hired as the offensive line coach at Duke.

The past two seasons, the Gators have been one of only two teams in the FBS with a pair of offensive line coaches among the 10 assistants. The other? Louisiana, as Napier’s predecessor Michael Desormeaux has structured his staff the same way. Don’t be surprised if Napier continues to do.

He could also give up some of his responsibilities. Napier calls the plays on offense and serves as the quarterback coach, although offensive analyst Ryan O’Hara works with the position group. Napier said earlier this month that he wants to keep calling plays this year, so it’s unlikely that he will use the staff opening to hire a new playcaller.

However, Napier could decide to promote O’Hara as the quarterbacks coach and turn the room over to him. That would take some work off Napier’s plate and give him more time to focus on play-calling duties, game planning and his other responsibilities as a head coach.

If Napier does promote O’Hara, he could fill that analyst role with someone who has an offensive line background so there’s still two coaches working with the position, but one of them wouldn’t count as one of the 10 assistants.

Which position group are you most looking forward to seeing this spring? Which position group are you least looking forward to? — @DoubleGator

I’m excited to watch a few different spots this spring, but the position I’m looking forward to the most is the offensive line. That’s more out of curiosity than excitement. I’m very intrigued about who lines up where and how it all plays out in practice.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Gators brought in two of the top six transfer offensive tackles in Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson and Devon Manuel to compete with redshirt junior tackles Austin Barber, Dameion George and Kamryn Waites for starting jobs.

However, with Florida losing both starting guards to the portal, there’s a chance that George and/or Waites could move inside to get the best five linemen on the field. Sophomore Knijeah Harris is expected to start at one of the guard spots and redshirt freshman Roderick Kearney, UF’s backup center, could also play guard.

The position I’m looking forward to the least? Punter, sorry Nick de la Torre.

Seriously though, that will be the least competitive spot this spring as AP All-SEC Second Team selection Jeremy Crawshaw has that job on lock. The same can be said about Graham Mertz at quarterback, Jake Slaughter at center or Shemar James at linebacker.

You can already pencil in those guys as starters, but there’s still several young players and newcomers at their positions that will draw plenty of eyes this spring (hello DJ Lagway). I don’t know how many people will be watching the backup punters, outside of my coworker Nick.

Of the freshman/transfer class, who do you see getting the most playing time in the fall? — @JayDaMeanest

From Florida’s 2024 recruiting class, the player who will receive the most playing time this fall is five-star defensive lineman LJ McCray. Gators Online reported last week that McCray has been crushing offseason workouts and generating the most buzz among the freshmen. At 6-foot-6, 276 pounds, he has the strength and size to handle the physicality at the line of scrimmage and make an immediate impact.

Even though Mertz returns as the starting quarterback, I expect Lagway to see the field periodically with specific packages and play calls designed for him. However, I think the offensive freshmen who will play the most in 2024 is four-star receiver Jerrae “Tank” Hawkins. He has already proven to be the faster player on the team in workouts and should contribute in the WR rotation and on special teams.

As for the transfer class, Crenshaw-Dickson will likely play the most snaps if he starts on the offensive line, but I’ll also include defensive lineman Joey Slackman and safety Asa Turner. I expect both to start at their respective positions, although several incoming transfers for UF could become starters in 2024.

What member of the ’23 class is in line for a potential breakout this season? — @904KD

There are a few breakout candidates, but I’ll stick with one player on offense and defense.

Offensively, my pick is sophomore running back Treyaun Webb. Per sources, the staff believes Webb is ready to take on a bigger load and become a 1-2 punch with starter Montrell Johnson Jr. As a freshman last season, he rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries and had four catches for 18 yards.

Defensively, I’ll go with sophomore EDGE TJ Searcy, who’s the favorite to replace Princely Umanmielen at outside linebacker. Searcy was one of four Gators named to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2023, making 26 tackles (nine solo), 3.5 tackles-for-loss, 0.5 sacks, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.

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