Florida, TE Coach William Peagler Part Ways
Photo: William Peagler; Credit: Zach Goodall
Following in the footsteps of defensive coordinator Patrick Toney, who is leaving the Gators to join the Arizona Cardinals coaching staff, Florida and tight ends coach William Peagler have parted ways, All Gators can confirm.
Swamp247 first reported Peagler's exit from the program, while On3 Sports followed up with the news that Peagler intends to join Toney with the Cardinals in the NFL.
Peagler, 37, joined the Gators as tight ends coach shortly following head coach Billy Napier's hiring in late 2021. At the time, he was freshly removed from a successful two-year stint as the running backs coach for Michigan State, where he helped develop future Walter Camp Award and Doak Walker Award winner and 2022 second-round NFL Draft pick Kenneth Walker III.
However, Peagler walked into a challenging situation at Florida when he was handed the responsibilities of a position he had previously overseen for just one season in his young coaching career, at Valdosta State in 2010.
Injuries, paired with the winter transfer of 2021 starter Kemore Gamble to UCF, hampered Peagler's unit throughout his first spring camp in Gainesville. By the end of the set of practices, the only active scholarship tight end was junior Keon Zipperer.
Sophomore Jonathan Odom and redshirt freshman Nick Elksnis missed the majority of camp with varying shoulder wounds, while redshirt freshman Gage Wilcox suffered what Napier deemed a career-ending injury in practice and left the team.
This reality forced the Gators into several roster moves to bolster the tight end position. Defensive end Dante Zanders, who enrolled at UF as a tight end, moved back to the position and earned glowing reviews from Napier for his efforts on offense. Fellow defensive lineman Griffin McDowell and walk-on outside linebacker Noah Keeter also made the move with Zanders to provide depth to the unit.
Their positional transitions were permanent. While Odom and Elksnis returned to healthy by Week 1, Elksnis suffered another shoulder injury in Week 5 and went on the miss the rest of the season, continuing to weaken Florida's reserves at the position.
And, as one might expect in a situation like the one laid out above, the season-long results were underwhelming.
Under Peagler's watch, Florida's tight ends combined for 30 receptions, 321 yards and three touchdowns in 2022, with only Zipperer, Zanders and Odom hauling in passes during the season. For his abilities as a run blocker, Zanders earned seven starts across his 13 appearances.
The trio of contributors returned to Florida for the 2023 season, paired with rising redshirt freshmen Arlis Boardingham, Hayden Hansen and Andrew Savaiinaea, a converted defensive lineman, and true freshman Tony Livingston. Elksnis transferred to South Carolina in December.
Florida has begun the process of searching for a new tight ends coach and plans to have a replacement for Peagler in place before spring camp begins on March 4.
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