Florida Gators Officially Retain Gerald Chatman

Florida officially announced the retention of Gerald Chatman, making him the first non-coordinator staff hiring announced by Jon Sumrall.

Defensive line coach Gerald Chatman will be retained under new Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Long after reports indicated he was staying on staff, the Florida Gators on Friday announced Gerald Chatman will be retained under new head coach Jon Sumrall as the defensive line coach. He is also adding an assistant head coach title to his slate.

“My family and I are blessed to be a part of the University of Florida, the UAA and the Gainesville community,” Chatman said. “We are grateful and embrace the opportunity to work with Coach Sumrall and his family. He will lead with toughness, grit and character which will result in winning and sustaining a winning culture.”

Chatman is the first non-coordinator to be announced by Florida and the lone coaching retention so far by Sumrall, who has hired coordinators Buster Faulkner (offense) and Brad White (defense) and is expected to add Phil Trautwein (offensive line), Brandon Harris (corners), Chris Collins (safeties) and Marcus Davis (wide receivers) to the staff.

“When I first arrived in Gainesville, one of my first tasks was to retain Coach Chatman on our staff,” Sumrall said. “I’ve always respected Coach Chatman – the type of coach he is and how he leads his players. He is a great developer of talent and one of the best defensive line coaches in the country. I couldn’t be more excited to coach with him.”

Florida Gators defensive line coach Gerald Chatman returns for his third season with the program. | Kyle Lander / Gators Illustrated

Since joining Florida's staff in 2024, Chatman quickly emerged as one of the Gators' top developers and recruiters.

In his first season, he turned Cam Jackson into an NFL Draft selection, while coaching Caleb Banks through a breakout campaign that saw him quickly rise on draft boards. The group improved across the board in his first season.

From 2023 to 2024, Florida had 17 more sacks and 28 more tackles for loss.

Florida nearly lost Chatman after the 2024 season, though as interest from the NFL came, including an interview with the Chicago Bears. Chatman, however, ultimately stayed with the Gators.

"For me, I think whenever you're part of something special, you're part of a really good program I think that opportunities come - not just for me, but for other coaches in our program," he said last spring. "So, my experience is that I'm thankful, I'm grateful, I have gratitude that I'm a part of this program under this leadership and the coaches that I get to work with every day. Man, it's a blessing to be a Gator right now."

Chatman was also pursued by LSU and Lane Kiffin this offseason. The Tigers, under then-head coach Brian Kelly, also pursued him after the 2024 season.

In 2025, Florida's defensive line continued to be one of the best units despite a rough season and despite losing Caleb Banks for most of the season due to injury. Young players Michai Boireau, Jeramiah McCloud and Joseph Mbatchou alongside transfer Brendan Bett and veterans Brien Taylor Jr. and Jamari Lyons headlined the group, showcasing a defensive line depth that did not exist until Chatman arrived.

Prior to his current stint at Florida, Chatman was the defensive line coach at Tulane (spring 2022, 2023), an analyst (2021) and interim defensive line coach (spring 2023) at LSU, defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Colorado (2022), outside linebackers coach for the Cincinnati Bengals (2019-20), linebackers coach at Tennessee State (2017-18), defensive line coach at Elon (2016), a coaching intern for the Denver Broncos (summer 2016) and graduate assistant at Texas A&M (2015).