Four Florida Assistant Coaches Returning for 2024 Season

Photo: Florida offensive line coach Rob Sale; Credit: Zach Goodall

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Offensive line coaches Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton, edge rushers coach Mike Peterson, and running backs coach Jabbar Juluke will remain on the Florida assistant staff for the 2024 campaign, Gators head coach Billy Napier shared with reporters on Wednesday.

Each assistant joined the program in 2022, as members of Napier's inaugural UF coaching staff. Their original contract terms were scheduled to expire last Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024.

However, the quartet of assistants will remain on the staff for the ensuing season after agreeing to contract extensions. Terms for the contract extensions, including potential salary raises, were not made immediately available.

“Yeah, absolutely. We’re in the process of that right as we speak here,” Napier said during his Signing Day press conference when asked about the status of the four coaches.

Perhaps most notably, Sale, Stapleton and Juluke's retainments ensure Florida's offensive coaching staff will remain intact for the 2024 season.

The trio will continue to work alongside wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales and tight ends coach Russ Callaway, who joined the on-field staff before the 2023 campaign and are under contract through Jan. 31, 2025.

Sale, who also holds the title of offensive coordinator, and Stapleton return to split the responsibilities of overseeing Florida's offensive line, a unit in need of drastic improvement following a down year in 2023.

A year removed from allowing 17 sacks and paving the way to a team-wide 5.5 yards per rushing attempt during the coaching duo's 2022 UF debut, Florida's offensive line gave up 39 sacks and facilitated just 4.3 yards per rush under the tandem's supervision in 2023. The Gators more than doubled their sack count from the year prior despite playing one fewer game.

The group's regression can, in part, be blamed on the departure of All-American guard and 2023 second-round NFL Draft selection O'Cyrus Torrence and others from a dependable line. Offensive tackle Richard Gouraige also made his way to the pros via undrafted free agency, of note.

However, Sale and Stapleton were aggressive in acquiring transfer replacements in guard Micah Mazzccua and tackles Damieon George Jr. and Lyndell Hudson II, but none played to the expectation level set ahead of their 2023 season at UF.

Mazzccua has since transferred to Nebraska, George has acknowledged a move to guard, and Hudson has exhausted his college eligibility. Additionally, 2023 starting guard Richie Leonard IV has transferred to Florida State, and former starting center Kingsley Eguakun has departed toward the NFL Draft.

Another batch of reinforcements is on the way this offseason in the form of transfer tackles Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson and Devon Manuel and high school prospects tackles Fletcher Westphal and Mike Williams, hybrid blocker Marcus Mascoll and guard Noel Portnjagin.

Peterson, a National Champion Gator (1996) and former NFL All-Pro linebacker, has similarly overseen a position room with a rotating door filtering contributors in and out.

His spot, the JACK edge rusher, was fairly productive for the Gators' defense in 2022, with Brenton Cox Jr. and Antwaun Powell Jr. combining to tally five sacks, 14 tackles for loss and 44 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, with Cox starting the first eight games before his dismissal from the program.

Structural tweaks were made to Florida's defense during the 2023 offseason, leading Peterson to coach the JACKs and "F" strong-side defensive end position last year. The group lost Powell to transfer, and after Princely Umanmielen flipped sides to play JACK, the next man up at "F," Justus Boone, suffered a preseason ACL tear.

Umanmielen enjoyed a career-best year after the move, compiling seven sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss and 45 pressures on his own. But Florida's edge rushers otherwise left something to be desired, with Tyreak Sapp, Jack Pyburn, and freshmen Kelby Collins, TJ Searcy and Kamran James combining for four sacks, 10.5 tackles for loss and 43 pressures.

Umanmielen's offseason transfer to Ole Miss hurts perceptually, but his departure — seemingly toward the NFL — from the team was largely anticipated after the breakout campaign.

Either way, Peterson would have relied upon Florida's young edge-rushing talent in 2024, as Collins and Searcy in particular were significant members of the position's rotation as rookies and aim to build upon their freshman production. Transfers Brien Taylor Jr. and George Gumbs Jr. and five-star 2024 signee LJ McCray will bolster the spot following Umanmielen's exit.

Juluke, also Florida's associate head coach — offense, has administered one of Florida's top-performing position groups throughout Napier's head coaching tenure. With the help of strong offensive line play in 2022, the Gators' rushing attack ranked No. 3 in the SEC for averaging 213.7 yards per game.

Two Juluke recruits, Louisiana transfer Montrell Johnson Jr. and class of 2022 prospect Trevor Etienne, combined to rush for 1,560 yards and 16 touchdowns that year. The duo spearheaded the Gators' ground game again in 2023, and while the offensive line negatively impacted the team's total rushing output, Johnson and Etienne continued to perform well, uniting for 1,570 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Johnson returns for a senior season in Gainesville in 2024, but after receiving just 13 more carries as a sophomore than as a freshman, Etienne transferred from Florida to Georgia this offseason.

Treyaun Webb, who signed with Florida under Juluke in the 2023 recruiting cycle, is in line for an increase in utilization after scoring twice as a freshman and after Etienne's parting. Incoming freshmen Kahnen Daniels and Jadan Baugh could factor into the playing rotation sooner rather than later, too.

Editor's note: Micah Mazzccua transferred to Nebraska during the 2024 offseason, not Arkansas as originally published in this article. All Gators apologizes for this error.

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