Former Florida Gators WR Coach Billy Gonzales Takes Gig With FAU Owls

Another former Florida Gators coach is taking his talents to South Florida after not being retained by the new coaching staff at UF.

Photo: Billy Gonzales; Credit: Alex Shepherd

According to a report from ESPN's Pete Thamel, former Florida Gators wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales is set to take his talents to South Florida, hired as the new receivers coach for the FAU Owls.

Source: FAU is hiring longtime SEC assistant Billy Gonzales as the school's new wide receivers coach. He worked 16 seasons in the SEC with Florida (twice), LSU and Mississippi State. He recruited Percy Harvin to Florida and sent numerous receivers to the NFL.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 1, 2022

Gonzales, 50, had been the receivers coach, along with co-offensive coordinator and passing game coordinator titles for the Gators from 2018-21. He took the gig at Florida after following former Gators HC Dan Mullen from Mississippi State where he worked as the team's WR coach and co-OC from 2014-17.

In all, Gonzales coached at UF for nine years total, starting out as the team's WR coach in 2005, working at the program from then until 2009. He would have gigs at LSU (2010-11) and Illinois (2012) as well.

For Florida, Gonzales was one of the program's most active recruiters and best talent evaluators, putting players in the best position to succeed for several years in a row.

Recently, Florida has seen wide receiver Kadarius Toney selected in the first round, and Gonzales was a major factor in his development.

In 2020, the team saw the most receivers selected in the NFL Draft across all of college football with three, including Van Jefferson, Freddie Swain and Tyrie Cleveland. Josh Hammond also landed in the NFL as an undrafted free agent.

Gonzales was thought to be a major part of all of the receivers' developments and now he will take his talents to South Florida to imprint the same for the Owls.

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