A Florida Hall of Famer is now working for the Gators’ arch-rival. Florida State announced the hiring of Keiwan Ratliff to Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell’s off-field staff as assistant director of high school relations on Friday.

“Keiwan has strong relationships in central Florida, which is a critical area for us, and is passionate about helping student-athletes succeed in all areas,” Norvell said in a release.

Ratliff, who is a member of the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame in 2021, joined Dan Mullen’s staff in May 2019 as an assistant director of player personnel. In December, he told Zach Abolverdi of On3 that he was not being retained by new UF head coach Billy Napier.

“Getting a chance to come back to UF and put on that orange and blue, be part of the team again and run out of the tunnel is an experience I’ll always cherish,” Ratliff told Abolverdi. “I’m just happy that my University opened the door for me to get into the college game. I’ll always be a Gator.”

Ratliff played at UF from 2000-03. He appeared in 49 games (starting 27) from 2000-to-2003, recording 133 tackles, including 7.0 for loss with 2.0 sacks, 12 interceptions, 17 pass breakups, 3 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries. He was a Consensus All-American, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, first-team All-SEC selection in 2003 when he grabbed a single-season program record of 9 interceptions.

Ratliff was picked in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft and played 8 seasons in the NFL.