Billy Napier’s squad returned to the practice field on Saturday, but a pair of Florida units were missing their position coaches.

Last month, the Gators saw 3 assistant coaches leave for NFL opportunities. Napier was quick to bring in Austin Armstrong as the new defensive coordinator but has yet to hire new position coaches at tight end and wide receiver.

Napier addressed the situation after Saturday’s practice. The second-year Florida coach said he won’t rush the hires.

“I’m not just going to flip a coin and hire a guy,” Napier said. “If we have the person in place that we think is capable, we make those moves quickly. If we don’t, then we’re going to be very thorough. So we’re making progress in that area. We should have some news here shortly.”

For now, off-field staffers are stepping into the on-field roles.

“We’re built to handle the attrition to some degree,” Napier told reporters. “The layers that you’ve got in each room, whether it’s analyst or graduate assistant or a student, whatever we have in each of those rooms, we’ve been able to manage it. Still, it’s evident we need a coach or two there. But we’re going to be patient and work hard but work smart at it.”

Assessing Florida’s staff situation

No staff wants to hold a spring practice down multiple position coaches. The longer Florida is without a wide receivers coach or tight ends coach, the more concerning the situation gets. It helps, though, that Napier built up the off-field staff at Florida upon arriving in Gainesville.

Napier’s off-field “army” of staffers has been celebrated by UF fans as a sign of the former Alabama assistant following Nick Saban’s blueprint. Last August, Florida’s team photo went viral for the number of assistants featured.

Staff size helps, but the situation is still suboptimal. As Napier said, the team needs a couple more coaches. Spring practices are key to player development, and the receivers and tight ends should be working with their position coaches.

If the situation drags on, perhaps we see Napier, a former wide receivers coach at Alabama, work with that unit. There’s always a chance, too, that the staffers currently filling in could be promoted to fill the vacancies.